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Thank you cards are always handy to have around, and especially for an important occasion, such as graduation, when many graduation thank you cards will need to be sent. Online thank you notes or thank you emails might be better than no thank you at all, but, in my opinion, this is when a handwritten note is definitely in order. And if you really want to make it special, a Stampin' Up! card that you made is always special!
This card uses a retiring stamp For You Flower #118726, one of the a la carte stamps in the Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog. I punched the flower out of So Saffron card stock with the Fancy Flower Punch #118073. With some Stampin' Write Markers, I colored in the center of the For You Flower stamp and stamped on Whisper White, punched out with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch #119861, mounted it over a 1 3/8" Circle Punch #119860 of Pear Pizzazz card stock using a Stampin' Dimensional, and adhered that to the flower punch piece.
I was actually copying a sample in the catalog (I think sometimes we forget to simply look in the catalog for ideas!) but instead of doing paper piercing, I punched two strips of Rose Red card stock with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch #119275. For extra emphasis, being a thank you note, I stamped the bottom of the card with a stamp from Thank You Kindly #111700.
When you are looking for thank you card wording, there are so many great stamps to choose from at Stampin' Up!.
If you were doing this card as a graduation thank you card, just choose either school colors for your papers and ink or whatever colors suited your personality. I'm sure the recipient would appreciate something that you put your personal touch on.
For any stamping supplies that you need, please go to my Online Store HERE. (In fact, go take a peek now as Stampin' Up! has updated the look!) Feel free to contact me with any questions!
You'll need a scrapbook page for that graduation photo so of course one easy way to make one is to use the Stampin' Up! program, My Digital Studio. I began with a designer template for this page but changed the background paper color and added several graduation stamps....the cap, the sentiment, and the feet. Imagine the photo going right above the graduation feet! With My Digital Studio you can easily make an entire album or just a few pages with minimal thinking and designing....or you can start and work completely from scratch. You could even use this idea as your design and then make it out of paper and stamps.
To find out more about My Digital Studio, click HERE.
You're probably going to need a graduation gift box idea and a tag. This is an easy one to make if you have the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine #113439 and the Bitty Box & Envelope Die #115967. You can use any card stock or paper, of course, but if you need a college graduation gift, maybe you would have access to the scrapbook packet at the campus bookstore and you can make a box in the school's colors! Just cut out the box with the die, assemble and decorate! There are other Big Shot dies that make nice gift packaging as well.
For the graduation gift tag, I've found that the stamp set Word Play on page 147 of the Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog (available in wood- or clear-mount) has great expressions to use for graduation. Use your markers to color the stamp different colors if you like to get a multi-colored image. I sponged the edges, tore the end, added a folded over torn piece and Antique Brad, plus stamped a small butterfly from the SAB set "Bliss". If you need a larger gift bag or box, make a nice tag that will become a graduation keepsake.
If you don't already own the Big Shot, go to my store now and look it over! You need one! Let me know if you have any questions!
Use the Stampin' Up! Fun & Fast Notes stamp set #113500 to make a fun and fast graduation card! You don't have to have a graduation stamp in order to make a graduation card. Stars are great to convey congratulations as well as a greeting of "Congratulations", "Thinking of You", "Just for You", "Best Wishes", "Good Luck" or any of a number of other sentiments. This "Congratulations" is actually attached to the star stamp, but since I cut out the stars with my marvelous Paper Snips #103579, I just punched out the word with the Word Window Punch#119857 and adhered it to the Modern Label Punch#119849.
The stars were colored with Stampin' Write Markers in Real Red, So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive, which are the coordinating colors of the Play Date Designer Series Paper #117168 I used. (I always write the name of the coordinating colors on the back cardboard of the designer series pack to have it handy!) This paper always makes me happy because I received a free pack at the Stampin' Up! Convention last summer...and Convention is always a happy memory!!
For a little bling, I added Glimmer Brads #121006 to the stars. I think this would be a fun card for anyone, but would be cute for a preschool or kindergarten "graduate"! For more Stampin' Up! ideas for graduation, click on the Graduation Category over in the right side bar.
