Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Grad Cover Plate

Here’s to What’s Next, Grad x2 with Simon Says Stamp!

Hi friends! Graduation season is starting to wind down here, and so I thought I’d share some fun options for graduation cards that are not only quick to create but easily customizable to fit your school’s colors! Our school colors are maroon, silver, and white, and so I pulled out several different options of colored and specialty cardstock from my stash to create this pair of projects perfect for a graduate. Let’s get started with the details!

The key component for both of these is the Grad Cover Plate, which is an older cover plate die but so classy and timeless that it works beautifully for guys and gals! I used this die as the focal point to create a simple flat shaker card as well as a more involved paper inlaid card with a little blending and lots of bling.

For the flat shaker, I began by die cutting the Grad Cover Plate from some brushed silver cardstock, reserving the inner pieces of the letter R, O, and A. I trimmed down a piece of maroon cardstock to A2 sized, then created a flat shaker pocket with some leftover stamp packaging and Tear-rifically Tacky Tape. I filled the shaker pouch with Moonlit Snow and Mulled Wine Embellishment Mixes, as well as some silver star sequins, creating a beautiful shaker mixture that coordinates perfectly with the colors of the card! Once I had sealed up the shaker pouch, I adhered the silver cover plate die cut to the front of the shaker with liquid adhesive and added the entire panel to an A2 card front. Super clean and perfectly festive for a graduating student, not to mention easy to customize to the proper school colors!

My second card is a bit more involved. I began by die cutting the main focal point cover plate from that same deep maroon cardstock. I cut down a panel of white cardstock to the same dimensions as the cover plate die cut, then used blending brushes to lightly blend Shark and Cabernet Pawsitively Saturated Ink at the top and bottom of the panel, allowing the blended sections to peek out behind the die cut letters when placed behind it! I also cut the graduation cap using some deep maroon glitter cardstock and inlaid these glittery pieces within the negative space of the main die cut, adding a tiny silver bow for a bit of extra texture. I adhered this panel to a silver Chunky A2 Scallop Rectangles die cut, creating a pretty frame around the main focal point. This was popped up on a full size A2 panel of the same maroon cardstock, adding one final layer of cardstock. The final touch was a ton of gorgeous and sparkling Cherry Pawsitively Dazzling Gems! This card has several more elements to it, and is quite a bit heavier than the previous card, so definitely one to deliver by hand, perhaps at a graduation party!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! It’s always smart to have a few graduation card ideas in your back pocket, right? Our kiddos aren’t at that age for graduation yet, but I foresee having lots of these on hand to give out in about 5 years! (I don’t even want to think about my big kids actually graduating yet, so in my head these are for their friends, ha!) Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Here’s To What’s Next, Grad!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I have a pair of projects to share with you today using some of the new graduation-themed goodies from the Simon Says Stamp Celebrate release from last week! Graduation season is upon us, and we have reached the age where relatives who were tiny kids when my husband and I met are now full-fledged adults (well, sort of, ha) and are graduating from high school and college! (Off to check out the white hairs sparkling at my temples, be right back!) Our local high school colors are maroon and white, and so I thought I would create a pair of projects using the new Grad Cover Plate and the new Grad foil transfer cards. Let’s get started on the details!

Who doesn’t love a shaker card, right? Even a teenager might be tempted to shake shake shake when presented with some shiny sequins (and some cash)! The new Grad Cover Plate cuts the letters out of a die cut rectangle, creating a negative space that is perfect for use with tons of different techniques. Paper piecing, ink blending, stenciling, etc! I chose to back my white die cut with some acetate, creating a perfect window for a shaker. This card would be super simple to customize to your graduate’s school colors, too!

I started by die cutting the Grad Cover Plate from some plain white cardstock, reserving the center of the R, O, and A die cuts. I adhered some clear acetate behind my die cut and used Simon Says Stamp Foam Adhesive Strips to add some foam adhesive in a continuous line around the edge of the the back of the die cut, which creates the space to fill my shaker card with sequins. I added a shimmering frame, cut using the A2 Nesting Frames dies with gold glitter cardstock, then accented it with some Hero Arts 5 Point Star Infinity Die cuts cut from gold mirror cardstock.

To add a little extra texture behind the shaker window die cut, I ran a panel of deep marron cardstock through my die cut machine with the Imperia Plate. This plate pierces a textured pattern into the cardstock, which makes it a beautiful and simple way to embellish a plain background, adding a little extra interest behind your focal point. I filled my shaker with Candy Hearts sequins, which coordinated beautifully with my color scheme. Simon Says Stamp stocks so many different colors of confetti sequin packs that you are sure to find a color that coordinates with your graduate’s school colors! I love the simplicity of this card… you could even mass produce this one for a graduation announcement, simplifying it by removing the shaker part and just having the die cut window. So many different options!

What graduate doesn’t like a little extra cash or gift card? I created this gift card holder by first die cutting the Gift Card Pocket Envelope from some plain white cardstock, then cutting a separate cardstock rectangle the same size as the front panel and running it through my die cutting machine with the new Shimmering Starfall embossing folder. Using a separate panel of cardstock helps to add that texture without making the gift card holder difficult to fold and put together. I ran the new Grad foil transfer cards through my Minc machine with Simon Says Stamp’s Yellow DecoFoil toner foil and used my sharp scissors to cut them out. I added another gold glitter cardstock frame cut with the A2 Nesting Frames dies on top of the embossed background panel, then popped up the greeting pieces with some foam squares. I added a few more shiny gold foil stars cut using the Hero Arts 5 Point Star Infinity Dies and gold mirror cardstock to finish the project off!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I love the simplicity of cards made using only die cuts; they’re so easy to customize and would be super simple to mass produce, which is perfect for an occasion like high school graduation! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!