Sympathy for the Loss of a Son!

A kind and thoughtful lady that I met, probably, ten years ago, who is my Mom's Stampin' Up demonstrator, lost her 16-year old son due to a car accident a few months ago.  I was unable to make a sympathy card for her son due to recovering from hand surgeries.  So, I had to be satisfied with sending thoughts and prayers to her and her family, as well as joining a Facebook condolence post on her behalf, but I made a note that I really wanted to make her a card in the future as soon as I was able.

Meanwhile, I had a card idea started "brewing" in my head based an Easter card made by my Stampin' Up demonstrator, Dar Peterson, several years ago.  I loved her idea of the pretty oval floral-printed vellum oval, which reminded me of a church stained glass window, that she used as the backdrop for the cross on her card.  I thought it would make a lovely feature for a sympathy card.  At the same time, I was reading up a little on the Splitcoaststamper challenges available at the time, especially the Inspiration Challenge, which I always like to enter.  I found a metal scroll, rustic cross and a light blue cross ornament, which reminded me of a scrolled lattice background stamp that in blue might make a lovely oval vellum "window" for my masculine sympathy card.  I searched through my background stamps and found the lattice-style stamp that I was thinking of and place it on my craft table as a reminder for the future when my hands were better.

My hand recovery came about just before my four-week visit to my Mom in California in October and November.  Before I left, I tried out my vellum oval "window" idea and made several ovals to take with me.  Space was limited as I was flying.  While there, Mom and I got busy making cards to try and catch-up on missed occasions and also to build our Christmas card stashes.  I specifically worked on my three needed sympathy cards...the first being the one for this lovely Stampin' Up friend's sorrowful loss.   

Using Dar's original design as an idea base, I made several modifications to her card to make it fit for a sympathy card, plus make it a "more me" card.  I enlarged my card by adding more color layers with a different embossing folder pattern, plus a different color treatment, ribbon style, and sentiment layering dies.  I also added Copic color to my dove, stamped my lattice-patterned oval vellum "window" using a background stamp in Baja Breeze ink, added a scallop mat layer, and composed my own sentiment and interior verse.  Take a peek below at the finished card inside and out!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Whisper White, Dapper Denim, Vellum-Translucent.  Stamps--Serene Garden (dove).  Dies--Crosses of Hope (cross), Layering Ovals.  Ink--Baja Breeze (oval window), Sahara Sand (dove)  Embossing Folder--Stripes.  Other:  Stamps--Just Rite Modern Lattice Background stamp (oval window).  Dies--Spellbinders Grommet Tags w/modified ends using Spellbinders Classic Triple Scallop Edges. Ribbon--Offray 5/8" Stitched.  Punch: EK Victorian Corners.  Copic coloring--dove.  Wink of Stella-Clear (dove wings).  Chatterbox sentiment/ verse.  Size:  4-3/4 x 6 inches.  (Thank you Dar Peterson for the wonderful card design from which my card evolved).