Iris Sympathy – Tutorial

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I’m still working on sympathy cards.  I realize it may be a bit depressing, but we need them just the same.

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin Up Long Stemmed
Paper: Stampin Up Whisper White, Soft Sky, Apricot Appeal
Ink: Stampin’ Up Re-inkers Soft Sky, Garden Green, Certainly Celery, Really Rust, Palette Noir Black
Accessories: Tim Holtz Alcohol ink applicator, felt, White Gel pen, Stampin’ Up Markers, Brads

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Let me talk for a moment about a couple of supplies.  Below is the Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Applicator.  This tool was made to be used with Alcohol inks but I found I can use my Stampin’ Up Re-inkers with this applicator to make interesting backgrounds.  You can purchase little pre-cut felt pads for around $4.99 to attached to the Ink Applicator.  Remember I’m cheap so I spend .25 cents on a piece of white felt and cut it myself.

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My Stampin’ Up Re-inker storage is not fancy at all.  I bought these little baskets that will hold 18 re-inkers each for about a $1.  I like them because they are portable and can be moved from a shelf to my work area easily. 

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I can also tilt a basket to the side to see what colors are in that row instead of picking through them.

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On with the tutorial.

Dotted Applicator felt with Sky Blue re-inker and pounced it on Whisper White card stock.  I also did some circular smearing to cover the entire piece of card stock.  The pouncing motion gives you little dots, which I like.  Dots in a background give the impression of dabble light to me.

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On the same applicator felt I put dots of Certainly Celery re-inker and pounced it on the card stock, not covering the whole card stock so the blue can show through.dsc02514.JPG

It’s hard to see in the photo, I apologize for the bad pic.  I put a stripe of Garden Green re-inker on the same applicator felt and then made stripes of color from the top of the card stock down in varying lengths.

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I changed the felt for this step because I was afraid the colors would start getting muddy.  I dotted a fresh felt piece for the applicator with Really Rust re-inker and made stripes with it in varying lengths at the top of the card stock.

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Put dots of Garden Green on the applicator felt and smeared it in a circular motion on the bottom of the card stock to create a shadow for the coming flowers.

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Stamped flowers with Palette Nior Black ink.

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You will want to learn from my mistake here.  I did not wait until the card stock was completely dry before coloring in my flowers with a white gel pen.  It did not do well and I have to repeat this step later to get whiter brighter flowers.  My suggestion let it dry completely or use your heat gun to dry it before coloring in the flowers.

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Outlined flower petals with a Tempting Turquoise marker.

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Colored in the flower stems with an Old Olive marker.

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I cropped a lot of this off to get a more interesting shape.

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Assembled card and drew lines at the corners of the layers to create a window look.  Also, went back over my flower petals with my white gel pen to make them stand out more.

Finished card.

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11 thoughts on “Iris Sympathy – Tutorial

  1. Gidget-Trish's avatar Gidget-Trish

    Oh Michelle I really like this one! What a beautiful card for sympathy. Drawing the lines on the frame is such a good idea. I would have been trying to cut a 45 degree angle. I love to learn ways to simplify.
    I’m glad to hear you can be cheap too. I made my ink applicator tool with a small block of wood, velcro and my own felt that I cut. I had all of those things on hand so you can’t get much cheaper than that!*LOL* I call it being thrifty and creative. 😉
    Keep these fantastic tutorials coming. I love them!

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  2. Chris's avatar Chris

    That is absolutely fantastic Michael. I know you design it as a sympathy card but it could be used for any occasion. I learnt about using gel pens on wet inks at Christmas. It’s not a mistake I’ll make again in a hurry ……I hope!

    Many thanks for the tip on using white felt for the Ink Applicator. We pay double the price for those over here, as we do with most craft goodies from the USA, so anything that will help cut the price down I’m grateful for.

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  3. Patty's avatar Patty

    I want to thank you for all the details you provide on your creations. I have learned some useful tips and techniques from your site and I appreciate your generous sharing.

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  4. Mary R.'s avatar Mary R.

    I love this. Very elegant. Sympathy cards are hard for me so this is really inspiring me to get some made up to keep on hand. Thanks for the great tutorial.

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  5. Kathy's avatar Kathy

    How beautiful! I love iris. Thank you for showing how you created that amazing background. I wouldn’t have thought you could make the flowers stand out like that when stamped on top of the background. Love how they look when you colored them with the white gel pen. You are so talented..thank you for this tutorial!

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  6. I just found your blog and have spent the last hour reading every word and soaking it in. I have admired your creations on SCS but didn’t have the slightest idea on how you did it. LOVE your tutorials – thank you so much for sharing. It’s especially nice to see how to incorporate these awesome techniques into card making – I tend to think “in” the box, and you’ve helped me to push my borders a bit.

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