Sympathy Card

 I made this sympathy card with some retired SU! cardstock called Soft Sky. It was always one of my favorites. I sponged on 3 different Distress ink colors in a random pattern on white and stamped the Tim Holtz image in black ink on top. After that dried, I covered the entire piece with Versamark ink and heat-embossed it using clear EP. I framed it with black, more Soft Sky and another black panel and added a SU! sentiment that was heat-embossed with white on a black snippet. I used a hexagon punch to fishtail the ends.

I'm sharing this with the Allsorts challenge week #799 - Get Well or With Sympathy or use the A/G option.

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day whatever you do!

Carol

Heartfelt Sympathy

 I used a set of Altenew Dahlia layering stencils to create this sympathy card using lavender and purple inks. I created a border with coordinating cardstock and a Martha Stewart doily border punch, and added a panel with the sympathy sentiment stamped in purple along with some random purple and lavender gemstones. The stencils pretty much did all the work for me on this one!

I'll share this with the following challenges:

The Allsorts Challenge Week # 739/40 - Anything but Square

the Double D challenge Collaboration with Altenew stencils - A/G

August Stencil Fun Challenge - A/G *optional butterflies

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all the best possible day!

Carol

Sympathy Card

 I love my Altenew layered Dahlia stencils and used them to make this sympathy card. I used Broken China and Peacock Feathers distress inks on a piece of white card and added a panel of black behind the SU! sentiment for a little contrast. 3 tiny black gemstones finished this card.

I'm sharing this card with the June Stencil Fun Challenge - Use a stencil *optional - use layered stencils

Also sharing with the Triple B June challenge - Birds, Blooms, Butterflies - use 1,2, or all 3

Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a wonderful day!

Carol

Another Sympathy Card

 Unfortunately, I had to make another sympathy card for a friend who lost her oldest son. I used the Altenew Dahlia layering stencils to create this, using Squeezed Lemonade and Fossilized Amber Distress inks. The sentiment is from SU!'s Kindness and Compassion and it was heat-embossed with white ep on black. I added 3 tiny black gemstones to finish this and quickly got it in the mail this afternoon.

I'll share this with the May Stencil Fun challenge which is to use a stencil and this month's option is flowers.

Thanks for stopping by as always and I wish you a wonderful day.

*Has anyone else been getting lots of comments dumped in their spam folder on blogger? I've been keeping that folder empty for several months now since I first learned that it existed, but last week there were 45 more in there overnight, and then a dozen more a couple days later. Again just yesterday there were 78 comments in there! This morning I checked again and there were 9 in there and I just now checked again and there were 5 more. They range in date from 2009 - 2019 so I'm completely baffled as to why this is going on. I always return comments for those who visit and comment, so I apologize if it appears that I've ignored you at some point. I just have no clue where these comments have been stored all these years and much less why they didn't come to my blog to be published! If anyone knows, I'd appreciate your input!

Carol

Sympathy

 I dug deep into my paper stash and found these snippets of some long-retired SU! papers and made a sympathy card with them. I guess you could say I've hoarded them, but I thought these pretty colors and patterns would  work for a sympathy card which I needed to make. The butterfly is an unbranded die that a friend gave to me years ago, and I used a MFT notched border die which was also a gift from a friend years ago that I use quite often. The sentiment is SU! teeny tiny wishes (r) and I added 3 diamond gems to the butterfly to finish it.

I'll share this with these challenges:

The Snippets playground #453 - must use snippets

The Sisterhood of Crafters "Butterflies" Challenge

the Colorful Options May challenge - Blue

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful day in May! April sure did fly by quickly didn't it??

Carol

Sympathy Angel

I made a sympathy card as a neighbor of mine sadly and suddenly passed away on Mother's day at the tender age of just 63. I die-cut this angel with a GMD die and placed her in the sky among the clouds. I made the clouds with T.E. cloud stencils and some Speckled Egg distress ink, then added a few die-cut birds from my stash and covered everything with clear Wink of Stella. I added a small sentiment with some Smoky Slate grey ink and decided that was all it needed. I don't think I've ever made a sympathy card with an angel on it, but I really like how this turned out.

