Class of 2018 Graduations

Two more graduation cards to share today, made for two cousins' daughters, both who proudly graduated from college this year. LOL, guess I'm getting lazy in my old age and decided I would make basically the same card for both girls.

I kept the design on the front of the cards very simple by laying down a strip of glitter card stock in the school color onto a silver foil board mat. Searched for the emblem or seal for each graduate's college online, did a print and cut, and backed the emblems with silver foil board. Amazone ttf and Make the Cut design program were used to create the "Class of 2018" cut file. I used the same silver foil board to cut these out, but peeled off a layer from the back of the foil board making it thinner and easier for the Silhouette to cut through.

I added the Four Step Pop Up Card insert to the inside of both cards, using silver foil board and glitter cardstock to decorate the "steps". I ran the foil board through Cuttlebug's "Congrats" embossing folder and used Britannic Bold font to create the "2018" on the steps. Paper pieced graduate girl is a cutting file from SVG Cutting Files. I cut her dress, hair, and body from white cardstock and used Copics to color the pieces.

Completed graduate girls were attached to the cards with a fun wobbler, which makes her "jump for joy" when the card is opened. The template I used for the Four Step Pop Up insert was designed by Norma and can be found at her blog, From My Craftroom.

Golfer's Grad Card

Graduation season is upon us once again and this year I had three graduation cards to put together. This first one was by special request from hubby for a young man in his golf club who graduated from high school this year.

I know I fall back on this same Recessed Window style card front for graduations often but I like it a lot because it's quick to personalize. Since I already have the base card on file, I only needed to change the year of graduation and the graduate's name in Make the Cut design program. (Graduate's full name blocked out in photo). A sheet of clear acetate was placed behind the graduate silhouette and the graduate's high school logo was inserted inside the recessed window. Tutorial for this Recessed Window Card by Lynn Mercurio can be found on Splitcoast Stampers here.

On the inside, I added a Four Step Pop Up Card insert.  

I like using this pop up insert for graduation cards because the four steps are perfect for adding the graduate's class year. For this Four Step Pop Up Card insert, I used the tutorial and template created and shared by Norma on her blog, From My Craftroom.

Since hubby had requested a golf themed grad card, I added a  little golf course scene to the side panel of the pop up stairs. Golf cart cutting file comes from Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge and the the golf bag and clubs were created from a coloring book image rendered into a cutting file in Make the Cut design program. Background tree border was also created in Make the Cut from an image found on the internet. Oh, and of course I couldn't resist adding the "punny" golf sentiment... "Time to Par-Tee!"

For A Nurse's Graduation

Today my dear sweet niece graduates from Nursing School and our entire family is so proud and happy for her. Had a great time putting together a fun card and some goodies for her to celebrate her big day.

The inspiration for this graduation card comes once again from my very creative and talented friend Patti, of Creations by Patti. You can take a peek at some of the wonderful graduation cards she created here. Like Patti, I used the cute girl graduate cutting file from SVG Cutting Files on the front of my card. I dressed her in red to match Seattle University's colors and gave her cap an apricot tassel to signify a nursing school graduate. I printed and cut out the university's coat of arms logo and added it to the background for a personalized touch.

And of course, just like Patti's card, I couldn't resist adding a wobbler to the graduate so she'd really jump for joy!

Here's the card on the inside with a Four Step Pop Up Card insert. I added the class year to the stairs using Make the Cut with Britannic Bold font. On the side panel of the stairs I used red foil board embossed with a Cuttlebug Congrats embossing folder.

Then I added a paper pieced nurse's scrubs to the panel next to the stairs. Saw many cute cards for nurses with scrubs like this on Pinterest and just had to add one to my card too! Stethoscope and name tag were created in Make the Cut. I used a tracing wheel to create the faux stitching along the neckline of the scrubs, and an Elizabeth Craft Designs die for the "Congratulations".

Here's the view from the top of the Four Step Pop Up card. Norma from From My Craft Room blog shares a great tutorial and template for this card here.

Then just for fun, I decorated a mini first aid kit with some washi tape and a paper pieced Hello Kitty dressed as a nurse. The inspiration for this comes from one of our wonderful customers at work who came by one day to bring several of these kits that she had beautifully decorated for us. These are fun and quick to put together, so I'm hoping I'll have time to do more soon.

And finally here's the crazy lei I made for her.

Not your typical flower lei, but instead one that's made up of oral syringes, a thermometer, bandages, and Rx bottles labeled with her school and class. I'm sure my niece will be getting lots of beautiful flower leis for her graduation so I'm hoping she'll get a kick out of this one from her crazy aunt and uncle...LOL!

Graduation: Words of Wisdom from Dr. Seuss

Only had one graduation card to make this year, for the son of one of hubby's co-workers. Unfortunately, I was lost for any fresh new ideas, so I ended up going with my old favorite recessed window card again. For this card, I used a photo of the graduate's high school campus inside the recessed window and made a few subtle changes to the front cover panel of the grad card cutfile that I created a few years ago. Of course I updated the year to "2015" and changed the graduate's name (partially blocked out in photo for privacy). But this time around I also flipped the graduate image to face to the right and by moved the "Class Of" to the bottom of the window. I thought this helped the campus photo show up better and seemed to make the card look more "balanced".  And as you will see below, I completely changed the inside of the card...

Oh...and I also added a paper pieced hot air balloon onto the window to give a hint of what's inside the card...

Totally inspired by the graduation cards created by my blogging pal, Patti of Creations By Patti, I decided to add Four Step Pop Up insert for a fun surprise to the inside of this card.

Using the Four Step Card template designed and shared by Norma on her blog, From My Craft Room as a guide, I created a cutfile using Make The Cut (MTC) to fit inside my card.

The hot air balloms are a freebie cutfile from SVG Cuts, and clouds were cut using the Swirly Clouds die fromTaylored Expressions.

I added an excerpt from everyone's favorite Dr. Seuss...remember this one? It's from "Oh! The Places You'll Go!" A bit of childhood advice from Dr. Seuss that never grows old.

Here's the Four Step Pop Up Card from the top. I was happy that once I had the template for the insert cut, the assembly of this fun pop up card was quite easy. Pretty sure I'll be making this type of card again real soon.