Sweet and Cheerful Celebration of Life Sympathy Pocket Letter

Famed American composer Irving Berlin, who himself lived to the venerable age of 101 years old, once said, “The song is ended, but the melody lingers on.”

While these words can certainly apply to music itself, this line is sometimes used in the context of death, where for many it takes on an even deeper and more poignant meaning.

Globally, as of 2020 (it is possible that recent world events such as the Covid-19 pandemic have upped these numbers further), approximately 150,000 people pass away each year.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, though, naturally, countless others contribute to that total as well.

This number is substantial unto itself, but when you multiple it by 365 – the number of days in a non-leap year – it skyrockets to a staggering 54,750,000.

You read that right, more than fifty million souls cross from this side of the veil to the next annually.

Yet for all of the death that occurs around us daily, in many parts of the 21st-century world, we remain relatively far removed from this inevitable act – save perhaps for when someone in our immediate life passes.

I could write from now until my own time is up about how I feel we as a society should return to a far greater connection with, and comfort level surrounding, the act of death and our own mortality. However, this post is neither the time nor the place to open up that Pandora’s box of a serious topic.

Instead, it will focus on a pocket letter (the second that I made following a lengthy six-year hiatus from creating this form of paper crafting project; with the first being my Cute Pastel Hued Happy Springoween Pocket Letter last April) that I recently created to send to a dear friend who lost one of their very closest family members.

Out of respect for that individual and their deceased loved one, I will adhere to the strictest of anonymity for both of them.

What I will happily and openly share with each of you is this sympathy pocket letter.

At first glance, it might look quite chipper and cheerful. A far cry from the dark tones and sombre subject matters we often associate with cards and gifts given when someone passes on.

There are, unquestionably, instances when those more solemn approaches are exactly what is needed.

Yet, at the same time, there is no shortage of others when it is just as appropriate to focus on celebrating the life and memory of those who have left this mortal coil.

I did not meet the loved one that my friend lost. I knew a little about them, though, and know quite a bit more about my friend.

They, like myself, have a naturally upbeat spirit and I suspect that their late family member did as well.

I tapped into this point (while also turning to themes that my friend and/or their relative was a fan of) when putting this pocket letter together.

To accompany the PL itself, I selected nine small gifts (one for each pocket of this PL) for my friend.

Some of them were a touch too big to fit into the slots on the clear plastic trading card sleeve itself, so I opted instead to wrap my presents separately and send them along in the same package as the sympathy pocket letter itself.

Death is an extraordinarily personal thing. How we each feel about and interact with this most human of experiences varies from one individual to the next.

At the same time, however, there are certain universal qualities to the act of death and how those we leave behind often feel, behave, and choose to move forward following the loss of someone that they hold dear.

Assuming the deceased was liked or loved (and, you know, sometimes even when they might not have been everyone’s favourite soul), a powerful sense of grief often hits us with the force of a meteorite.

And yet, that does not necessarily mean that as we are wrapped in searing pain and powerful longing we cannot find the ability to celebrate the life, accomplishments, legacy, and memory of those who have passed.

I am a big fan of celebration of life ceremonies or, if such is not possible for whatever reason, simply reflecting on the life of someone who is no longer with us.

There have been numerous times when I’ve held personal celebration of life remembrances both for people in my own circle and for various famous individuals that I admire.

Sometimes, I have also engaged in witchery acts pertaining to both helping the dead to cross over in peace, as well as to aid in the comfort of those they have left in the land of the living.

In this instance, I did not feel that either was called for and so opted instead to pour my focus into creating a lovely pocket letter to send to my friend that conveys a sense of both sorrow + grief and of the happiness that the deceased brought to their lives for multiple decades.

Sweet and cheerful celebration of life sympathy pocket letter

At first glance, one might peg this pocket letter as having anything to do with themes of death.

Upon closer inspection, however, elements that in much of the world have long been associated with death, funerals, and remembrance emerge.

To begin with, dark hues enter the picture via hits of black and navy blue.

