Good Morning Fellow Stampers -
Happy Thursday! We're just flying through this week, as usual. I'm busily working to get ready for the big Birthday Stamp-a-Stack class this Saturday. I've got a full house expected, and a wonderful brunch I'm planning on serving! It should be a fabulous day!
In the meantime, I've been creating wonderful designs to share with all of you. Today I have a special card to share with you - a CAS (Clean and Simple) Sympathy card design. I don't make Sympathy cards much; turns out, I realized, I only sit down and do these when it is "out of necessity." It's not one I make a lot of and keep in my stash. And so when I have to make one of these cards, it serves to make me sad; because it means I actually need to have one of these cards which is never good. Today was a "need" for a dear friend whose father passed away. I know how she feels! And I made today's card sort of special to her -- she loves pink . . . so this card incorporates Pink Pirouette and Rose Red.
This card is cut from the "thick" Whisper White cardstock, 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2" -- a top fold vertical card.
I created a simple CAS design by insetting a Rose Red mat measuring 3 3/4" x 5" -- this is a full 1/2" in from the card front size, which is a larger border than I usually give for a mat layer; however, the striking look this provides in a design is well worth the extra measurement. When I want more of a distinct border around something, I inset to this measurement.
The top Shimmer White piece is inset another full 1/4" again - 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" - to give a nice pop of the Rose Red.
These Calla Lilies are from the Remarkable You stamp set -- one of my favorite sets from the Annual Catalog this year.
I think we tend to forget about all the wonderful things in the Annual Catalog because we're so busy with all the new stuff. This set is worth mentioning and returning to again and again. The florals are bold and the effects are striking and elegant.
In this case I stamped the flowers in Versamark on Shimmer White cardstock, and then embossed in White embossing powder. Because this cardstock has the slightest bit of shimmer to it in the right lighting, it gives it just a nice added extra "touch" of elegance. There added extra benefit of Shimmer White cardstock is it holds up well to watercoloring.
And these florals are indeed watercolored -- I used an AquaPainter to watercolor these flowers; I also used Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, and Rose Red Re-inkers rather than just ink straight from the ink pads.
I placed several drops of each re-inker in a paint well, and then added some water with my brush. I also kept a small bowl of water nearby to work with. I wanted to have plenty of "movement" even with the water in the AquaPainter itself.
I'm not quite sure I am totally satisfied with the end result. This is actually the third of 3 attempts I made. If I had it to work with again, I might keep the Rose Red more to just the bottom of the "well" of the Lilly, and try to shade the Pink Pirouette a little lighter toward the top. I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.
By the way, believe it or not, the stamin of the flowers are colored with Gold Wink of Stella.
The card is finished off with Whisper White seam binding ribbon (one of our older versions that I had leftover), and the beautiful sentiment from the Rose Wonder stamp set stamped in Rose Red ink, then cut with the coordinated die from the Rose Garden thinlits. I popped the sentiment piece with dimensionals and added the requisite pearls -- LOL
To complete this very simple card, I stamped the image again on the inside in Pink Pirouette, stamping off once first, so that I could get just a faint image in the background to write my message over the top of. You could also stamp another sentiment over this image if you wished.
I hope you have enjoyed today's card design. Watercoloring is one of my favorite techniques, and I enjoy, if I can get the time, just sitting down and experimenting and playing to see how things will turn out. I'm kind of in that mode right now, with trying different brushes, inks/paints, and other techniques -- I guess especially since I have a Watercolor Technique class coming up next month. It's so much fun to try new things!
Wishing you all a wonderful Thursday.
Until Next Time . . .
