The Greetery {Comforting Floral Sympathies}

Hello and welcome! Today I'm sharing a set of floral sympathy cards over on The Greetery Blog, but I wanted to share them here, too.  I sat down a few months ago and mass-produced quite a collection of sympathy cards to have on hand since these types are often needed unexpectedly. I’m saddened to say that my collection has dwindled and I’m in need yet again. As soon as I saw the recently released Comfort and Joy Stamp Set, I knew it would transcend beyond Christmas cards and I couldn’t wait to use the beautiful sentiments on a fresh set of sympathy cards. 

I’m particular about certain design elements and colors on sympathy cards and I will explain my reasoning throughout today’s post. That being said, I’m also known for breaking my own rules, so these aren’t “hard and fast”, but I use my judgement depending on the situation and recipient. (wink) Since these don’t have a particular recipient in mind, it didn’t matter necessarily. One more thing before I dive into the how-to, I don’t usually make “seasonal” sympathy cards, but changing up colors can make them more appropriate for a different season and I will explain that a bit more, too!

To begin, I chose to use the beautifulSpring Meadow Stencil Collection and coordinating Spring Meadow Die. I like using stencils for mass production because you can just go step-by-step, panel by panel. Let’s take a minute to talk about color; as you can see, each of the four cards has a different color combination, but can you believe it’s only because I changed the final color for each of the four cards? Just changing one color can really change the look and feel of your design. I chose the final color to create something more fitting for a  particular season. Keeping the rest of the colors exactly the same makes the mass-production element much simpler!

Once I had the four panels stenciled, I used the coordinating die to cut them out. I set them aside and got to work on the background. For sympathy cards I don’t generally like a lot of layers and design elements, but I DO like visual interest. For today’s cards, I added some vintage patina distress ink to the center of four 4 by 5 ¼ inch panels of white cardstock. I wanted to make sure I concentrated the ink where it would peek out from behind the die cut stenciled flowers. I also added some Hawaiian Shores ink splatter to each of the four panels for some depth and interest.

While the ink was drying, I got to work on the sentiments. I chose 4 sentiments from the Comfort & Joy stamp set that work well outside of Christmas and would work nicely for the sympathy cards. I used black ink and then used the coordinating dies to cut them out. Once I had that done, it was time to decide on a layout for each individual card. Some of the sentiments have the stamped companion sentiment such as “sending” or “sending wishes for”. Because of the intricacies of the die cut florals, I needed to stamp them up at the top or in the corner. I really like how easy it is to tilt the bouquet in either direction for variety. You could also use two for each card and arrange them at the top or bottom and then add the sentiment in the middle; lots of possibilities! I used my mini MISTI to stamp the companion sentiments and then assembled each card one-by-one.

Part of me wanted to add some sequins, but another one of my sympathy card “rules” is that I don’t want anything too flashy, so instead, I opted to spritz each card with a shimmer spray and a light hand! Each of the four panels was mounted onto A2 card bases using foam squares. I’m pleased to add these to my collection and fingers crossed I won’t need so many this year! Sending wishes to each of you for a blessed and happy new year! Thanks for fluttering by!

Papertrey Ink June Release Countdown Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of the Papertrey Ink June release countdown! Thank you for your sweet comments on yesterday's post! Today the team is featuring the new Into the Blooms: Iris die collection; I'm in love!

I was in need of two sympathy cards this week, so I chose to make two identical cards to send to the grieving families; I think the irises are a perfect choice for a sympathy card, but I can't wait to use them again in a more cheerful way!

I colored the flower portions using Amethyst Allure and Royal Velvet ink. I colored the yellow portions with a yellow marker to make things easier. The greenery is colored using Green Parakeet and New Leaf ink.

Since I already had the Woodblock Prints Stencil Collection out from my travel card yesterday, I thought I'd use one of the other designs for the background on these two mini-slimline cards.

I didn't add any stenciling in the middle so it almost gives the illusion that the irises are glowing. I added some black ink splatter for dimension, glitter and sequins (which I don't usually use on sympathy cards) and the sentiment is from the Feathered Friends Mini 4 stamp set.

My second for today uses the new Larger than Life: Hello stamp/die set; simple and easy to use!

I started off stenciling an A2 panel of white cardstock using the Wild Blooms Stencil Collection using some bright, summery colors. I also used the Cover Plate: Quilted die to add the texture over the top.