Flowers and trees, two of the oldest and most universal connections to both sympathy and remembrance appear here in multiple spots.

Birds, another ancient symbol of death, peace, hope, and brighter days ahead also pop up. In this case, three times in total.

Further, butterflies which symbolize much the same (as well as happiness and transformation) are also tucked throughout this pocket letter.

Various cultures also associate rabbits and/or hares with death or see them as an omen that loss may soon follow.

Arguably far more see rabbits as a sign of hope, positivity, and optimism.

Either way, I feel there is often a place for bunny or hare imagery in the context of death and so decided to include a depiction of this precious creature here, too.

As well, the words that were used are ones that I felt suited the individual who passed, their grieving family, the promise of brighter days ahead, and celebrating the life and spirit of that particular person.

The central sentiment of “For You” indicates that this PL is a gift for my friend – and anyone else in their life that they may opt to show it to as well.

Personally, since childhood, I have associated both the moon and the sun with death (as have many cultures across the span of human history).

The sun is often viewed as the more upbeat of these two celestial bodies, so in keeping with a sense of positivity, I made sure to include a sweet little anthropomorphic sun here, too.

The overall colour palette is one that I feel conveys a sense of comfort and serenity, while at the same time also being chipper and positive. Reminding the viewer that death and life will, so long as hearts beat on this planet, coexist in harmony.

Such has always, and (presumably!) will always, been the case. There is beauty, solace, and inspiration in this fact, and I used each of those things to help propel the creation and overall design of this pocket letter for my sweet friend.

Be it in the context of sympathy/loss or otherwise (as this design certainly lends itself to myriad other occasions and reasons), if you would like to recreate or simply take some general inspiration from this project, read on for a complete list of materials required to replicate this sympathy pocket letter.

Products used to make a comforting, meaningful sympathy pocket letter

-Nine pocket trading card sleeve – Platinum Series 9-Pocket Trading Card Pages from Ultra Pro

-Black cardstock

-Textured (or plain) light to medium pink cardstock

-Metallic silver cardstock (light or medium grey cardstock could be used here instead)

-All distressed texture print papers (red/pink, green, and blue, respectively) – The Old World Mat Stack 4.5” x 6.5” Paper Pad from DCWV

-“For You” cut apart sentiment piece – Paige Evans 23 Bungalow Lane Paper from American Crafts

-“Living in the Moment” cut apart word strip – Diamond Layne Sophisticated Paper from Penelope Dee

-“Blessings” cut apart word strip – Antiquities Collection Beloved Paper from Kaisercraft

-“Pretty” cut apart word strip – Vintage Girl Vintage Cards Paper from Photo Play

-Decorative edge scissors – Paper Edgers Sunflower Scissors from Fiskars

-Mini stapler (to attach ribbon pieces to the lefthand side of the PL) – Tiny Attacher from Tim Holtz

-Dark red/brick ink – Stop Sign Ink Cube from Pink & Main

-Olive green ink – Crushed Olive Distress Ink from Tim Holtz

-Turquoise/teal ink – Tumbled Glass Distress Ink from Time Holtz

-Various chipboard stickers (flowers, trees, etc) used throughout this project from an unnamed package of Crafts (Dollarama) brand stickers

-Various die cut pieces (photo corners, birds, flowers, etc) – Handmade Die Cut Cardstock (Pieces) from K & Company

-Various die cut pieces (tags, wagon, sun, etc) used throughout this project from an unnamed package of American Crafts Dear Lizzy die cuts

-White flower (daisy) crochet trim – Vicki B Wraps from Bo Bunny

-Pink velvet ribbon – {Noteworthy} Addie Trims from Making Memories

-Pale olive green ribbon – {Noteworthy} Addie Trims from Making Memories

-Turquoise/aqua blue crochet trim – Botanical Fancy Ribbon from Fancy Pants Designs

-Navy blue seam binding (or ribbon)

-Narrow silver and black ribbon

-Aqua/blue and white feather print washi tape

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make your own sweet and cheerful celebration of life pocket letter

Much as with my Cute Pastel Hued Happy Springoween Pocket Letter earlier this year, I feel that the majority of pockets are fairly easy to get the general design gist of simply by looking at them.

