Tuesday, November 18, 2014

A time for Sympathy



I find myself in a place where I need to make two sympathy cards this week.  This card is for my best friend from high school as her mother passed recently.  I took the time while I created this card to pray for her and her family as they mourn the great loss of a Godly woman.

I started with a card base of 7” x 11” and folded it in half.  The frame layer is an embossed mulberry paper trimmed to 5” x 6 ½” purchased at Costco years ago.  A tip here . . . apply the adhesive to the card, not the mulberry paper, as it will just pull up!  The micro-beads are applied with Terrifically Tacky Tape, followed by Art Institute Fools Gold to fill in the tiny open spots.  I can no longer find the Terrifically Tacky Tape in the thin widths so I applied a length to adhesive backing repurposed from the Xyron X and carefully trimmed it to a ¼” width using my self-healing magnetic mat, metal ruler, and an Xacto knife.

I stamped Unity Stamps Blossom Stacker image in Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold ink on ivory card stock and heat embossed with Think Ink Gold Glitter Gloss embossing powder.  The image was then die cut with Spellbinders Blossom Tags and Accents and a Spellbinders circle to remove the center of the image.  The center is DCWV Metallic Gold card stock die cut with Heartfelt Creations Decorative Blossom Corner that has been trimmed to fit inside the circle.

I tried a new method of stamping and die cutting my flowers.  Previously I had stamped the images first then painstakingly lined up the die with a mask and die cut each flower section.  This time I die cut a series of Spellbinders Rose Creations flowers from ivory card stock.  I was able to put all five dies through and not use up much paper on each pass.  Each layer has two of each size of flower.  I lined up all the same size flowers to match the image as it lay on my table.  Then I inked the image with Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold ink and carefully laid the flower over the inked stamp and then placed a 1/8” acrylic sheet over the top and applied pressure.  I carefully removed the now stamped flower with tweezers.  I was able to cut and ink the individual flowers much more quickly. (The next time I do this technique I will take photos!  I’m feeling a little under the weather so creating the card was a little higher priority!)  I sprayed the flowers with Tattered Angels Sun Sisters Glimmer Mist and let them dry.  The flowers are shaped using the McGill embossing mat and stylus set; Heartfelt Creations has great tutorials and shaping many types of flowers.

The leaves and swirls are die cut from DCWV Metallic Gold card stock using the Heartfelt Creations Bella Rose die.  The sentiment is from a set I purchased from Dream Ink; I have all three sets that includes 252 words and phrases and can write just about any type of greeting I need!  I could not find a die cut shape to fit the sentiment, so I used a McGill corner punch to shape the ends of a ¾” strip of ivory card stock.  The sentiment is edged in Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold.  I assembled the card and it is now ready to send a message to my dear friend.

This card is entered in the following challenges:

15 comments:

  1. Beautiful sympathy card (and sorry you had the need to make one)love the die-cuts,beautiful flowers(worth the effort)and fabulous seed bead borders-thanks for joining us at Artistic Inspirations
    Carol DT x

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  2. Thank you, it was great to use just 2 colors to make this beautiful card.

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  3. Stunning card. Wishing strength and God's Grace to those dealing with the loss of loved ones

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    1. Thank you, I often feel that creating a hand-made card is a bit like the journey to give a gift of a Pearl.

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  4. This one is just GORGEOUS! I love it so much!

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  5. Beautiful! Great shine! Thanks for playing the challenge at Cardabilites :)

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    1. Thank you, I was going for a shimmery shine :)

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  6. beautiful florals, lovely card, thank you for joining in with us over at Cardabilities

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    1. I enjoy the sketches at Cardabilities and all the inspiration!

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  7. Very nice card. Love the flowers...... Thank you for joining us at the Cardabilities. Ilona

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    1. Thank you, Heartfelt Creations makes wonderful flowers!

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  8. So cute! Thank you for joining us at Cardabilities

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  9. Sorry for your loss. Your card is beautiful and I'm sure the family will love it. The little beads are beautiful around the edge, that was a lot of work I bet. Thanks for joining us at Love to Scrap! Challenge Blog
    Tina dt

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    1. Thank you, I enjoyed making the card even though it was for a sad reason.

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I love to read your comments, they make me smile to know you enjoy my creativity! Thank you!