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.

Happy Mother's Day

I based the design & floral embellishments for this card on Try Stampin' on Tuesday's Sketch #607 challenge.

I began by creating the flower layers with an old punch from The Paper Studio. I punched 3 layers for each flower, then glued them together, adding glue just to the centers. I finished them off by adding a gem in the middle of each.

I embossed the panel to go behind the flowers with the "Floral Fantasy" embossing folder from Cuttlebug (discontinued). I matted it with navy cardstock to help it stand out, then adhered that to my white A2 card base.

I cut a strip from an inky background I'd made several months ago. I adhered that to my card, and then glued the flowers over it.

I stamped a greeting from Simon Says Stamp's "All About Mom" stamp set in Lawn Fawn Deep Sea ink. Finally, I die cut a vine using one of the Spellbinder's "Sprigs" dies (discontinued), and glued that next to the greeting.

I'm also entering my card in 613 Avenue Create's May challenge: "Anything Goes" (playing the optional twist of "Say It with Flowers")

A Better Dad

I am excited to be the Guest Designer for this month's challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! Their theme this month is "Cards 4 Dads/Special Guys." I created this Father's Day card to go along with that theme. My design is based on Sketch #SC783 at Splitcoaststampers.com.

I stamped the mice & dandelion (from Lawn Fawn's "Dandy Day" set) onto a scrap of Strathmore vellum bristol paper. I colored them with my Prismacolor colored pencils. It doesn't show up much in the photo, but I added a little light grey to the fluff on the dandelion. Then I die cut them with the coordinating dies. I actually had to redo the dandelion, since I apparently really messed up aligning the die with the stamped & colored image! So I tried die cutting first, taping the die cut from the back into the negative space, lining up the stamp with the die cut, & stamping. It's still not absolutely 100% perfect, but like Jennifer McGuire says, it's handmade, not Hallmark!

For the background scene, I used one of the "Grassy Hillsides Borders" dies from Lawn Fawn to cut the grass from green cardstock. I added a bit of shading with Mowed Lawn Distress ink. I wanted the father & baby mouse to be looking up at the other mouse, hence my decision to have them on a hill. I found a blue patterned paper with a bokeh look that I'd gotten as a gift with purchase from Lawn Fawn. I thought the bokeh supported the magical idea of blowing dandelions, so I used it for the sky. I adhered my sky & grass pieces to a backing of white cardstock, just so I didn't have to fiddle with them as smaller individual elements. After gluing down my mice & dandelion to the background, I also stamped the flying seeds on the sky paper.

I stamped my greeting, also from "Dandy Day," in black on a scrap of grey cardstock. I cut that into a strip, as per the sketch. I adhered my strip & scene panel to a piece of patterned paper from Crate Paper's "Botanical Gardens" 6x6" pad. Finally, I mounted my card front to a white A2-size card base. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I used the sketch for Try Stampin' on Tuesday's Challenge #597, plus the photo from Inspiration Station's Prompt #47 challenge as the basis for my card. The inspiration photo made me think of Ireland - perfect for a St. Patrick's Day card!

I used Honey Bee Stamps "Plaid Background" stencils (discontinued) to create my background. For the hashed stripes, I brought in a stamp from My Favorite Things' "Plaid Background Builder" set (also discontinued). I used Twisted Citron & Salvaged Patina Distress inks for the stenciled portion of the plaid, & Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide ink for the stamping.

I googled "Irish blessing" to get the blessing for the main panel. I found one (I forget the site name), & decided it fit with the sketch design perfectly. I created a blank "canvas" in Photoshop the size I wanted the main panel. I copied & pasted the text for the blessing, & formatted it with the Celtic Hand font. It took a bit of fiddling with the font size to get the lines of text to come out how I wanted, but I prevailed! I printed that onto a panel of light green cardstock. I also created the greeting in Photoshop, using the Ramsey SD font. I printed that onto a strip of light blue-green cardstock.

For the shamrocks, I created a pattern using the custom shape tool in Photoshop. I printed that onto copy paper. The cardstock I chose to stitch on was too thick to see through to use my lightpad to transfer the pattern. So I traced the pattern onto tracing paper, placed that on the back of each circle, & used it as a guide to pierce my stitching holes. I used green DMC floss to do the stitching.

