Introducing Words Of Comfort

Good morning and welcome to the first day of Papertrey Ink's January countdown! I have a set to share with you over the next several days that holds a special significance for me (pardon, but it's going to get real for a quick moment). This set, Words Of Comfort, came about a little over a year ago, after my brother passed away. So many wonderful people sent me cards, or emailed, or gave me a moment of their time and it meant the world. I also had plenty of folks tell me that they didn't know what to say in difficult situations like the loss of a loved one, diagnosis, or general hardship. I've been there, too, and I thought it might be helpful to have stamps available designed to make those tough-to-create cards a little easier.

This $15 set includes 17 phrases that can be mixed and matched or used individually for difficult occasions. Some are sympathy, but many of the others simply offer support for someone in need. The fonts I chose are versatile enough to compliment many of the sets you already have in your collection.

So now you know a little background. How about we get on to some projects, shall we?

My first card today is a sympathy card that uses two of the phrases in the set; one on the front and the other as the message inside the card.

I began by impressing my Rustic White card base with the Mighty Oak Cover Plate. This handy little trick makes the leaf placement super easy. Next, I stamped exterior sentiment using Dark Chocolate ink. I die cut my tree trunk from cork and adhered it to my card front in the impressed area. Then, I die cut my leaves from Rustic White cardstock and stamped them with a combination of Ocean Tides, Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, and Ripe Avocado inks.

I like using cool colors for cards like this because I feel they give a peaceful impression. I also tried to keep my colors in a similar color family to keep the card from getting too busy. I adhered most of the leaves with flat adhesive, but a handful were mounted with foam tape to give the tree a bit of dimension. As a finishing touch, I added a sentiment to the inside of the card, also in Dark Chocolate ink.

Let's leave today on a hopeful note, ok? Today's final card does just that.

I've been seeing cancer ribbons as the center of butterflies now for awhile and I wanted to try my hand at creating one on a supportive card. You can find a great list of awareness ribbons HERE if you'd like to do something similar for someone in your life.

I began by stamping the butterfly from Beautiful Butterflies onto a Mat Stack 5 shape using Autumn Rose ink (though I was careful not to ink the antennae). Next, I stamped the dotted detail from Butterfly Kisses overtop my Autumn Rose butterfly using Scarlet Jewel ink.

Then, I stamped the "Sending you hope" sentiment below the butterfly in gray ink. I used a fine point glue pen to add glitter to each of the dots, so my butterfly would be super fancy (it's hard to see in the photos, but the whole thing shimmers). I then added a Sweet Blush twill ribbon in the center of the butterfly and embellished it with a few white self-adhesive pearls.

I finished the whole thing off by mounting my focal point panel to a white card base that I textured with the woodgrain impression plate.

Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope to see you back again tomorrow as I share more of Words Of Comfort. Make sure to check in with Nichole, Betsy, Danielle, Dawn, Erin, Heather, Laura, Melissa, and Tiffany as they share more projects featuring this month's release. Take care and I'll see you soon!

Recipes:
Sympathy Tree Card
Stamps: Words Of Comfort (available January 15th), Mighty Oak - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Rustic White - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides, Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink
Other: Mighty Oak Cover Plate, Cork Sheet - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; glue pen

Ribbon Butterfly Card
Stamps: Words Of Comfort (available January 15th), Beautiful Butterflies, Butterfly Kisses - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: white
Ink: Autumn Rose, Scarlet Jewel - Papertrey Ink; Gray Pigment - Studio G
Other: Mat Stack 5 Die, Sweet Blush Twill Ribbon, Woodgrain Impression Plate - Papertrey Ink; Fine Crystal Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Foam Tape - Scotch; Self-adhesive pearls - Recollections (large) and Mark Richards (small); glue pen