The butterfly was punched from a scrap of cardstock that was colored using Distress inks on an acrylic block. This is by FAR the easiest way to get a pretty watercolor effect. Rub the distress pads on the block, spritz with water, press the block onto paper. It almost always turns out lovely. The soft blue and green of this panel is perfectly suited to a sympathy card, and Karen, my friend who inspired the card shop with her enthusiastic card ministry, loved butterflies. Everyone at church knows this, and as a result, butterfly cards are our best sellers for pretty much all occasions.
Many thanks to Chrissie for her fabulous inspiration!
I spent time last week making a batch of different sympathy cards for the shop, and those will be interspersed this week with Valentine's Day cards because while death is an inevitable part of life, so is love. And I encourage you to make some Valentine's Day cards, especially if you don't usually, and send them out this year. We can all spread more love!
Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan
Supplies
stamps: Gina K Designs
ink: Distress inks, Memento Luxe black
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: dimensionals, Martha Stewart butterfly punch
This is quite lovely. I may CASE it as I need several sympathy cards now, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to read that, Sheila. Blessings to you.
DeleteAbsolutely brilliant Susan.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa!
DeleteTell us more about Karen's card shop. How much do sell the cards for? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe cards are $2 a piece. All proceeds go to the church's general fund. Several of us in the church make cards, and couple of my readers here have donated cards as well. We've even had several artists in the church convert paintings to cards at Office Depot and donate them. I put each card and envelope in cello bags so they stay clean when handled. The cards are displayed in an old brochure rack on the wall outside the church office, with a large envelope for money. It's all operated on the honor system, and I check the envelope every time I'm at church, clear out the money to a safe place, and when there's at least $50 I make a deposit to the church. We've raised $435 in about 7 months.
DeleteI was just saying last night that I need to make some more sympathy cards to have in my stash. Making them "under pressure" is never fun!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right. I hate "having" to make them. Much easier to make them for my stash.
DeleteDid you really just stamp OVER the butterfly? How did you get such a clean image?
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful card!
Mary, I stamped the sentiment on the card first. Then, after punching the butterfly, I stamped over it separately, angling the butterfly to add interest. It was very easy to line up the butterfly over the sentiment using tweezers to stick it down with the dimensionals.
DeleteHope that helps.
That's a beautiful card Susan! Thanks too, for the explanation of how you made it! Sometimes a "simple" card and sentiment make the best sympathy cards.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Jannette. Simple is good when it comes to sympathy cards.
DeleteWhen I first saw your beautiful card I wondered if it was an optical illusion that made the words seem to float. Now I see that it was deliberate design element and even how you did it. It's just stunning.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Judy. It was a great idea Chrissie had, and there are lots of possible variations on it. Give it a try!
ReplyDelete