Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

graduate

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!

Congrats, Grad + Last Day of Simon Says Stamp Memorial Day SALE!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon! *I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

Hi friends! I have a colorful graduation card to share with you today. Graduation season is in full swing here in the Midwest, and we are at the age where several of our friends’ kids are taking that next step in their journey to adulthood. (Though the prospect of these kiddos that we knew as babies graduating high school does make me feel a tad ancient!) I have a fun, playful, super colorful graduation card to share with you today featuring some older graduation-themed products and a pretty rainbow of inks. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

To begin, I heat embossed the “Congrats Grad” from Grad Balloons onto some heavyweight vellum using white embossing powder. I love embossing on vellum, particularly with things that “float” like balloons or butterflies, simply because the semi-sheer nature of the vellum helps enhance that illusion of floating as well as keeping the card front from adding additional visual weight with regular cardstock. I used the coordinating dies to die cut the embossed sentiment images and set them aside.

After I had created the main focal point, it was time to dress up the background. I wanted something colorful and fun, so I selected a rainbow of Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Apple, Melon, Butter, Dublin, Cadette, Clematis. This could easily be adapted to the color palette of the school from which the graduate is matriculating! (how’s that for a $2 word? haha!) I blended the inks in ROY G BIV order on the card front using blending brushes, then splattered the background with some gorgeous iridescent glitter watercolors to add texture and shimmer behind the celebratory balloons.

After I had completed the background, I added thin strips of foam adhesive behind the solid embossed areas of the vellum die cuts, then adhered both die cuts to the rainbow background. I drew some balloon strings with a silver paint pen, then added a graduation cap from the Cap and Gown die set, popped up at a jaunty angle on top of the vellum sentiment. I framed in the entire focal point with a white A2 Nesting Frame, encapsulating the focal point a bit and helping to draw the eye to the center of the card front. The final touch was a Silver Cord bow for the balloon bouquet, adding a bit more texture and one last touch of silver to the card!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I think this is such a fun card to give to a graduate with a gift card or maybe even some cash inside. It doesn’t take a huge time investment (appropriate for a teenager who might not appreciate a handmade card) and it can be customized to a wide variety of color palettes.

Just FYI: the Simon Says Stamp Memorial Day Sale ends tonight!!

Take 25% off of all Simon Says Stamp branded products, including the fabulous Pawsitively Saturated Inks that I’ve used for today’s project. It’s a great opportunity to stock up on inks, re-inkers, cardstock, and any of the fabulous Simon Says Stamp tools that you’ve had your eye on!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Wishing You A Colorful Future, Grad with New Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I am back today with a super colorful graduation card using the versatile Happy Duo cover plate + coordinating stamp set. This product pair works together seamlessly to cover a huge variety of occasions… truly a huge bang for your buck! You can also pair the smaller stamp set with other standalone happy dies, as well; who doesn’t love that kind of versatility? For today’s project, I did some negative paper piecing, paired with colorful rainbow ink blending, to create an eye-catching graduation card. Let’s get started with the details!

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

To start, I blended a panel of white A2 cardstock using Pawsitively Saturated Inks: Butter, Melon, Bubblegum, Lilac, Marine, Spring lightly in rainbow order around the edges of my card front. I love the rainbow effect this creates, almost like an iridescent halo!

After I had created my rainbow background, I die cut the new Happy Cover die from some iridescent white mirror cardstock. I wanted to use every piece of this die cut, so I made sure to reserve all of the pieces. I used some light tack tape to temporarily adhere the die cut frame to the blended background, then used that as a guide to place the die cut letters in their negative spaces with liquid adhesive. Once the letters had all been adhered to the panel, I removed the cover plate die cut, leaving a unique rainbow background around the edges of the die cut letters.

After adhering the die cut letters to the background, I used my MISTI to stamp the “graduation” greeting from the coordinating Happy stamp set. To create this iridescent rainbow sentiment, I inked up just part of the sentiment stamp with the same ink colors that I used to blend the background, tapping the sharp edges of the ink line with a microfiber cloth to blur the lines and create a more seamless blend between colors. The MISTI is invaluable for this technique, helping to ensure that each new color is stamped perfectly in line with the previous color, creating a crisp sentiment. Once I had stamped the entirety of the sentiment, I stamped the entire image once more with embossing ink, then covered it with some iridescent embossing powder to add more shimmer and shine to this card.

To add a bit more ethereal magic to this card, I used residual ink left over on my blending brushes on some scrap white cardstock, then sprayed it with some iridescent shimmer spray. After allowing the blended iridescent panel to dry completely, I used the new Bright Butterflies die to die cut some tiny rainbow butterflies. I adhered the sentiment strip on the background with foam adhesive, then arranged the delicate pastel butterflies in a visual cascade down the card front, curling up the edges of the die cuts slightly to add extra dimension. Finally, I added a few Opal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems and a bow tied with Simon Says Stamp Iridescent White Cord for additional sparkle and texture!

Well, that’s all for my project today. I think this card is so special with all of the different iridescent elements, adding tons of subtle sparkle and shine to the card front. Perfect to celebrate a graduate! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!