Hey Crafty People!
As I have said before, I find sympathy cards to be both the hardest to make, yet most important to give. I don’t like to make these types of card in advance (I guess that’s the superstition in me,) so whenever I send one it is specially made for that specific person.
Unfortunately I had reason to make another one of these this week, and I used the ideas discussed within the In The Mood For Color class and it really helped to focus my mind and creativity on exactly what I wanted this card to convey.
I wanted a calming, respectful tone so I chose a grey cardstock to be a neutral base and then I chose to work with greens; I think green speaks of two things to me, calm & nature both of which are perfect for a sympathy card.
I embossed the Diamond background stamp on my grey cardstock, using WOW Clear Matte Dull embossing powder. Using a clear embossing powder of any type on coloured cardstock will give a darker look, so you get a pleasing tone on tone background, but because I used the matte EP it is without the high shine normally left by embossing.
I then moved onto my focal image; I stamped the leafy branch from ????, one of Altenew’s mini sets, onto some watercolour paper using Versamark. I chose to use this because it would leave a slightly darker/shiny outline of the stamp that I could then paint over without the lines showing. This type of stamping & colouring is often referred to as no-line colouring.
I decided to use my Altenew Metallic watercolours for my branch and leaves; you will get the best results from these paints if you add some water to the pans and let them sit for a few minutes before agitating the surface with a paintbrush. This just helps to reconstitute the pigments and gives the most metallic results.
I painted each leaf, using two of the greens from the set, which allowed me to get some differentiation between them, and then I used a bronze colour to add some very thin branches.
I also painted an area roughly 2inch² with the two greens and added some of the white pearl, and once that was thoroughly dry I embossed my sentiment onto it with opaque bright white EP from WOW.
I fussy cut the branch and die cut my sentiment into a circle. I used a die from an A2 layers set to cut my background, giving me an inner piece and an outer frame, then I trimmed a small amount from each side of the frame to allow for a small white border once attached to my card base.
I glued the frame piece directly onto my card base with some Nuvo Deluxe liquid adhesive, then I popped the inner piece up on some foam tape before adhering that to the card base. This just gives a little added interest which I enjoyed.
I adhered my branch and sentiment to the background using foam squares and added some clear raindrop embellishments in a random way around the focal image.
I really like the concept of choosing a colour scheme to match the emotion or sentiment that you want to convey; it definitely helps to focus your mind if you are unsure of where to start with a particular card design.
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- Altenew – Metallic Watercolor UK Alt (US)
- Altenew – Shine Like A Diamond UK Alt (US)
- Altenew – Mini Branch Alt (US)
- Neenah Classic Crest – Solar White 80lb*
- Neenah Classic Crest Solar White – 110lb (*Use code natashapapertree for 10% off)
- Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
- Arteza – Foam Adhesive tape
Nice card
Thank you!! 🙂
This is beautiful! Will bring comfort during a difficult time ??
Thank you ?
Wow. I love the colours. I love the look. It is very classy.
Thank you for entering your work to the AECP assignment gallery.
Thank you Erum! ??