With Deepest Sympathy

The mother of a friend of ours recently passed away, so I made this sympathy card to send. The photo for Inspiration Station's Challenge #52 served as my jumping-off point. In particular, I was drawn to the butterflies, wildflowers, & the colors and ethereal quality of the atmosphere.

I began by die cutting a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper with one of the "Nested A2 Arches" dies from Scrapbook.com. I inked it with Salvaged Patina, Mustard Seed, & Shabby Shutters Distress inks. I spritzed water droplets onto the panel, let them sit for a minute or two, then picked the drops up with a towel. I wanted kind of a 2-tone effect, with some spots darker than others, so I inked over the Mustard Seed area with Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink & added another layer of Shabby Shutters at the bottom of the panel. (I didn't feel the Salvaged Patina area needed another layer of ink.) Then I spritzed more droplets on & soaked them up.

I die cut 3 of the Sizzix/Tim Holtz "Wildflowers" from white cardstock. I inked the flower portions with a Versamarker pen, and added a coat of Abandoned Coral Distress Embossing Glaze. I repeated the process once again to get a more solid coating. Then I did the same with Mowed Lawn Embossing Glaze for the stems & leaves. I glued them to my background, & trimmed off the overhanging bits. I then adhered my arch to a navy mat.

I stamped one of the Picket Fence Studios "Butterfly Beauties" butterflies onto a scrap of green cardstock with Lawn Fawn's Deep Sea ink. I die cut it with the coordinating die, & also die cut 2 more butterfly shapes from the same cardstock. Using a trick I learned from Jennifer McGuire, I folded each of the plain die cuts in half. I glued half of one behind the left half of the stamped butterfly, and the other behind the right half. Then I glued just the other halves of the folded butterfly die cuts to my card front, so the stamped one would pop up slightly.

I chose a greeting from Simon Says Stamps' "Sympathy Greetings Mix" stamp set (discontinued). I had initially planned to stamp the greeting on a strip of cardstock & adhere it to my card. But I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that this particular greeting nestled perfectly along the curve of the arch with the flower under it. So I used Deep Sea ink to stamp it there. Talk about serendipity! Finally, I added my card front to a white A2 card base.