Sympathy Cards

Hi Again!

The title of this post isn't meant to bring you down but it is a reality for all of us. Which leads me to the entire reason I decided to do this post. Recently a loved one's parent passed and of course I wanted to offer my condolences. This is a stash that we all hope not to have to pull from often but it's certainly part of life.

So far I have found that flowers seem to be perfect for cards in the sympathy category because they are simple and elegant. I like to use muted colors because they lend a softer look to the card and I make sure to keep the embellishments limited and tasteful (think small pearls). I personally like to keep it pretty flat because typically I mail sympathy cards. Memorial services are usually pretty emotional for me whether I knew the person or not, I tend to be like Dolly Parton or Truvy if you've seen the movie, "I have a strict rule that nobody cries alone in my presence." (Thank you, Steel Magnolias.) The thought of handing someone my card that I truly try to write something heartfelt in feels just too uncomfortable (and what if they are holding it all together and then they read your card and it sends them into tears? I do NOT want to be the person that caused that!).

I currently don't own any fitting sentiments to go on the front of a sympathy card but I do have a stamp that I use on the inside, it is nice expresses the feelings I want to convey and is not religious (important to me because I wanted to be able to use it for anyone). I plan on investing in some more sympathy stamps but if you already make your own sympathy cards you might agree with me that they aren't easy to come by. The thing I try to focus on when making this category of cards is that the sentiment you may or may not stamp on the front of it or even the inside for that matter is not as important as the comfort that the recipient will feel when they receive the card and are reminded that someone cares (at least in my experience even when words didn't get through the pain, feelings of people caring did). 

Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to leave any comments I would love to hear what you turn to when you want to comfort a loved one who is going through the death of a loved one or a hard time in general. It has been mentioned to me that in order to leave a comment on this blog you have to have a google account, if you don't but would still like to comment please feel free to visit my FaceBook page here.

Wishing you sunshine and smiles,
Kim :)

I LOVE Dies!!!!

Hi Again!

Sooo....let's talk about dies. Do you use them? Do you love them? Do you know what they are? Just in case you are new to the world of dies they are thin metal that are in a specific shape and when you run them through a die cutting machine (like a Big Kick, Cuttlebug, or Vagabond) with paper under the die the metal die cuts out the image. You will see what I am talking about in the picture of the card because the bench that I use on the card is a die that I have.

I do own a Silhouette Cameo and I like it although I am still learning how to use it so I may grow to love it but the jury is still out on that. I do know that I LOVE dies, they are beautiful, quick, and easy to use!!! My collection keeps growing and growing and growing and I look forward to growing it even more! If you haven't used dies before I implore you to give them a try I would be surprised if you don't end up loving them too. Oh and did I mention they cut through several different types of material? Cardstock, felt, vinyl and others.

For this card I used two different dies. The white bench (I wish I had taken a picture of it so you could better see the intricacy of the bench) and the grass at the bottom. I colored the sky with distress ink in Tumbled Glass and China Blue. I colored the bottom with Mowed Lawn. I went over the die cut out of grass with a Wink of Stella brush pen in light green. The sentiment stamp is from Technique Tuesday and I embossed it using white embossing powder over Versa Mark ink. I colored the image with Copic markers, used a white pen to color in the whites of her eyes and then added Glossy Accents to her eyes and lips as well to make them shiny.

As I was gathering information for the writing of this entry I came across a give away. One that will allow you a chance to enter and allow me a chance to gain extra entries as well! Click here and it will take you to the site so you can enter to win. Good luck!!!

All the items I used to create this card I purchased from Scrapping For Less. If you are in the market for the most current cardmaking, paper crafting, or scrapbooking products I promise you will have a hard time finding better prices or products anywhere else!

Thank you so much for joining me today, have a wonderful weekend!!!

Wishing you sunshine and smiles,
Kim :)