Sympathy card for an Auntie

Hi blogging friends

The card I am sharing today is a Sympathy card.  My husband's last remaining Auntie passed away aged 97.  I found the card quite difficult to make because we really don't know that side of the family - and we had no idea whether any of the children (my husband's cousins) have any sort of faith or not - and therefore wanted to be very respectful as I never push my beliefs on anyone nor preach - there's nothing worse!  I personally, had only seen the Auntie once at a funeral and have never met any of her children.  

It took ages to make the card which seems odd when the finished result is so simple - but I just seemed to faff around and couldn't make up my mind what colour ribbon I should use and then after putting a white ribbon on, I promptly took it off again because it just didn't look right - and then wondered whether I should add the hearts next to the sentiment - uggh - just didn't come together easily - one of those difficult cards!  I left it at my desk numerous times and kept going back to it with a 'fresh' mind and finally things came together and I settled on a soft lavender organza ribbon to contrast the white - and here is the result:

I had a hard time photographing my card - and no matter whether I photographed it in the sun or with a cloudy sky, the white card base still looks a bit lavendery (not sure if that's a word - if it isn't, it is now!) - and no amount of fiddling with my photo editing program made it look white.....sigh.....oh well!

The card is a Matchbook card but turned on its side.  You can see another Matchbook Sympathy card HERE on my blog which I made ages ago.  Note that I bought this card already made up as a Matchbook card in a pack of 10 from Riot Art and Craft and the scalloped edge was already done - but it is easy to make one yourself and if you look at the link for my previous Matchbook card, I have given some instructions - just scroll down.  Please note that at this link, I called the card a Matchbox card which is incorrect - however the instructions etc. are all correct - I just had the name wrong!

The right-hand side of the card was embossed using my Cuttlebug and Roses embossing folder.

I used my Scor-Pal to score two lines on the left-hand side of the card then added the ribbon in 2 separate elements.  The bow itself was made with my Bow Easy and I added some Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.  I glued this side panel down so it doesn't open and the embossed side just tucks into this flap - but made sure that I left enough of the flap unstuck so that the embossed side tucks in enough to hold it.

I stamped the sentiment using London Fog Memento ink, added two punched lavender hearts (I used an MS Looped Hearts edge punch - they are the leftover punchies) then popped this panel up on dimensionals.  This is my first time stamping using grey ink and I really love the softness it added to the card as opposed to using black ink.

For the card inside, I again stamped the sentiment with London Fog ink and added hearts to mirror the card front.

So simple - don't know why it took me so long!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stamp-It Australia siset014 sentiment set (both sentiments)

Ink:  Memento London Fog

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Roses embossing folder, Scor-Pal, lavender organza ribbon, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Lifestyle Nesting Ovals die, dimensionals, Matchbook card - Riot Art and Craft, white cardstock scrap for sentiment panel, lavender cardstock

Punches:  Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge (lavender hearts)

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Hi blogging friends,

Did you know that Google Reader is ending in July?   I am sure that most of you would know by now and many other Bloggers have recommended Bloglovin' to me - which is another type of 'Reader'.  I looked into it and only h'eard great things so thought I would give it a whirl.  It seems very user friendly and you can import all the blogs that you follow in Google Reader straight into Bloglovin' - all in one simple easy step:  only took me a few minutes and thankfully, there was nothing difficult or technical about it.

Of course, if you are new to my blog, I would love you to add my blog to Bloglovin' so that you can stay updated with my posts.

I have also provided a button at the top left-hand side of my sidebar which you can click on to follow me.

Any questions?  Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Jocelyn

Woodware Space Cadet - nephew's 8th birthday card

Hi blogging friends

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted as it has been school holidays here where I live in Australia.  Inbetween medical appointments and various outings plus family over from interstate, there hasn't been a lot of crafting going on!  I was going to blog about my card yesterday but with the awful bombings at the Boston Marathon, it just didn't seem appropriate.   I shall never understand what goes on in the mind of someone wanting to plant bombs to injure or kill innocent people - it makes no logical sense.  My ♥ heart ♥ goes out to all those affected by this tragedy and I hope that those responsible will be brought to justice very quickly.

The card I am sharing today is for my nephew's 8th birthday - well, technically, he is my GREAT-nephew - but is a year younger than my own daughter!  There is a big generation gap in my husband's extended family and all my nephews and nieces are grown up and many are married with children.   And of course, that makes me a GREAT-Aunt which makes me feel like I am 150 years old - so I just sign my cards "Aunty Jocelyn" which I like a whole lot better!

My (great) nephew loves all things Star Wars which is why I went with the 'Space' theme for my card.   The rocket, stars and sentiment are from one of my favourite stamps sets:  Woodware Space Cadet.  I used this set last year for my nephew's 7th birthday which you can see HERE. 

The images/sentiment were stamped onto watercolour paper using Versafine Onyx Black ink and coloured with Derwent watercolour pencils and a small round #2 paintbrush.  I added Glossy Accents to the rocket and Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the rocket's flame and to the stars.  I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk.  Here is a close-up - love the shiny effect on the rocket:

I cut the prongs off the 3 glitter star brads and then attached them to the card with Glossy Accents.  I read on the forum at Splitcoaststampers that you can use Glossy Accents for adhering things to your card so I tried it and it works super-well.  My star brads were definitely not going to fall off - yay!  I dislike poking holes into my card to push through the prongs of a brad and find it almost impossible to get several of them to line up perfectly with each other - too much of a fiddle and so frustrating!  I'll be using Glossy Accents from now on!

The middle green panel was embossed using my Big Shot and Crafts Too Stars embossing folder and then I attached some silver/green ric-rac which I found in my stash.  The blue border on this green panel was trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools. 

I used my Paper Piercer to pierce holes in my blue scalloped circle card base.  Here is a side shot so you can see the layers:

I used one of my Lifestyle Nesting Circle dies to make a white cardstock circle card then attached my finished front panel to it.  You can see my tutorial on how to make a circle card HERE on my blog - just scroll down a little.

And here is pic of the inside.  Very simply done.  The sentiment is by My Memories which I bought from Riot Art and Craft and I used a star punch to punch 3 stars from glitter cardstock in matching colours to the star brads on the card front.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

My Time to Craft - Challenge #217 'In the Sky' where you can use butterflies, birds, balloons, planes etc. but they must be the main image.

Splitcoaststampers Free for All Friday Challenge F4A163 Glittery Happy Birthday from earlier in April - where you need to make a birthday card with glitter.  I purposely chose this particular designer paper because it has lots of glitter on it but it is hard to see the sparkliness other than in the 2nd photo.  Oh well:  at least you can see where I used glitter glue!   Note there are no time limits for playing Splitcoaststampers challenges. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Woodware FRCL097 Space Cadet clear set, sentiment card inside - My Memories #141502 Happy Birthday Script MMSWHB wood mount (Riot Art and Craft)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Birch Haberdashery and Craft (Australian company) SP183 (no name on paper)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Lifestyle Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesting Dies, Crafts Too Stars embossing folder, blue Kaisercolour chalk, dimensionals, silver/green ric-rac, Perfect Layers Tools, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Glossy Accents, Star brads by Making Memories - green from Mini Shimmer Star brads set - red and blue from Stars in Bloom Shimmer set, 140lb watercolour paper, small round #2 paintbrush, Derwent watercolour pencils, paper piercer, cardstock - white, grass green, dark sky blue, green glitter, blue glitter, red glitter

Punches:  Carl CP-1 Star