Introducing The Greetery - Hand In Hand And Heart To Heart

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am for today's post! When Betsy told me she was starting her own stamp company I flipped. She is so talented and creative that I just knew she would have gorgeous and innovative designs to share with the world. And wouldn't you know - she absolutely delivers with her debut release! I am thrilled to be able to help introduce Betsy's new Hand In Hand set and Fir & Foliage collections! These new products will be available this Friday, April 26th at 10am ET on The Greetery's website. In the meantime, let's get to my project!

Today happens to be Earth Day, so the Fir & Foliage collection is making a perfectly timed entrance! Not only that, but Betsy's Pathway stencil is incredibly innovative in that there are stencils for the pathway, the cobblestone pattern, and one to cover your path if you want to sponge on a bit of grass or earth or something around it. It makes creating scenery a snap!

I started by sponging mine very lightly with a gray ink and then added the cobblestone layer in the same color (just a little more heavy handed). While the stencil was still in place, I speckled the surface with water to add a mottled appearance to the stones. Then, I used the pathway covering stencil to protect my path while I added the grass and sky. No masking, no fussing...I'm in love!

Next, I stamped the smaller tree from the Fir & Foliage stamp set up near the top of the path. Then, I stenciled the large tree at the other end of the path using the Fir & Foliage stencil. I love this stencil, friends. There is so much detail and it is simply gorgeous! I also stamped and die cut the larger tree from the coordinating stamp set and placed it sort of midway in the scene. Having a variety of sizes available makes it easy to give your scene depth and keeps it from feeling too flat. Betsy truly thought of everything! And again, just look at that detail! You have the option to use as many as three layers for the leaves on the larger tree. You can achieve such different looks depending on how many you use (and in what colors - imagine your autumn options)!

Next up came my coloring. I'm not typically a colorer, but this Hand In Hand set was urging me to bust out my Copics. These images would also be lovely with some paper piecing if you're not one to reach for watercolors or markers. I opted to use the man and woman, but there are several other images in the set that give it fantastic versatility. Children, a puppy companion, even an umbrella! I colored the figures (still rusty, but working on it) to resemble me and my husband and added them to the scene. I doubled up the man die cut to give a slight dimension difference between the two people. I still wanted the hands to stay flush though, so I simply trimmed away the hand on the bottom die cut. Such a small detail, but it makes a big difference!

To finish the card, I stamped a sweet greeting from the set in the bottom corner and mounted the whole panel to a Kraft card base. The sentiments in this set are heartfelt and beautiful. They celebrate togetherness and love in a way that I find truly wonderful. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I imagine this being an anniversary card or even a lovely "just-because-I-love-you" sort of thing. We love people year-round and I am of the firm belief that it's worth telling them, even if it's not a special occasion.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at the debut release from The Greetery! Make sure to pop by The Greetery's blog for more information and visit the other designers that are creating with these gorgeous new projects today:

Heather Nichols
Dawn McVey
Lizzie Jones
Debbie Olson
Wanda Guess
Keeway Tsao

Enjoy your Earth Day! I'll see you again soon!

Supplies:

I'm So Glad You're Mine Card