I die cut the Larger than Life: Hello twice from black cardstock and then glued them together. The remainder of the sentiment is stamped in black onto a strip of white cardstock and adhered using foam squares. I gave the entire panel a spritz of shimmer spray and mounted it onto a top-folding A2 Hawaiian Shores card base. A few sequins finish it off! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Even More Wildflower Sympathy

I had every intention of coming here to post a few card ideas for babies and sympathy, but blogger has decided that it doesn't want to post the baby card pictures, so today you get sympathy! ha ha! I shared cards like this a few months back but in a different colorway, so  even though they're pretty much identical, I thought you might like to see how bright and cheering they look in yellow. You can see the previous post HERE.

I've already sent 5 sympathy cards this month and I wanted to replenish my stash. As soon as I finished these, I found out that they would both be needed, too! Looks like I'll be working on even more sympathy designs and I promise I won't copy myself again! ha ha!

I cut two panels of Harvest Gold cardstock measuring 3 3/4 by 4 3/4 and embossed them using the Regency Swirls 3D Embossing Folder that was included when I got my Gemini Jr. for Christmas a few years ago. I do believe it is still included when you buy the machine. I added some More Mustard ink from SU! around each of the edges for added depth and definition. I also die cut two ovals from Rustic White cardstock using the Pierced Feature Frames: Ovals and just used the middle portion and saved the frames for another project.

I die cut two each of all of the pieces included in the Lovely Layers: Wildflower Honey Cuts and colored them using Distress Oxide inks. I glued them together using liquid glue and a few foam squares on the poppies for added dimension.

I desperately wanted to do something different with the sentiment this time, but in the end just heat embossed it in gold onto a strip of vellum and wrapped it around the focal panel.

I realized after I took the pictures that I forgot to add a touch of glitter, so I will add that before I need to mail them. The blue version that I linked above has glitter on the flowers, and I really like it. I usually don't add glitter to sympathy cards because I feel like it isn't always appropriate, but I think it works on these pretty wildflowers. Anyway, this gives you the option to see it with or without and you can decide which you like best! ha ha! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Wildflower Sympathies

****UPDATED with embossing folder information******Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments on my August release projects! I'm popping in today to share a pair of sympathy cards using a few new-to-me goodies that I recently purchased! I can't seem to keep my sympathy card stash stocked, and here I am again needing another one! I decided to make two cards so that at least I could add one to my stash and send the other out the door. I think I need to set aside one day every couple of weeks to just work on sympathy cards. 

I can't seem to stop with my same old formula for sympathy designs, so I apologize if you've grown weary of these; this is another one of those posts that is probably more for me! ha ha! I did, however, want to share with you the beautiful Lovely Layers: Wildflowers Honey Cuts! I think by now you know how much I love a good flower/leaf die collection! This particular set really spoke to me and I couldn't wait for them to arrive in my mailbox!

I also ordered the Vintage Garden stamp set specifically for the fabulous sentiments! I'm very particular with which sentiments I like and which ones I don't!  I knew that I would use the ones in this stamp set often, so I wanted to add it to my collection!

As you can see, this particular card got one of my older favorites; this one is included in the Feathered Friends 4 mini stamp set and is my usual go-to. 

I die cut all of the flowers from white cardstock and then colored them with assorted Distress Oxide inks and then glued them together using liquid glue and foam squares for the poppy flower. The two Ballet Blue background panels measure 3 3/4 by 5 and are dry embossed using the Regency Swirls embossing folder that was included with my Gemini Jr.

I arranged the three flowers as the focal point on the Love to Layer: Oval using foam squares.

I heat embossed the sentiment onto a strip of vellum and wrapped it around the focal panel and secured it on the back using scotch tape.

For this card, I really wanted to use the beautiful, large sentiment as the focal point and then arrange the flowers around the oval.

I spritzed both cards with shimmer spray for a hint of sparkle and then added glitter to this card; I usually don't use glitter on sympathy cards, but I felt like this one needed it! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

The Greetery {With Heartfelt Sympathy}

I have a really bad habit of making sympathy cards that cannot be mailed, yet I generally NEED to mail them! Even though I have a nice stash ready to go, I really needed two that could be mailed! It's been a minute since I used the Fleur Impressions stamp set from The Greetery, so I pulled it out and had some fun inking up the beautiful blooms!

I hadn't decided on a particular color scheme, so I just started adding and layering ink until I was happy with the result. These are all SU! ink pads, which I am finding myself reaching for more and more. They have been neglected for YEARS, yet they have the most prominent and accessible location on my desk, thanks to the fabulous carousel I bought back in my demonstrator days! They are still so juicy and nice, so I may as well use them, right? I still have all the coordinating cardstock as well (thank you crafty hoarder self) ha ha!

