I hope you all are having an enjoyable three day weekend. This Memorial Day holiday put me in the mood to make a sympathy card. I created this for those who have lost loved ones while serving our country.

Stained Glass Jar of Love in Serene Garden

When I started this design, the only direction I had was the Paper Players challenge sketch.

I’ve recently become fascinated with vellum, and I was experimenting with coloring the backside of a piece of Graceful Glass Designer Vellum. Stampin’ Blends are fun to use on vellum, if you don’t let some streaking bother you. The ink dries quickly, and when you turn it over, the streaks are barely visible. As I was coloring with Pool Party and Bermuda Bay, I thought of a stained glass jar. Stampin’ Up has the perfect stamp and die from Jar of Love for this to happen. A stained glass jar would be my “any shape” in the sketch.

I stamped the outside of the jar in Basic Black ink on solid vellum cardstock, and used its die for cutting. I used the “inside” die for cutting a section from the Graceful Glass Vellum piece I had been coloring. The neat thing about vellum is you can see through it, like you would real glass. 

TIP: I used to worry about glue showing through vellum, but I’ve learned that using pin dots of glue along the black lines keeps it from showing.

For the rectangle behind the jar, I thought of Serene Garden. It has the same graceful lines, doesn’t it? I stamped the corner floral in Mint Macaron to go with the colors in the jar. The Serene Garden Die Set has a die that is a bit mystifying, and I decided to try it. I’m still not sure of all its uses, but I like the way it cut out some of the leaves. I trimmed this piece to size, and layered it on Mint Macaron, allowing the color to show through.

The white flower that I stamped in Basic Black ink is also from the Serene Garden Set. A line in the stained glass looks exactly likes the flower’s stem, so I placed my flower on top of this line! Had to laugh at my good fortune!

Here’s a photo of the dies used for cutting. As I’m looking at it, I realize the large, corner piece is for embossing, not cutting. This is the same image as the one I used for stamping in Mint Macaron. 

The sentiment, “With love and sympathy,” is from the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set, and cut with the Classic label Punch. This horizontal piece completes the sketch, and Mint Macaron DSP decorates the envelope.

Thank you for visiting my blog. It’s a great day for rest and reflection.

Scroll on down to see the products used in today’s project, available at my store 24/7. Clicking on a product will take you to details about it.

Product List