Mail-Friendly Monday - using Lovely as a Tree

Good morning! Welcome to Mail-friendly Monday - the series I've set up to give you an easy reference for easy-to-post cards.

I want to show you a sympathy card today. At some stage, we all need cards to express our support to those that are grieving and my feeling about this is that the card shouldn't take over. This is definitely an occasion when clean and simple comes into its own.

I think a simple sponged background with the striking trees from Lovely as a Tree strikes the right note. To prevent the card from looking too stark I added a double row of pierced holes using the template from my Mat Pack.

When you hold the card up to the light it creates this interesting effect.

How to make this card:

(I made it to fit an 11cm square envelope.)

• Cut a 10.5cm square of Whisper White card stock. Score and fold it in half to make a card base.
• Stamp the trees onto the card front using Early Espresso ink.
• Stamp the same image on a piece of scrap paper or a post-it note and cut it in half along the horizon to make a ground and a sky mask. Hold the ground mask in place and roughly sponge the sky using Marina Mist ink. Then hold the sky mask in place while you sponge the ground using Soft Suede ink, and add dabs of Old Olive ink to add interest. Sponge round the edges of the sky using Not Quite Navy to give the light-on-the-horizon effect.
• Stamp a sentiment in Always Artichoke ink using a stamp-a-majig for accurate placement.
• Add a double row of piercing using the Mat Pack template.

Supplies

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Hopeful Thoughts (sentiment)

Ink: Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy

Card stock: Whisper White

Other: Always Artichoke marker

If you don't already own Lovely as a Tree, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It was one of the first sets I bought back in 2008 and I've used it again and again for many different occasions and all throughout the year (click on Lovely as a Tree in the index on the sidebar of my blog to see some of the cards I've made with it). It costs £25.95 for a set of six and you'll certainly get your money's worth! Do send me an email if you'd like to make an order - and remember, with orders of £45 you get one of the exclusive Sale-a-bration stamp sets FREE! There are four stunning sets to choose from - click here for details.

I had a lovely day yesterday with some of my crafting friends and we made a gorgeous project (which I didn't finish though because I was talking too much! I'll show you when I've finished!)

I hope you all had good weekends too.

See you tomorrow for more paper fun!