The Greetery - Succulent Gardens No Green Thumb Required

Good morning, friends! Boy, oh, boy do I have a treat for you today. I'm back for Day 3 of The Greetery's debut countdown and today's products are so super fun! On the docket this morning are the new BotaniCuts Succulents Dies, Terrarium Dies, and Sentiment Suite: Thinking Of You stamps. You are going to absolutely fall in love with these Succulent Dies! Succulents are great because they can be any color of the rainbow, so your options are truly boundless. I had a blast putting together a birthday ensemble that I can't wait to give to someone very special. Let's take a closer look!

I love that the Terrarium Dies come in two sizes and I knew I wanted to incorporate both sizes somehow. After a little brainstorming, I decided that the small terrarium was the perfect size for a tag and the large one would make a fabulous shaped card, so that's exactly what I did!

I started with the tag. I cut the segmented terrarium shape from gold cardstock that I had xyroned and set it aside. Then, I die cut two full shapes, one from clear cardstock and the other from white cardstock. I sponged a bit of minty blue ink onto the white piece and speckled it with water for some subtle interest. Once that had dried, I stamped it with the sentiment from Sentiment Suite: Thinking Of You and set that aside. I used the same set to stamp the birthday greeting and then cut that using the new Sentiment Suite Basics Dies. I adhered that and the gold piece to the front of the clear cardstock piece and also set that whole bit aside.

Next, I die cut the small succulent from white cardstock and blended on ink to make it resemble the real thing. A quick Google search will give you so much inspiration! I assembled the succulent and adhered it to the white layer. Then, I added foam tape to the outer edge of the clear piece (hidden under the gold frame) to create a shaker box. I filled it with fine gravel before sealing everything together. Then, I very loosely braided some black twine and threaded it through the top of the terrarium to act as the hang tag.

Next up was the card. I decided that I wanted to create a shaped card that someone could put on display after their birthday had passed. This would be ideal for someone who really loves succulents, whether they actually have houseplants or not. There are people in my life who adore plants, but either don't have the best track record for keeping them alive or can't have them because their pets take it as a personal challenge to eat any living thing in their homes. This way, they get their plants and no harm will come to their furry companions. Win-win!

I began by cutting four sticky-backed, segmented gold pieces and two whole clear pieces with the large Terrarium Die. I snipped off the top ring of two of the gold pieces and then adhered all four to the two clear pieces. I used E6000 to adhere the two panels together. The snipped ring gold pieces are on the inside, making the connection a little thinner and tighter together. I set that aside to dry overnight (just to be safe). You could probably get a similar hold with hot glue and it would be ready to handle faster.

Then, I die cut one large and one small succulent. I blended on ink colors that would complement each other, but not match. Then, I die cut a terrarium panel from Kraft cardstock. I free hand cut a "ground" and xyroned it to make it sticky. Before sprinkling it with gravel, I set foam tape into the adhesive to make it easier to attach my succulents. I attached that whole piece inside the card, adhering it along the bottom edge so you wouldn't see the adhesive through the back of the terrarium.

Next, I stamped the sentiments from the Sentiment Suite: Thinking Of You set onto their coordinating die cuts and attached them to the front of the card with foam tape. Again, with clear cardstock you need to be mindful of how to hide your adhesives. To conceal mine, I simply adhered a second die cut to the inside of the card. Easy! I also used the braided twine to create a hanger for the card. It's not functionally necessary, but I think it adds a nice softness. Plus, it's a nice touch if someone wants to hang their card rather than put it on a shelf or table.

I am thrilled to pieces about how this ensemble turned out! The gravel adds such a wonderful texture and the colorful succulents are so cheerful. I'll definitely be creating with these succulent dies again soon. I can't wait to try more color combinations and techniques (like watercolor!) to make these dies truly sing. Thank you so much for joining me today! 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
Kelly Lunceford
Kay Miller
Laura Bassen

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Supplies:

Succulent Birthday Ensemble