Elegant Sympathy

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   Yesterday I shared one of the cards I made to swap at Stampin' Up's OnStage event in Salt Lake City. Today and tomorrow I'm sharing my other swaps. Next week I'll be sharing what I get in return.


This card is for a swap I always try to participate in: Barbara Welch's WOW swap. The instructions are to make "over the top" cards and the participants don't fail in that task.  This is another all occasion swap and I chose sympathy because, well, we all need sympathy cards from time to time and it's nice to give a beautiful card to honor someone's memory and provide comfort.

I started with a 3-7/8" by 5-1/8" piece of Basic Black Card stock. I adhered a 3-3/4" by 5" piece of Year of Cheer Designer Series Paper. Then I cut a 1" by 5" strip of black and white "Merry Little Christmas" DSP--this piece is "season neutral" and not Christmas-y at all, IMHO. I flagged the end of this piece with the Banner Triple Punch and adhered it to the card.


Next, I wrapped a length of Gold Metallic-Edge ribbon around the piece and adhered it to a Thick Whisper White Card Stock card base. That ribbon is gorgeous!


I stamped a sentiment from the "Heartfelt Sympathy" stamp set in Basic Black Archival Ink onto Whisper White Card Stock. I cut this piece out with the largest oval Stitched Shape Framelit.


I cut a gold foil Snowflake in half and adhered it to the back of the oval piece before adhering that to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.


I think this card is so elegant. I can't wait to see what I get in return!

tams# 17137

Product List

Heartfelt Sympathy Photopolymer Stamp Set [138764] $17.00	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $7.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $7.00	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $8.00
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00	Year Of Cheer Specialty Designer Series Paper [144640] $13.00	Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper [144621] $11.00	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372] $30.00
Banner Triple Punch [138292] $23.00	Gold 3/8" (1 Cm) Metallic-Edge Ribbon [144146] $7.00	Foil Snowflakes [144642] $6.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00

Sympathy in Smoky Slate

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   One of my coworkers occasionally asks me if he can purchase one of my hand-stamped cards when he has a special reason for giving someone a special card. He asked me for a thank you card to give to a family who hosted him while he was traveling. Last week, he asked me if I had any sympathy cards. I did have a few of them, but they're earmarked for me to send out (which I'm embarrassingly late about!). So I decided, I'd CASE myself and make one I'd already made and sent--which you can see here. I also CASEd one of my favorite stampers, Dena Rekow!! My card is just  little bit different than Dena's (because I didn't have the same supplies as she did). You can watch Dena's You Tube video at the end of this post.

For my card, I started with a Smoky Slate panel and I stamped a sentiment from the "Heartfelt Sympathy" set in Basic Gray Archival Ink. Next, I used the splatter stamp from the "Timeless Textures" set to stamp in the background.  I stamped these in Basic Gray Archival Ink, but stamped off once or twice to get a more subtle image.

I adhered this panel to a Basic Gray mat. Then, I wrapped a length of Whisper White Organza ribbon around a Smoky Slate card base, cut lengthwise. (Dena calls this a "hotdog" cut and I think I'm going to start using that!) I adhered the stamped assembly to the card base with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Dena used the tree builder punch to make the Pool Party flowers on her card. I don't have that punch, so I used the second-smallest flower die from the Fiesta Time Framelits. I put the flowers onto a Stampin' Pierce mat and then used the stylus from the Simply Scored scoring board to make an indent into the flowers. I adhered these to the card with Glue Dots. And I added a small Pearl Embellishment to the center of each flower. My coworker chose this card of the three I showed him. 

Please watch Dena's video to can get more stamping hints on making this card! She shows you a great technique to use with your Stampin' Write markers--mine didn't turn out because my marker was too dry (or I'm inept).

tams# 9217

Product List

Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00	Glue Dots [103683] $5.25	Stampin' Pierce Mat [126199] $5.00	Simply Scored [122334] $30.00
Whisper White 5/8" Organza Ribbon [114319] $6.00	Fiesta Time Framelits Dies [141475] $27.00	Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122924] $8.00	Basic Gray 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121044] $8.00
Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131202] $8.00	Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad [140932] $7.00	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] $20.00	Heartfelt Sympathy Photopolymer Stamp Set [138764] $17.00

A Sad Goodbye

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   My family and I moved into our current house when I was 6 months pregnant with twins.  My twins will turn 17 next month.  I sometimes can't believe how quickly time flies. We are so fortunate to live in a place with wonderful neighbors. Next door to us is a man and his wife and the mother/mother-in-law. They are the friendliest, sweetest, salt of the earth people that you could ever hope to meet. We've been blessed to have them as neighbors...and friends.

