Sympathy Cards using Background Stencils

 Happy Saturday everyone!  This week, we got some sad news about a family friend that had passed away.  Because of this sad news, my daughter and I sat down and made some sympathy cards to send to their closest loved ones.  In my own style, I usually make sympathy cards that are less busy than my normal designs and often will try to make sure they are decently flat so they can be mailed.  

Lately, I have really been enjoying using my stencils to make backgrounds.  Last year, I bought a nice set of background stencils on Amazon for about $13.  It was around 25 stencils, so this was a total steal.  They are a bit smaller than the standard card size, so you usually have to work hard to get a seamless transition OR just work around it.  On this card, I used a strip of cardstock to hide the transition.  Even though these are a little smaller than what the stamp companies sell, the price for these was well worth it!!!  I use them all the time!  

I used several distress inks (Mermaid Lagoon, Lucky Clover, Cracked Pistachio, and Salty Ocean) to make the background.  After it was inked, I went over it with a lighter layer to make the background match.  I also inked a piece of cardstock for the inside to match.  

Years ago, I bought some ivory pearl cardstock from Paper Source for some wedding invitations.  I still have a whole pack of it that I recently remembered I had, and so I thought it would be the perfect base for this card.  

All of these sentiment stamps come from the Simon Says Stamp Sympathy Greetings Mix that I picked up last September.  It was one of the last stamp sets I have purchased, but I didn't have a good sympathy stamp set, so I know it will be used for many many years.  It also have some nice thinking of you and love sentiments, so it's a really versatile set.  

My lovely 7-yo daughter also wanted to make a card - and so she inked these sweet roses and stamped this beautiful sentiment on top.  I was really proud of how nice her card turned out, so I asked if I could share it here.  :-)  

Do any of you have go-to layouts for certain types of cards?  What are your favorite card making techniques right now?  Let me know in the comments below!