Love & Sympathy

 

A simple but elegant sympathy card for a friend of mine.  I like the mix of brocade blue designer paper with the single flower image.  I'm still trying to use the long ago discontinued paper and inks.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Love & Sympathy
Paper:  Whisper White, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Brocade Blue DSP
Ink:  Brocade Blue, Old Olive, Black
Accessories:  Bluebird Grosgrain Ribbon, Pearl, Dimensionals

Cameo Coral Sympathy

 

A monochromatic sympathy card but very clean and simple.  I think the most challenging part was using the jumbo wheel.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri, Simply Sketched, Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel
Paper:  Whisper White, Cameo Coral
Ink:  Cameo Coral
Accessories:  Elegant Butterfly Punch, EK Success Medallion Chain Punch, Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, Coral Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Trio of Flowers

 

You know how sometimes the idea for a card is there but something just seems missing, that is how I feel about this card.  I'm not sure what it is about this card but it isn't a favorite of mine.  But, I thought I should post it anyway just to show that all of our creations can't be exactly what we imagine they will be. 

Supplies Used:
Paper:  Mauve Mist, Eggplant Envy, Sage Shadow
Accessories:  Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Vine Street Embossing Folder, Flower Burst Embosslit, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Scallop Border Punch, Frost White Shimmer Mist, Pearls, Dimensionals

Simple Sympathy

 

This was the last card I made using the vintage vogue stamp set.  I kept this very clean and simple which really makes the butterfly stand out.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Vintage Vogue, Warmest Regards
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum
Ink:  Perfect Plum
Accessories:  Tulip Frame Embossing Folder, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Rhinestones, Perfect Plum Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals

Deepest Sympathy

 

I needed another sympathy card this month.  I can't tell you how many sympathy cards I've made so far this year.  Although they may not be the cards we all like to make, they are probably one of the most important. 

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Thanks for Caring
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Parisian Summer DSP
Ink:  Perfect Plum
Accessories:  Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Circle & Scallop Circle Nestabilities Dies, Small Butterfly Punch, Pearls, Dimensionals

So Sorry

 

Another simple but elegant sympathy card.  I paired the flower image from the Love & Sympathy set with the large sentiment from the So Sorry set.  The flower image was colored with markers and stamped to the left side of the oval and then the sentiment was stamped over the floral image in black ink.  I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to get the floral image and sentiment placed exactly where I wanted and then added the small pearls at the base of the flower.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Love & Sympathy, So Sorry
Paper:  Whisper White, Lovely Lilac
Ink:  Lovely Lilac, Old Olive, Black
Accessories:  Oval & Scallop Oval Nestabilities Dies, Delicate Designs Embossing Folder, White Seam Binding Ribbon, Pearls, Dimensionals

Blooming with Kindness Sympathy

 

I needed several sympathy cards this month and I try to keep the card design simple because it is the message inside that is truly important.  This card is both simple and elegant at the same time.  This blossom image has become one of my favorite and the set also comes with some great sentiments too.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Blooming with Kindness, Loving Thoughts
Paper:  Whisper White, Cameo Coral, Walk in the Park DSP
Ink:  Cameo Coral, Black
Accessories:  Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Pearls, White Seam Binding Ribbon, Dimensionals

Embossed Silhouette Sympathy

 

I needed another sympathy card and since it was for one of the guys I work with I wanted to keep it simple.  I stamped the background using soft suede ink that was off-stamped once before stamping onto the crumb cake card stock and then I shifted the image slightly and stamped again to create a shadowed effect.  To create the shadow effect for the silhouette flower image I stamped in crumb cake ink first and then I offset the image and stamped again using versa mark and embossed with white embossing powder.  The effect is very subtle but effective.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Serene Silhouettes, French Script, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Versa Mark
Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Word Window Punch, Dimensionals

Silhouette Sympathy

 

This is the other sympathy card that I sent last week.  This was sent to my daughter's boyfriend so it had to be on the masculine side.  It is difficult enough to make a sympathy card and then to make it a masculine card was even harder so when I saw this card on Splitcoaststampers I just basically copied the card.  I did change a couple of things but it is basically the same card. 

