Grad Card

I reused parts of the graduation announcement I received to make this quick card.

I stamped the background with an old image from Stampin' Up! (one of the All year Cheer sets).

The card base is vanilla to match the components I reused from the announcement. They were cut out and punched out from the announcement then glued to card stock colors to match the school colors.

Thanks for looking !

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These were created using the same kits as the take out boxes.
Perfect for dinner parties or anything else you can think of!

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25 good years

The truck image is from Stampin' Up!,

but I altered it to remove the apples and sign.

I broke down and bought this stamp brush set

since it is the same style of truck as my husbands.

I needed to alter it though, apples in the bed

were not going to work .

I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils.

This is the second time I've tried 

to color with them; I need practice ! 

I attempted to color in flames on the front

like his truck has.

I also added a teeny dot of blue paint

on the tail lights to resemble the blue dots

in the real tail lights on the truck.

The tire and wheel were created with various

size paper punches and a die. 

I tried to "stretch" the card stock

in the palm of my hand with an Empressor

stylus tool to try to give it some dimension

to imitate the round sidewall of the tire

as well as the center of the wheels.

I used dimensionals under the center cap

and to attach the tire/wheel

combo to the card front. 

The letters are from a Just Rite stampers

stamp set, stamped with white craft ink

that I heat embossed white over. 

The textured background was made 

with a texturz plate Stampin' Up! sold.

 I really need to see if anyone makes a "diamond plate" 

design embossing folder and order it from 

somewhere one of these days.

Card stock:

Whisper White

Basic Black

Real Red

Metallic Silver

Here is another card I made with the altered stamp image

Thanks for looking =)

Ships Ahoy Pop Up Card

A card  I made for my dad.

Stamp images are retired from Stampin' Up!
Ships Ahoy
Lighthouse
All Year Cheer II

I water colored the images with various colors of classic ink and an aquapainter.

The embossing folder is from Stampin' Up!, Square Lattice.

The twine is some old hardware department twine in my stash. I unraveled it into the three smaller strands.

I sponged light blue ink over a home made cloud template on the inside.

The ship was stamped then cut out to remove portions of the image. I attached it to a little
pop up tab I cut into the card. Teeny pieces of red card stock were trimmed to cover the flags on the stamped image.

I lightly painted white craft ink over the sails of the ship to tone down the black ink lines.

We no longer need a boat to get out , yaay ! The river is still quite high with more rain in the forecast it won't be getting back to normal pool soon. The flood waters are now out of the field, just barely back into the banks of the creek. There was seven feet of water out in that field during the flood !!!!  It still has several more feet to fall to get back to normal. What a stinky mess left behind ,  pee-eewwwww !





Thanks for looking !

Graduation Thanks Quick Card

Ooops, I forgot to share this card.

Run white card stock through an embossing folder

then lightly color a portion of the raised image

with chalks, ink, etc.

Stamp and hand cut out an image of a

mortarboard (graduation cap).

I trimmed the fringe of the tassel. 

The cap image was stamped inside the card

and on the envelope.

Thanks Cuttlebug embossing folder

white card stock

blue card stock

darker blue ink

Sketch An Event stamp set, Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Pastels

I made twenty of these fairly simple cards to thank the guests that attended my sons graduation pinball and pizza party.

I have no photos (except the one I'm sharing below) to share since I was so busy being hostess, tending to people, the food and drinks, I never made time to go get my camera from the car to take pictures. I feel terrible about it, but my son said it is no big deal to not worry about it. I didn't even eat ! I only made time to play three pinball games as the party was wrapping up.

The other items I made and posted previously were used, 

but I've no photos of them......... sniffle. 

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Pop Up Graduation Cap (Mortarboard) Card

I found the links to instructions here
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/templates-f143/graduation-cap-pop-up-card-t493909.html

here is the direct link to a photo tutorial
http://extremecards.blogspot.com/2010/06/graduation-cap-pop-up-card-tutorial.html


I stamped a piece of acetate with Stazon black ink and a partially inked image from the Stampin' Up! Word Play set. I inked the other portion with a marker and white card stock then used other markers to draw flames, hoping it would resemble a rocket. I trimmed it out and glued it to a piece of white card stock underneath the stamped acetate. The acetate was attached with brads that I added glittery embossing powder to.

Star punches and a circle punch with a tiny bit of inking to resemble the moon were glued on top of black card stock that I stamped stars on.

The card front was supposed to resemble a "Shoot For The Moon" theme for the Graduate.



Thanks for looking =)

Graduation Then and Now Scrapbook Page

An 8.5" x 11" scrapbook page I put together to sit out on the table at the graduation party. I considered making an entire album of photos from all of his school years, then thought better of it. I didn't want to take a chance on food covered fingers messing up the pages since there were going to be dozens of people (little kids!) wandering about and eating all evening.


Cricut electronic die cut machine was used to cut out the numbers from silver card stock.

Heat embossed the letters on vellum.

Black brads, scrap of red card stock punched with a small circle punch.

Printed out the name and saying from my home printer (wasted a few pieces of paper in the process, my printer and digital designing programs are not compatible..........grrr!).  Brilliant Blue card stock from Stampin' Up!

Photos are backed with metallic silver card stock.

