With Sympathy -- ScrapbookPal.com

I've said before that sympathy cards are tough ones for me, usually because I'm so emotionally connected to the person I'm making it for.  I want to keep the card fairly simple so that the sentiment can be the star, but I also try to add a few special touches to make sure the receiver knows they are special and loved.  I probably put way more thought into the design than the receivers will ever notice, but when all you can do for someone who is suffering is send them your love in a card, you want to put your whole self into it, right?

One thing that helps me when I'm making a sympathy card is having just the right sentiment, so I was really excited to receive the Sympathy sentiment collection by Pink by Design, courtesy of ScrapbookPal.com.  Stamps are a new category, and they've already got an impressive selection!  These sentiment sets have a ton of different sentiments, and I was very impressed with how well they stamp.  (Some acrylic stamps leave a lot to be desired, but are nice and crisp and feel sturdy.)

I have two cards to share with you today, both using the Sympathy sentiment collection.

I added the sentiment on this first card to a vintage tag, then used a rolled flower to accent it. (More about those in a later post.)  I used these great Liquid Pearl Accents in Bisque to create a center for the flower, and then to add accents to the edge of the patterned paper and to the flowers in the paper.  That was the perfect "special touch" for this card.  I am a big fan of Liquid Pearls -- they are so easy to use, and they add such a nice pearly touch to projects.

Other Materials: Patterned Paper -- Daisy D's; Cat's Eye Chalk Ink in Dark Brown; Green cardstock -- DCWV

For the sentiment on this card, I stamped it onto a small strip of coordinating patterned paper.  But cutting a triangular notch out of the end and using my fingers to bend the paper into a wave shape, I easily created a pretty little banner to really accent the sentiment.  I cut a flower from the Home Decor cartridge and used the Liquid Pearls to accent that, as well.  I also added a pretty sheer ribbon, which I attached by sewing it with a single stitch at regular intervals.  Then I covered each stitch with a dab of Liquid Pearl -- so pretty!

Other Materials: Patterned Paper -- SEI; Cat's Eye Chalk Ink in Charcoal; Cardstock for flower -- DCWV

Kazan's Sketch 49 at 2 Sketches 4 You, Caardvarks "Lacy Days" challenge

I love love love the sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You this week -- it's simplicity really speaks to me, and I can tell this is one I'll come back to again and again.  I really love how this card turned out.  I think it always makes a difference when you have someone special in mind when you make a card -- this one is for my dh's grandma, who is going in for a major surgery in a few days.  I also had the Caardvarks "Lacy Days" challenge in mind when I made this card.

Materials:  PP -- Wild Asparagus; Stamps and corner punch -- Stampin' Up; pearls -- Hero Arts; label frame -- Joann's; lace -- Fancy Pants; brads -- Making Memories

Thinking of You (times 2)...

Taking a break from my massive closet cleanout to share a couple of cards with you!  I'm sorry to say that I have had several reasons to make "Thinking of You" cards in the last month or so.  A card just seems so inadequate sometimes, but if a person you care about has lost someone and is too far away for a real hug, then I guess it has to do.  At least I can put all my best love and effort into the card, and hope that it somehow translates when the person opens it.

 

This one using paper from Making Memories, ribbon from SU, an EK Success border punch for that notebook edge, a Chatterbox brad, and a SU stamp.  The flower is one I designed for SCAL and cut with  my Cricut (the file is available in my etsy shop).  

This one uses Chatterbox papers.  The bird and branch come from the Home Decor cartridge, the scallop circle comes from Mini Monograms, and the tags come from George.

Cardmaking on the go...

Greetings from beautiful western Washington! I'm here with my kiddos visiting my husband's family for the entire month of June, which means two things: #1 - I actually have a little more time to scrap than usual, because I don't have my usual never-ending list of household chores and once the kids go to bed I have actual free time, and #2 - I'm limited to the supplies I could cram into my rolling and shoulder totes. When I was packing my supplies I really only picked supplies for the layouts I had planned and didn't think too much about cards, but I've had several dfferent card needs come up unexpectedly. Definitely a challenge, but I've been having fun seeing what I could do with the supplies I had on hand.