Anyway, I'm rambling....once I had the first, larger bloom inked, I decided to go for warm oranges, ruby, and blush hues for the blooms, but then switched gears for the Bordering Blue tall cluster of flowers. Since these two colors are on opposite sides of the color wheel, you are pretty much guaranteed success!

Both cards feature the same embossed background; I cut two pieces of Bordering Blue cardstock measuring 5 by 3 3/4 inches and embossed them with the Regency Swirls embossing folder; this was included with my Gemini Jr. when I got if for Christmas a few years ago. Because it is so deeply detailed, it made the cardstock very floppy so I adhered each panel to a white piece of card stock that is cut to the same size.

I went rummaging in my "leftover" pile and found this beautiful, yet wonkily cut, watering can! I thought with some strategic flower placement I could make it appear less wonky! ha ha! The recipient of this card is old and doesn't have the best eyesight, so I felt I'd be safe! Now I just need you all to be forgiving, too! LOL!

I used my favorite sympathy stamp set and tucked it up top! I added a trio of sequins and skipped glitter, like I normally would use on a floral design like this.

I also found this die cut circle in my leftover pile so I figured I'd use it as well. I simply clustered the flowers and leaves together and placed the sentiment over the top.

Both focal panels are added to white cardbases using foam squares. I tried hard not to use too much dimension, so hopefully these can still be mailed after all that! ha ha! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Birthday Wishes and Heartfelt Sympathy

I love how one beautiful bloom can make such a big impact on a card design! I often get caught up in stamping a bunch of little elements to fill up my card front, so it was nice to do something different than usual! These two cards were created for this week's Papertrey Ink Flash Sale using the Lush Bloom stamp set. I chose to make two cards: one birthday and one sympathy.

To begin, I die cut all of the pieces I would need for the flowers using the Lush Bloom Die and then stamped them; one yellow bloom and one pink bloom. I set the stamped pieces aside and got to work on the sentiments. I die cut both the sympathy and wishes portion using the Perfect Pairs: Commodities dies and then stamped them using the Perfect Pairs: Commodities stamp set.

Just a note on this yellow bloom: I used Harvest Gold for the first and second step of the stamping, and then used Summer Sunrise for the detail. This technique works well if you don't have many ink colors, and it also works well when you don't want the different layers to be too stark in contrast. I love how this one turned out! I heat embossed the coordinating "with heartfelt" portion of the sentiment and then added it next to the sympathy word.

This bloom uses Sweet Blush, Pale Peony, and Autumn Rose ink colors. The birthday portion of the sentiment was created just like I did for the other card.

I created two A2 card bases and then added some Aqua Mist ink blending in the center with Hawaiian Shores ink splatter. I also stamped the Nifty Plaid background just near the center of each card using Aqua Mist ink. I added the Skinny Postage Frame die cut from Weathervane cardstock and then added the other elements. A bit of glitter and a trio of sparkling clear sequins finish off the design! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Heartfelt Sympathy

****this post was written prior to the recent PTI release that included a BUNCH of Sympathy cards 🤣***My sympathy stash has dwindled to a few non-mailable cards that I'll save for times when I deliver a basket or a dinner, or something. I needed one desperately, so I sat down and created this CAS card; just what I was hoping for. I dug around in my "new product" basket that I mentioned in a previous post to find these beautiful crocus dies that were part of the Simon Says Stamp "Stamptember" event. I die cut then from white cardstock and then colored them using finger daubers and Distres Oxide ink.

I used foam squares and liquid glue to adhere them together. I've found that foam squares don't like to stick to die cuts that are colored with this particular ink, so I've found that adding a dot of liquid glue to the foam square fixes that problem.

I used the embossing folder that was included with my Gemini Jr. when I received it for Christmas in 2020. It still shows that it is included with the purchase of the machine. This is the first time I have used it and I absolutely LOVE it! I cut a panel of Soft Stone cardstock measuring 3 3/4 by 5 inches and ran it through my machine in the folder.

The sentiment, which is one of my favorites, is from the Feathered Friends 4 mini stamp set and is heat embossed in gold onto a strip of vellum. I added the crocuses to the embossed panel using foam squares and then wrapped the vellum strip around the panel and secured it with adhesive on the back.

