A time for Sympathy

I find myself in a place where I need to make two sympathy cards this week.  This card is for my best friend from high school as her mother passed recently.  I took the time while I created this card to pray for her and her family as they mourn the great loss of a Godly woman.

I started with a card base of 7” x 11” and folded it in half.  The frame layer is an embossed mulberry paper trimmed to 5” x 6 ½” purchased at Costco years ago.  A tip here . . . apply the adhesive to the card, not the mulberry paper, as it will just pull up!  The micro-beads are applied with Terrifically Tacky Tape, followed by Art Institute Fools Gold to fill in the tiny open spots.  I can no longer find the Terrifically Tacky Tape in the thin widths so I applied a length to adhesive backing repurposed from the Xyron X and carefully trimmed it to a ¼” width using my self-healing magnetic mat, metal ruler, and an Xacto knife.

I stamped Unity Stamps Blossom Stacker image in Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold ink on ivory card stock and heat embossed with Think Ink Gold Glitter Gloss embossing powder.  The image was then die cut with Spellbinders Blossom Tags and Accents and a Spellbinders circle to remove the center of the image.  The center is DCWV Metallic Gold card stock die cut with Heartfelt Creations Decorative Blossom Corner that has been trimmed to fit inside the circle.

I tried a new method of stamping and die cutting my flowers.  Previously I had stamped the images first then painstakingly lined up the die with a mask and die cut each flower section.  This time I die cut a series of Spellbinders Rose Creations flowers from ivory card stock.  I was able to put all five dies through and not use up much paper on each pass.  Each layer has two of each size of flower.  I lined up all the same size flowers to match the image as it lay on my table.  Then I inked the image with Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold ink and carefully laid the flower over the inked stamp and then placed a 1/8” acrylic sheet over the top and applied pressure.  I carefully removed the now stamped flower with tweezers.  I was able to cut and ink the individual flowers much more quickly. (The next time I do this technique I will take photos!  I’m feeling a little under the weather so creating the card was a little higher priority!)  I sprayed the flowers with Tattered Angels Sun Sisters Glimmer Mist and let them dry.  The flowers are shaped using the McGill embossing mat and stylus set; Heartfelt Creations has great tutorials and shaping many types of flowers.

The leaves and swirls are die cut from DCWV Metallic Gold card stock using the Heartfelt Creations Bella Rose die.  The sentiment is from a set I purchased from Dream Ink; I have all three sets that includes 252 words and phrases and can write just about any type of greeting I need!  I could not find a die cut shape to fit the sentiment, so I used a McGill corner punch to shape the ends of a ¾” strip of ivory card stock.  The sentiment is edged in Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold.  I assembled the card and it is now ready to send a message to my dear friend.

This card is entered in the following challenges:

Cardabilities Sketch 111 

Love To Scrap Challenge Blog #42 Say It in Color
Paper Wings Productions November Challenge Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays 190 Anything Goes

Selected as a Design Team Favorite at
Artistic Inspirations Challenges 117 Anything Goes in Gold and Ivory

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