It’s graduation season and the Craft Roulette Episode 161 gave me the idea for this commissioned card for a high school graduate with the Dutch door cardbase, hats, campfire colors and book page element.

All of the dies used are by Karen Burniston. They include the Heart Collage Pop-Up (for the mechanism), Book Worm and Tiny Accessories 2 (both for graduation caps.) The hands and printed sentiments come from a Simon Says Stamp set called Hats off Grad.

Cardbase: Using a T-ruler and pencil, mark the measurements shown on the photo below on an 8 1/2″ x 11” sheet of heavyweight light blue cardstock. Trim off excess rectangles and then score and fold with metal ruler, scoring tool and Teflon folder. Erase pencil marks. Using a small corner punch, round all six corners.

Hat Mechanism: Watch the assembly videos on the Heart Collage Pop-Up page before die-cutting the mechanism piece from light blue cardstock matching the cardbase. Adhere to top fold as directed in assembly videos. Using a stencil and white ink, stencil clouds over the top inside of card, going over the mechanism. Cut out and assemble a number of graduation caps from Book Worm set (small caps) and from the Tiny Accessories 2 (large caps.)

Money Holder: Take a 3” x 4” piece of white copier paper and score along the short side 1/2″ from the edge.  Score both long sides at 1/4″, 1/2″ and 3/4″. Accordion fold the long sides and then fold short side under to form a gusseted pocket. Using a small circle punch, cut a half circle at top of pocket as a finger hold.

Sentiments: The large die-cut sentiments all come from the same Karen Burniston Word Set 8. “Congrats” was cut once from navy blue and once from orange – the high school’s colors. The two phrases were cut from navy blue and then their dies were traced on the outside on orange cardstock and fussy cut to create shadows for the words. The graduate’s name was die-cut using Karen Burniston’s Mini Alphabet set and lined up on card using removable paper tape.

Decorations: The high school logo was printed from the school website on light gray and white cardstock for the front and back of the card. (Because I could not find my Hats Off Grad stamp set, I had to print an image from photos of another card I had made using the stamp set.) The “Finally Done! Hats Off to You!” sentiment was fussy cut along with the hands which were glued to the sentiment before being glued to the card base.  Five hearts and two diplomas were added to the hat mechanism and background die cut from the Tiny Accessories 2 set. The math book on the money holder was die cut from the Book Worm set. The labels for a personal message are from two coordinating sets – Label Charm Pop-Up and Crosshatch Rectangles and Labels.

Envelope: The card fits into an A2 envelope. I like to hint at what’s inside the envelope, so a small graduation cap was glued to the back envelope flap.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Rectangles and Labels – Crosshatch – 1233
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Book Worm – 1217
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Label Charm Pop-Up – 1209
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Mini Alphabet and Numbers – 1197
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Heart Collage Pop-Up – 1193
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Word Set 8 – Congrats – 1077
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Tiny Accessories 2 – 1076

Stamps & Stencils

• Simon Says Stamp! -Clear Stamp and Matching Dies-Hats off Grad -sss102120
• Favorite Things – Clear Stamps – Free-010 Hand Stamped
• Craftin Desert Divas – 6×6 Stencil – Clouds and Paths

Papers

• Navy Blue, Orange, White and Gray Cardstock
• White Copier Paper
• A2 Light Blue Envelope

Ink

• Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Oxide- Tea Dye
• Memento – Fad-resistant Dye Ink – Tuxedo Black
• Simon Says Stamp – Premium Pigment Ink – White
• Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen – Medium – Black
• Computer Printer

Adhesives

• Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
• Fine-Tip Glue Bottle
• Scrapbook.com – Double-Sided Tape -1/8-inch wide
• Clear Removable Tape

Tools

• We R Memories – QuickStick
• Die Cutting Machine
• Stamping Platform
• LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
• Stamping Cloth
• Sponge Dauber
• Heat Tool
• Craft Mat
• Scissors
• Metal Ruler
• Scoring Tool
• Scoring Board
• Teflon Pencil Tipped Folder
• Clear T-Ruler
• ¾” Circle Punch
• Small Corner Punch
• Removable Paper Tape
• Pencil
• Sand Eraser

Miscellaneous

• Fun Stampers Journey – Twine – Teal Blue