I Won! and Another Card

I was so excited that I won the "Bling, Bling...Hello!" contest. There were some really great entries. You should check out the whole gallery at {caardvarks}, and they also have a new contest up and running. You can see my winning card in this post.

I got some time this afternoon to sit at my stamping desk and make this card using Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #4, eventhough the weekend has already escaped me. I, unfortunately, needed a sympathy card for a long-time older friend from back home whose husband recently passed away. I'm coming to grips with the idea of stamping sympathy cards.

It almost seemed wrong to me at first, to do something I enjoy (stamping) for such a bleak, sad occassion. But, really, you need a card one way or another. And under what circumstances could a from the heart, handmade card be more appropriate, to let the recipient know that you truly care? So, I sat down to make this card with the hopes of lifting her spirits. These sweet little birdies certainly make me smile!

I stamped the two birds (black Stazon) on Papertrey Ink white card stock, as well as on scraps of Autumn Leaves Shangri-La designer paper to paper piece the wings and body. I used an aquapainter and inks to watercolor. I colored the beaks red dots with markers. The Marvy giga scalloped and mega circle punches took care of the layered circles. "With" was stamped in NQN and "sympathy" in versamark and white embossing powder, both from Papertrey Ink. The brads are layered on NQN 1/4-inch circles.

The Stuff:
Stamps: Hero Arts Decorative Birds, sentiment from Paper Tray by Papertrey Ink
Ink: black stazon, not quite navy, more mustard, sahara sand, close to cocoa, real red, versamark
Paper: Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, white, Autumn Leaves Shangri-La
Other: Marvy punches, 1/4" circle punch, Creating Keepsakes brads, white detail embossing powder, aquapainter, american crafts ribbon