Floral Double Flap Sympathy Card

Some friends of mine from church recently lost their mother/mother-in-law, and I wanted to make them a special sympathy card. I wanted to use the Ginkgo Branch Stampin' Up! bundle I had purchased back in April since I bought it specifically with sympathy cards in mind. Then I saw TX Stampin' Sharon Armstrong's YouTube video where she demonstrated how to make a double flap fun fold card, and I decided to combine Sharon's card design with the Gingko Branch stamp and die set. Here's a link to the video where Sharon creates this card along with 3 other fun fold cards: Fun Fold Cards Vol 6 | Make These 4 New Card Designs - YouTube (this card design is the first one on the video). 

I found a sheet of lovely floral cardstock in my stash and followed Sharon's measurements to create the card base. Her measurements for the tab part of the card were too wide for the die cut I wanted to put the sentiments on, so I just used the same length she gave but made it narrower. I also decided to keep the tab at the front of the card rather than tucked inside the top flap because I liked how it looked set against the floral cardstock I used, but it's a versatile design that can work either way. 

When creating the card base, the left 1 1/2 inches of the top part of the card are glued down to the bottom of the card, leaving just the remaining 4 inches to lift up and display the inside of the card. The pink tab has a score line at one inch, and I just adhered that part of the tab to the back of the card base. Then I covered the back of the card with a piece of 4 1/2 X 5 cardstock to cover the tab and give me a place to write a personal note. 

I used Versamark ink and gold embossing powder to heat emboss the sentiments. My MISTI is so handy for times like this when I wanted to go ahead and heat emboss 6 sets of 3 different sentiments that fit on the label from the Gingko Branch set (if I'm going to go to the trouble of heat embossing, I like to make multiple sets to use on future cards). To start the process, I stamped all three sentiments on white card stock with Memento black ink using my MISTI and then die cut the sentiments and kept the white cardstock piece with the labels cut out of it. I put that cardstock back in my MISTI lined up where I had it to stamp the sentiments originally, and then I knew I could put the die cut labels in the corresponding holes in the white cardstock piece and my sentiments would stamp in the right place every time. I then die 27 labels out of black cardstock and used Versamark ink to stamp the sentiments multiple times. I sprinkled my gold embossing powder on them as I went but didn't heat emboss them until all 27 were stamped. I used my reverse tweezers to hold the labels as I heat embossed them since the longer sentiments don't leave much room for my fingers to get a grip on them without risking smudging them. 

For the top panel inside the card, I adhered a piece of pattern paper and then added a die cut rectangle I had stamped with an abbreviated version of John 11:25. This is my favorite verse to use for sympathy cards when I know the person who died was a believer. The full text of John 11:25 is: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." What a comforting promise for those who put their faith in Jesus! 

For the bottom panel inside the card, I die cut the largest gingko die in the Gingko Branch set using gold cardstock. I feel like gold cardstock is so elegant, and it looks great contrasting with the pink and black cardstock on that panel. I did a little tone-on-tone stenciling for behind the gingko branch, and then I adhered the gold embossed sentiment over the gingko branch using foam tape to give it some dimension. 

Card front:

A look at the tab when open:

Inside of the card (it's easy to line up the black labels--just adhere the inner one and then line up the outer one when gluing it to the tab):

A look at the process of fitting the black labels into the holes where the sentiments had been die cut so everything lines up perfectly each time:

Close up of the stenciling behind the gold gingko die cut and the gold embossed black label adhered with foam tape:

Close up of the verse panel:

A view of the back of the card:

 Challenges I'm entering: 

TIME OUT Challenges: Photo inspiration: I used the flowers in the vase and the gold in the cart as inspiration (2/5; ends June 7) 5C

Anything Goes with a Fun Fold for Creative Creases #58 (secretstamper.com): ATG with a fun fold (unlimited entries; ends June 9)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (4/10; ends June 7)

https://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge: ATG (3/5; ends June 7)

June Mood Board Card Challenge (not2shabbyshop.com): mood board: I chose the lovely pink flowers on the barn as my inspiration 

No more challenges