Supplies Used: 
Stamps:  Serene Silhouettes
Paper:  Whisper White, Black, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy
Ink:  Black, Baja Breeze, Pool Party, Marina Mist, So Saffron, Old Olive
Accessories:  Herringbone Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Blossoms Sympathy

 

We all know that inevitably we will need sympathy cards but most of us probably don't actually make them ahead of time.  I know that I make them as necessary and I had to send out a couple of cards last week and this was one of them.  I kept this card fairly simple with soft colors.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Easter Blossoms, Warmest Regards
Paper:  Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Le Jardin DSP
Ink:  Black, So Saffron, Mellow Moss
Accessories:  So Saffron Taffeta Ribbon

Black & White

I made this card for a friend's birthday, but the more I looked at it I realized it could be a card for almost any occasion (birthday, anniversary, wedding, thank you, sympathy, etc).  To get the flourishes lined up I used my stamp-a-ma-jig.  I love the clean and simple look and feel of this card.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri, Bliss
Paper:  Whisper White, Black
Ink:  Black
Accessories: 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Elegant Butterfly Punch, White Taffeta Ribbon, Rhinestones, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Mini Glue Dots

Comfort Cafe Sympathy

I needed a sympathy card and looked for a sketch challenge to jump start my creativity and chose sketch number 273.  This also meets the free for all challenge 155 to use blues and browns.  

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Thanks for Caring
Paper:  Very Vanilla, soft Suede, Comfort Cafe DSP
Ink:  Soft Suede, Midnight Muse
Accessories:  2 3/8" Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Scallop Circle Punch, Pearls, Dimensionals

Poppies and Sympathy

I struggled with the colors for this card and looking back I should have chosen paler pink colors.  It does look lighter in real life but I still think a paler pink might have looked nicer.  I do like the layout for this card and will definitely use it again.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Pleasant Poppies, Petite Pairs
Paper:  Naturals White, Rose Romance, DCWV Patterned Paper
Ink:  Black, Rose Romance, Certainly Celery
Accessories:  1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Rose Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals

Easter Blossoms Sympathy

The branch image from this stamp set is so versatile.  I was disappointed that this set never made it to the main catalog, luckily my sister owns the set so I was able to borrow it.  For this card I stamped the french script background in crumb cake and then stamped the branch image in basic brown over the top.  The blossoms were colored with groovy guava. 

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Easter Blossoms, French Script, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Very Vanilla, Groovy Guava, Crumb Cake, Spring Showers DSP, Ginger Blossoms DSP, Groovy Guava DSP
Accessories: Nestabilities Circle and Scallop Circle Dies, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Dots Embossing Folder, Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon, Antique Brad, Pearls, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Just Believe Sympathy

I needed another sympathy card and wanted something soft and subtle. I think this is the first card I've made using this stamp set. To color the flowers I inked the entire image with certainly celery and then removed the certainly celery ink from the blossoms with a blender pen and then colored the flowers in with a lavender lace marker. Once I had the image stamped on the whisper white card stock I spritzed it with frost white shimmer mist for a softer look.

Supplies Used: Paper: Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, Almost Amethyst DSP; Ink: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace; Stamps: Just Believe; Other: Frost White Shimmer Mist, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Polka Dot Organdy Ribbon, Pearls, Dimensionals

Silhouette Sympathy

I've made more sympathy cards so far this year than I care to count. The technique that I used for this card came from something I saw on Nicole Heady's blog here. It's called "Polaroid 2-Step Masking" and she has a how-to video for this technique. The colors I used came from the color challenge on Splitcoaststampers (CC329). The challenge was to use soft suede, crumb cake and melon mambo and since I wanted to keep the card on the masculine side I only used melon mambo for the bird image and kept the rest of the card very neutral.

