Blogger Challenge: Week 25

This week's challenge was to create a sympathy card. Boy, are these hard for me to do. I guess it makes sense to make some of these to have on hand for when the need arises, since I have a difficult time with them. I actually started this card on Wednesday evening, then walked away from it, leaving it on my stamping table until I got home from work on Thursday night. I went back to it then and finally got something that felt right.

I originally bought Stem Silhouettes because it didn't look like any other stamp sets I owned. Since I've gotten it, it has ended up being the set I turn to for sympathy cards. Its simple images are serene and good for cards like these.

I inked one of the images from Stem Silhouettes with River Rock ink and misted it with water. Then I stamped it on vanilla cardstock three times without reinking the stamp. This gave the image a really muted look. I brushed the cardstock edges with some River Rock ink, too.

It doesn't show in the photo, but the Soft Sky cardstock is stamped with the Linen background stamp to give the paper a subtle texture.

Somehow I ended up smudging some brown chalk ink on the stamped image. I added the two copper brads to kind of hide the smudged spot. They also filled an empty space on the panel, so I guess that worked out okay.

The sentiment is from the Never a Loss 4 Words set from Kitchen Sink Stamps. There is a huge variety of sentiments to choose from in the set. All of the stamps use the same font. I've found that it's a very versatile look. It can be fun and whimsical or elegant depending on the card design. I've used the sentiments for birthday cards, thank you notes, and now a sympathy card, and they've worked well for all of them.

Be sure to check out what the other challenge group members have created. You can find a list of their blogs in the sidebar on the right.

Materials Used: Stem Silhouettes stamp set, Linen background stamp, River Rock and Soft Sky Classic inks, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, and Kraft cardstock, distressing tool, slit punch, mat pack and paper piercing tool, kraft taffeta ribbon, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Never a Loss 4 Words stamp set; Jumbo Java chalk ink (VersaMagic from Kitchen Sink Stamps); copper brads (Making Memories)