Mr Cardmaker Tries to make the Hard Stuff as Pretty as Possible

Well, when it comes time to make sympathy cards, it never seems like it's going to be a fun thing to do. My way around that is to make a good handful AHEAD of time, so I'm able to concentrate on the card making, rather than the sad occasion. 

And PET sympathy cards...ooooh, boy. Might even be worse.

Anyway, when it came to making these particular cards, I at least had a sweet face and lovely sentiments to keep me company. 

Today I'm sharing cards made with the Stella Puppy stamp set, part of the August 2020 release from Picket Fence Studios.

I made this--

The idea of the Rainbow Bridge, the place where our sweet pets wait for us to meet them until our time comes, is a lovely and hopeful one. And, there's rainbows, so how could you go wrong?

I made a panel of rainbow colors with cardstock scraps in my stash, and was THRILLED when clear embossing the puppy image on top of it worked out as well as I was hoping. Even on the yellow, things are nice and clear.

A simple white embossed sentiment from the stamp set is all that was needed, but I did add some white Nuvo drops, because I felt something was needed, and sequins and other bling didn't seem fitting.

I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die and foam mounted it on a white card base. Simple is best, I think.

For my next card, I wanted to keep the rainbow idea, but I went softer.

I made this--

Here, I did soft washes of color with watered-down Distress Inks, in rainbow order, of course. I came back and added water droplets and ink spatters, trying to concentrate the spatters to their coordinating colors, but not terribly worried about bleed over.

Once totally dry, I stamped and gold heat embossed the puppy image and added the sentiment, which I clear embossed to give it more substance. Some tiny gold Nuvo drops finish things off.

In a bad time, it's nice to have a happy thought and some pretty colors to hang onto, as well as the support of friends and loved ones. Paper hugs, y'all.  Send some.

Stella Puppy and many other new products in the August release are now available for purchase at the Picket Fence Studios website. Check it out!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard