Perfect Sentiments for the Graduate - Gift Card Holder

This week at Perfect Sentiments Challenge #37:

The Challenge: use a sentiment appropriate for a graduate. Sentiment must be on the front of your card.

The Twist: create either a gift card / money holder or a card with a designated place for the gift card/cash

 

I made a graduation card using the colors of our local school. Three of our kids went there and two graduated from the high school. Lawson's mascot is a cardinal, so red is the predominant color. I chose to make my own version of a Joy Fold card using stripes in the school colors and gray dotted paper.

I started with a premade card base that is 6.5" x 5."  I cut the front in half lengthwise at 2.5" and covered it with Dotty For You gray flannel paper that is 6.25" x 2.25" on the front and back side. I attached the striped piece inside, measuring 6.25" x 4.75." 

The red cardstock was cut at 4" x 7" and folded in half. The outer side was embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and decorated. The inner half had a 3"x 3" envelope attached, using some extra strong sticky tape to handle a gift card or cash being moved in and out without detaching. The top flap of that envelope was cut off since the gift card would stick up a little above the opening.  I love the sentiment that's attached to the envelope. It's perfect for graduations. I also left room for a short note.

The outside has a matted and decorated circle attached using dimensional tape only on the bottom half so that the red flap can fit in the top. That's what keeps the card closed.

I hope this helps you sometime in designing your own gift card holder. Be sure and stop by Perfect Sentiments for more ideas.

Challenges for this card:
Craft Your Passion #115 Flips and Folds (more than one fold)
Fairy Tale Challenge 42 - money or gift card holder
Here Come the Boys #29 - More than one fold
Pile It On #25 - Graduation with School Colors
Stamptaclar Sunday Challenge #168 - Fabulous Folds, more than one

Father's Day Smooth Sailing Card

I'm looking forward to taking my daughter, son-in-law, his mother, and four grandkids to the ocean for our vacation this summer. Living in the center of the U.S., my grandkids have never seen the ocean. With that in mind, I made this Father's Day card for their dad, my son-in-law.

The image and the designer paper are both from Clear Dollar Stamps in their set called Smooth Sailing.

I tried a new way of using my favorite embellishment - embossing folders. I folded the kraft cardstock so I could fit the top part in one embossing folder and the second time the bottom was embossed with a different folder. By covering the fold with a ribbon, you can use different folders creatively. I wanted swirls on the bottom like ocean waves. I also added a textured banner to hold my handwritten sentiment. When I colored the sky and water with my Copic markers, I used two shades of blue on the top and two shades of bluegreen on the bottom. Then I removed color with the Colorless blender to resemble clouds and white caps on the waves.

Challenges for this card:
Here Come the Boys - Challenge #28, Anything Goes
Lexi's Creations - Challenge #66 For the Man/Boy in our Lives
Love to Create - Challenge #18, Father's Day or Special Guy in your life
Shopping Our Stash Weekly - Challenge #54, Father's Day or Masculine
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Sugar Creek Hollow - Challenge #14 Father's Day

6.5" x 5" Father's Day Card Recipe:
Paper - Clear Dollar Stamps "Smooth Sailing;" Close To My Heart "Victory" (chocolate swirl), Chocolate, Kraft, White Daisy cardstock
Image - Clear Dollar Stamps "Smooth Sailing"
Accents - CTMH "Milepost Shapes" (banner), Baker's Twine Paradise Assortment; Cuttlebug Musical Flourish (bottom) and Scrollwork (top) embossing folders; white twill old and unknown;Copic Markers- B00, B02, BG10, BG13, N0, N2, N4, E33, E35, E15, E18, 0 Colorless Blender

Ahoy Matey Birthday Card

I can't believe my oldest grandson is turning 10 this month. I made this card to celebrate the great kid he is. Just a couple of years ago he got an outdoor play set with swings, etc., that had a pirate's tower. He also wanted to watch pirate movies when he came to my house. He definitely got his youngest brother into dressing up like a pirate. This has definitely been a hobby of his, so this card is also for Here Come the Boys Challenge #26, Hobbies. I also wanted to scissor distress the edges, making them rough and more masculine. Craft Your Passion Challenge #109 is for torn or distressed edges.

I chose the colors for this card with the great masculine palette at The Play Date Cafe, Challenge #131: Seaweed, Algae, Goldfish, and a touch of Black.

The sketch came from My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club #71. The main image was made with a clear stamp that is also from My Favorite Things, Claire Keay's Ahoy Matey.

I added some additional sandpaper distressing on the lighter green piece that was embossed with the woodgrain pattern. The Kraft corrugated shapes are neutral and don't interfere with the intended color scheme. All three pieces were connected, but I punched them apart. Cut the one on the upper right in half and mounted the stamped sentiment under it. The ones on the bottom right came from inside that frame. I turned the inner circle upside down so I could stamp the number 10 then reinserted it and pop dotted both pieces over the arrow using two layers of pop dots on the bottom. It's hard to see in this photo but the black strip has the word "ha ha" over and over again. I tied 2 pieces of black hemp around it and tied two more pieces into knots on the right side and trimmed.

I enjoyed making this card using these challenges. That part was fun. But the number 10 makes me a little sad knowing he's just growing up too fast. I'm so glad he's a Christian and goes to a great Christian school, Sunday School, church, and Awanas. Being the oldest of four kids, he's very nurturing of the younger ones. At least I know he'll grow up to be a sweet pirate, but please, Lord, not too soon!

6.5" x 5" Masculine Birthday Card:
Paper - Basic Grey Sultry; Close To My Heart "Hooligans" (black),  "Olivia" (sunset dotted), White Daisy and old retired green cardstock
Stamps - My Favorite Things Claire Keay's "Ahoy Matey;" CTMH numbers "Friendship Alphabet" and sentiment retired
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Other - Copic markers; CTMH sanding block, black hemp, Milepost Shapes; Sizzix woodgrain embossing folder

Two of the pirate brothers. Dressing up as pirates or super heroes is definitely a big thing at their house!

Here Come the Boys with DIY

Here Come the Boys Challenge #23 is to us a DIY (Do It Yourself) image or embellishment. When I used to teach stamping classes at a local scrapbook store, I'd gotten lots of Technique Tuesday stamps that I haven't used the past two years. I was glad to pull them out and find this tool set. My hubby is such a great Do-It-Yourselfer. He saved his mom money on repairing her car this weekend from a recent fender bender. Now that the weather is warmer he'll soon be working away in the new garage he built himself last summer (with the help of our son-in-law and a friend). I think a lot of people have dads like that so I made this card for Operation Write Home for their Muscle Card Challenge to make either Father's Day or general Dad cards that soldiers can get to send home to their dads.

I used the OWH Sketch #114, slightly modified. I moved the diamond over to the left to center it between the bolts which were on the strip I added to their sketch. I was trying to keep the card relatively flat for more stability in the mail. However, I did add three square Durables from Close To My Heart that are adhesive backed.

This card will be the first that I'll send to Kris in Olathe where my son lives. If you'd like to help, they have details on their blog at this symbol:

Shabby Bears for Boys

With five grandsons, I think about making more masculine cards, but usually make them for my female friends instead. Here's one I made using the sketch challenge this week from Sugar Creek Hollow. In addition to the sketch, they want you to use a "cute" stamp and make it vintage/shabby chic. I don't have many "cute" stamps, but I knew I had three bears (from a very old CTMH stamp) that might work. Here's the sketch:

I used a paper pack called "Lucky" from Close to my Heart to have both the vintage and masculine look. I used lots of scissor distressing and some sponging in two colors to distress the oval and the cut-out bear image. I used watercolor pencils (but no waterbrush) on the cross-hatched portions of the bear image for more shading. Vintage cards often have pearls so on this masculine version I used CTMH mocha adhesive gems in the darkest brown color.

I'm also posting this card on Creative Card Crew's Challenge #4 for a masculine card and on Here Come the Boys Challenge #21 - a masculine card with "Vintage Feel." I'm also combining these challenges with the DYSU Challenge #60 - Distressing - since I used two kinds of edge distressing.

6" x 6" card recipe:
Paper - Close To My Heart "Lucky"
Stamps - CTMH retired
Ink - Ranger "Vintage Photo" (image); CTMH - Outdoor Denim (sentiment, sponging), Cocoa (sponging)
Other - Spellbinders die (oval); Martha Stewart border punch; CTMH mocha adhesive gems, jute; pop-dots

An Archaic Dinosaur for the Boys

When I talked with my oldest grandson about coming down to help them make Valentines, he didn't want anything "pretty." He wanted monsters or dinosaurs. Such is the mind of a third grade boy. So here's one of the samples I made for him to consider. I used the theme from Here Come the Boys this week - dinosaurs.

I made a simple pattern using Basic Grey's "Archaic" papers and Bazzil (brown) and CTMH (white) CS.  I used chipboard dots that had been punched out of letters for embellishments. The white square shape is from CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge cut at 2.5." The ink is CTMH Garden Green, Juniper, and Cocoa and the CTMH stamp sets are "Dino-Mite" and the new "Keepsake Alphabet." (You're special" goes with the letter "y.") I'm letting Basic Grey Challenge #51 know that my favorite thing to use on layouts is pop dots. I love to add dimension! I tell the ladies in my scrapbook club that when I die, they're going to put on my headstone "Popdot Queen." I wanted to add ferns on the left side and maybe more, but I resisted, keeping it simple for reproduction by a first or third grade boy. (Although Grandma may have to cut out the dinos or have them simply stamped on the white.

Masculine Valentines

I don't think I make nearly enough masculine cards for craft fairs. It seems to be women who shop at craft fairs. This time we'll be in a nice high school, so I created this card with older boys in mind, or even my hubby. I'm so glad I found the challenge blog Here Come the Boys. I used their sketch for this valentine.