This blog is very difficult to write. I have just finished another sympathy card for my friend and cardmaking buddy, who just lost her Dad at the end of June, and 18 days later; she lost her mother due to an automobile accident! It is difficult to find words words to comfort her, but to let her know she is my thoughts and prayers and hope that she receives solace from knowing how much her family and friends are thinking of her.
After getting my creative mojo juices flowing by checking out a few Splitcoasterstamper (SCS) challenges ideas before starting my friend's much needed sympathy card, I decided to try a new background technique (for me) using Shaving Cream and stamp pad re-inkers. I was really pleased with the results. I had the butterfly I ultimately used sitting on my craft table for a while. It was a leftover from a failed background attempt, but the butterfly turned out well, so I thought I'd save for future use. My card's color scheme came from the Inspiration challenge and the butterfly.
I'm pretty pleased with my results and hope that this card will help ease some of my friend's grief, and at least let her know that I have her in my thoughts and prayers. Take a peek at the card below. If you are interested, the design and construction story follows below the card recipe for materials used.
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Recipe: Stampin' Up products: Cardstock--Wild Wasabi, White Shimmer, and Watercolor paper. DCWV Glitzy Glitter Stack (gold). Stamps--Painted Petals (flowers). Inks--Wild Wasabi, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral. Dies--Butterflies Thinlits; Layering Ovals Framelits. Solid Thick Baker's Twine--Wild Wasabi. Other: Smooch--Pearlized Accent Ink/ Gold. ImagineCrafts--Frost Shimmer Spritz. Ribbon--Offray 5/8" Sheer Scallop/ White. Chatterbox sentiment/ verse. Size: 4-3/4" x 6".
The Story
One of the things I like about the challenges over at Splitcoaststampers is that you can enter them at any time. If you missed one, and you've set yourself a goal to finish all challenges within a particular challenge in the current year., you can enter when you get the card made. I always check out the current week's challenges first, and I usually starting with the Inspiration Challenge, which selects a website for you to browse for inspiration. At Zazzle Souvenirs, I found a Celebration of Life Guest book with a lovely picture of a pretty butterfly, which reminded me of the finished butterfly that I had sitting around on my craft table for over three weeks waiting for an eventual home. I thought this sympathy card might be a great way to use it.
There was also a Free 4 All Challenge a few weeks ago that I missed where you were to find inspiration about something from one of your neighboring states from where you lived. I researched Oregon, and found that they had several conservation programs going in different areas of the state and on different species of butterflies, because they were either endangered or close to being endangered because their habitats were being destroy by human growth in their migration paths. There was also an old Ways To Use It Challenge back in March 2017 concerning butterflies that I missed with my knee surgery. It seemed a foregone conclusion that I was meant to make a card with a butterfly on it!
Next, I searched the Featured Stamper Challenge that I missed last week for some layout ideas, and I found several cards with layouts that I thought might work out. I really had been wanting to try out the Shaving Cream background technique, so I checked out the Technique Lovers Challenge, and found an old challenge from last year that involved using shaving cream. I have shied away from this Technique Lovers Challenge and the Mix-Ability Challenge (mixed media) as I haven't tried many of the areas of cardmaking that these challenges often require. I really feel nervous, as a beginning novice, to try many of the techniques and ideas that are used in these two challenges, but I've made myself a goal is start diving in...so I dive, I did!
My "stash" butterfly had a variegated color scheme. I had used Stampin' Up's Wild Wasabi, Crisp Cantaloupe, and Calypso Coral inks with a Shimmer Frost Spritz on top and some smudged pearlized gold accent ink in a few spots, as well. I decided to try the Wild Wasabi in the shaving cream on watercolor paper and see what happened. I was trying for a Celadon Green (a soft light minty shade) so that I could enter the color-themed Alphabet Challenge for Letter C. I was pretty thrilled with the results! It turned out a lovely soft green just like I wanted. It was several shades lighter than the actual Wild Wasabi ink color. After drying the card front with my heat tool, I spritzed the entire surface with the Shimmer Frost Spritz.
The layout idea had a verse panel with a bird perched on the top edge in the lower right third of the card front. Instead of this, I stamped a floral arrangement on the lower right third using my MISTI stamping tool. I planned to have my butterfly rest on these blooms. I flicked and dotted with Smooch pearlized gold accent ink, creating many tiny random gold dots over the surface. I also added gold streaks to the flower leaves and stamen dots on the blooms. As did the layout idea, I added the vertical ribbon band along the left side. Mine was a white sheer scalloped ribbon, but instead of a ribbon bow, I centered a solid green thick Baker's twine down the ribbon center tying off with a green twine bow. I added an oval sentiment with a gold glimmer scalloped mat toward the top left. I die-cut a second open-cut butterfly from the gold glimmer paper and added it under my variegated "stash" butterfly, staggering it about 1/16" so that it just barely peeked under that top butterfly. I was truly satisfied with my results.
