Friday, January 18, 2013

Miss You

The troops really appreciate being able to send Miss You cards, but they are hard to make, sort of like sympathy cards. They can't be happy, with cheerful colors and images, not if you want them to feel unified and true (although I did use hot pink and red on OWH Valentine's Day cards that used miss you sentiments). For these two cards, I used rather dull, muted colors, natural images, and LOTS of white space to convey the emptiness of missing someone you love.




This particular image looked a bit plain, so I added the little white embroidery-thread bow. I like how it draws attention to all the white space.




The bamboo image needed nothing. Did you know that bamboo can grow up to two feet in one day? Yep. That bamboo is reaching up into all that white space...an idea I really liked for a miss you card.

The white-on-white layering also gives a sense of fragmentation or separation that feels right, don't you think?

Our troops miss their families and friends when they are deployed or serving overseas. Their families and friends miss them. Let's remember that, and offer up a grateful prayer that people are willing to serve.

Supplies
stamps: Peaceful Garden (Papertrey)
ink: VersaColor
paper: Papertrey
accessories: embroidery thread, dimensionals

11 comments:

  1. LOVE these! Delightfully CAS as well as appropriate. Your're amazing! -Hugs, Audrie

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  2. I love that both the design and image on each card convey the sentiment. Brilliant!

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  3. These are just beautiful, Susan! As you often do, you got me thinking. For "miss you" Operation Write Home cards, I often use cheerful colors. I was asking myself, what makes it "miss you" (for my cards), instead of "hello" or "thinking of you." Because I always aim for my sentiments to fit with the colors, images, and overall feeling of my cards. Looking back at them, the "miss you" cards tend to have some nature elements - butterflies, birds, trees - or hearts but not Valentiney - and some depth of character (odd but I can't think of a better way to say it) that could draw someone in to reflect or dream a little. Now I'm thinking I should just delete this comment but ... maybe it makes sense in some way. Again, thanks for making me think, even incoherently :-)

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  4. A perfect example of the axiom: Less is more!

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  5. Hi!, it's been too long since I stopped by. I am still looking at everyone of your creations though :). Love these with the muted colors. C ya....

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  6. just beautiful! I love how you deconstruct your cards ;)

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  7. I don't disagree with the muted tones for Miss you cards, however I think Cindy O raises an excellent point that sometimes the point of a miss you card isn't somber, it is a pick me up and that can be portrayed in color choices. If a soldier sends home a card that is bright orange and yellows with miss you and that is the recipient's favorite colors it works because it is more than the sentiment and that is the uniqueness of handmade card compared to mass production card that they are tailored to many tastes. And of course your cards are simply beautiful as always.

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  8. Cindy and Kristen,

    You make an excellent point...different situations warrant different approaches, and miss you doesn't really have to be somber all the time. Depending on the person sending and the person receiving, individual feelings will vary. Thanks!

    Susan

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  9. I didn't give a thought to "somber vs cheerful" colors on these missing you cards. I looked at them and had an emotional reaction in that they portrayed what I think a missing you card should be--a little sad. I thought the droopiness of the image on the first card and the bow added to the forlorn feeling. That isn't to say I wouldn't send a missing you card with more vibrant colors, but I don't think it would evoke the same emotional reaction. It would depend a lot on the person I was sending it to.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!