I'm sorry

Sympathy cards can be quite difficult.  Do you create a card that speaks of the individual?  Religious?  Masculine or feminine?  Generic?  I try to incorporate something about the deceased if I can.  If not, then at least something that speaks to me so that making the card is not a dreadful chore.

It's a gray, dreary fall day here in east central Illinois.  The leaves have started turning yellow so not much in the way of color just yet.  I had a lovely background (distress inks in yellows, oranges, bit of brown and Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold) created on watercolor paper that I've been anxious to use.  When I received Tim's Fall Foliage thinlits dies they seem to reach out for this background. 

The base card is kraft and stenciled using Tim's Doily Stencil and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  I added a torn layer of corrugated cardboard as a band.  I cut two sets of leaves and branches, embossed and folded them and used Glossy Accents to adhere them on top of a dyed silk ribbon (from my stash that coordinated perfectly).  

A small tag with "I'm Sorry" in Jet Black Archival Ink was tucked into the arrangement.  I used another piece of the silk ribbon to create a bow for the center.  While not a typical sympathy card that would be found in a retail store, this speaks more to the heart as far as I am concerned.