High school graduation, college graduation, even preschool graduation! You can use this same pocket card for any kind of graduation! A pocket card will also work for any graduation invitation or graduation announcement. Change the color combinations to suit the school or age.
The insert in the pocket card can be any style. It can contain just a stamped or written greeting or you can attach a gift card, cash, or check. Stampin' Up! has so many great stamps that work on a graduation card so check those out! Just look through the catalog and you'll find something appropriate for your card!
Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Greetings (Summer Mini, p. 26), Teeny Tiny Wishes #115370, Word Play (IB&C p. 147)
Ink: Stazon Black, Concord Crush
Paper: Concord Crush, Brushed Gold, Whisper White
Accessories: Star Punch #119875, Small Star Punch (retired), Modern Label Punch #119849, Gold Brad #104337, Corner Rounder Punch #119871, Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate #114512, Gold Cord (retired), Square Lattice Embossing Folder #119976, Sticky Strip #
Directions:
Cut Concord Crush 5 1/2" x 7 3/4". Score at 4 1/4" and 6 3/4" (this makes a flap that folds down over the front pocket). Emboss just the front portion with the Square Lattice folder (if you fold down the flap, it will be the underside of the embossing, but it's okay.) Emboss the gold cardstock (5 1/4" x 3 or longer) in the Texturz Folder. Round the corners if you want. Adhere gold to back of Concord Crush. Use Sticky Strip #104294 to adhere front flap when folded up. Decorate the front however you like. The insert is Concord Crush cut at 4 3/4" x 4" and of course each successive layer is 1/4" smaller. The tab is the Modern Label Punch folded in half and secured with a brad. You could also use a tab of ribbon.
Have fun making this card or your variation of it! To see a graduation pocket card announcement I made several years ago, see THIS post.
If you need any stamping supplies, please check out Stampin' Up! HERE.
Graduation is upon us and this little graduation cap favor or gift box might come in handy. Underneath the top of the cap is a box with a lid that could be used to hold a small graduation gift or be used as a graduation party favor! The tassel is made with DMC floss, poked through the center of the top piece and covered with a small punched circle....just like a real graduation cap! You could make this any size you need, from tiny to large or a matching color for a particular school.
Use any box template you like. This particular sample is made with a 4" square of card stock, scored at 1" on all sides. Cut one of the score lines on each side from the edge into the intersecting score line to form little tabs to help you fold into the square box. This makes the lid. To make the box bottom, start with a slightly smaller square of card stock...I used 3 7/8" square and score again at 1" on all four sides. This will insure that the bottom will fit inside the lid. For the top of the cap, I cut a 3 1/4" square of card stock and attached the tassel. If indeed you wanted something larger or sturdier, you could use some thin cardboard (such as what comes with designer paper) as the cap top and wrap it in card stock.
It's fun to add your personal touch to a graduation party or event! And Stampin' Up! supplies are the best for any project! Order yours at my Online Store or contact me.
Extreme Elements #115181 is one of the stamp sets on the May Scrapbooking Month Promotion, which ends May 31. Purchase this set, or one of many others, and get a free set of Designer Brads with each set! I didn't think this stamp set was my style until I played with it! Oh my gosh, I had the most fun using this set on this card!! You can just do anything with this stamp set and it comes out looking great! Since this card is for a college boy, I thought something a little less traditional might be fine. I also added a little Gold Glow Smooch Spritz #118770 for even more fun! You can see it better in the close-up. And my Big Shot came in handy to make the "OU" with the Naturally Serif Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die #113453.
Look closely and you can see the Gold Glow Smooch Spritz!
Order your Extreme Elements stamp set this week while you can get your choice of Designer Brads (page 179 of the Idea Book & Catalog) FREE! And don't forget about the Happy Grad (#117006) single stamp on the last page of the Summer Mini Catalog ! It's such a useful stamp....and when graduation season is over, you could omit the "Happy Graduation" and use just the words below for various cards and projects!
