For a Special Graduate

It's graduation time again! This year there aren't too many friends I know who are graduating, which is a good thing because it gave me plenty of time to search around for a special card to make for my dd's bf, who will be graduating from UC Davis with his master's degree this week. I spotted this card created by Kim Nath on Splitcoast Stamper's gallery and thought it would be perfect.

Really like these types of non-traditional shaped cards! This card is opened by lifting the top portion of the hat, which causes the enclosed giftcard or monetary gift to slide out from it's pocket. Neat, huh. The instructions and template were created by Alicia Coulombe, which she generously shares on the Splitcoast Forum. If you own the Expression and Design Studio, you can email me for a cutfile I created of Alicia's template using the George cartridge. Please download Alicia's pdf file from the link above for assembly instructions.
I changed the inside of my card just a tad from the original by Alicia by adding the sentiment to a separate piece of cardstock instead of onto the sliding element as Alicia did. I cut a piece of cardstock the same as I had used for the base card to make the sliding element and adhered the sentiment piece right over the top of it to hide part of it, thinking it might increase the "wow" factor when the card is opened. Also, since I was planning to use a check instead of a gift card (and didn't want to put adhesive on the check), I folded the end of the sliding element and applied a little adhesive to the left side of it to create sort of pocket for my check to sit in. The last thing I did differently was to use thin strips of foam tape to create the pocket at the bottom of the card so the slider/giftcard would slide in and out more easily.

The front of my card is embellished with the Grad Ian digital stamp I purchased from The Greeting Farm and colored with copics in UC Davis colors blue & gold. "Congratulations" is a die from the Sizzix cardmaking set and "Jason" is cut from a Sizzlit Decorative Strip, Skittle Dee Doo font. The tassel is from JoLee's, shortened by cutting off about 2 inches and attached to the hat with a large brad. Gold edging around the hat was done with a Krylon Gold Leafing pen. And the "You did it" sentiment on the inside slider is from the Beyond Birthdays cartridge.

And then of course, every college graduate with Hawaii ties needs a lei, right? I used yellow rattail cording to crochet the "roses" and single crocheted different lengths of blue and metallic gold eyelash yarns in between to make this lei I mailed with my card. I hope he likes it! Wish we could be in Cali to congratulate Jason in person and present him with real flower leis instead...he's worked so hard for this, and we are full of joy and pride for his crowning achievements!