With Deepest Sympathy

Hola! Today's card is one of those that we make but we wish we never needed them. I'm talking about sympathy cards. There is a new stamp set in the Occasions Mini catalog, called Thanks for Caring, that is perfect for sympathy cards. It has 6 images that all work together for other types of cards too. Take a look...
And from another angle:
I have used this combo of papers together before. I love the whole Springtime Vintage DSP but these 2 together are so pretty to me! I may have to order another pack just for these 2 patterns. The solids I chose to use are Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, and Baja Breeze. I stamped the butterfly in Baja and the sentiment in the Artichoke. The butterfly is popped up on Dimensionals to give it more definition. I added a Designer button ( Marina Mist from the Subtles assortment) as a finishing touch over the Scalloped Ribbon Border punch strip.

That does it for me today. The weekend is in full swing at our house so that means B-U-S-Y. Have a great one!

Older Sketches are OK, Right?

As I have mentioned before, I worked on several cards while I was away from blogging. Since I am in a hurry today, I decided to show you one of those "away" cards. It uses the sketch from the OCCC Sketch Challenge on 7-25-09. Take a look!

Even though we don't want to think about needing sympathy cards, I always like to keep a few on hand. The last thing you feel like doing when you are sad is to make a new card.

I like this sketch. It works well with a taller focal point image. It also works well with coordinate papers. I'll have to drop in later and tell you more about my materials. I have to run for now. Have a great day!

Markers + Scraps = One Quick Card

Haven't we all found ourselves in need of a quick card? I know I have and I usually scurry around trying to make something quickly that is both attractive and appropriate. It seems I always have plenty of child's birthday cards on hand but beyond that, I'm in trouble.

Well, several days ago, when I received my watermill stamp from Clear Dollar Stamps, I just had to ink it up and color it right then. I am so glad I did! It was a perfect image for a quick sympathy card. I checked my scrap drawer for a few coordinating scraps and my card was born. Let me show you...

This may just be the fastest card I have ever assembled. Obviously, the coloring was time consuming but I did that when I wasn't "under the gun." I often grab a few pens and a pile of previously stamped images and sit in front of the TV with my hubby. I love to color and it is even more fun when I don't have to rush or have a card in mind to match any papers to my image. Little did we know this relaxing passtime could get us out of time crunch too!

I was also happy to see that with very little embellishment, this card was quite pretty. The focus stays on the colored mill and simple message instead of on the umpteen layers of designer papers and glitz that I love to pile on my cards. I guess my point is that a card doesn't always have to be a huge design job or even a place to stick a lot of expensive embellishments. I would say that for many of us, our cards are being given to people that don't scrap, stamp, or make their own cards. We forget that the vast majority of people in our world don't have a clue about the latest line of papers or stamps or even shimmery glitter glue so they certainly don't expect these things on a card in their mailbox. I daresay, maybe they just look at the sentiment from us. Hmmm...am I right? Now, I am not saying that I am done puttin on the glitz or worrying about minute details in the cards I make! I just think I need to remember that sometimes it is ok for a card to be simple and more about what it says than how it says.

Papers- DCWV blue and red textured CS; Hobby Lobby kraft CS. Stamps- Clear Dollar watermill; Hero Arts small greetings. Inks- Memento Tuxedo Black; Ancient Page chocolate. Tools- piercer. Embellishments- wooden buttons off of old clothing. Pens- Copic (G24, G82, G21, B23, B000, B12, B01, E35, E37, R27, N3, N5, 0) Zig (a. burgundy, gray suede, evergreen, root beer float, pure black)