Hydrangeas Greetings to Go Guest Artist

Each month we ask a Guest Artist to create cards using our Greetings to Go pack. It's a great way for you, our readers, to get inspiration in addition to the ideas found in the Greetings to Go instructions Tricia creates. Our goals is to supply you with plenty of inspiration and ideas so you USE those kits!

This month our very own Drill Sergeant/Ref Lisa agreed to give it a go. She did an amazing job. I've asked her share her cards and explain some of the very cool and unique techniques she used. Take it away, Lisa!

Hi, everyone. I have to admit though I was flattered when Karen asked me to be the Guest Artist for the Hydrangeas G2G kit, I was also apprehensive, nervous, and all-around stressed! As much as I love G2G kits, I don't get them made as quickly or as creatively as I would like.

It was a pleasure, though, to work with the Hydrangeas G2G pack--a true pleasure. I've been excited about the prospect of this kit since it was first suggested last year at the call for kit ideas. I have several hydrangea plants around my home, and they are one of my favorite plants--for their flowers and their foliage. So great that this kit includes both!

Here are the group pictures Kay took of my cards. Below, I'll point out some techniques I used.

This is a card for OWH, so I didn't add too much dimension. The yellow netting is so fine that even the knot isn't too thick. I cut out the "get well soon" sentiment, inked the inner edges with a purple marker, and layered a Yellow piece with "Thank you" stamped in Amethyst CS ink behind the window.

Another OWH card, this one with a love theme. The heart is from the Big Deal collection, inked with Amethyst CS ink and covered with clear embossing powder. Since I had already cut it out, I used double-sided tape to attach it to the end of a pencil to hold it for heat embossing.

I also distressed the edges with the Tonic Studios tool and inked with Amethyst. I used the 45 degree line on a CS ruler to divide the corners half and adhered those fabulous purple pearls from the Embellishment Pack.

Another "love" card for OWH. Used deckle scissors on the Yellow and word panels. The colored panel was stamped with the zig-zag stamp (on Art Nouveau sheet) and Seedless Preserves and Gathered Twigs Distress Inks by Tim Holtz. Also used those inks for edging each piece. And there you see the purple pearls again. (You'll see those a lot; they really are a favorite of mine.)

My favorite themes for OWH cards are "thank you" and "love." When I was a Navy wife, those seemed to be types of letters my husband would write to me and family back home, and I can imagine troops needing those quite often. I stamped the Yellow panel with the flowers from the Art Nouveau sheet, alternating Amethyst and Sapphire CS inks.

Very simple design here. Used Nestabilities dies (ovals and beaded ovals) from Spellbinders. On the Yellow sentiment, I used the floral stamp on the Art Nouveau sheet at half-strength (stamped onto scrap paper, then onto the panel) just to add a bit of pattern. I inked the Green beaded oval panel with Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs distress ink.

I had a lot of fun with this one. My first step was to spray two pieces of White glossy paper (from Fire & Ice) with Memories Mist. I sprayed one with Lavender Tea and Vivid Blue and the other with Green and Wheat Grass. After they dried overnight, I stamped the green one with the large hydrangea stamp from the Collection sheet and cut it out. I inked the stem/branch with Timber Brown StazOn ink.

I stamped just the flower part onto the blue/purple page, sprinkled with black embossing powder and heat set. I cut the flower out, adhered the full green piece to the White panel and the embossed flower on top. No dimensional adhesive, but with the blue/purple flower on top of the green one, plus the embossing, the flower really stands out.

Simple layering with a yellow netting "bow" and another appearance by the the purple pearls.

The sentiment was stamped with White Pigment CS ink, then covered with clear embossing powder and heat embossed. The white netting made a nice textured element. It adhered very well to the back of the Brown panel, and I covered all intersections with the pale blue ribbon. The bright yellow flowers are from the Wisteria kit, while the bold blue brads are from Tilescapes.

Simple layered card. I used foam adhesive to attach the "love" sentiment panels, straddling the green ribbon. Trios of purple pearls embellish the corners of the printed panel.

The doilies were a bit intimidating! I did a Pinterest search and created a mood board--that really helped. Here I cut a panel from the paper sprayed with blue/purple Memories Mists and simply folded the doilies over the ends, trimming off the extra on the back. I layered the stamped sentiment into the center and dressed the corners with the purple pearls.

My favorite card of the group, I've seen the rounded corner tile design a number of places, but this was the first time I tried it. An easy technique creating such a fun look! The printed papers are all from the Hydrangeas Club Stamp kit. The butterfly and flower stickers came from the Papillon kit. All the tile layers were edged with Gathered Twigs distressing ink.

Simple layered panels on this card. To add dimension, I added strips of the purple pearls.

Another use of the doily--this time sprayed completely with Wheat Grass Memories Mist. I then cut off a third of the doily and layered it (right sides up) onto the larger piece. White ribbon hides the edges of the doilies across the top.

I need practice with the Pearl Pen, but here's a close-up of the doily layers. They really take the Memories Mist ink well!

I recently received new dies from the Paper Wishes die-of-the-month club--lace strips! I was excited to be able to use one with a doily on this card. The flower stamps are on the Hydrangea Collection sheet. I used Amethyst ink and cut them out. Purple pearls make excellent centers.

When I created my Pinterest board for ideas of using paper doilies on cards, I found this cute dress idea and just had to make it. I drew the bodice free hand on a piece of embossed white paper. The skirt is made by folding the doily almost in half (right sides out). Then you fold again making a triangle (trying to make both sides of the triangle the same length). A ribbon sash and pearls on the shoulders, and I had a cute ruffled dress! Would be lovely done in all white for a wedding card.

Finally, this warm, springlike card is made with layers of paper, doily, and netting. The leaves are from the Blossom kit. I sprayed them with Wheat Grass Memories Mist to darken them.

The flower was simply made by cutting a length of yellow netting and folding it lengthwise. I then used purple waxed linen thread to do a running stitch along the doubled raw edge. I pulled the stitches to form the flower and used the ends of the thread to tie a large purple button into the center. CS Bookbinding Glue was used to adhere the flower to the card layers (I put a heavy tape dispenser on top to hold it down while drying). Glue is only behind the center, under the button, so the netting doesn't have any glue showing behind it. Same with the doily--only adhesive under the solid part in the center.

Well, readers, those are my cards. I hope you enjoyed this post and found something interesting and worth a try. Several of these would make excellent Mother's Day cards, and the entire collection is perfect for spring cards and pages. Happy Spring, everyone!

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Greetings to Go Guest Artists are given the current month's Club Scrap materials to work with:

• Greetings to Go Pack
• Embellishment Pack
• Collection Unmounted Rubber Stamp sheet
• Greeting Unmounted Rubber Stamp sheet
• Art Nouveau Unmounted Rubber Stamp sheet
• Extra 8.5 x 11" plain papers from the monthly kit

The artist may also choose to incorporate items from their own craft stash, as well as different inks and art mediums. We do our best to make note these additions in the card descriptions whenever possible.