Stippled Sympathy

It is always so sad for us when a loved one dies.  My son-in-law lost his mother to complications from a brain tumor earlier this month.  She was a great lady though I had only met her when Joshua’s family were in NC when our daughter and Joshua were married 4 years ago this month.  Joshua’s parent have been living in Hong Kong since shortly after that so Joshua had not seen much of his mother so her passing was difficult.  I asked the Lord about the colors to use and believe that I heard purple so that is what I brought out.  My daughter says that her mother-in-law’s favorite color was purple.  Thank you, Lord!

Because this is for a special family member, I wanted the card to express some of what I think Josephine’s personality was and for Joshua to think of his mom at her best when he saw the card.  The Stippled Blossom stamp set from Stampin’ Up! is one of my favorites.  I would probably use it more often if there was a coordinating die for it.  I don’t like to fussy cut but I did since this was for Joshua and our daughter.  I used the VLV May sketch from week one for this and will enter my card there as well as at the May Diva Dare Petals & Wings challenge at the Verve Blog.  My card is 4¼” by 5½” though I did make a slightly larger envelope to accommodate the layers of the card. 

·        Stamp set(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Stippled Blossoms and Thoughts & Prayers

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Garden Green, Perfect Plum, Pear Pizazz & Elegant Eggplant

·       Paper:  Stampin’ Up! – Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, & Pear Pizazz; Anna Griffin c. 2001 (LOL) lavender roses(?)

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Stampin’ Up! – Beautiful Wings Embosslits & Lacy Brocade EF

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Stampin’ Up! – Basic Jewels Rhinestones; Ribbon 

          I did take a few liberties with the sketch.  Instead of washi tape, I used ribbon at the top and bottom on the sentiment square for a more formal look.  I also dressed it up with the fussy cut blossoms and leaves, bow and some butterflies.  I wanted the card to suit the feeling I was trying to evoke from the card when viewed.  I also added an extra layer and matted the sentiment square.  The butterflies were layered as well!  I added some rhinestones at the center of each blossom and each butterfly for the butterfly body!

          I am very pleased with the result and lovingly sent it on its way so that it would be at home when he returned from Honk Kong.  Thankfully, we will all be reunited when we are all home with the Lord so we will see her again!  Knowing Jesus helps us to get past our grief as we know that our good bye is temporary! 

Many Blessings,
Donna

 

Words of Wisdom for my Graduate!



 

          We are getting ready to do some celebration this weekend!  A year ago our oldest daughter Rachel received her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from East Carolina University, and this weekend, our other and younger daughter receives her Master of Science in Nursing – Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – from UNC-Chapel Hill.  Both were strenuous programs, but Rebecca’s program was part-time while she worked full time as a nurse at UNC Children’s Hospital while battling migraines and sleep disturbances made worse by shift work.

I had to do this card in pinks and greens after Rebecca and I spent some time together last week.  We had a fun time looking for some things at Michael’s (in pink and green, of course) for her to do some jewelry making so here is my offering.  My card is 5” by 6” and I used the MOJO344 Sketch.  I’ll also be posting this at May Diva Dare “Petals and Wings” as well as the Font Focus May 2014 Inspiration Challenge over at the Verve blog!

·       Stamp set(s):  Verve – Lean on Me & Faith Medley; Heartfelt Creations – Door to my Heart

·         Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Rose Red & Pear Pizazz(edges)

·       Paper:  Primrose Petals, Rose Red & Pear Pizazz; Basic Grey – Inviting & Raspberry Syrup from the Hello Luscious Collection 

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Verve – Pointed Flower Dies; Spellbinders – Becky Fleck Page Maps Tags & Flags; Stampin’ Up! – Bitty Banner Framelits, Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Little Leaves Sizzlets and Elegant Lines embossig folder;

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Copic Sketch – Y18 (coloring pearls); Martha Stewart – Flower Bunch Corner Punch & Flower Bunch Large Punch Around the Page;  Recollections – Faux Pearls; Artful Minds – Sequins; Stampin’ Up! – Basic Jewels Pearls Large and Pear Pizazz seam binding ribbon

         I really liked this sketch by Julee!  It really worked well with the elements I wanted to use for Rebecca’s card.  I punched around 2 sides of the solid cardstock in the Basic Grey paper and inked the edges with Pear Pizazz ink.  The patterned paper square was embossed with the Elegant Lines EF to add some texture behind my focal sentiment.  The sentiment was stamped with Rose Red ink onto Primrose petals cardstock.  This sentiment is one of my favorite scriptures and fit really well for my graduate’s graduation.  I also used Rose Red ink for the “Congratulations” and the pretty flowers from the Lean on Me stamp set (and coordinating die to cut them out) at the bottom of the tag.  Scatter a few sequins for the bling my daughter loves, a pearl here and there with a few pretty butterflies in green, and the card was done!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit my blog today.  I haven’t been as active lately but still hoping to get back here more regularly as time allows!
 

Donna

PS:  I just noticed that I missed using some sequins at the bottom of the punched border flowers.  I fixed those.  Not enough time to go back and retake the pics with a busy weekend ahead.  J

Apothecary Art Wedding

           I was in need of a wedding card last week when one of my husband’s co-workers got married.  I knew right away that I wanted to use this Apothecary Art stamp with its really lovely roses and its beautiful shape.  Yellow roses are perhaps one of my favorite colors of roses because they just speak of old time sentiment for a wedding gift – at least to me anyway!  Since I already had the Framelits in mind, I decided to also use the largest of this set to make a shaped card for this very special occasion!  My card measures 5½” by 4¼” approximately!  Here are the details for what I used to make my card!

·       Stamp set(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Apothecary Art & Sweet Essentials

·       Ink(s):  Stampin’ Up! – Pear Pizazz, Stampin’ Write Markers in Daffodil Delight & Pear Pizazz; Memento – Tuxedo Black

·       Paper:  Stampin’ Up! – Whisper White, Daffodil Delight & Pear Pizazz 

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Heartfelt Creations – Decorative Lace Border; Stampin’ Up! – Labels Collection Framelits & Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Stampin’ Up! – Basic Jewels Rhinestones

I cut the Pear Pizazz cardstock to size and then die-cut the Lace Border die.  I simply love this die.  I don’t know why I don’t use it more often!  I wanted a little bit of lacey elegance to go with the beautiful rose wreath on the focal point of the card and also to let some of that wonderful Pear Pizazz to show through.  After cutting out the lace border I then lined it up with the card base and cut it out to fit on top of the card base and behind the focal point of the card.

  I stamped the center part of the image again and stamped the bride & groom on the banner part.  I fussy cut it out and popped it up over the same image over the colored image.  I selected a sentiment from Verve for the inside that is a quote from the Song of Solomon.  I’m loving the outcome for a simple card that was stepped up with that lovely yellow lace.

 Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and look at my card.  I appreciate your time.  I would love to hear from you if you have a moment to let me know what you think!

Many Blessings,

Donna