I'm going to share this with the following challenges:

the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - stencil it

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #405 - die cuts and/or stencils

Thanks for the visit and do have yourself a pleasant day. Life is short, so go out and enjoy the sunshine and smell those spring flowers!

Carol

Sympathy Card

I seem to be making sympathy cards often lately, so I made a few to keep in my stash. This one started with some grass green cardstock and a Tim Holtz image that I stamped on white with Versafine black ink, then heat embossed it with clear detail ep before sponging on several different distress inks. The background was done with white cardstock; a Repeat Impressions fern stamp and some Versafine ink, then heat-embossed with white ep. The sentiment is a stamp and die set from Serendipity.

I'll enter this into the Repeat Impressions anything goes challenge JL2220

That's it for me today. I'm dealing with another hot day and a clogged kitchen sink. Nothing has helped so far so I suppose a call to a plumber is on my list for today. 

Take care and have a great Wednesday and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Sympathy Card

I bought this KaiserCraft Sheet Music embossing folder a few months ago on a trip to a local craft store and have not used it as much as I'd like to. I thought it might make a pretty background for a sympathy card so that's what I'm sharing today

I placed the embossed panel on a Daffodil Delight card stock base, and used a snippet of green card to die-cut the large swirl with a Cheery Lynn die. The tiny flowers were done with a retired SU! mini punch and some Daffodil Delight matching polka dot dsp. I placed a drop of Black Nuvo drops in the center of each bloom, and used a Lil Inker stitched die to cut the sentiment panel which was heat-embossed with white embossing powder along with a SU! teeny tiny wishes greeting.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

Little Red Wagon #557 - embossing

A Place to Start July 2020 challenge - flowers

Snippets Playground Challenge #382 - use snippets

Thanks for stopping by and do have yourself a wonderful day!

Carol

Sympathy

This Sweet'n Sassy stamp image has always been a favorite of mine for making sympathy cards. I stamped the image with Versafine Onyx Black ink and clear-embossed it, then sponged in the sky and water with Distress inks. Next I added lots of Stickles to the water, blending and swirling the colors together with a toothpick. The sentiment stamp was found in a local scrapbook store over a year ago where they make their own, but don't put a name on them.

I'll enter this into the Double D challenge which is "silhouettes"

Thanks for the visit and I hope you're all enjoying a nice weekend!

Carol

Sympathy Card

This is the most difficult sympathy card I've ever had to make. 

On July 11th, our area of PA encountered heavy storms and downpours with 6" of rain that fell rapidly; causing sudden flash floods, leaving many motorists stranded and waiting to be rescued.

One such incident involved a young mother who was 8 months pregnant and had her 9 year-old-son in the car with her. Without warning, their car was suddenly swept off the road as the water rose quickly with no time to react. In spite of her being on the phone with #911, the rescue efforts to reach them failed and they perished in their car.

The story moved me to tears when I first read it, but after we found out who they were, we were stunned and shocked. We've been fortunate to have an honest and very good car mechanic (Mark) for over 30 years since we moved to this area, and his son Josh joined him in the business when he grew up. The young woman driving that car was pregnant with Josh's daughter, and just trying to imagine the devastation these families are going through is beyond my comprehension. To lose the love of your life, your son, and your unborn child in a heartbeat is just inconceivable and there are simply no words I can think of that would offer them comfort as they try to get through this unimaginable time in their lives. This sympathy card is for Josh and Mark. 

I used a GinaMarieDesign die for the background and colored each section with pastel copics in pink R11, blue B21, and yellow Y11. It was cut from a diamond-finish card stock and has a soft shimmer to it. The angel was a GinaMarieDesign die cut done in gold mirror card and placed on a stitched oval die cut; also by GMD. The Sympathy sentiment was done with a die by Serendipity, also done in gold mirror card and pastel grey ink for the word "with." Sorry the reflection of the mirror card does not make for a good photo, but I was trying to get the look of an angel with heaven behind her as she welcomes her 3 new angels. It looks much prettier in real life.

