Some Sympathy and Christmas cards

On December 9, my SIL's mother passed away from a brain aneurysm. She was only 71 years old. I made this card for my SIL and for her 3 sisters and for her brother:



For this card, I knew I wanted to use the Cuttlebug Bird Call folder but I didn't want to use the whole image. So I cut a 2x2 square and placed it in the folder so that it would emboss the bird and some of the grass. I then backed the square with a slightly larger black square and a white scalloped square. It is hard to tell in the picture but I popdotted the square when I placed it on the card. It is also hard to see but the black background is embossed with the Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes folder.

This is the first time that I did a card completely in black and white and I must say that I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Stamps: PTI Paper Tray
Paper: CTMH black, white daisy
Accessories: CTMH bigger black brads, Cuttlebug Bird Call and Distressed Stripes, Nestibilities scalloped square

I am trying to keep a supply of cards on had so I used the same layout as the above card but this time I used different colors and stamps for the sympathy cards:


For the above cards, I used CTMH Faith and for the colors, I used CTMH colonial white, chocolate (card on left) and bamboo (card on right).

Since I never got around to posting my Christmas cards in December and I don't want to dedicate a whole post to the Christmas cards (I am so ready to move on from Christmas cards), I thought I would spread out posting my Christmas cards in several posts as I am posting other cards.

For the card layout below, I decided to do some in two different color schemes. Since I used metallic card stock, they didn't photograph very well.


Inside:



Stamps: CTMH Beauty of Christmas
Paper: silver metallic, CTMH outdoor denim
Ink: CTMH outdoor denim
Accessories: CTMH outdoor denim grosgrain ribbon, silver brads, glitter, Cuttlebug Snowflakes

For the card below, I changed the outdoor denim to New England Ivy and used both red and silver metallic cardstock and cranberry grosgrain.



These cards had a lot of layering and since I used metallic cardstock, it also makes the card a bit heavy. To cut down on the weight and to also save cardstock, I used my paper trimmer and cut out the centers of my backing layers. No sense in wasting paper when you can't see it behind the layers. If anyone is interested in how I save paper when layering, please post to let me know. I will then make sure I do a photo tutorial of how to use your trimmer to cut out the centers.

That's all I have time to post today. I need to get moving and get over to my sister's house to work on some Valentine treats (photos coming soon if I remember to take some pictures today) for my youngest dd to take to school on Friday. My oldest dd says that they are not having a Valentine party on Friday but are having a "regular" party. She, however, can't tell me if she needs to bring a treat or anything to school. Hopefully, she will find out today because I am not going to try and make something at the last minute for her to take.

I will be back tomorrow or Thursday with more projects!