I was glad to find a stamped Tilda stashed in my tote from my last crop for this card, and I borrowed my MIL's colored pencils to do the coloring. The paper is from a Crate Paper baby collection, the label shape I cut with my Cricut and my new Home Accents cartridge (I think I used that one for just about all these cards). The rub-on and the ribbon are from Stampin Up.




Once I got here I realized I had completely forgotten to do Father's Day cards for my hubby's dad and grandpas and my own grandpa, but I didn't have a lot of paper that was really masculine. I used scraps from this cute American Crafts line on kraft paper, and a stamp and curly label punch from Stampin Up. "Dad" and "Grandpa" were cut with the George cartridge.



For this card I used this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. I have to admit this was a tough one for me, but I was really pleased with how it came out. There's that label shape from Home Accents again, plus the flourish photo corner behind it. The paper is from Crate Paper, and I used my Heidi Swapp edge distresser to rough up the edges of the rectangles. That is definitely my favorite cheap tool!



Last week while we were here we were so sad to learn that my husband's grandma has breast cancer. We headed over to her house a day or two later for some quality time, and I wanted to take a quick card to let her know we care. She's such a bright, strong person I wanted to make a card that would reflect that. This paper again is from Crate Paper (same as the first card) and the butterfly is from Home Accents. I used my SU scallop border punch and rub-on.



This one is for my sister, who unexpectedly had to get her gallbladder out soon after I got here. I was so bummed I couldn't be there to help out, but I definitely wanted to send her all my love and moral support. I love this Crate Paper -- I couldn't resist buying it when I saw how well it matched this cool dandelion shape from the Home Accents cartridge. The oval frame was cut with George. The stamp, label punch, border punch, and ribbon were all from SU.



This last one was for a wedding of some close friends of my in-laws. Not the colors I would usually use, but these were their wedding colors and it really seemed to fit the bride and groom's personalities. Inside it says "You make a great pair!" My mother-in-law laughed when she saw it -- turns out the bride's email address starts with greenpear. I must have cardmaking ESP!

Whew! I feel very productive -- maybe less really is more! I've also finished a couple of layouts, but I haven't been able to get a good picture so you'll just have to stay tuned... :)

I love the smell of new goodies in the morning...

There is something so inspiring about having new crafting goodies! For my birthday this year I had a little Stampin Up shopping spree and got a TON of the cutest stuff -- yippee! I've been so inspired by having all this great new stuff, so here are a few of the projects I've been dying to show you. Thankfully, my mom found my camera tucked into the pocket of an apron in her pantry -- oops. As Sammy said upon hearing the news: "She gets the dollar!"



This first one was a Valentine's Day project. We went to a church dinner dance, and I was in charge of decorating one of the tables. I had these cool dishes from IKEA, and I thought these little boxes went so nicely with them. Thanks, Brooke, for showing us how to make these at the party! The boxes are SO easy to make -- if anyone is interested I can post a video tutorial. I used the Manhattan stamp set for the flowers, the Curly Label stamp and punch for the label, and cut the "love" with the Cricut Opposites Attract cartridge at 1". I also used CDS and the George cartridge to cut out these hearts from red vinyl to apply to the glasses.







This one is from the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch from two week's ago. The pp is from Sassafrass Lass, and I used my own design and cut file for the notebook journaling spot (which I'll be putting up in my etsy shop when I'm finished here). I used my new "Little Leaves" and "Buttons #5" dies for the branch and buttons. The dotted lines are a jumbo stampin' wheel, named (appropriately) Dotted Lines, and the sentiment is from the "Sweet Little Sentiments" set.




Here's last week's 2S4Y sketch, which I rotated 180 degrees. The pp and stamps are from the "It's a Loop Thing" Sale-a-bration set (one of the best things about my party was that I got one of every single thing in the Sale-a-bration catalog FREE!). Oh, the sentiment is also from "Sweet Little Sentiments" set. I pieced the cupcake by hand. For the top part I just cut a circle in half, then used the SU scallop edge punch on the straight edge. I ran the bottom part through my paper corrugater to give it that cupcake-like texture. I made the cherry using the heart stamp from the set, and added CTMH liquid glass for a little shine.