We enjoyed a fabulous weekend in Austin celebrating our son's girlfriend's graduation from the University of Texas at Austin! Here is the card I made for her. I had planned to post a "decoy" ahead of time to fool her in case she was looking at my blog, but I ran out of time! I love this easel card, so easy to make and looks like a special style!
Stamps:Happy Grad(#117006 Stampin' Up! Summer Mini), Typeset Alphabet (retired), In the Stars (inside) (retired).
Paper:Whisper White, Basic Black, Really Rust, UT Scrapbook Kit (non-SU)
Saturday was a very full day! First was a luncheon with her parents and family, then the graduation ceremony, and finally the spectacular University-Wide Commencement outside at the UT Tower. You have to arrive more than two hours ahead to get a seat for that evening event....did I mention it is outside?....in Texas?....in May?....but they do provide free ice water!...and paper fans.....and it wasn't TOO bad being outside for over five hours in the evening... there was a breeze....and it will get a LOT hotter than that pretty soon....so, not too bad. There were over 7000 graduates and their familes! I'm sure they weren't all there, but most of them were!! The actress Marcia Gay Harden was the speaker, and it was fun to hear the deans bestow the degrees on each school, some offering a little humor in their spiel or perhaps the graduates having some impromptu reaction. Finally the evening concluded with the impressive fireworks display off the Tower and "The Eyes of Texas" playing in the background. The Tower is lit in orange for the graduates and the windows display a "10" for the graduation year if you look carefully! It's really a great way to celebrate commencement!
I think if you have stars of some sort....star punches, star stamps, star wheel..... you can make just about any card. I've used them for graduation, birthdays, even baby cards and scrapbook pages. So if you don't have stars in your collection, check out the Stampin' Up! Online Store and see what we have!
Lots of people are looking for graduation cards this month so I thought I would offer this idea. I've loved making these easel cards, so easy and yet looks so good! On this card I have used theStar Punch #109045 and the Large Star Punch #110710 and the single stamp Happy Grad #117006 in the Summer Mini Catalog.
Besides the Real Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White card stock, I also used the Brushed Gold and Silver card stock for this special occasion!
So if you need to make some stamped graduation cards, this one or a similar style is pretty easy. I hope it provides you with an idea to get started! Sometimes that is all you need to be creative!
The kids are back to school here in Houston and many other places around the country. I was reminded of a journal I made for each of my children during their senior year of high school. Just get yourself any notebook.....I used these Composition notebooks that you can pick up on sale now....and every night write an entry about your senior's day. It is supposed to be positive. The more often you write in it, the more valuable it will be to them in the future. It's very easy to do if you put it beside your bed or wherever a good spot for you is to see it and remind yourself to do it! My kids did seem to show at least a smidge of appreciation for it when I gave it to them as one of their graduation gifts, but what I really intend is that someday when they are middle-aged adults they will come across this notebook and have some fun reading what went on in their life when they were 17-18.
Just start with a plain notebook like this:
And when it is time for graduation, just decorate the cover with cardstock and stamping.....that's why I like this composition notebook because it is easy to decorate.
Here is the one I made for my son back in 2007. You can decorate with school colors or whatever you like.
Here's another graduation card (or for any occasion) made following almost the same idea as THIS card in a previous post. This time I wanted a money holder. This card is not as wide as it should be to hold the money, but in this case I wanted it to fit in a certain envelope....so I'll just have to fold the money in half! The card front measures 3" x 6" with a fold up pocket on the inside of 2". Therefore, you need to cut your cardstock at 8" x 6", scoring at 2" and 5" so you can fold the 2" pocket up inside the card and then the 3" top folds down.
The star actually spins on the front! I found the design by Dawn while browsing on Splitcoast here. It adds a fun little element!
If you need the star punches to make a spinning star, just place your order here on my website.