The mother, "Miss Ruth" to my kids, was just the sweetest person of all. She loved my kids as if they were her own grandkids. It was always a treat to drive into our driveway and see Miss Ruth on her front porch and giving us a wave and a smile. She always invited us over for a visit. When the kids were small, we went over often, but they grew and it wasn't so easy to get them over there--and we were always busy running here and there to sports and school activities. Even still, Miss Ruth was always there with a smile and a wave and an invitation to come over "anytime."

Miss Ruth passed away last week. We're sure going to miss her smile and wave.

Here's the card I made for her daughter and son-in-law. I used four stamp sets on this simple card! (I was inspired by a similar card I saw on Pinterest.)

I stamped the flower stems from the "Wild About Flowers" set in Old Olive onto a Whisper White panel. I stamped the flower tops in Crushed Curry. I added this panel to a Rich Razzleberry mat and then, using Stampin' Dimensionals, onto a Thick Whisper White card base, cut lengthwise.

I stamped a small butterfly from the "Papillon Potpourri" set in Rich Razzleberry and punched it out with the Bitty Butterfly Punch. I folded the butterfly in half so that it would have some dimension and added it to the card with a Glue Dot.

Next, I stamped the sentiment and label from from the "Rose Wonder" set in Rich Razzleberry onto a Whisper White scrap and cut it out with the matching Rose Garden Thinlits. I adhered this to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Inside the card, I thought the sentiment from the "Heartfelt Sympathy" set was perfect. It's also stamped in Rich Razzleberry, but not pictured:  "Remembering the life of someone so special, and sending thoughts of sympathy and peace." Miss Ruth certainly was someone special and we'll miss her!

tams# 7978

Product List

Wild About Flowers Photopolymer Stamp Set [138728] $21.00	Papillon Potpourri Clear Stamp Set [123759] $15.00	Rose Wonder Photopolymer Bundle [140804] $49.25	Heartfelt Sympathy Photopolymer Stamp Set [138764] $17.00
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953] $6.50	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173] $6.50	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad [126950] $6.50	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $7.00
Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115316] $8.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00	Bitty Butterfly Punch [129406] $16.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00
Glue Dots [103683] $5.25

Heartfelt Sympathy in Neutrals

#stampinup   This weekend, Stampin' Up is holding the first ever OnStage events. The live event is in Brussels, Belgium, but there are OnStage local events throughout the United States. Fortunately, there's one at the Baltimore Convention Center--a short drive from my house!!

If you're interested in attending a Stampin' Up event--they're FABULOUS--ask me about becoming a demonstrator. It only costs $99 and you get to pick the Stampin' Up products you want (up to $125 worth) and one business supply pack so you can start sharing Stampin’ Up! your way with friends and family. Contact me or click on the "join my team" tab at the top of this blog.

At every Stampin' Up event, one of the most fun things to do is swap cards with other demonstrators. We do this because we love to share our artwork with others and we like to get ideas on how to use the stamp sets we already own or get samples for sets we don't own.

At OnStage Baltimore, I've signed up for an organized swap. We will be swapping cards from the current catalog. I chose to use the "Heartfelt Thanks" stamp set paired with the Timeless Elegance Designer Series Paper.

I stamped the sentiment with Basic Black Archival Ink onto Very Vanilla Card Stock and cut it out with the second largest Deco Label Framelit. I cut a Tip Top Taupe piece using the same size Deco Label Framelit to use a a mat.

I cut a 2" strip of Timeless Elegance DSP and backed it with a 2-1/4" strip of Tip Top Taupe. I tied a length of Tip Top Taupe Dotted Lace Ribbon around this piece.

To assemble the card, I started with a Tip Top Taupe card base, added a Basic Black mat, and then the DSP strip. I adhered the two Deco Labels just off-set from each other and then attached them to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

tams# 4801

Product List

Heartfelt Sympathy Photopolymer Stamp Set [138764] $17.00	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $7.00	Tip Top Taupe 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [138336] $7.00	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $7.00
Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $8.50	Timeless Elegance Designer Series Paper [138444] $11.00	Deco Labels Framelits Die [130102] $25.00	Tip Top Taupe 1" Dotted Lace Trim [138422] $6.00
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00