Hello, Crafters.
Yesterday I needed to make a sympathy card; well, more of a “thinking of you” card, really. Othman found out a week ago that a friend of his from way back when had passed away last September. He asked me if I’d make a sympathy card to send to his friend’s widow Brenda. The Very Versailles Stamp Set is ideal for either a sympathy card or a thinking of you card!
I chose Soft Sea Foam and Smokey Slate as my colour combo because they’re both soothing and relaxing colours. I stamped the script stamp on the Whisper White Cardstock (CS) layer using Smokey Slate Ink that I’d stamped off once. Then I used the leafy stamp with Soft Sea Foam Ink. The sentiment in the Very Versailles Stamp Set says ALWAYS THINKING OF YOU but I felt the THINKING OF YOU from the Woven Heirlooms Stamp Set was more appropriate. The font blends in well!
Before I adhered my image layer onto the Soft Sea Foam CS layer, I decided to emboss it using the Layered Leaves Dynamic Embossing Folder. I normally have my top layer 1/8″ smaller all round to the layer below but with today’s card, I allowed 3/8″ all around. After adhering the two layers together, I adhered them onto my Whisper White CS card base. I added the same two identical layers inside the card, without any decoration so Othman had enough space to write his message.
Once I’d finished the card, I wondered how easy it would be to convert my sympathy card into a birthday card. I started by cutting identical layers that I’d used for the first card inside and out! While I was doing this I was thinking about what changes I could make for the conversion. Unfortunately, I lost my concentration and after stamping the script and leaves, I adhered the two together before embossing the Soft Sea Foam Layer!
I decided that I’d stamp HAPPY BIRTHDAY on it using Smokey Slate Ink and then emboss both layers together. Unfortunately, again, I stopped for dinner and when I came back I’d totally forgotten and adhered them to my Whisper White CS card base. Oh well, it was obviously not meant to be! I stamped two of the large poppies from the Painted Poppies Stamp Set onto Whisper White CS using Smokey Slate Ink.
I used the Light and Dark Soft Sea Foam Stampin Blends to colour in the poppies, and I used the Light Smokey Slate Stampin Blend to colour in the centre of the poppy. To make the centre of the poppy that was going to be on the front of the card really pop, I painted a Clear Faceted Gem using a black Sharpie Pen. At first, I was concerned that the black would look too dark, but once I had finished doing it, I was pleased with the effect.
I needed something in the bottom right-hand corner to help balance my card and decided a bow would fit the bill. Unfortunately – for the third time – I didn’t have any ribbon in Soft Sea Foam so I tried Whisper White Ribbon but it was too light to help out balancing my card! I decided to colour my ribbon using Soft Sea Foam ink.
I did this by putting the ribbon onto the ink pad and held it in place with a Dauber so I was able to pull it through slowly. I did this a few times and turned it over to do the other side. The colour blends in well but I should have gone easier on the number of times I pulled the ribbon through under the Dauber. At least it has done what I wanted it to do and that is to balance my card!
The reason I don’t colour my ribbons very often is that I don’t plan ahead enough to allow time for the ribbon to dry! To finish today’s card, I added two layers inside to match the two layers on the front. I adhered the second poppy I’d made by adhering it in the bottom right-hand corner but without a Clear Faceted Gem that I’d added to the poppy on the front of the card.
That’s about it from me today. I hope you have a super weekend, and I look forward to being back with you tomorrow. In the meantime, happy crafting.
JanB. xx
Products used for this project: please click on any link to be taken to my 24/7 online Stampin’ Up! shop. January 2020 Hostess Code is NCFPAHXQ Thank you. xx
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These cards are very pretty. I love the subtle effect of the colors and the background. Not overpowering and it is calming!! TYFS
Many thanks, Claire. It never fails to surprise me how “dark” Soft Sea Foam is; such a great colour! xx
I absolutely LOVE all your card designs. Especially the soft gentle ones like this one. The only thing I wish you would add is the “recipe” for the card: dimensions of each of the different layers. It is difficult to do repeated screen shots from your videos and having the measurements in your blog would be a great help. Thank you very much for sharing.
Hi, Eydie. I’m so pleased you like my cards. Thank you. The measurements for the cards featured in my videos are always in the box below the video, which you can copy and paste onto a Word document so you don’t need to keep doing screenshots. Most of my cards are a standard size, so maybe I could just add a note each day on my blog just under my signature. Then any days I do something other than standard I could add those dimensions as well. I will see if I can incorporate this, but I can’t promise because all extra jobs take extra time. I will do my best! 🤞 xx
Jan, just a question about the clear faceted gem on the front of the poppy. Did you colour it in as it looks black or is it just my eyes (having cataract surgery in a few weeks time). I do love the embossing folder – just ordered it as it is on the Clearance Rack (at least here in Australia). XX Mal
Hi, Mal. Yes, I used a Black Sharpie Pen to paint the Clear Faceted Gem. I did try my Basic Black Stampin’ Blend but the facets were too rough. xx