True Blue Sympathy for Men of Honor

Hi Stampers!!

This month has been one of joyous occasions as well as one of saying goodbye to loved ones.  I found out that one of my uncles passed away (he lives far away from me and I have not seen him in approx. 15 years or more) plus there were two other funerals I attended within the last week for men who were influential in my life as well as others. 

With the flurry of work and Christmas, I had not had the chance to create special sympathy cards for any of the families who lost loved ones, so this weekend I finally had a chance to spend time in my craft room...

I wanted to create masculine sympathy cards and chose to incorporate the SU- Only SUO61 True Blue Color Challenge into the theme of the cards.  I also wanted to use one of the new sets from the 2013 Spring Mini catalog and  I was not aware at the time of designing these cards that the one gentleman who has passed into the arms of Jesus loved the beach and spent vacations there with his family every year –plus the verse in the sentiment was mentioned as one of his favorites at the funeral.   It is truly amazing how the Lord leads you without you even knowing it at the time :-) 

Panel Close-Up 

To create the basic elements for these cards:

The basic panel design was created by brayering ink onto four pieces of Whisper White cardstock- first Bashful Blue, then Marina Mist and finally Tempting Turquoise.  You do not have to be perfect with this step, in fact, the brayered colors on the cardstock will appear a bit contemporary with some of the hard edges showing but do not despair- you will not notice this once the card is finished :-)

Stamp the images using Midnight Muse Classic Ink and punch out the images with the 1 ¼” Square Punch (use the ¾” Circle Punch to punch out the Nantucket anchor image).  You will not be able to fit the entire images into the punched area, so chose the areas that appeal to you:-)

Card #1

With the Color Spritzer Tool and a Midnight Muse Stampin’ Write marker, spritz the images to add a bit if distressing.  Layer onto squares punched from Midnight Muse cardstock with the 1 3/8” Square Punch.   

Card #1- Distress the edges of the Midnight Muse with the Distressing Tool.  Layer onto Whisper White cardstock and again onto Tempting Turquoise.  Add the sentiment layer at the bottom and knotted Hemp Twine with the circular image in the middle.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Woodgrain Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of Whisper White and Midnight Muse cardstock.  Layer onto Tempting Turquoise and adhere the focal image to finish off the card.

Card #2

Card #2- Use the same steps as in Card #1, except use a piece of Whisper White embossed with the Herringbone Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder (this was already embossed in my scraps).  

Layer a piece of Tempting Turquoise behind the sentiment layer (cut with the Big Shot™ and the Labels Collection Framelits™ ).

A few more punched elements behind the Nantucket image adds additional interest.

Card #3

Card #3- Again the same steps but the Woodgrain folder with Whisper White panel is mounted onto Tempting Turquoise and again onto Whisper White- the sentiment is directly stamped on this Whisper White layer.

Once distressed a bit with Sponge Daubers, the Color Spritzer Tool and the Nantucket stamp, layer the entire card onto Midnight Muse cardstock before adding the Whisper White card base.

Card #4

Card #4- I used the fish and coral images only and added the Nantucket stamp onto those panels.

The sentiment banner was created with the 1' Square Punch for the banner points and the Hemp Twine was noted and wrapped around the edges.

 Add the Woodgrain and Square Lattice embossed panels along with the Circle Brad in the center to finish off the card. 

Stamp Sets: By the Tide, Blessings from Heaven

Ink:  Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Midnight Muse, Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Whisper White,  Midnight Muse, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories:  Big Shot™, Labels Collection Framelits™, Textured Impressions™ Embossing  Folders- Woodgrain, Herringbone, Square Lattice,  1” Square Punch (for  sentiment banner), 1 ¼” and 1 3/8” Square Punch,  Color Spritzer Tool, Sponge Daubers,  Hemp Twine (retired), Circle Brads (retired)

I hope you like these cards- I am not sure which one I like the best.  My husband likes card#1 - if you have the time, let me know which one you prefer (if any :-))  

Thanks again for stopping by and I hope all of you have a great (safe) week celebrating our New Year! 

If you have a chance, stop by again soon - I will be sharing a Christmas card for 2013 in my next post!