Sale-A-Bration

Hi, sympathy cards are one of my least favourite cards to make. Okay, they are THE least favourite. I always struggle with them because I want them to be perfect in design, execution and personalised to the recipient. When it comes to times when I HAVE to make them – it so difficult. I’ve decided I need to make some for my stash to take that pressure off myself.

Today, I thought I’d share two “same but different” sympathy cards. I haven’t done this for a while but it is something I love to do. Basically, this means we are going to use the same supplies but create different cards. This is a good way to overcome the ‘oh, I could do this! Oh, but I could do that!’ situation – just make them both. We are also going to use quite a different colour palette for me – Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Basic White and Gold. I’m loving these rich colours – so beautiful!

Start by creating a mask for the dahlia from the Delicate Dahlias stamp set. I got a little confused on this one. I used a mask I had previously created. I couldn’t work out why it wasn’t masking as perfectly as usual. It wasn’t until I had finished stamping the two panels that I realise what I had done. I had used the mask for the line drawing of the dahlia, not the solid design! Oops!

Once you have made the mask, stamp the dahlia in Rich Razzleberry and then mask it to stamp the leaves in Night of Navy. Repeat this process until you are happy with the result. Next use a Stitched Rectangle die to cut out a panel which will be the focal panel of your cards.

We are using the same sentiment for both cards – the “sending heartfelt sympathy” sentiment, also from the Delicate Dahlias stamp set. As I wanted this to be a glossy navy colour, I used the Stamparatus to help. Firstly, position your cardstock in the Stamparatus and hold it in place with the magnets. Next ink the stamp with Night of Navy ink and stamp. Clean the stamp and ink with Versamark then stamp again. Make sure you don’t move the cardstock from its original position. Now you can clear emboss the sentiment and it will appear a glossy navy colour. Die-cut this piece with the circle die from the Tasteful Labels dies and put it aside.

Okay, now we are going to use these two pieces to make the two similar but different cards. Let’s start with the first one. Create a card base from Thick Basic White cardstock. Adhere a piece of the Blackberry Beauty Specialty Designer Series Paper to the front of the card base. Next mat the focal panel with Night of Navy cardstock and use Stampin’ Dimensionals to adhere this to the front of the card. Cut a small strip of the Be Dazzling Specialty Paper and a small strip of Night of Navy cardstock. Layer these together and adhere to the front of the card. Adhere the sentiment with Stampin’ Dimensionals and finish off the card with a few Gilded Gems.

Here’s the first card…

For the second card, create a card base from Night of Navy cardstock. I decided to change it up a little more and added some Gold Shimmer Ribbon across the front of the focal panel (you could also tie a bow if you wanted). Cut another small strip of the Be Dazzling Specialty Paper and layer it with a strip of paper from the Blackberry Beauty Specialty Designer Series Paper. Pop up the sentiment and finish with the Gilded Gems.

Here’s the second card…

There you go! Two similar but different sympathy cards. Which one do you like the most?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you have a great day!

Shop 24/7 at my online store at Stampers Workshop!
Get the Starter Kit and Join my StampingPals team.

Supplies Used:

Listed below are the supplies used to create the above project. If the stamp set, die set, etc, also comes as a part of a bundle or suite, I link to all so that you have choices.  I also link refills and basic supplies like adhesives which correspond with items used to make my projects.  These links take you to my online store.