Sympathy Card Using Generation Stamping with a Very Old Stamp

I'm part of the Group of Seven design team but shamefully failed to get my card done in time for their newest post.  I do have a good excuse - my sister and brother-in-law were visiting and we did a lot of work around my house and garden.  I had to make the most of the help while I had it.  My wonderful brother-in-law is the ultimate handyman and excellent gardener, and my sister is an amazing organizer and de-clutterer (though she refused to help me organize my craft room.

They've left now so I have crafty time again.  Sadly my dear friends just had to let their very old beloved black lab go so I decided to use this month's Group of Seven technique of "generation stamping" to make a sympathy card for them.

I created a background with the letterpress technique of rubbing black ink over the raised part of the paw print embossing folder and then running it through my Cuttlebug.

The focal panel is the dog stamp inked up once and then stamped three times in a row going off the edge of the panel as if it was the dog gently fading out of life.

I'm also adding the card to Stamping Sensations "Our Furry Friends", Can You Handle the Pressure? (Dog or Cat - I used my embossing folder for the letterpress technique), and The Neglected Stuff Challenge (this Stampin' Up set is many years old and I rarely use it).

For more ideas on using the generation stamping technique, head over to Group of Seven and feel free to give it a try and post your results.

   

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Stampin' Up
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Black Soot
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - unknown paw print embossing folder

Recycled Dog, Grateful Horse, and Die Cut Swag

The Paper Players challenge is to recycle something on our cards.  As a dog lover, I often receive store-bought cards with dogs on them.  I received one on my last birthday with a beautiful black lab on it.  Good friends of mine have a black lab so I decided to recycle the lab to make a Christmas card for them.  

I have some old double-sided stick-on flourishes.  I arranged them in the corners of the card and added multi-coloured glitter to them.  Finished off with a die cut sentiment "joyful" - exactly how I would describe my friends' lab!

Cardz 4 Guyz wants to see a masculine card in blue.

I sponged a background with various blue Distress inks and layered my die cut over it, popping the body of the horse up a bit with foam tape. The whole panel is popped up on the card base with fun foam.

And a "threefer" today.  52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants us to use dies or punches.  I made a card with lots of greenery die cuts that I cut out of small scraps of various green cs - therefore I'm also entering it at the Snippets challenge.  And linking up with Cut It Up - anything goes with die cuts.

I die cut several different pieces of greenery out of various scraps of green cs.  I splattered them with white acrylic paint and arranged them on white cs dry embossed with a pine sprig embossing folder.  I wrapped bakers twine around my focal panel and made a bow from it.  The sentiment is stamped and die cut with a narrow banner die.

    

  

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - dog off of a store bought card, double-sided stick-on flourishes, multi-coloured glitter

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Memory Box sentiment
Ink - various Distress blue inks
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - StarLit Studio Horse Country die, fun foam, foam tape

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs, scraps of different green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix embossing folder, TH greenery dies, sentiment label die, red/white baker's twine, white acrylic paint