To assemble my card, I adhered the plaid panel to a white A2-size card base. Then I added the greeting strip & stitched circles. At this point, I realized I'd forgotten to add the twine. I prefer to keep the insides of my cards "clean," so I carefully peeled away the top part of the front plaid panel, & taped the ends of a length of twine behind the panel. Then I tied a knot with another piece of twine around the first. I used a little liquid glue on the knot to keep it from coming untied, & added more glue behind the knot to keep it in place. I stuck the top of the background panel back to the card base, & that finished this card.

I'm also entering this card in Double Trouble's Challenge #133, "Use the Color Green." I'm playing the optional twist of adding plaid.

You're a Winner

I created this card based on the sketch for Try Stampin' on Tuesday's Challenge #596. I rotated the sketch 90 degrees. For the purple banner in the sketch, I have a panel running the height of the card. I used the white block for my greeting.

I began by stamping the game controller from Simon Says Stamp's "All Boy" stamp set (discontinued). I colored it with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, then fussy cut it. I stamped my greeting onto a strip of patterned paper from the Recollections "Paddywack" 6x6" pad with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide ink.

I die cut a circle from pink houndstooth paper from the My Mind's Eye "Adorbs" 6x6" patterned paper pad, & glued it to my background panel. I trimmed down a scrap from an inky technique piece I'd done months ago that has been sitting on my desk, & adhered it overlapping the circle, as per the sketch. I glued the greeting banner & game controller in place, & and adhered the panel to a white A2-size card base.

Hope Your Day Blooms with Happiness

The current Lawn Fawnatics challenge is "Interactive Cards." I created this card with Lawn Fawn's "Magic Picture Changer" & "Magic Picture Changer Add-on" die sets. I also used the "Garden Before 'n Afters" stamp set for the images & greeting.

I began by tracing the openings with a pencil in the 2 dies that create the magic picture changer onto pieces of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper. This helped me to know where to stamp my images so they would both show up in the window. I stamped the images on their respective panels, & colored them with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. Then I lined the dies up & cut out the pieces.

I die cut the frame for the magic picture changer from a patterned paper from Lawn Fawn. (I don't know the name, as it was just a gift with purchase.) After I assembled the magic picture changer, I adhered the frame in place, making sure my adhesive didn't interfere with the mechanism. I die cut the "pull" stopper piece from pink cardstock, & glued it to the pull tab. I also heat embossed my greeting with white embossing powder onto the same pink cardstock, cut it into labels, & glued those to the frame.

I die cut a piece of plaid patterned paper (another gift with purchase from Lawn Fawn) with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies, & adhered it to my white A2-size card base. I adhered the magic picture changer with foam tape, to make it easier for the recipient to pull the tab. And that finished this card!

I'm also entering this card in Send a Smile for Kids' "Easter/Spring Cards 4 Kids" challenge.

Out of This World Birthday

I had created a multi-colored inky background following a Jennifer McGuire tutorial that came out not to my liking. I was kind of disappointed at my "fail," since I had followed her instructions to the letter. Rather than chuck it, though, I decided to do something different with it. So I inked over the whole panel with Black Soot Distress ink & splattered with Gansai Tambi Starry Colors White Gold watercolor to make a galaxy background. That became the basis for this birthday card.

I stamped several images from Lawn Fawn's "Beam Me Up" set onto scraps of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, and colored them with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. For shading & added dimension, I used a damp paintbrush to draw more diluted color out to the highlight areas. Finally, I die cut them with the coordinating dies.

I used an oval die to cut the "planet" from light grey cardstock, & adhered that to the bottom of my background panel. I trimmed off the excess, & glued my images to that. I stamped a greeting from "Beam Me Up" in black on the bottom of the planet. I matted the panel with a dark plum cardstock, & adhered that to a white A2-size card base. Finally, I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue googly eyes on to each of the aliens. I love how this card came out, & I think it will bring a smile to a child's face. And to think, it all started with a "failed" background!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts Challenge #486: "Celebrations"

613 Avenue Create January 2023 Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)