Sympathy cards...

They're really not my favorite cards to make. (I'm sure I'm not the only one.) I had cause to make a couple of sympathy cards recently for a good friend of ours, and I decided that I probably better get a couple in my stash, so I don't have to be put on the spot like that and try to come up with something quickly.

This one's pretty simple in design. I used the first set I ever purchased from The Ton Stamps: Fresh Cut Peonies. The blooms are so detailed... just simply stunning. I wanted a bouquet of blooms dripping from the corner on a stark black card base, so I die cut the blooms using Bazzill's Candy Hearts card stock. I chose to use colored card stock, as opposed to white cardstock, because I didn't want to bring in that unseemly white edge that comes with die cuts. (I know, I could have fussy cut them, but these blooms have intricate edges, and naptime was almost over!) I love how such a simple alteration of using colored card stock versus white makes such a huge difference in the feel of the card. I stamped the flowers using Hero Arts Pale Tomato, Altenew's Ruby Red, and PTI's Scarlet Jewel inks. I die cut the leaves using PTI's Limeade Ice cardstock, then stamped them with Limeade Ice, Simply Chartreuse, and Ripe Avocado inks. I double heat embossed the "thinking of you" sentiment (from The Ton's Large Peony 2) using gold embossing powder, then arranged and adhered my flowers in the corner. As an afterthought, I decided to add some flourishes (coming next week in a mini release from The Ton, so stay tuned!) in Delicata Gold ink. A few gold sequins finished it off.

I hope you enjoyed this rather somber card! See you in a few days.