This is a pretty easy graduation card to make. I admit to using some retired paper and stamps, but the color, Cranberry Crisp, seemed to match the school colors pretty well. The retired stamp set is "In the Stars" but I thought that words on the star were perfect for graduation. I stamped the star on the ivory cardstock twice, cutting out one image and popping it up with dimensionals. I had embossed the little stars on the card with gold embossing powder, but then added a couple of star punches out of Brushed Gold cardstock. The gold-embossed "Congrats" is from the current Ronald McDonald stamp set, "Say It with Scallops", found on the inside of the back cover of the catalog. Stampin' Up! donates $2 for every one of this set sold to RMDH.....it's a great stamp set and while you're stamping you know you're also helping out a worthy cause.
A really great thing about stamping is that you don't need electricity to do it (except for embossing, of course). The other day my power went off for the whole afternoon (only going to McDonald's to get a cold drink made it go back on, as soon as I left, I'm sure!) so I just did some stamping. Even the Big Shot doesn't need electricity! What a great feature!
Here is one of the cards I made that afternoon:
The Brilliant Blue card base is 4x4. The "grad" letters come from the stamp from "Great Grads" but I cut them apart. Just playing around! The wheel I used is actually retired but very similar to the Jumbo "See You Around" wheel....or you could stamp a little background of something....or leave it plain. I used the two star punches to make gold and silver cardstock stars, the Scallop Circle punch, the Scallop Edge punch for the border and the paper piercing tool in the Crafters' Kit to make the little pokey holes in the Real Red strip. I think it would be a great size card to use the Slit Punch to hold a gift card inside.
A year ago we were looking forward to our son's college graduation and now that first year post-college has really flown by. If I can offer a few words of advice to those of you going to graduation at a large university.....Don't park in the garage! Not that we knew that, but we happened to see a spot on the street as we were dropping him off for the ceremony and managed to parallel park there. That saved us at least an hour of time trying to get out of the parking garage after the ceremony! We know because we were waiting for his friends to join us at lunch and they had parked in the garage!
Another tip would be to make sure your graduate is awake and AT the ceremony before you sit there with the whole family waiting for that glorious moment of seeing your child walk across the stage, only to find out that he overslept and isn't even there! Thankfully that isn't a personal story, but I heard other parents recounting that story while I waited to be seated at a restaurant! Just a college thing, I'm sure!
So here's a sample graduation card made with the "Great Grads" set and a rub on from "A Perfect Day". Gotta love those rub ons! Of course you would want to use your school colors or favorite combination, but I used Brilliant Blue, Whisper White, Basic Black, and Brushed Gold. The cap is stamped twice, cut out, and popped up with a Dimensional. I colored around the white area a little just to help it stand out.
If you need supplies to make a graduation card, hurry and contact me so we can get them ordered and in your hands. You might not think that high school or college kids would care that their card was handmade by you, but they do!
I have to say I made this card up myself, this morning, so it can't be too hard! The card is 4x4, so cut your base cardstock 4"x8" and fold in half. Then your Whisper White layer is 3 3/4" x 3 3/4". You could do this card in whatever colors match your school or personality! After embossing the word "Congratulations" from the set "Hugs and Wishes" in gold, I just punched out some stars with our two star punches on pages 184-5 in the Idea Book & Catalog. You can punch out the little star first, then place your Large Star punch around the small punched out star and punch and get the star with the little star in the middle. Or you can layer the solid stars. Just play with it! You can even just stamp the Congratulations in black or another color rather than emboss. Have fun!
Rather than purchase the expensive pack of way-too-many graduation announcements from the university (and because I am a stamper!) I decided to make my own for my son's college graduation. I almost forgot about it so it was a last minute deal. Somehow I was inspired to do a pocket card style using the "Great Grads" stamp set. Rather than use the G in the stamp set in the center of the graduation medallion, I chose to emboss the UT with copper embossing powder and punch it out to put on the medallion. I also used some of the designer paper I had previously purchased at the University Coop in a UT scrapbooking pack. I also wanted it to coordinate with my graduation card for him. I hope this will inspire you to add your personal touch to your own events by making your own announcements, invitations, etc. Supplies and ideas are easy to get....just contact me!
