By Your Side card using High Tide

What kind of card do you send someone who just isn't going to get better?  What should it say?  What should the colors be?  

Recently, I was approached with that challenge.  Combing through my supplies, I came up with several sets that had appropriate sentiments for that situation.  

The first set I discovered was High Tide.  This particular sentiment strikes just the right note for a card in which the person isn't going to get better.  It lets s/he simply know that you are right there with them to walk this journey.  The understated, neutral colors of Sahara Sand and Night Of Navy are appropriate for a man or woman and, combined with the nautical theme, produces a gentle feel.  Water has long been known to naturally relax and calm people.

To add dimension to the card, I used the largest square from Stitched Shapes dies to remove a portion of the rectangle panel.  I stamped the sentiment in full-strength Night of Navy and the birds in stamped-off-once Sahara Sand.  Then I used Multi Purpose Liquid Glue to adhere it to the Night Of Navy card base, inside its own negative space.  The Sahara Sand panel is adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals to give the inlaid square a recessed look.  

The lighthouse is stamped in Night Of Navy ink on Sahara Sand cardstock and cut with Paper Snips before adhering to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.  

For the full step-by-step directions to make this card, just click the image below to pin, download, or print the tutorial.

Tomorrow on my weekly Happy (half) Hour Stamping Class on my Facebook page, I'll show another card of this type using a different stamp set.  Make sure to join me at 2 PM ET.  As awkward and challenging these types of situations feel to us, it is important and worth the extra effort to make and send these kinds of cards.  When I resist sending a card because I feel inadequate, I remember this from Proverbs 25:11 - "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" - in other words, valuable and precious to the other person!

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Bonus 6th Way To Use Peaceful Poppies Elements

It's Friday!  Fun things happen on Fridays, right?  When my daughters were little, we called it Fun Friday and planned special things for this day.  It didn't necessarily involve going anywhere - we'd make ice cream sundaes for dinner, or play all their favorite board games.  Other times, we'd get movies from our library and Brian would make his "famous" popcorn.  One Christmas, knowing our Fun Friday tradition, my brother and sister-in-law got us a family scrapbook that had a variety of silly activities and fill-ins we could do together.  It gives us lots of laughs now to page through it and see what the girls recorded 12+ years ago!

In the spirit of Fun Friday, I have a *bonus* sixth way to use the Peaceful Poppies Elements.  

I watercolored three of the pieces from the included pre-printed watercolor sheets, using an Aquapainter, and Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive inks.  The white embossed lines resist the applied ink and really stand out from the watercoloring!  

Tip: to watercolor, squeeze a drop of ink from a bottle of re-inker into the lid of an ink pad.  Fill the barrel of an Aqua Painter with water, then squeeze a few drops into the ink pad lid to dilute the ink.  Pick up color with the Aqua Painter and apply to the Elements piece.  I found it easier to watercolor first, then pop out the pieces.  If you are uncomfortable watercoloring, practice on scrap watercolor paper first.  You'll get more comfortable with it and enjoy the process!

I also used a black embossed circle and black embossed banner from the Elements Pack.  The circle highlights and anchors the boquet of flowers while the banner is the perfect spot for my heat embossed sentiment (from Sending You Thoughts).

What I love about the Peaceful Poppies Elements:

• You get 4 paper mediums to work with (colored printed pieces, black embossed, vellum embossed, and watercolor embossed).  The variety gives you many looks for just $6.50!
• You can use them as is (just punch out and adhere) or try techniques on them (like coloring with Stampin' Blends).  Both ways look pretty!
• You can make a card without any stamping at all.  This option is great when stamping somewhere other than your home (like while waiting for a child's practice to be over, or on vacation).  Just add some card bases, smaller pieces of Desiger Series Paper, a spool of ribbon, and adhesive to a plastic bag - instant DIY stamp kit!

Peaceful Poppies Elements

Peaceful Poppies suite

Aqua Painters

Check out more Elements ideas from this week's Live!

Remember, any order of $35 or more (before shipping and tax) receives the project kits to make both cards demo'd during Tuesday's Live!  Use Host Code 349VN7VY and be sure to place your order by Midnight ET tonight!

You can find the project sheet here.