Good Morning Fellow Stampers -
TGIF! I am quite glad this week is actually over. I have a fair amount to get done this weekend; however, I am looking for some peace and quiet this weekend as well. Hopefully Miss Sadie and I can get outdoors this weekend. We are having one of our common "quiet" Februaries here in Colorado -- the weather is moderate, almost springlike, and the cold and snow is at a minimum. Of course, we may pay for it in March!
It's Mojo Monday [MOJO434] challenge time. This week's design came about out of necessity. In fact, this week has been quite difficult for me. I received word at 1:20 pm Monday afternoon that a very dear, sweet friend of mine had passed away earlier that morning. I was shocked - stunned would be more appropriate. I knew she had received a cancer diagnosis in November; but she had been so positive about everything, felt confident that she would beat this, and indicated her doctors felt the same. Reality is, that it was not the cancer that killed her. Rather, something went suddenly, and terribly wrong, and she slipped into a coma on the previous Thursday, and was taken off life support on Sunday evening. I was not aware this had take place; it all happened to so fast. I have not known how to feel or react all week. I knew as the week came to a close that I needed to be thinking of a Sympathy card for the family. I decided that my last final act and gift for my beautiful friend would be to create a very special Sympathy card for her family; what perhaps I could not do for her in life, I will try to do for her family in her passing.
Doggone Delightful Stampin' Design Tips:
- Layerothology. This card is cut from our "thick" Whisper White cardstock, 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2" - a top fold vertical card. The background layers are Watermelon Wonder, and Mossy Meadow, which has been embossed with the Large Polka Dot Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. The small rectangle is Whisper White with a piece of Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper. I'll bet that one caught you by surprise! I wrapped those layers with a piece of Watermelon Wonder 1" stitched satin ribbon.
- Sympathy Rose Garden. I used the Rose Garden Thinlits dies to create the "circular" elements of this design sketch today. They are cut from some of the Birthday Bouquet DSP; giving me the variegated printed look to the cutouts. They are attached with the Fine-Tip Glue Pen, and then trimmed at the edges to match the edge of the card front. I used the smaller flower in the die set for my "pop" flower, and parts snipped from the rose thinlet to create the leaves. An antique brad holds my two little cut-out flowers together and attach to the leaf bundle with glue dots. The lovely sentiment is from the Rose Wonder stamp set, stamped in Mossy Meadow on Whisper White and cut with the coordinated framelit from the die set.
- Turn to the Inside. The inside of this card is stamped both upper and lower portions as you open it and look at it. The sentiments from the Rose Garden stamp set are so fabulous, and sometimes it's hard to decide on just one. So I didn't -- I used both the sentiments I wanted. I also stamped the large rose and leaf image from the stamp set, using a little bit of a "rock-n-roll" technique with Watermelon Wonder and Mossy Meadow inks, then stamping off once before stamping it as a "background" in the card. What I like about today's color combination is it's not "dreary" and yet it isn't too bright. I didn't want a "sad" card -- but I did want it to be elegant and respectful.
I hope you have enjoyed this design today and that it will inspire you. I need to work a coordinated envelope and get this out to the family shortly. I may make another sympathy card later, as the Memorial Service itself will not be for several weeks, and I'd like to have another card when we gather for that. I also realized I have a friend whose father just went into hospice and will be slipping away soon -- so I'm going to have to come up with another sympathy card for her. Seems like all of a sudden it's just a "bad time" around here. Not a card I need often; but all of a sudden . . . guess it comes in cycles.
Wishing everyone a nice Friday and a good weekend ahead.
Until Next Time . . .
