Swallowtail Sympathy Card

One of my husband's cousins that he grew up with past away this last week after a prolonged illness.  It is of some comfort that his cousin is now at peace and in a place more restful than his last months here.  I needed to set my mind to a sympathy card design.  Sometimes, I find it difficult to do sympathy card, but I've found that if I focus on a card that will be elegant, but restful and peaceful, the mojo flows.

I made a sympathy card for a long-time friend several months ago when her mother passed, and I really like the color palette for her card.  I decided to use it again:  black,  Crumb Cake, vanilla, and gold metallic, but change it up with a little pastel yellow instead of cream.  I had used the Stampin' Up Swallowtail stamp before, but never on a sympathy card, but I thought with this color palette it would be really pretty.

My previous sympathy card used a patterned paper in blacks and tans that I spritzed with my homemade Inca Gold Metallic spritzer.  I decided to use this idea on the Crumb Cake cardstock onto which I planned to stamp my Swallowtail butterfly.  I spritzed the cardstock and dried it, and I was ready to stamp.  I off-centered the butterfly to the right side of the card and stamped with Memento Ink, because I planned to color in parts of the wings with Copic markers.  

I designed a little multi-layer fishtail sentiment tag.  The sentiment is computer-made and punched out with the SU Word Window punch.  I trimmed off one curved end and fishtailed it to match the black and yellow layers below.  The other curve end (under the ribbon) is finished off with one of the onyx rhinestones...it looks really cute, if cute is the right word for a sympathy card. 

Now that the front design was complete, I set my efforts to creating a coordinating inside design and finding just the right sympathy verse.  I came upon this quote from Isiah 40:11 that I thought was perfect.  Using the computer, I decided to print my verse onto a piece of gold metallic spritzed Crumb Cake cardstock made just as I did for the front before I stamped the Swallowtail.  I placed the pre-prepared, dried cardstock in the printer and printed the verse.  I was very pleased with the results.

Recipe:  SU papers:  Basic Black, Crumb Cake. SU stamp: Swallowtail. SU Antique Brad. SU punch: Word Window (sentiment/ one end fishtailed).  Darice Core’dinations Glitter paper: String of Pearls.  Memento Ink: Tuxedo Black.  SU: Vintage Brad.  Ribbon Stash: 5/8” Gold metallic; 1/4” Gold Metallic edged black satin. Y08 Copic marker. Black rhinestones. Computer-made sentiment. Homemade Fishtail tag.  Homemade: Inca Gold Metallic Spritz (FolkArt Metallic Inca Gold Acrylic paint). Becca’s Bowmaker.  Inside: EK Victorian Photo Corner punch.