Once that was done, I added it to a top folding A2 Soft Stone card base using liquid glue. I resisted and didn't add glitter or sequins because it felt too flashy or something on this sympathy design. Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Papertrey Ink January Release Countdown Day 1

Welcome to day 1 of the Papertrey Ink January release countdown! It is such a fun release and I have SO much to share with you today! Up first is a trio of cards using the fabulous new Into the Blooms: Roses die! They are so beautiful and easy to use to create amazing life-like blooms! I die cut all of the pieces using white cardstock and then colored them using an assortment of Distress Oxide inks and finger daubers.

This card also features the new Just Sentiments: With Sympathy stamp set; actually ALL of my cards I'm sharing today use different sentiments from that set. My sympathy card stash is lacking so I didn't mind creating a fresh stack to add to my collection. 

I learned a couple of tricks while assembling so many of these roses for this release. I will share them with you throughout today's post! As I mentioned earlier, all of the petals and leaves are die cut from white cardstock. One of the things that works really well is to alternate between light and dark layers, starting with your light layer as the base and work your way to the center.

Another trick that I found is to use liquid glue in the center of the first two layers and then add the 3rd layer using foam squares. that extra bit of dimension right there really allows the rose to look realistic. From there, I simply used liquid glue to adhere the last top piece.

My sister gave me a beautiful set of nesting bowls for Christmas and this card was inspired by the set. The background is die cut using the Border Bling: Tin Stitch die on a A2 sized panel of Berry Sorbet cardstock. I die cut the Spring Rain layer using the Scallop Stackers: Large die and adhered it to the top of the Berry Sorbet panel using foam squares. I also die cut a white panel using the Nesting Basics: Rectangles dies and the Nesting Basics: Pierced Rectangles dies. I stamped the sentiment in black and then added the flowers and leaves using foam squares.

The new rose dies have beautiful leaves, but I also wanted to add some additional detail and interest, so I used one of the leaf dies from the Into the Blooms: Dahlia die collection. If I must admit it, almost every single card I've made so far has used this leaf! ha ha! 

I added some glitter to the edges of the leaves and each of the roses for some sparkle and shine.

My second card using the new Into the Blooms: Roses die collection uses the same leaves as I mentioned earlier, but I decided to mix things up and make them in shades of blue and turquoise. I was inspired by a piece of embroidery that I saw and I couldn't wait to incorporate some blue leaves!

If you saw my sneak peek that  I shared on Instagram, then you would have seen all of the roses I created in all kinds of different colors. This card features two of the largest yellow roses and the smaller sized pink rose.

I had a lot of fun creating the background, but when it was all said and done, I covered most of it up! LOL! I used the same tin stitch background panel like I did on the first card and then layered a stack of two of the die cuts using the Cover Plate: Elegance die.

The final layer of the background is the medium sized frame from the Pierced Feature Frames: oval. I layered the flowers and leaves here and there. The sentiment is heat embossed in gold onto a strip of white cardstock and then tucked into the pink rose.

My third card using the roses dies features two of my favorites; the lavender roses! I love how these two turned out, which is surprising because as I was inking them up, I had my reservations!

I created another tone-on-tone background by layering the On the Border: Floral Bliss Die onto an A2 sized panel of Aqua Mist cardstock. I defined the edges by adding some of the ink that I used on the leaves using a blender brush.

I clustered the roses in a triangle shape and then added the leaves here and there to frame the roses. The sentiment, which is from the Just Sentiments: With Sympathy, is stamped in black onto a white banner that is die cut from the Banner Builder Basics die collection.

I tried to use 2-3 colors of ink on each layer of the rose, making certain to bring in at least one of the colors I used on the previous layers for continuity and realism.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I used the sympathy sentiment set for all of today's cards, but you could easily switch them up for any occasion.

My final card for today features the new Feathered Friends 19 die and the new Border Bling: Blooming Hearts die. I die cut all of the pieces for the bird, branch, and berries out of white cardstock and then inked them up with Distress Oxide inks.

There are quite a few small pieces and in the end I realized that I didn't put a piece on correctly! woops! Oh well! Anyway, I just carefully inked up each piece and glued them together using liquid glue and a foam square or two on the front wing.

I die cut the background using Stormy Sea cardstock and then blended some of the blue ink from the bird around the edges.

I forgot to mention that I added some additional shading and detail to the birds' wings using blue colored pencil.

My inspiration for this bird came from a picture of a completely different kind of bird, but I loved the colors so I gave it a try! In the end, I really like how he turned out! That wraps up day 1 and I'll be back tomorrow for day 2! Thanks for fluttering by!