Praying for You Sympathy Card

Hello, my sparkling friends! Thank you for your incredibly sweet words on my first mini album. I was feeling some serious bloggie love. :o)

Speaking of which... a new month means a new recipient for the beloved I Feel the Love Project. For June, we are honoring a precious child, known as Baby Mason. At only six months old, he passed away from injuries sustained in a car accident. :( A drunk driver's tragic choices cut short this beautiful life.

We are creating in the name of love for Baby Mason's parents, Yvette and Santiago Villega, Jr. Any type of encouragement card is perfect. I needed a few days to settle on a direction because my mind was all over the place. Sympathy cards are innately challenging for most crafters, myself included.

I pressed on to create a tangible hug out of paper. In this time of oppressive darkness, I chose to send them sparkles. Every speck of glitter and every rhinestone is meant to be a sunbeam. All it takes is one glimmer of light to break the darkness, right? (I didn't want to risk anything, so I used five million.)

An angled view to better show the sparkly bases, foiled pattern, and dimension... if only there was a magical way to capture Shimmer Spritzed-flowers.

This card actually began with the gold. Our prayers are stored up in Heaven in golden vials, so this creation was inspired by that Truth. I wanted this card fully enveloped (embraced!) in golden prayers. The glitter paper is from Jo-Ann's, though I do not know the brand. I opted to pair it with green and peach, which is a first for me. The beautiful patterned papers are from Kaisercraft's Sweet Nothings collection, which I've been anxious to use. (The golden loopy border beneath the middle panel is a cut file from Bird's Cards.)

Rather than going my typical "100% nature" route for sympathy cards, I wanted to make every inch of this about the prayers we are saying for this grieving family. Turning to the sweet artistry of Elisabeth Bell to visually deliver my actions, I chose this adorable stamp titled "A Child's Prayer." She is colored with Copics and cut out with a Spellbinders Labels Four die. Some Star Dust may have fallen on her peachy nightgown...

Sparkles were added to the tiny bows on her braids and I couldn't resist adding a heart-shaped one to her teddy bear's paws. He's praying with all of his fuzzy little heart, too. I heat-embossed a simple flourish with gold embossing powder, providing a touch of movement: divine power swirling around us as we offer up our selfless intercessory prayers. A lightly-sponged border of Dried Marigold distress ink surrounds our prayer warrior with a heavenly glow.

The butterflies are a We R Memory Keeper's cut file from the Silhouette Online Store. I made them solid instead of designed so they could properly sing their praises. It is so vital to praise in all things. These singing butterflies are hovering above their golden shadows, encouraging the precious parents to lift up their hearts in song.

A collection of peach and white Wild Orchid Crafts flowers provide a touch of nature's beauty. Lilies, hip rosebuds, and tiny rosebuds are extra sparkly from Shimmer Spritz. A sprinkling of rhinestones and a pearly heart stick pin complete the arrangement.

Lastly, I turned to my beloved Tiny Tags 2 and matching metal dies from My Craft Spot for the perfect sentiment. I adhered it with a heart rhinestone because you can never put too much love onto (or into) a card. The shiny gold ribbon that it rests upon is from my stash.

Sweet Baby Mason is safe in Heaven, but his parents desperately need our love.

Thank you for fluttering on by! I pray your day abounds in hope. :o)

Challenges entered:

 *A Gem of a Challenge~ Emboss It (Heat-embossed flourish alongside image)

 *Charisma Cardz~ Tons of Layers

 *Created With Love~ Anything Goes

 *DL.Art~ Thankful Thursday Linky Party (Anything Goes)

 *Make It Monday~ Anything Goes

 *No Matter Which~ Bingo (Die Cuts-Flowers-Sparkle/Glitter)

 *Paper Playtime~ Anything Goes

 *Sarah Hurley Challenge~ All That Glitters is Gold

 *Stampin' for the Weekend~ Cute