Sympathy Cards

My mom called me a couple of days ago and asked me to make her a dozen sympathy cards that she can keep on hand for emergencies. I have to admit, sympathy cards are not my forte. I don't have many sentiments that work for sympathy cards and, well, I think they're just a little depressing. So for the next few weeks, I'll be focusing on sympathy cards for the most part, but I'll be taking breaks here and there for a few fun ones as well so I don't go completely crazy!

To start with, I stamped this simple background stamp (random from my stash) on a piece of white cardstock and then trimmed it to balance the size of the stamp. I then stamped the greenery from Kinda Eclectic randomly around the edges (first and second generation stamping). Trim the sentiment onto a small piece of cardstock and back with a matching shade of green, attach the pearls, and you're done.

Supplies:
Stamps: Background (random from my stash), Kinda Eclectic, Loving Thoughts
Ink: Sahara Sand, Mossy Meadow
Paper: Sahara Sand, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White
Other: Pearls

Because I've really been loving my watercolors lately, I used them to  make this card. I used an acrylic block to "stamp" the watercolor background in shades of blue and then heat set it. I stamped the flower image in StazOn Jet Black so I could us my watercolors to shade the stem and the flowers. After that dried, I used Versamark and some black embossing powder to heat emboss the sentiment at the bottom of the card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Watercolor, Loving Thoughts
Ink: Watercolor paints (Artist's Loft), Versamark, StazOn Jet Black
Paper: Strathmore Watercolor, Sahara Sand
Other: Black embossing powder

And now a break for a fun card!

Sticking with my watercolor theme, I painted a swatch on my paper with shades of blue and purple and then laid a stencil over the paint while it was still wet and allowed it to dry. That's what causes those neat impressions in the paint. I cut a tag and heat embossed my sentiment with silver embossing powder and then adhered it to my panel with some foam tape. I randomly stuck some star confetti and pearls around the card for some added interest and "bling".

Supplies:
Stamps: Operation Write Home (Hero Arts)
Paper: Strathmore Watercolor, Night of Navy
Ink: Watercolor paints (Artist's Loft), Versamark
Other: Silver Embossing powder, Star confetti, pearls, white crochet thread