One Collection, Cards for Three Occasions

I wanted to send cards to three strong women in my life who are going through three very different things: a devastating loss, a major surgery, and a horrible court battle. I made all three with the same paper collection (Romantic Roses from Dress My Craft), stamp set (Everyday Sayings by Hero Arts), ink (Color Box Pigment Ink), and technique (clear embossing powder). Affiliate links here and below.  

I started with the sympathy card. Those are always the hardest for me. I chose a gorgeous paper featuring roses and cut a card front, then stamped and embossed the simple sentiment on the scrap. I backed that with a heart-shaped doily that I cut down. 

The Get Well card was next. I cut out the card front, then fussy cut some extra leaves from the scraps and glued them in place. I stamped and embossed the sentiment and attached that to the card. 

The third card was a bit tricky in that I wasn't sure what my message should be. My friend has been fighting in court for years and the decision finally went her way. I'm proud of how strong she has been and thrilled that the judge recognized what we've all known all along. For her card, I used two sentiments and added them to the dresser drawers on the card front. 

You can't tell in the photos, but all the embossed sentiments look fantastic. I've struggled with embossing in the past, but this was so easy. Two things changed. First, I stopped using clear ink with colored embossing powder because one stray or missing speck can make the whole thing look bad. Instead, I use colored ink and clear embossing powder, which makes a world of difference. (So much so that I've given away all my colored embossing powders). Second, I have a proper heat gun now and I LOVE it. All this time, I've been using an iron for embossing and this is SO. MUCH. EASIER.