Upcycle Some Quick Sympathy Cards

Today I have 6 cards that I quickly "up-cycled" from cards I had received.

Card #1(above):  It would have been a good idea to take pictures of the "before", but I didn't do that.  For this card I chose to trim the focal off of a card & add my own background.  The dark green is a luxurious suede paper. The gold is plain white card stock that was colored using Golden Glow Opal Polish.  The sentiment is from a Hunkydory little book of essential greetings.

Inside:

Inside I have more of the opal polish covered card stock & green suede paper.  The sentiment at the top was stamped & embossed with clear embossing powder using a stamp from a Sympathy set of stamps that Mom gave me (don't know the manufacturer).

Card #2:

This next  card was a simple fix.  It started with the front of a card that I had received (unfortunately I don't remember who sent it to me at this point).  I simply tore off the greeting strip that had been there & replaced it with one of my own - stamped with a JustRite stamp from their Fancy Tags set.  It's also a great idea for a simple stamped card.  Note that the ribbon has a separate piece tied in a knot around it and flattened so that it is not bulky - even though it's a bulky type of ribbon!

Card #3:

Notice the strip that has the sentiment on it.  This is the color of the card that surrounded the "matted" focal.  I decided I'd prefer to mat it with a darker purplish color as you see here.  The sentiment is again a stamp from that Sympathy set Mom gave me.

Inside:

Inside is more of the same card stock - with little heart punch-outs - stamped with more stamps from the sympathy set.  Silver border stickers finished that.

Card #4:

This was another really quick "up-cycle".  I simply trimmed the card front.  Stamped a sentiment (same Sympathy set), inked the edges & glued it to the front of the card.

Inside:

Inside I added inked borders (from trimmed scraps) & stamped another sentiment (same set).

Card #5:

The 5th & 6th cards started from identical cards, but turned out quite differently.  For this 5th one, I simply trimmed up the card front & matted it with red - then stamped/embossed a greeting (same sympathy set) on another red piece to serve as a border.

Inside:

Scraps from the same materials form a border inside - with a small picture that was taken from the inside of the up-cycled card.

Card #6:

For the 6th card I trimmed out the focal & added it to a peach-colored background paper that I had in my stash (I tore the side edges to add a bit more interest).  I stamped a sentiment (from that same sympathy set) in black.

Inside:

I decided the peach paper would serve as a nice insert for the inside of the card.