Thursday, November 22, 2007

Baby Sympathy cards

My dear friend Patti (MommaPatti on SCS) is a nurse in the NICU for a large hospital in Cleveland. They have a bereavement committee that helps the parents who's babies don't survive, and Patti has asked her fellow stampers for help in the way of sympathy cards that can be sent to these parents. Here is a copy of Patti's request on SCS...

"I have a very special request. I am an RN in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a large Cleveland, Ohio hospital. Sadly, we do have some babies that do not make it, and our unit has a bereavement committee to help support these parents that suffer such a loss. Some babies live just a few short hours after birth, some of them succumb to the overwhelming odds after months in our unit. We help parents make a memory book, and collect mementos of their little one's too short life. We also send a sympathy card to the parents, and many of our nurses like to write a little personal note in the card before it is mailed. The hospital does provide generic cards, but they are in no way nearly as nice or as appreciated as handmade cards are. Awhile back, I did post this as a weekly challenge here on SCS, but unfortunately, our supply from that challenge is almost gone. I am hoping many of you lovely Wish-RAKers would help me in this effort.To help fulfill my wish, you can send me a handcrafted sympathy card that would be appropriate for a family suffering the loss of their infant. It does not necessarily have to have a baby theme. I ask that you try to make the card a bit larger than our standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" cards, since we have lots of nurses that like to write a little something in the card. (5x7ish is a good size, since it is still able to be mailed without extra postage)."


So, I created 8 cards today of 4 different designs, and I'm really unsure that they're "appropriate" but I'm going to send them to Patti and hope they can be used. I'm feeling like they're a little too "bright" but perhaps Patti will think differently since this is such a vastly different need than the typical sympathy card.


If you'd like to help by sending some cards too, please put your email address in a comment here and I'll contact you. I will edit or just not publish your comment so that your email address is not seen. Thank you!

This first card is made with generic cardstock and Wild Asparagus designer paper. The heart image is from my new Stampin' Up set called Time Well Spent, and the sentiment is from my Kitchen Sink Stamps Never a Loss 4 Words. I used Versafine Onyx Black ink, Versamagic Aspen Mist around the edges of the white square, and Versamagic Spanish Olive for the sentiment. The heart is colored with Bashful Blue, Mellow Moss, and Summer Sun SU! markers, and the main image panel is raised up on dimensionals.
These cards were created using the retired Rose Romance cardstock from Stampin' Up along with Pretty in Pink and Very Vanilla. I also used a light green Bazzill cardstock and designer paper from Anna Griffin. The flower stamp is from Inky Antics, and the sentiment is from Kitchen Sink Stamps Never a Loss 4 Words. I used Versamagic Pixie Dust ink for the flower base, and Pink Petunia for the flower petals and the sentiment. I inked the edges of the center square with Versamagic Aloe Vera ink. The ink strip was scalloped using my SU! corner rounder punch, and I added some pink Offray grosgrain for a finishing touch.At the suggestions of another SCS'er, I created these cards with the butterfly image from my SU! Time Well Spent set. The sentiment is from Kitchen Sink Stamps. My light green and moss green cardstocks are generic, and I also used SU! Taken with Teal and Very Vanilla. Both pieces of designer paper are from Paper Salon. I inked the butterfly and sentiment with Versamagic Sage ink and also inked the edges of the center square with it.These last cards are the ones I am most unsure about, as they didn't turn out very "baby-ish" but then again, I'm not sure they need be. All stamps are from Kitchen Sink Stamps... the 3-Step Daisy set, and Never a Loss 4 Words. Cardstock used is Stampin' Up Ruby Red, Blush Blossom and Very Vanilla, and designer paper is My Mind's Eye. I inked the daisy with Blush Blossom and Ruby Red, then inked the daisy center with Versamagic Jumbo Java. I inked the leaves with Versamagic Sage and Hint of Pesto, then spritzed the images with my color spritzer and Blush Blossom marker. The sentiment is stamped with Versamagic Red Brick. I added vanilla grosgrain ribbon to the dotted panel.
I hope you like my cards (and I hope Patti can use them and likes them, too!) I hope they'll inspire you to try to make some cards for the NICU also! Thanks in advance for your help!
I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving Day! Stamp Happy!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I find it sad that you would post a request to help another scser, MommaPatti and then direct people to your blog. It appears that your request to help is really your way of drumming up traffic to your blog.

Unknown said...

what a sweet ministry! these cards are adorable!

love your blog btw, and i'm so glad i found it...i'm a huge fan of the work you show on scs (glad to see you back in the challenges, too)!

keep 'em coming, sweetie...i'll be back often to check it out! ;-)

Lisa Silver said...

I agree with you... it's hard to make sympathy cards. What a difficult task to help parents in that situation. You're sweet to join in.

Thanks,
Lisa

~*Leona*~ said...

Awesome Job Tammy! I will send some once the studio is finished! Thanks for posting....I wanted to get her some a while back...but life got a little crazy :)

~*Leona*~ said...

Great job! I love the cards! I will have to get some out after th studio gets organized! I wanted to send some before, but life was crazy there for awhile! Thanks for posting this!

Rachel Hope said...

Lovely cards, it is so sweet of you to help with this cause!!!

Amy said...

What a wonderful cause! You are a sweetheart to bring attention to it.

Anonymous said...

Ok, do I get a percentage of the money you make from all the "traffic" to your blog?? Just kidding! I don't know what the deal is, but the way some people act you'd think you were a criminal for having a blog and putting anything on it. WHO CARES?? So what if you have a gazillion hits... what difference does it really make? Geesh!

Angelnorth said...

Thanks for your post, it's made me think about finding out if there's a similar need here in the UK. I think you did a great job with these, parents in this awful situation basically appreciate knowing that people are thinking of them and that their baby's birth and death are being acknowledged, however hard that is - the personal touch of a handmade card simply makes that acknowledgement more deeply felt, I think. Great job.

PattyB said...

I did this challenge a while back, and I have to say this is the hardest bunch of cards I've ever made in my life, I cried as I made each one knowing what they were going to be used for.

To the poster that felt this was an attempt to "draw traffic" to this site, I disagree - this is a very real issue and anyway that we can make people aware of it and offer some compassion to these parents is a rewarding cause.

Amy said...

I came here from SCS, and I think this is a beautiful thing you're promoting. Both of my kids are NICU "graduates"- my youngest is 17 months old. I might do this later on. Right now my NICU memories are still a little too fresh, and I'm not comfortable thinking too much about what these cards are for. I just wanted to say how wonderful this idea is.

Becky G said...

Tammy, these are beautiful and will be truly appreciated by the person or persons receiving them!

Erin said...

Tammy-

I just stumbled on your blog from SCS. I think this is a wonderful thing that you are helping MammaPatti with. My oldest is a NICU graduate, and I know that Momma and other NICU nurses are truly angels. They are so supportive to parents who in most cases don't even understand what is going on with their babies. I will for sure be following up with this project. I wonder if other hospitals in the area need cards too. My son was at Rainbow and the Cleveland Clinic. I just may look into it. Thank you again, and I am SO glad I found your blog!

Patti said...

Tammy, sorry it has taken so long to post this. OMGosh, girl, these cards are gorgeous, and sooooo appropriate. You are an angel to devote your time and talent for this!

文章 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.