The other day I closed a blog post with a reminder to hug your loved ones. This is the reason why I added that. I rarely discuss personal things here, but my heart is just full of sadness as they prepare to say their final good-byes on Friday. Life is short and no one knows just how short it might be.

I'll share this with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge which is to make your own background.

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day. Live it and love it while you can!

Carol

Sympathy Card

Unfortunately I've had the need to make several sympathy cards lately, and I love using the Poppystamps Tulisa Corner Collage die to make quick and easy cards. For this one I used some SU! Gorgeous Grape card stock and stamped the SU! sentiment with matching ink. I pulled out an old retired SU! butterfly sizzlet and cut/embossed the 3 butterflies, adding lavender gemstones to each one and called this done.

I'd like to enter this into the Dies R Us challenge #124 - which is anything goes using dies by companies carried at the DRU store.

My thoughts today are with those folks enduring those frightening earthquakes in CA, and hopefully there won't be any more anytime soon! Hugs to you all.

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day! We're going to sizzle in PA today, so after a brief errand, I'll park myself back in the air conditioning for the remainder of the day!

Carol

Sympathy Card

I've always loved this SU! embossing folder because it leaves enough room for a sentiment on the lower portion. I punched some flowers with white using a Carl sakura punch and affixed them on top of the embossed flowers in the design. I used a small starburst punch to make the flower centers from some gold-embossed snippets of white card stock. The butterflies were done with a SU! embosslit butterfly die and cut from the same gold-embossed snippets as the flower centers. The sentiment is by Hero Arts and was heat embossed with gold ep.

I'm sharing this with Pixie's Snippets Playground #347 where all you have to do is use snippets.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful Tuesday!

Carol

Bokeh Sympathy Card

Sorry my posts have been lacking lately, but Mrs. Sunshine took an extended vacation and it's been too dismal and dark to take pictures. Today she's made a comeback to our area, so I will have several cards to share, with a 2nd post coming later today. I'm trying not to complain about the dreary weather we've had for a couple weeks, because it's been nothing compared to the devastation those in the south are experiencing with hurricane Florence. I hope and pray there is shelter for those who have lost everything in the path of this devastating storm. I cannot imagine what they are experiencing.

Onto the card...I made this Bokeh background with Tumbled Glass Distress ink and white craft ink, dabbing circles of white on the blue sponged background. I thought the soft look was perfect for a sympathy card, so I used the MFTWSC402 sketch to create this card. 

I added a die-cut Memory Box prim poppy, cropping off the bottom, and added a sentiment I recently bought at my local craft store. (it has no name) I adhered it to a snippet of white that I inked with Tumbled glass ink several times to get a darker shade of blue. To fill in the rectangle shape of the sketch, I added some glitter Nuvo drops.

I'm also entering this card into the Happy Little Stampers Anything goes with Dies challenge for September.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. I'll be back soon.

Carol

Black and White Sympathy Card

Welcome to the first weekend in August! It's a rainy Saturday morning - the perfect kind of day to stay in your jammies and craft the day away!

Today I have a sympathy card done in black and white. I embossed the white panel with a TH Damask embossing folder, and die-cut the Serendipity Sympathy sentiment in both black & white, matting with the black to make it stand out against the white background. The word "with" - is a stamp included with the die and it was heat-embossed on black with white embossing powder. The ribbon is retired from SU! and that's all there was to making this easy but elegant sympathy card.

I'm sharing it with the Dies R Us challenge #102 which is to use only the colors of black and white. 

Thanks for checking in and I hope your weekend is a great one!

Carol

TMS #461

Here's the latest sketch for the Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge #461 designed by our own Debbie.

