Collage card with Grateful Bunch and Timeless Textures

Hello Stampers!

It's Sunday night and you know what that means!  I'm typing fast and furiously on my keyboard to finish my Monday post before Downton Abbey comes on at 9 o'clock.  I cannot believe that we have tonight's episode and then only one more and Season Six is finished and the whole amazing things is O.V.E.R.  Next Sunday night is going to be a sad, sad night around here, with no more Downton to look forward to.  

I realize that some of you aren't Downton Abbey fans, so I'll quit with the complaining and get right to the card.  

This pretty sympathy card could be sent to one of your Downton-loving friends who is as sad as I am over the end of this series.  Of course I'm not being totally serious here.  It should probably be sent to someone who is truly mourning the loss of a loved one and needs to feel your love, concern, and support.

Did you know that collage style cards are my very favorite type of card?  I love to take images that aren't necessarily meant to go together and through the use of color and the placement of the images, come up with a pleasing composition.  To make this card I cut some strips of Very Vanilla card stock that measure 1 1/8 " wide by 4 1/4 " long.  I placed them on my stamping surface with their edges touching, and then when I was finished stamping, I pulled them apart and glued them to a base that measures 4 x 4 1/2 inches. If you want, you can use some painter's tape or masking tape to hold the pieces together while you stamp, then remove the tape when you're finished. 

I used two stamp sets from the Occasions catalog for this card:  the Grateful Bunch stamp set on page 22 and the Timeless Textures set on page 29.  I used a panel of Lost Lagoon as a background for the stamped strips and then I used Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Lost Lagoon, and Soft Sky for the various images.  The sentiment is from Thoughts and Prayers, a classic stamp set on page 26 of the annual catalog. Some stitched satin ribbon in Crumb Cake adds a horizontal element to the card.

Why not look through your stamps and find some images that you like and create your own collage?  And while you've got everything out, you might as well make several sympathy cards.  They are always needed and it's good to be prepared as we usually don't have much advance notice.

Thanks for reading my blog!  You are truly appreciated and I hope that you feel inspired to be creative with stamps, ink, and paper!
Hugs and happiness!
Susan