• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Online Exclusive Products
  • Paper Pumpkin Subscriptions
  • Bundled Savings
  • All Inclusive Kits

RobinsCraftRoom.com

Robin Messenheimer, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

  • Home
  • Shop With Me!
    • Shop Tutorials
    • Shop Stampin’ Up!
    • Free Tutorials
    • Account details
    • Latest Catalogs
  • Join My Team
    • Sign Up Online!
  • About Me
    • Contact Me
  • 0 items

A Hint for Making Sympathy Cards!

March 8, 2012 by Robin

Aloha, all!

     One of the hardest kinds of cards to make is a Sympathy Card, especially if you've waited until you actually need one.  The absolutely best time to make a sympathy card is when there is no thought in your mind that you or one of your friends might need it any time soon.  This came to mind when I was going through my brand-new issue of Paper Crafts Magazine and I saw a card design that seemed to me would be perfect as a sympathy card.  And, since there is no one at the moment to whom I need to send one, I took my own advice and got to work CASEing the card in the magazine.

     What caught my eye about this card was that it looked like there was a layer on top of those flowers, but at the same time, it was obvious that there wasn't!  The card in the magazine was a very simple example of a beautifully effective no-layer card.  As I wanted to use the Stampin' Up! Whisper White Patterns paper for my card, and I knew that I'd probably need some brads to spiff things up, I needed to add in some layers.  But all those stamped flowers were actually on a single layer stamped on top of the sentiment!  What I did to make that possible was to mask the sentiment (and the lines above and below) with a piece of paper (plain copy paper, not card stock) all the way across the Patterns Paper.

     This is the order in which I stamped the images:

  • I stamped the sentiment, from the stamp set Loving Thoughts, with Rich Razzleberry.
  • I drew the lines at the top and bottom of the sentiment with the thick end of my Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write Marker.

Then I masked what I'd already stamped (see below for a bit more information about the masking), before stamping the rest.

  • I stamped the vines (this stamp and the flowers and leaf are from the stamp set, Vintage Vogue) with Old Olive.
  • I stamped the small flowers with Regal Rose.
  • I stamped the large flowers with Rich Razzleberry.
  • I stamped the small leaves with Old Olive.

     The real key to this whole layout is the masking.  I cut the mask so that it came just short of covering the lines drawn with the marker.  Even when you're using plain copy paper as a mask, there's a little bit of unstamped space just beyond the edge of the masking paper.  Making the mask just a teensy bit smaller than the area bordered by the lines kept that from showing.

     Also, to make this layout work well, you should mask across the entire width of the layer.  The first time I tried this I only masked the center greeting area, and some of the flower and leaf images ended up on the side of the greeting.  The result was that I lost the whole effect of the flowers seeming to be behind the sentiment "layer."

     After I finished all the stamping, I adhered the stamped layer onto Rich Razzleberry Card Stock, and added two Pear Pizzazz Glimmer Brads (they really do look good with the Old Olive Ink!) and two of the larger pearls from the Basic Pearls embellishment pack.  Finally I adhered this all to a Regal Rose Card.

     Have you noticed that I've been doing a lot of "CASE"ing (Copy And Share Everything) lately?  Some of that has to do with my seeing something and really wanting to copy it, changing it a bit using the stamps and embellishments I have in stock.  But some of it also has to do with my having been away from my stamping for so long that I really need something to jump start me!  And it's working!  I'm really feeling like I'm back in the swing of things and I'm having a blast with all this paper crafting!

     I hope you're having fun with your paper crafting, too.  It really does do wonders for one's temperament!!

Share5
Pin11K
Tweet
Share
11K Shares

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: Basic Pearls, Big Island, Designer Series Paper, East Hawaii, Glimmer Brads, Handmade Greeting Card, Handmade Greeting Cards, Handmade Sympathy Card, Hawaii, Loving Thoughts Stamp Set, Stampin' Up!, Sympahty Card, Vintage Vogue

Robin Messenheimer

I have been stamping and paper crafting for over 30 years, and have been an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator for 14 years.

My favorite part of being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is teaching others to enjoy crafting themselves. Not only do I conduct classes in person, I write tutorials for teaching anyone who has internet access. No matter if you're in my area in The Villages in Florida or anywhere else in the world, let me know if there's something you'd like to learn! Read More…

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Annette says

    March 8, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    Robin, this is so pretty. The masking is very effective.
    I agree with your comment about making sympathy cards when you do not need them. I have taken this approach too.

  2. Louise says

    March 9, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    This is just gorgeous!!

  3. Annette J says

    March 9, 2012 at 3:25 pm

    Robin, I love the layered effect with the masking.  Thank you for the details on how to stamp this one.  I  think I will create a couple of sympathy cards right now, casing your beautiful card!

  4. Laurel says

    March 9, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    Such a beautiful card!  It's a great example of simple, elegant stamping.

  5. Elin K. says

    March 9, 2012 at 5:17 pm

    Love this!  Really nice job on the masking.  🙂

  6. Mary Lou Glick says

    March 9, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    Wow, what a beautiful card! I haven't done much masking so I really appreciate all the details!

  7. Gail S. says

    March 10, 2012 at 11:33 am

    Beautiful job – I am going to have to try this!!

  8. Maria says

    March 17, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    Love it!!!  I got my hands on a copy of the magazine… and I like your case much better than the card you actually cased!

  9. Juanita Golson says

    March 19, 2012 at 8:29 am

    I loved it so much that I just had to see if I could CASE it in My Digital Studio. Thank you for the great inspiration.

  10. Gina Wiseman says

    May 3, 2013 at 4:44 am

    What a great tip and such a fabulous card! Thank you so much for sharing. I am off to CASe this one:-)

  11. Brakkers says

    May 25, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    Love this card and the fact that is lovely and flat to keep postage costs down.  I have this set of stamps so your wonderfully detailed instructions will be very useful.  I shall be doing a few birthday cards in this style too. Thank you! 

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Shop My Stampin' Up! Store
Robin Messenheimer
Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator
The Villages, Florida
808-854-6145
Robin at RobinsCraftRoom.com


Catalogs

Categories

Archives

Website disclaimer

This is a personal web site of Robin Messenheimer, an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, who is responsible for its content. Stampin' Up! does not endorse the use of or contents of the classes, services, or non-Stampin' Up! products that may be offered here.

All content is copyrighted so please do not submit my work for contests or publication and/or reprint or otherwise copy my articles without permission (and I do give permission most times!).

Click here for full terms and conditions of use of this website.

View My Terms of Service
Content © Robin Messenheimer, all rights reserved. Wordpress Genesis Framework customized by WebsByAmy, LLC