Some cards are just so difficult to make .....

I am sure that, like me, you hate making cards for sending out on sad and difficult occasions, but they just have to be done.  Sympathy cards and 'letting you know I'm thinking of you' cards are just not easy to do well. 

Sadly, I have cause to create a Sympathy card for a friend but didn't want it to be too sad or morbid so decided not to use black or darker colours on it.

I got the idea for the offset frame as I was about to throw away the waste from cutting out an image with a nestie.  I thought the slightly wider area on the left would be perfect on which to stamp a flower image.  I've had this set of stamps from Insignia in my stash for some time and they were just what I wanted to create the design on my card. 

I created the base card with some A4 kraft cardstock from my stash, making the fold on the short side.  I then attached the cream frame and overstamped the flower images with Cocoa ink to overlap onto the base card.  The central 'mandala' style image was also from the same set which I stamped on the cream card and cut out, adding an amber gem in the centre.  The sentiment is from a set by Stampendous and includes a 'with sympathy' stamp which I added inside the card.

The finished card was just what I had in mind and I was so pleased with it, I decided to make a batch of them to keep in stock.  Adding a different sentiment inside or just using as a notelet makes it quite a versatile design.