Supplies Used: Paper: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Thoroughly Modern DSP; Ink: White Craft, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo; Stamps: Silhouette Sentiments, Warmest Regards; Other: Dimensionals

Spring Flowers

This card started out as a monochromatic card but once I had it together it seemed to need something else. I decided to add the butterflies but didn't want them to be to bright or have to much of a contrast so I went with barely banana card stock. The card base was stamped first with the sanded background stamp using mellow moss ink and then stamped with the french script background stamp using white craft ink. The main image was stamped with white craft ink on mellow moss card stock and them embossed with white embossing powder. The flower image was mounted to whisper white card stock but then I decided it needed something so I punch a strip of whisper white card stock using a fleur de lis border punch and adhered the strip to the left side of the image. The ribbon is some that I picked up at Michael's and the color went great with the mellow moss card stock.

Supplies Used: Paper: Whisper White, Mellow Moss, Barely Banana; Ink: White Craft, Mellow Moss; Stamps: Just Believe, Sanded, French Script; Other: White Embossing Powder, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Fleur De Lis Border Punch, Satin Ribbon, Pearls, Dimensionals

Collage Sympathy

I can't believe how many sympathy cards I've had to make so far this year. It doesn't get any easier trying to come up with something different. I really wanted to use this stamp and since I'm making the effort to utilize my supply of discontinued card stock the colors actually came together quickly. I stamped the image in versa mark ink on very vanilla card stock and embossed it using black embossing powder. I really wanted the image to have an antique/aged look so once I had colored the various elements on the image, I sponged the entire piece with close to cocoa ink and mounted it to the varying layers of close to cocoa and mellow moss card stock. The close to cocoa card base was stamped with the sanded background stamp using close to cocoa ink and the edges were also sponged with close to cocoa ink. I used spring flowers dsp mounted to mellow moss card stock for the remaining elements of the card and adhered everything to the card base.

Supplies Used: Paper: Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, Mellow Moss, Spring Flowers DSP; Ink: Versa Mark, Close to Cocoa, Various SU Markers; Stamps: Garden Collage, Sanded, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Other: Brads, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Large Oval Punch, Black Embossing Powder, White Gel Pen, Dimensionals

With Sympathy

For this sympathy card I used some retired elements from Stampin' Up. Can you believe I still have mauve mist card stock and organdy ribbon! The main image on this card is from a stamp set called "Happy Harmony" which was a set you could get from free during sale-a-bration several years ago. I have used this set for various occasions and reach for it when I need to make a card in a hurry. I colored the flowers with a mauve mist marker and then went around the edges of the flowers with a rose romance marker to achieve the two-tone effect. The stems were colored in certainly celery and the sentiment was stamped using soft suede ink. For the embossed background I used the cuttlebug script embossing folder.

Supplies Used: Paper: Whisper White, Mauve Mist; Ink: Mauve Mist, Rose Romance, Certainly Celery, Soft Suede; Stamps: Happy Harmony, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Other: Script Embossing Folder, Mauve Organdy Ribbon, Dimensionals

Sympathy Prints

This card was very simple to put together and by changing the sentiment could be used for almost anything. The leaf image was stamped onto whisper white card stock using bashful blue ink. To get the faded effect you can either ink the image and stamp off several times or ink it once and huff on the stamp to moisten the ink and stamp several times. Once I had my images stamped I used the color spritzer tool and a bashful blue marker to achieve the effect I wanted. The sentiment was stamped over my main images and then layered onto a piece of bashful blue card stock. I paper pierced the upper left corner and mounted it to the card base using dimensionals. The background paper on the card base is from a DCWV paper pack.

Supplies Used: Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Basic Gray, DCWV Paper Pack; Ink: Bashful Blue, Black; Stamps: Petal Prints, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Other: Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Color Spritzer Tool, Black Brads, Dimensionals