With Sympathy

I saw this clever technique in a video from Jennifer McGuire in the Onlinecardclasses.com Stretch Your Stamps 2 class using a reverse background stamp, Versamark and Perfect Pearls.  I knew I had to give it a try.  I had picked up this beautiful background stamp from Impression Obsession that I thought would be perfect for the technique.  I inked it up with Versamark, stamped my image, swirled on the Perfect Pearls in Blue Patina and Green Patina, then covered it with clear embossing powder and heat set it.  So pretty.  I cut it down just smaller than my black card base. 

I added some Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls using Versamark ink on some white card stock.  I then die cut it with the flag shape from Lawn Fawn's Large Stitched Journaling Card and cut a plain black one as well.  I then layered them with a bit of the gold peeking out.  For the sentiment, I used the tiny With Sympathy die from Simon Says Stamp.  It cuts the thinnest sentiment.  There's no way I could do something so thin anyway else.  I decided that I wanted it to be out of the Verdigris embossing powder from Ranger, so I just added some Versamark to some white card stock, covered it with the powder, heat embossed it and then cut it out.  I layered it on top of the banner to finish off the card.

 

Thinking of You Inspired by Jennifer McGuire

As I posted before, I was completely enthralled watching Jennifer McGuire use Distress Inks with embossing folders.  You can see her beautiful work and check out her video here.   I immediately knew I had to give it a try by making several panels.  For this card, I used the Darice Heart Background with my Distress Inks (Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserves I think) to make the lovely embossed panel.  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to use it on a card, but the idea came to me when I made a mess of a my craft desk.  I hate when it's messy but I do have to admit that I'm more creative when things are chaotic on my desk.  Somehow the mess of supplies leads me to think of things I might not have thought of if I hadn't seen random things laying together. 

It all started with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Party Banners dies and I thought about using the smallest banner shape for my sentiment.  But I didn't want to cover over all the texture and color, so I found some vellum in my stash.  Fortunately, I have several weights of vellum because the first piece was way too heavy.  It really was too opaque for what I wanted.  But then I found the lighter weight pack and realized it was perfect.  After cutting out my banner, I used the stamp from the Simon Says Stamp July 2014 Card Kit inked in Versamark and heat embossed with some Ranger Super Fine White Embossing Powder to finish the sentiment.  I then marked the holes in the banner on my panel and used my Crop-a-dile to hole punch in the back panel.  I used some Sky hemp cord from Lawn Fawn for a bow and then cut my panel just a bit smaller than the width of my card base made from a half of a sheet of Simon Says Stamp Soft Navy card stock.  Once I had adhered it to the card base, I decided it really didn't need any further embellishment.

Thinking of You Using the Simon Says Stamp July 2014 Card Kit

In my quest to use up my Simon Says Stamp July 2014 Card Kit, I had another piece of floral paper that I had used with the envelope stamp, but still had quite a bit of the sheet left.  I decided it would be good time to use my new Lawn Fawn Stitched Party Banners die.  I used the largest banner die to cut a banner out of the floral paper.  I then used the smaller banner die with vellum.  I then stamped the sentiment with some Versamark ink and used Ranger Walnut Stain Embossing Powder to finish off the sentiment.  I layered the banners together, hole punched some matching holes in the floral paper then tied the two layers together with some Hemptique baker's twine.  I ran a piece of Soft Navy card stock from Simon Says Stamp through the Darice Chevron Background embossing folder for a little added texture.  I then layered the embossed card stock on my card base and topped it off with the banner pieces I had previous tied together.