Thursday, August 30, 2018

Blessed are those who mourn...


...for they shall be comforted.  I am so thankful for this scriptural promise!  Last week was a very difficult week.  The 20th was the 4th anniversary of my mother's passing, and on that very same day my sweet uncle passed away.  He was the husband of my mother's youngest sister, and a Baptist preacher/minister for as long as I can remember.  My heart is heavy for my auntie and cousins and all of those who are grieving his passing.  


I love sympathy cards with scriptural sentiments, but it seems even more appropriate than ever under this circumstance.  I am wondering how many times in a lifetime of ministry my uncle might've used these words to comfort his grieving parishioners.  I pray that they now will bring comfort to his own family. 

Usually I use more neutral colors for sympathy cards but for some reason this time a pop of bold color felt essential.  There's also the subtle sparkle of diluted Delicata ink on the floral focal point and the edges of the sentiment panel.  It brings some elegance to an otherwise relatively simple card.


And here's the inside.

These are the supplies I used for this project:

Thursday, August 16, 2018

You've Been On My Mind!


We just got back from a trip to Upper Michigan, and although it was hotter than normal for there this time of year, it still wasn't quite as blazing hot as Florida!  The nights were cool, even chilly, and Fall felt just around the corner.  It made me yearn for warm yellows and oranges so I reached for some distress oxides, a stencil and some cinnamon colored polkadot designer paper for today's Stamp Simply project, which will be hand-delivered to a friend who was recently hospitalized.  


I layered several colors of distress oxide inks onto some white card stock for the focal panel background, splashing drops of water, blotting with a paper towel, then stenciling on some lacy flowers with the brighter colors.  Next I diluted some metallic inks with water and splashed them on with a paintbrush.  The edges were sponged with regular tea-dye distress ink.  The sentiment panel was cut with the teardrop die from another print from the designer paper, then backed with a classic circle to allow the brighter color to peek from underneath.  A cluster of bitty blossoms with sparkly centers add a pop of color to match the horizontal scalloped border which is a punch-out from the same designer paper pad.


For the inside I repeated the polkadots and a little bit of stenciling on kraft-colored card stock for a more subtle, easier to write on background, adding more splashes of gold and the distress oxide orange.  The sentiments outside and in were stamped using the Tim Holtz platform and shimmery Delicata copper ink, in keeping with the relatively monochromatic color scheme. 

Supplies:

Thursday, August 9, 2018

A Pinwheel Card, Just for You!


I found another tutorial online that's great for 8 x 8 double-sided papers.  I just love how simple but impressive this pinwheel card is!  The tutorial uses a diagonal score board, but it's easy to make the card without it.  Just measure in three inches from each corner on all four sides, then align the scores diagonally on your regular scor-pal, going from the mark at the top left to the mark on the bottom right. repeating on each side.   That's the only modification from the video that was necessary.


I made a really narrow belly band with a small square center sentiment because I didn't want to cover up the pinwheel formed where the sides intersect when the card is closed.  There's a hint of the double-sided paper on the outside.  I love this busy little floral print, which looks really pretty with the contrast of bright white for a sentiment and your own message inside.

Here are the supplies I used for today's project, all from Stamp Simply:

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Just A Note, again!


As much as I have been into fabric lately, I really love this pretty rose print from the Miss Betty designer paper line.  The fresh, feminine colors, punch outs and vintage office/school-themed designs really appeal to me.  Today's Stamp Simply card was inspired entirely by the tiny notebook paper and a card sketch that I saw on Pinterest.  

A little bit of fussy cutting, die cutting, and "sanding" around the edges of a punch-out with an emory board and this card was done!


There's another punch-out on the inside which is otherwise very low-key, with lots of white space for a handwritten note of your own.

Supplies: