Whimsy Stamps ~ Pink Butterfly Sympathy Card

Hey crafty friends, I'm back with the second Sympathy card I made at my Mum's request for a friend who had lost her daughter to breast cancer. A heartbreaking time for them and it felt a real privilege to be able to do this for my mum.

I started this card again with a panel I'd ink smooshed during a recent ink swatching exercise. I was updating an ink ring with recent ink additions and making the colour strip to add to the side of the Oxide Ink Pads. Not all the inks were recent, but some I'd just not got around to doing this for, so I decided while they were out and I was doing this process, I'd have a little ink smooshing fun with them too. So I ended up with quite a number of panels of interestingly ink smooshed designs with various colour combinations of ink. This particular combination I really like. Kitsch Flamingo, Worn Lipstick and Tattered Rose. I was worried at first it would be a little bit too 'pink' for a Sympathy card, but when my mama saw it, she explained it was perfect as the loss was due to breast cancer. Which I'd not realised at the time I was creating, so this felt 'meant to be'. 

As with my last card, I decorated the inside of the card with a white insert which I stamped the sentiment 'Grief is love with no place to go'. This sentiment really struck me when I first saw this set, as I knew the original quote well and it really resonated for me in connection with my daddy's passing. The original author of this quote is Jamie Anderson writer of a blog titled All My Loose Ends: Nourish Your Roots. Her blog entry was about the loss of her mother and coming to terms with that grief. Jamie's quote follows...

 "Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. The more you loved someone, the more you grieve. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes and in that part of your chest that gets empty and hollow feeling. Grief is just love with no place to go."

- Jamie Anderson

I also love the sentiment taken from this same Whimsy Stamps set, which was born out of deep grief. I used for the front of this card, a very poignant and meaningful quote that to me, feels far more sincere and appropriate than 'with Sympathy'. I used the imagery of butterflies again. I love the idea of their transformation as a metaphor for the transformation of the soul. I feel very drawn to this imagery for Sympathy cards. I used Tattered Rose to add some scripty text to the background for a bit of interest. The background stamping is subtle, but it's there and adds to the mixed media feel of this card. I used Worn Lipstick to stencil the butterflies onto the card. I didn't have the updated butterfly stencil from Whimsy when I made this card, so it was created with the older one I had in my stash. I'll show both below so you can compare. I've since bought the updated version as it has some really great additional features. Like the previous card, I distressed the panel edges with scissors but this time adhered the panel directly to the card front. Before doing so however, I wrapped a pretty organza ribbon around the card and added a double bow. This card I completed with the silver embossed sentiment and some tiny vellum butterflies which were cut with a companion die to a pocket die set I had in my stash. Some tiny pearls completed these sweet butterflies and I was happy with how this card had come together. I paired it with a silver envelope I had in my stash.

If you missed my previous posts, Whimsy is having the most amazing 'LAST CHANCE' sale right now. There are oodles of fantastic stamp and die sets in this sale, paper sets too! Well worth a look if you're a Whimsy fan like me! You can click through on the banner above, the discounts are really incredible and there are some truly wonderful stamp and die sets in this sale! Let me know if you score something lovely! I've gone back three times now for a stock up! Hugs and happy crafting, Wends xoxo

(If you like any of the elements I've created with, I've added thumbnails to make your shopping easier. I do use affiliate links where possible, which gives me a tiny commission but costs you no extra whatsoever, though more importantly it helps the companies I design for to improve their marketing practice and track my contributions. I am deeply grateful if you use them for these reasons. I only design for companies whose products I absolutely love and buy for myself. My opinions are always my own.)

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Creative Inspirations Challenges: March ~ Anything Goes