These Things Come in Threes, Right?

That's what they say about bad things. That they come in threes. I'm not sure I believe that, but in the past month I've had to make 3 sympathy cards for friends whose parent has died. NEVER my favorite to create, but probably the most important cards I send. I don't feel it's important to be prompt in sending a sympathy card. With all the upheaval of the wake and the funeral, I think it's nice to time my card to arrive AFTER all that ceremony has passed, so that the person knows someone is aware that I know he/she is still grieving.

This card came together after seeing a similar card on Lydia's blog. I liked the idea of sepia toned leaves for the focal image, which is from Apothecary Art. I have been surprised at how much I've liked this set, since its style, vintage and shabby chic, is SO not my style. It pairs nicely with the Labels Collection Framelits, which debuted in the Occasions Mini (which you can purchase products from until April 30).

I used three of the Labels for this card, which is 5.25" square. I stamped the image on watercolor paper first with black Staz-on ink. Staz-on is waterproof, which makes it the best choice when you want to use an Aquapainter to apply color. While I didn't end up doing that--I used the Crumb Cake Stampin' Write Marker instead--I lean toward watercolor paper when I'm trying to achieve a more antique look. There's more texture in the paper than Very Vanilla card stock has.

The sentiment is from Love & Sympathy stamp set, and the patterned paper behind the image is from the Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper. It has several sheets that are flocked, which add nice visual and texture touches to the card. The base is Crumb Cake and all the Label Framelits are mounted on Basic Black card stock.

I'll show you some more cards featuring this set and its coordinating Framelits in the other posts I'll put up this week.