WithSympathy

It feels as if I've had to make too many sympathy cards just recently...that is no fun at all.  I do put a lot of thought into them though to make them special for the person receiving it.  This one I used a file from the Silhouette Store that I purchased and was worried it would be too difficult but it wasn't and I'm thrilled with the way it came out.

The flowers and patterned paper are made with SU! cardstock...Calypso Coral, So Saffron, and Pear Pizzazz.  The base is SU!'s kraft cardstock called Crumb Cake.  I just couldn't fit a sentiment on the front so I just added it inside, stamped a sentiment, and called it good.  I actually have another sympathy card to make today and then I can move onto more fun things!! 

I hope you have a fantastic day!

Sending Love - -

Hello!  I'm sorry it's been so long since I've been here butt I'm back!  I've been creating just not sharing a whole bunch.  Sometimes life presents us with unpleasant things like losing a loved one.  The owner of the Jazzercise Fitness Center that I attend lost her mom last week.  I can complete empathize with how she is feeling and what she is going through so I thought I'd make her a card to express my thoughts.  I took out the SU! sets Painted Petals and Love & Sympathy to make the card.  The cardstock is Whisper White and Rose Red (one of my two favorite colors!). 

Inside a sympathy card I always write "She (or He) lived and laughed and loved and left.  The world will never be the same."  I know if I had read this on a sympathy card it would have felt very comforted by that.  I also added the sentiment from Love & Sympathy on the inside.  I think together those two sentiments are very nice. 

So, while it is difficult to make sympathy cards I know that receiving a heartfelt expression of a person's sympathy can really help the grieving person at a very difficult time so I encourage you to step up and make sure you send these cards.

Sorry for a slightly somber post but really...everyone experiences loss in their lives so it really is okay (and healthy) to talk about it!

Pet Sympathy

Hello!  Yes, I have been creating (quite a bit actually) but as you'd guess lots of things are for Valentine's Day so I'll share those on Saturday (they turned out great!).  Today I thought I'd share the card I made for my son's girlfriend whose dog had cancer and they had to let her go this last week.  She is, understandably, very sad so I hope she will find some comfort in this card.

I actually wish I would have made this a little more whimsical as she is a 20 something but it is the thought that counts, right?  I do love this sketch...it's from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and I can enter it in the challenge as it is open to all images.  Speaking of images, yes I once again used the PTI Sympathy set with the companion pet set.  I had all the paper laying around forever so I just picked it up and went with it.  I'm trying to just use what I have as I have SO much so you may see some really old supplies in the future!!

I'll be back tomorrow with a card that uses The Stamps of Life's new kitty set...so cute!  Then Saturday I'll show you my Valentine's projects...I think you'll really like them...just know I used my Cricut a lot and SVG's from the SVG Cutting Files recent blog hop (the freebie files are incredible and, unfortunately for those who didn't get them, no longer available).

A quickie today...

Hey, there friends. It has been a busy week, can you tell? I'm just stopping in today with a quick sympathy card that I made this morning.  I cannot take credit for it though.  I saw it HERE and just knew it would be lovely this way too. 

I used Basic Grey cardstock/ink from SU! as well as Cherry Cobbler for the flowers.  Just added a bow with some lovely black satin/organza ribbon that I had in my stash.  The main image is from PTI and the 'With Sympathy' is from a*muse studio.  On the inside I just added a piece of white with the same corners and a sympathy sentiment.  I will be using this layout again as it is lovely and pretty quick to put together.

Hopefully, I will be back soon but in the meantime...have a great day!

With Sympathy

Good morning friends! I hope you've had a wonderful start to your week. Things just keep motoring along here.  Thank you all for your birthday greetings...I had a wonderful day filled with friends and family...just the way I like it!

My son's girlfriend has had a loss in her family (her grandpa died) so I thought it only right to make a sympathy card.  I used patterned paper from MME called Gertie along with the Verve set called Forever In Our Hearts.  That stamp set is so lovely and has such gentle sentiments in it.  I can tell a lot of thought went into putting it together.  Anyway, the card layout is from this week's Mojo Monday sketch.

You can see that I decorated the inside of the card as well.  I have found that when you send a sympathy card for someone you've never met it is always nice to tell the person that even though I didn't know them personally I can tell what a wonderful person they were through knowing the person I'm sending the card to.  (Did that make sense?)  I know that those particular words have always meant a lot to me in the past.   

I'm actually starting to feel good instead of grumpy when I come in my craft room so I think that is a good sign.  I made up some samples for the Clear Dollar Stamps new digi release on Saturday that I can't wait to show you.  Friday is a new sketch from Sketches by Carly, too.  Also on Saturday will be The Sweet Stop sketch for the week so there will be several blog posts loaded into the end of the week...fun!

Well, enjoy your day!  I'll see ya back here soon!

Thought of the day:  God's three answers:  Yes, Not Yet, and I have something better in mind. 

Our freedom was not free...

Morning friends. While not a lot better today is a better day with my sinuses than yesterday was (I've only been up for a 1/2 hour though) so I thought I'd get this posted while I felt okay.

Some of you have heard me say that my boys are little pieces of my heart walking around outside my body. I imagine that to be true for most moms. (I said most...I know some relationships are difficult) When I heard of the deaths of some of the soldiers in the brigade that Jon belongs to I decided that I would make sympathy cards for each soldier's family. It has been more difficult than I thought and easy to put to the side and say 'I don't have enough time today'. Frankly, thinking about what those families are going through hurts me and is not a place I like to go BUT I want to follow through. There are now four families that I must send cards too. I used Doodle Pantry's Patriotic Eagle image along with a sentiment from the set that Laurie (owner of Doodle Pantry) so graciously re-worked for me so I could make a banner.

Inside I typed up my favorite sympathy sentiment (that sounds strange doesn't it?). In this case I think the sentiment on the front enhances the sentiment inside. (Noticed the typo just before I was to seal and send out a couple of the cards...why did no one tell me?)

I really wanted this card to be simple and clean for both the fact that I want the sentiment to be the thing that really stands out and for duplication purposes. The layout is from CPS this week. I've also entered this into the Paper Sundaes challenge which is to use a sentiment.

Alright, I'm off to go to Kyler's school for a little while. Have a wonderful day, hug the ones you love, and thank a soldier!

Big Butterfly

Well, here we are at the start of a new week. Time is flying right by and I can't believe it is the middle of March already. I guess I'm going to have to get our taxes done pretty soon. I know the tax break works for most people but, unfortunately, not for us. Anyway, today Jon comes home for a week visit. We haven't seen him in four months and I'm so excited! Do you have something fun planned for this week?

Today's card is a very simple card that I made for a friend. Her FIL is in the final days of his earthly life so I knew I would need a sympathy card. While I was in Wisconsin Todd's mom took me to a neat scrapbook store in Madison and when we saw the butterfly die (from Quickutz) and embossing folder (from Sixxiz) we knew we had to have them. Actually Todd's mom bought mine for me. So sweet! Anyway, I just embossed the butterfly background on some shimmery white cardstock then printed the sentiment on it. I ran the butterfly through my Big Shot (in several combinations and then decided this was the one) and attached it with some quick dry glue. I added some pearls to the big butterfly and some black dots with smooch to the smaller butterflies. That is about it.

As I do with this sentiment I printed the inside on some more shimmery white cardstock, cut it with a nestie and adhered it inside the card. Simple but the sentiment and butterfly really make this card.

I want to send a out to my M5D design team sister, Michelle. I hope you have an amazing day today!