Whimsy Stamps ~ Sympathy Cards

Hey crafty friends, I'm popping in with some cards I wish I'd not needed to make, but sadly we had a loss in our family and I needed several cards to send my love to our lovely cousins who lost their beautiful mama. She was greatly loved by us all and her passing was sudden and unexpected. So we are all reeling, but none moreso than her kiddos and their babes. So I've made several cards, with a similar recipe, which I'll share today.

I've created 5 cards during this cardmaking session. 3 in a pale pearl colourway, 1 in a black and 1 using a lovely floral Quick Card background. The central card above I used a white cardstock with a pretty shimmer and shine. Not glittery, but definitely shimmery. It's very pretty as it catches the light, but not too blingy to be inappropriate for a sympathy card. I mounted each of the plainer cards onto gold cardstock from a Spellbinders pack called Make it Merry. It's a lovely gold 'metallic sheet' cardstock.

I created two versions using this beautiful pearl cardstock, this one has a pretty sheen, but not the shimmer of the one I shared first. It's a more creamy shade than the first too. I used a different floral image for these two cards, but the same sentiment again, which I love for sympathy cards. 

For this black version, I used a lovely black cardstock with a beautiful sheen from a Sizzix cardstock set. The pearl cardstocks are also from Sizzix, which I'll link in the thumbnails below, but any specialty cardstock with a beautiful shimmer or sheen would work well, so hunt through your stash if you're inspired to try this design. 

For this version, I've used a Quick Card panel from Whimsy Stamps called HapBee 1. This particular panel didn't feature any bees, so I felt it was appropriate to try my idea with this panel. Some of the others from this set, I would not use for a sympathy card. 

I used a texture coverplate die, which doesn't actually cut out but leaves a punch hole pattern all over the cardstock giving it this wonderful floating hearts texture. All the panels were run through with this die, including the patterned paper version. I also used the beautiful sympathy stamp set from Whimsy called Sympathy So Deeply Sorry, for all the sentiments and images. I didn't use an image for the patterned paper version, because the beautiful Quick Card Front had all that beauty going on already, so I added just the sentiment on that one. 

I didn't use gold cardstock to edge the pretty Quick Card panel, I chose instead to run some gold ink around the edge which I heat embossed to make it set well. The ink information recommends to do this, with the particular brand I used, which was Honey Bee. The embossing powder I used is Brutus Monroe Gilded which is a fine embossing powder. Fine is important, so it picks up all the details of the stamping, perfect for intricate stamp designs.

The specialty papers I used are from Sizzix, both the pearl and charcoal range. I'll link them below, but this pic shows the Ivory paper pack. It's generous, it comes with 50 sheets of these beautiful papers and a really fun selection of specialty papers, including, a glitter paper, a high shine white mirror paper, the two I used which had a pretty shimmer or sheen and one that feels like a suede, it's soft to touch and looks and feels luxurious. The Charcoal paper pack has a similar spread of papers and I used the one with the lovely pearlescent sheen, so when it's tipped in the light, it has a really lovely sheen.

Thank you for visiting today. We've just had another wonderful release at Whimsy Stamps full of enchanting Summer imagery. Click through on the banner above if you'd like to check it out. I'll be back again soon with another crafty adventure, until then, have a wonderful creative week. Hugs, Wends xoxo

(I share thumbnails to the elements I design with in order to make your search for them easier, in case you like something I've used. I do use affiliate links where possible, which gives me a tiny commission but costs you no extra whatsoever. 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 am proud to design for the companies I do and always feel happy to share where my inspiration and where my crafty stash comes from. I am occasionally gifted products to use, but I only design for companies whose products I absolutely love and buy for myself. My opinions are always my own.)

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