Sympathy Card for Kylie’s International Blog Highlight

Sympathy Card Theme

Sympathy cards are sometimes tough to create and always tough to give out. Don’t underestimate how much a simple card can mean to friends or loved ones who are going through a period of grief … especially if you can’t be there to give them a hug.

Kylie has challenged us to create a Sympathy card this month. She has linked all the cards in one gallery and you can vote for your favourites!  I would be so happy if you would vote for me! Click here or on the Vote for Me circle below to go to the gallery on Kylie’s page. To vote, hover over the card until you see the little heart in the top right corner …. click on the heart. Then you can go ahead and vote for another four projects if you like.

I have a standard card I create whenever I need a Sympathy card. It is simple and I can make up a heap of backgrounds all at once and then just put the card together when I need it.  My “go to” stamp set for this one is Sheltering Tree from Stampin’ Up! so I am glad it has been around for a while now.

Gesso and Re-inker Background

The background piece is made with old book paper, gesso and ink spritzers made by mixing Rubbing Alcohol and Ink Refills in a Stampin’ Spritzer. The colours in the first card are Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay. What I like most about this card is that every one is different and you can go to town mixing different colours.

Here is a Daffodil Delight and Berry Burst colour mix.

The lonesome tree looked somewhat bleak there all alone on his lovely background, so to make it a real focal point, I doodled a square shape around the tree with a fine permanent black marker.  This is the bit I really like!  It is so liberating to add your very own personal touch to a card with a bit of doodling!!

The greeting on the front is from the Better Together stamp set, which is a fabulous set of greetings with a co-ordinating phrase meant to go on the inside of the card.  In this instance, while there is a “With Sympathy” greeting in this set, I elected to use the smaller phrase on the front of the card. I doodled around the entire phrase before trimming out with scissors.

To give you an idea of the many colours you can create, here are some swap cards I created a few years ago for an Onstage event with Stampin’ Up!

Video Tutorial

So you can see, I have been creating this card, or a version of it, for a while now. I produced a two part video tutorial a while back working through the process if you would like to check it out.

Part 1 covers the actual background creation.

Part 2 covers the making of the card.

Thanks to all of any of you who vote for me. I really appreciate the support! The top ten voted for projects will get the opportunity to blog hop with Kylie in a few weeks.

Thanks so much!
xx
Cheryll

PS … if you would like to create more cards like this, we are exploring the use of stencils in cardmaking in my September Class on 23rd September, 2017. For more details click here, or call me on 0438 464451 – email cheryll@senseofwhimsy.com.au