I made a card today with my favorite color combination - purple and green. I used some Pear Pizzazz dsp from SU! along with a strip of purple plaid paper by Lawn Fawn. The sentiment is by SU! and was die-cut with a Gina Marie Designs stitched oval, then matted with matching purple cardstock. The stems were done in white with a "leaves" die by Fantastic Flowers and I added some tiny flowers done with a SU! mini punch with some lavender rhinestones in the centers.

For some more fantastic inspiration you can check out my DT members blogs below...

Debbie

Jenée

Melissa

Patti

And now it's over to you to give this sketch a try. There's a great prize up for grabs this week too - a Distress Oxide Mermaid Lagoon ink pad!

Thanks for stopping by and make it a fabulous Tuesday!

Carol

Sympathy Card

I'm always in need of sympathy cards for my stash, and this one was created with a Hero Arts stamp set with the flowers and leaves having been heat-embossed with white. I sponged the elements with Distress inks in Lemonade and Citron, going heavier on the flowers and leaves, and lighter on the background. I dotted the flower centers with a fine brown marker and added a SU! sentiment done with SB petite oval dies.

I'm sharing this with the Simon Wednesday Challenge which is "anything goes."

Thanks for spending a few minutes of your day visiting - now go enjoy the weekend! Mother nature gave us a break with some sunshine today, so it's time to get outdoors and enjoy it!

Carol

Sponged Sympathy Card

 This card began with a panel of white that was sponged with just a hint of Distress spun sugar ink, then embossed with an Anna Griffin ef. The vertical panel was done with a heavier hand of pink sponged inks and embossed with a matching strip ef to the larger one. I added a black border done with a SU! scalloped edge punch. The flowers were die cut 3 times with a Darice Daisy Die; one from green, one from black (for the flower centers) and one from a different piece of sponged bright pink paper. The sentiment was heat-embossed with white ep using a SU! sentiment and I used a black marker to add highlights to the embossed flowers.

I'm sharing this with the Dies R Us Challenge #96 - flowers

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great Sunday!

Carol

Shopping our Stash #348

The SOS #348 challenge is to use Black, White, and 1 other color, so here's my entry. I used a snippet of dsp from my stash that has pretty green leaves on a black background and put a die-dut Memory Box Prim Poppy and a tiny SU!  die-cut butterfly on top. I added a beautiful white frame around it done with a Mama Elephant die (thanks Lynn), and added a SU! sentiment, done with a SU! word window punch. I hoarded saved this piece of dsp for ages waiting for just the right card to use it on, and I think it works here!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Carol

Serene Scene

Here's a sympathy card made for my stash. I used SU! 1st generation and 2nd generation Upsy Daisy stamp sets with black Versamark ink, and immediately heat-embossed them with clear ep. I sponged the bottom with red, the middle with orange, and the top with yellow inks from Colorbox to create the sky. I stamped silhouette images of birds and a dragonfly with SNSS images, and added a white heat-embossed sympathy sentiment, matting the image panel with black and placing it on a vanilla card base. I added a die-cut grassy border in black along the bottom and tied a piece of vanilla ribbon from my stash for the finishing touch.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - floral frenzy

Double D challenges - Just wing it

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a fabulous Friday!

Carol

Sympathy Bouquet

Today I have a card with a water colored panel made with Squeezed Lemonade, Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar, and Mustard Seed distress inks. I just randomly sponged the panel and lightly spritzed it with water and let it dry. For the bouquet, I used die-cuts done with SU! Bouquet Bunch framelit dies, adding some Nuvo pink glitter drops to the centers of all those tiny flowers. The little bow on the stems was coated with Stickles frosted ice glitter glue for some subtle sparkle. The sentiment was heat-embossed with white ep on black and cut with a SU! word window punch. I matted the image panel with black and placed it on a white card base.

I'm sharing this with the Happy Little Stampers September Watercolour Challenge which is anything goes with an optional twist of "spritz."

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great Friday!

Carol