Sympathy Card Kit Part 1

I was needing to make some sympathy cards and didn't really have any ready-made supplies available, so my Mom decided to share a kit that she had.  I have no idea who made it or where she got it, but she was able to divide it so we both had the same supplies to work from.  Here are the first 3 cards I made using the supplies she gave me (though I'm not sure I'll use them all for sympathy cards).  For these first 3 cards, I added the same basic supplies from my stash - purple card stock and silver poster board.

Card #1: (above) Unfortunately the printed sentiments from the kit are a bit light colored to be seen in the pictures.  This one says "In Deepest Sympathy" and was narrowly matted with the purple card stock.  I also matted the background paper with purple and added a border of wide silver ribbon before gluing it to the card front.  Before doing that, however, I die cut the center of the purple mat since it wouldn't be seen.  I used a pierced rectangle die set called Journey Rectangles by Fun Stampers Journey.  I decided to use this to mat the focal, but it was a bit taller than I wanted.  So, I cut a slice out of the middle and pieced it back together. Unless you know that join is there, you can't see it.  I then very narrowly matted this with white before adding it to the card front.  For the finishing touches, I added a sprinkle of little hearts punched from the card stock scraps.

Inside:

The purple mat was cut using the same die as used on the card front (this time without slicing it to make it smaller).  The square white piece was die cut with a die from the Spellbinder's set called Captivating Squares.  I'll add a stamped sentiment when I know the card's recipient.

Card #2:

This card was actually the first of this set that I made.  You'll notice that both inside and outside it has a large purple mat.  In each case I die cut the center to use elsewhere.  One of these gave me the piece used as a mat on the inside of the previous card.  For this card I once again matted the sentiment (which says "I am here for you today and always") with purple card stock and added a sprinkle of punched hearts.

Inside:

The inside is similar - the sentiment says "May the Lord's Light be with You."  The die used to cut the inside of this mat (cut piece used on the next card) was the large one from Spellbinders A2 Tile Works.

Card #3:

While this card could be used as a sympathy card, it could also be used for other occasions.  The sentiment on the card front says "With All My Love".  For this card, the piece of card stock I cut previously (see inside of card #2) was what I wanted to use to mat the card front - but it was smaller than what I wanted it to mat!  I decided to use the next smaller die from the same set and cut a piece from the center (used inside).  I cut the remaining frame in half diagonally and arranged them so they showed behind the background/focal.  Before adding the background/focal, I used silver poster board to narrowly mat it.  For the sentiment, I cut two mats using the same die - one from purple, one from silver.  I cut the silver one in 4 pieces and overlapped the pieces to make a smaller mat to fit on the purple one.

Inside:

For the inside, I cut a large silver piece & cut a small one out of the center.  I also took the middle sized purple (cut from the inside of the mat on the card front) piece and cut a small one from the center.  I layered the small pieces and sentiment the same way I did for the card front.  (Sentiment says "Forever Thankful for All the Love & Happiness").  After layering the larger purple & silver pieces, I added the layered sentiment in the center (placing it back where it had been removed from).