Monday, April 22, 2013

Sympathy in Springtime

Spring has finally made an appearance in our neck of the woods!  It has been teasing us for a long time.  The weather would warm up and we would have a few sunny days in a row.  We would sigh with pleasure and  allow ourselves to think that it was going to be warm for good, when BAM!  The temperature would fall and the dark and threatening clouds would pile up and we would get rain, or snow or hail!  But, as if they were tired of waiting, the blossoms are coming out in force on the fruit trees and the forsythia.

                                                                                                                                                               


So nice to see all the blossoms, especially when they forecast all the delicious fruit that we will be harvesting in a few months.  The cherries will be first, followed, at length, by the nectarines, and then the prune plums!






I think bereavement must be especially hard to bear in the early spring when there is so much hope surrounding us, but a good friend lost her father this week and I was given the task of making a sympathy card for her from our church congregation.


I wanted to try a one-layer card, since it was a challenge from The Paper Players this week.  The concept is a real challenge for me, as you well know, but I wanted to use the beautiful nosegay of flowers from The Best of Flowers stamp set, which is part of the "25th Anniversary Best of"... releases.  Before stamping the image in StazOn Jet Black, I embossed the front of the card with one of the Designer Frames Folders.



I then used some sponge daubers with some Regal Rose, Baja Breeze and Certainly Celery ink and added some colour to the image.  All three of these colours are being discontinued and paper and ink will only be available in these colours while supplies last.  Let me know if you want to order some.  The sentiment is from the Loving Thoughts stamp set and is simple but elegant enough for this one-layer card.  I was sorely tempted to add some ribbon, or brads or pearls, but resisted and I am hoping I hit the mark, not only for the contest, but also for my friend and her family.  

These are exciting times at Stampin' Up right now.  We will have the Retired Items list available on Wednesday, April 24 and make sure you come back and check my blog that day for links to the list.  Many stamp sets and accessories are being retired to make way for the new sets and accessories in our 2013/14 Idea Book and Catalogue, which I happened to get a sneak peek at on Saturday, because of earning the chance in our recent Book-a-thon.  You have some sweet surprises in store for you!  If you ordered from me in the past year, you will be getting a copy in the mail around the middle of May.  If you didn't order from me and you would still like to get a copy, let me know.

Stamps:  Best of  Flowers (133342)**; Loving Thoughts (w125843; c125845)
Paper:  Whisper White (100730) card stock
Ink:  StazOn Jet Black (101406); Classic Stampin' Pads in Regal Rose (126947)*, Baja Breeze (126960)* and Certainly Celery (126958)*
Tools:  Designer Frames Embossing Folders (123130); Sponge Daubers (102892)
*Retired colour, only available while supplies last
**The Best of.... stamp series are only available in clear mount

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