This last card uses the "Thoughts and Prayers" set, which I think is SO pretty, which I colored with the Stamp and Write markers. I couldn't decide which background to use, so I just did one of each. The first one is embossed with the Cuttlebug text folder, and the second I did a little versamark stamping with the same floral branch stamp. Just a simple card, but I thought it turned out pretty.

Phew! Now that I have my camera back, I should be able to post projects more regularly. I still have 6 new SU sets I haven't even opened, so stay tuned! TIA!

Here's to you, little butterfly...

I've been thinking about this layout for a long time. These are the last pictures I took of my little sister Carissa before she passed away, and I was struck by the butterfly picture in the background, and how well that fit with the lyrics to this beautiful song by Susannah Clifford Blachly. Here are those lyrics, in case you can't read them:

“Here's to you, little butterfly
You grew wings and learned to fly
You broke through to a clearer view
And a wide open sky

You taught me things I need to know
When to hold on tight, when to let go
How to trust that the darkest hour of the night
Holds the promise of the light

Now I know that some day you'll be leaving
To heed the call of distant lands
And though I'll be no stranger to grief
I'll still open up my hands
And watch you fly, little butterfly

Here's to you, little child of mine
You'll be all grown up in no time
So much to learn through the twists and turns of this life

You taught me things I need to see
How to love the world that's in front of me
How to feel what's true and to listen to what it means to be free”

And here's my journaling:
"These are the last pictures I took of Carissa before she passed away, during the brief time she had been moved out of the intermediate care unit and the boys could visit her. Originally when I was working with this photo I cropped out most of the background, but then I noticed the butterfly photo in the background, and I thought it was so fitting. Carissa spent mortality in a body that was in some ways so limiting, but her beautiful spirit always shone through. In her passing, that spirit emerged more beautiful and radiant than any earthly butterfly. I know that Carissa is free now from the limitations of her mortal life and shines as a jewel in our Heavenly Father’s kingdom."

It was also a perfect opportunity to try out a new idea I had for making butterflies. It's a take-off from the flower technique I posted a while back, and I really like the way it turned out. I thought someone out there might like instructions, so I did a little photo tutorial as I went along.

1. Cut your base shape -- I cut mine with the Cricut George cartridge. It's , above the J. I cut it first on shadow with the cardstock and then regular with a light vellum. Adhere together as shown.


2. Sew a straight line from corner to corner as shown.


3. Trim out shape of wings (just like the flower petals from the previous technique). For butterflies, cut the top wings larger and rounder than the bottom. If they are the same, you'll get a shape more like a dragonfly.


4. Fold top layer away from bottom layer at stitched lines -- this gives it a really pretty dimensional element. I also used a mini-scallop scissor to add some detail to the wings on the larger butterflies, but it's too much of a pain to do it to the smaller ones.


5. Add a body. Mine is the dragonfly body from the Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge (hint: cut the body 1/2" smaller than your original shape -- ie, my largest butterfly was cut at 3", and the body was 2 1/2") Embellish as desired. I used thread to stitch glass beads onto the largest butterflies here, but on the card below I covered the whole body in Stickles.





Here is another card I made when I was trying out these butterflies. This card also uses last week's great sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You.



Supplies used:
(Layout)
Bazzill cardstock
Misc. vellum
Green Ice Stickles

(Card)
Kraft cardstock: Hobby Lobby
Patterned paper, ribbon: Fancy Pants
Stamp: Studio G
Mini-Scallop scissors, Threading Water (scallop) punch: Fiskars
Green Ice Stickles
Ink: Clearsnap Chalk Ink

Another note -- I made this layout to go in the book of remembrance I made for my family after Carissa passed away. Here is a link to those layouts (posted on the Cricut MB), if you'd like to see them.