Sympathy Cards

It's been a very sad week as I lost my cousin, Mike Murray, on 9/18, and two of my friends lost their moms; one on 9/20, and one on 9/21. My heart is so saddened with so much loss in just a few days. My thoughts and prayers go out to my Aunt, Uncle, cousins, my cousins wife, his son and all of the extended family. And to my two friends, I wished I could be there to hug them both. Loss anytime is sad, but under the current COVID-19 pandemic, it makes it even more difficult to bare.  Making cards is the therapy I needed this weekend. Many of my Facebook friends have been posting photos of the beautiful golden Aspen's in the Colorado Rockies. Those photos called out to me as a theme for these difficult cards to make. 

 I love the Woodland Embossing Folder and the inking technique I tried a few weeks back for yet another Sympathy card.  This time I used Pretty Peacock Stampin' Pad. I love the contrast of the gold and teal blue color combination. I also made a few using Crumb Cake Stampin' Pad to try something different! The smaller leaf from the Beautiful Autumn Stamp Set is not quite an Aspen leaf - but close enough. The Bumblebee Stampin' Pad is the perfect gold for my leaves. And last but not least, a little bling from the orangish Artistry Blooms Adhesive-Backed Sequins.

For this technique, open the folder and swipe the ink pad across the inside front of the embossing folder - I took 3 swipes from top to bottom to cover the entire front of the folder.  Place a 3 3/4" x 4" Very Vanilla piece of cardstock onto the opposite side of the folder and gently close the folder.  Run it through the Stampin' Up! Cut & Emboss machine.  The ink will have transferred to the cardstock - magical!  

I let it set to dry for about 5 minutes and then using Bumblebee Stampin' Pad and the small leaf outline from the Beautiful Autumn Stamp set, stamp leaf outlines in various positions on top of the tree trunks and in the spaces between the trees.  Using the solid leaf stamp from the same stamp set, align over the stamped outline leaves and stamp with Bumblebee Stampin' Pad to fill in the leaf.  

      

Instructions to complete the card:  

Very Vanilla Cardstock

• Cut 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and score at 4 1/4".  Fold on the bump, press with bone folder to make card. 
• Rotate card as a horizontal opening card.  Stamp the inside of the card as follows:
• Stamp "Thinking of you with all my heart" from the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set and Black Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad.
• Stamp the leaf cluster from the Life is Beautiful Stamp Set in the lower right hand with Bumblebee Stampin' Pad. 
• Die cut a scrap of Very Vanilla with the 2 1/4" wide opening 6 sided label die from the Hippo & Friends Dies.  Stamp "With Deepest Sympathy" from the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set.  With a Sponge Dauber and Bumblebee Stampin' Pad, brush all sides of the die cut sentiment.   

Copper Brushed Metallic Cardstock

• Cut 5 1/2 x 4 1/4".  Run through Hammered Metal 3d Embossing folder using the Stampin' Up! Cut & Emboss machine using Plate 1, embossing folder and Plate 4 as the "sandwich". 
• To save cardstock, using the Rectangle Stitched Dies, die cut using the rectangle with a 3" x 3 7/8" in opening.  Save for another project.  
• Adhere the remaining 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" frame to the card front using Stampin! Seal or Multipurpose Liquid Glue. 

Onto the Aspen designed cardstock, place Stampin! Dimensionals; 3 on each short side and then 3 down the middle equal distance apart.  Adhere centered onto the copper frame.  

Adhere the Sentiment label with 3 Stampin' Dimensionals in the left lower corner of the card front.  

Embellish with 3 large Artistry Blooms Adhesive-Backed Sequins onto the trunks of the trees.  Adhere one small sequin onto the sentiment. 

For more details about the Woodland 3D Embossing folder, click on above image

Another great Sale is coming up!  From October 1 - October 31, Designer Series Paper is 15% off.  Click on the link below for a PDF with more details about the DSP sale.  Many of my favorite DSP's are in this sale!  What a great opportunity to stock up on your favorites!  Please take a peek at the high quality 12" x 12" and 6" x 6" paper at these great prices.  Ordering opens on Thursday, October 1, I suspect some will sell out early.  

Designer Series Paper Sale

Saturday, October 3, is World Cardmaking Day.  I was hopeful to have a small group event at my home this weekend, however, with the passing of my cousin and my oldest son, moving into his new home, sadly I'm not going to be able to pull it off.  I'm so sorry if anyone had been waiting on me to post more details.  I hope each of you find some time in your craft room to make a special card for someone special in your life or make something special and donate to an elder care center or hospital for a care worker.  

I'll be advertising a replacement Make and Take event on Saturday, 10/24 to make a fun Candy Holder and a simple card.  Please watch for details in this week's newsletter.

I hope you all have a wonderful Fall week.  Remember to give a kiss/hug even virtually to your loved ones everyday....  

Happy Crafting!