_____________________________________________________________

I woke up to a HUGE rise in the Mississippi River, storm / tornado / hail damage all around. I've done a quick look over the house and all seems fine other than limbs down and things blown about ( I was out at 6 AM in cloudy skies) other than the two feet of water in the front yard ! The water will continue to rise and quickly, hitting levels we saw in 2008 with certainty but quite likely going over (which causes great concern for me....................). I am thankful that we do still have a roof when there are so many people that do not. So many across the Midwest  have lost so much,  including loved ones, in this latest massive storm system and my heart breaks for them. Remember, the best way to help in any tragedy such as this is to donate to the American Red Cross.

Graduation Cap Gift Bags

I'm planning a graduation party for my son and have invited a cousin to be a part of it as well. I thought I should have something to put cards in since they are sure to receive some. This is what I came up with.


My original plan to repurpose old cookie tins and mat board into graduation cap tins to hold cards was scrapped when I thought better of it: the cards were not going to fit in the tin, it would be better to have them in a closed container to avoid any lost cards.


A can of black spray paint, dark green kraft gift bags I had in my stash, matboard, ruler, mat board cutter, cropodile and heavy duty hobby knife plus a dollar store keychain tassel = "graduation cap" gift bag card holder. Yeah, a bit silly looking, but it was what I could come up with using supplies I already (mostly) had on hand. I really wanted to repurpose the cookie tins though, so I came up with another idea for them (shared yesterday)

TIP: try to find black gift bags and black foam core rather than use spray paint on them, they are smelly from the paint. They did lose some of the smell after airing out for three weeks before the party.

ABC123 Sketchy letters. little lace doily die. circle punch,

Brilliant Blue ink and card stock, Brocade Blue ink and card stock.

Whisper White card stock all from Stampin' Up!

Larger circle die, Spellbinders

2013 clear stamps, My Sentiments Exactly

Congratulations Graduate Class Of, I made myself with

a stamp set from Just Rite Stampers

I'll add a photo to the white and blue mat.

Pennant Punch, Concord Crush card stock, Daffodil Delight ink,Whisper White 

card stock, Alphadots stamp set, circle punch all from Stampin' Up!

Offray ribbon

TIP#2: Use removable adhesive to attach the embellishments to the bag. That way, if the recipient does not want to keep the bag they can easily remove and reuse the embellishments on a scrapbook page or photo frame!

Thank You stamp and White Kraft ink, Stampin' Up!

Measure the top of your gift bag when it is open and add an inch (or more if you'd like) to the dimensions.
Draw onto your mat board and cut out. You could also use black card stock, it would be much easier to work with. I chose mat board since I already had some in stock and it would be sturdier.

Measure the placement of the handles and mark where you want the holes to be.

Punch out holes in the mat board with a cropodile or some other heavy duty hole punch tool.

Using a heavy duty, sharp hobby knife, carefully cut a slit from each hole to the side of the mat board. This will enable you to slip the mat board over the handles.

Measure and cut an opening in the center of the mat board to insert cards. Mine is 6" long by 3/4" wide.

Attach tassel and die cut letters, photo frame or any other decorations you would like. I did not have the photos attached when I took the pictures to share here.


I had so many ideas of things I wanted to make for the party, but decided against it since space is limited and really, do many people pay that much attention to decorations, the little details ?  It is going to be held in a pinball arcade anyway.

Yes, the tassel was a bit too enticing....

the kitten came out of nowhere when I was taking

this photo and attacked it ! 

Thanks for looking =)

Graduation Party Decor

I had so many ideas if things I wanted to do for graduation party decor and snacks, but in the end did not since we are going to be inside a dimly lit pinball arcade with limited space. I don't know that many people will pay much attention to the decorations anyway......... I did whip up these few things, mainly using items I had on hand already (repurposing / upcycling !).

Centerpiece made from a tall cookie tin wrapped with a photocopy of the diploma. Balloons, curling ribbon, tulle, handmade sign, satin ribbon, balloon sticks - simple.

I cut out the numbers with my Cricut then painted on a thick layer or clear drying glue just in side the edges and applied chunky glitter. They are attached to a piece of chipboard with dimensionals / pop dots (I need to lower the #2). I printed out Class Of on white card stock, trimmed to fit the chipboard.

Store bought (just $1 !) honeycomb centerpiece that I made a base for: I simply painted white poster board I had on hand with black acrylic craft paint. I cut a strip to wrap around an old cookie tin and a square to sit atop the tin for the centerpiece to rest on. I printed out a strip of paper with their names on it and attached it to the front.  This will sit between the two graduation cap gift bags (I'm posting those tomorrow). I also made a "then and now" scrapbook page that will sit on the table by his card gift bag; I'll share that later, too.


I did the same thing with four other tins, only I took the tops off. The square piece of black board will sit on the table, the empty open topped tin on top of that. I will use them to hold different types of chips. Granted, they are not going to hold a lot, but I hope they look kinda cute, better than just open chip bags sitting out ! Then again, with limited space I may not get to use them....... we'll see when we get to the party.

Three tin containers simply wrapped in a photocopy of the graduates diploma with a yellow ribbon tied around it. These will hold plastic forks, knives, spoons.

There will be a banner strung along the edges of the banquet table.

I also have yard stake signs to put up as directional signs and in front of the arcade.


Thanks for looking =)