That said, some pointers for recreating this specific sympathy pocket letter include the following:

-For each of the three rows of pockets, use the same background cardstock or paper colour (pink for the top row, black for the middle row, and blue/aqua for the third row).

-In the same vein, I opted to repeat the same background paper colours on two out of three pockets on each row, only switching things up with the central pockets.

-While the pockets on this kind of trading card sleeve do have some room to them, there is a rather finite amount of space in each of them.

As a result, if you wish to include bulky and/or larger sized components on your pocket letter – such as, in this case, the central premade die cut frame piece and the white crochet flower trim – it is usually best to adhere them to the top (outside) of the plastic sleeve.

-There are scores of different ways to dress up the “binder side” (the side with three holes) of your trading card sleeve. And, by the same token, numerous ways to attach embellishments and trims to this area of your pocket letter design.

Some of my favourite ways to attach trims, stripes of paper or cardstock, etc to the left-hand side of my pocket letter include sewing, stapling, tying them throughout one or more of the holes, a strong liquid adhesive (hot glue tends to melt the plastic sleeve, however, so I would not use that directly on the clear plastic of your trading card sleeve), brads, eyes, and sturdy washi tape.

-If you wish to conceal the area where you have attached your side trims (etc), you can likewise do so in a number of ways.

These include, but are not limited to, topping that spot with any of the following.

-One or more bows

-One or more flowers

-Fabric or paper leaves

-Large rhinestones

-Large buttons

-Flat back cabochons

-Die cuts

-Chipboard pieces

-Good sized stickers (you will likely want to add further adhesive to the back of the sticker to help it stay securely in place)

-Washi tape

-Metal charms

-Die cut wooden pieces/charms

-Resin/acrylic/(other) plastic charms

-Feathers

-Small bells

-Pop-poms

-A tiny shaker pocket in the shape of your choosing

-If you were making a celebration of life/sympathy/remembrance pocket letter for someone else and did know a fair bit about the deceased, you may wish to weave more of that individual’s interests or other elements pertaining to their life into the design of your PL.

The melody does in fact linger on

Largely regardless of one’s personal spiritual path and beliefs (or lack thereof) regarding what may happen to us when we die, most of us can readily acknowledge the grief and profound impact that losing someone we care about often causes.

Though that individual no longer walks amongst the living, their memory is recalled by those who knew and loved them.

The ability to easily record images and videos (not to mention digital words) of those we care about is a very new happening in the course of human history.

Thanks to modern technology, in some cases at least, people can be remembered not just by word of mouth and well-guarded memory, but also via things such as photos, videos, and social media.

This helps, I find, the deceased to feel all the more like they are still here with us and am very grateful that these forms of technology exist, therefore enabling us to remember the departed with even greater clarity.

Prior to the advent of such inventions, the only ways a person’s likeliness could be visually recorded was in some form of art (painting, sculpture, carving, etc) or the creation of a death mask.

I am strongly of the mind that no matter if a person’s name echoes down through time or not, the universe remembers us as we existed.

Everything in said universe contains energy and, as per the First Law of Thermodynamics, while energy can be changed from one form to another, it cannot be created or destroyed.

In other words, all of the energy that has ever been or will ever be in this universe already exists. It may be recycled, if you will, in various capacities, but it never truly disappears.

Nor, does the melody that softly plays throughout the heavens above for each and every one of us who has ever lived and who will, inventible, pass away in due course.

I know that my friend and their family will long cherish and hold tight to the memory of the relative that they lost.

And that, if at some far-off distant point, that person’s name and recollections of them do eventually fade away, this individual’s life force will still continue existing in one form of energy or another.

Long before modern science, the ancients knew, understood, and appreciated that we were never fully gone and there is no reason why we should lose sight of this fact in the 21^st century.

Have you ever made a sympathy pocket letter? What is one of your favourite ways to offer comfort and support to somebody when they lose a loved one? 💐💗🐦