Sympathy Cards

I never thought I would need to create a bank of sympathy cards, but in these unprecedented times, it seems as though I am needing them more now than ever before.  

I was inspired by Cathy Zielske's video on making brayered backgrounds using Distress Oxide inks on a gel plate.  I liked the appearance of her card panels when she sprinkled water droplets onto her gel plate.  To make things quick and easy, I used the same ink colors shown in her video and the same water droplet technique.  

I love all the different panels I created from my gel plate pulls.  There were a couple of background panels that didn't capture the water droplets.  These panels needed a little extra TLC in order to be turned into beautiful card backgrounds.  I ran the panels through a floral embossing folder.  Then, I sanded down the raised portions to allow the white of the cardstock to show through. The transformation of the panels was amazing!

I mass-produced sympathy sentiments using two different stamp sets.  I embossed these sentiments in gold and copper embossing powder since these colors coordinated nicely with the pink, orange, and yellow inks of the background panels. I die cut several wildflowers out of gold and copper foil cardstock.  

On each card, I glued one wildflower and a sentiment to the front.  I wrapped a piece of brown and white twine around the card and tied it in a bow near the top of the card.

The gel plate allowed me to create 8 unique backgrounds out of 2 pieces of paper in a relatively short amount of time.  This was a quick way to create several simple, yet beautiful sympathy cards. 

Sympathy Cards
Supplies:

• Cathy Makes a Card with a Brayer, Oxides & Die Cuts (and some mistakes along the way!) https://youtu.be/5HyVBTTy6no
• Accent Opaque White Cardstock 100lb
• Recollections Gold and Copper Foil Cardstock
• Gel Plate
• Rubber Brayer
• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks - Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, Twisted Citron
• Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer
• Tim Holtz Alterations Embossing Folders by Sizzix
• Sand Paper
• Hero Arts Prayers Stamp and Die Set
• My Sentiments Exactly! Silhouette Peacocks Sympathy
• Versa Mark Ink
• Copper and Gold Embossing Powder
• Tim Holtz Thinlits Wildflower Stems #2
• Sew Easy Fancy Floss Neutral Baker's Twine - Cream Soda