MDS Monday- A CASE of Myself

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! Just one more day till the weekend. Woo-Hoo!

In case you're wondering, "Yes", I am aware that this is not Monday, but MDS Thursday just doesn't have the same ring to it. :) I had a busy weekend, last weekend, and didn't get to do anything with my MDS. Since I told you guys on Monday that I would try and get something put together, here it is. I figure late is better than nothing, right?

The challenge over at Utah Divas International was to do something "graduation" related. I decided to CASE myself. Here's what I came up with-

MDS Graduation Card

I thought I had the same stamp set I originally used in MDS, but I didn't. I did however have "Define Your Life" and I figured I could work with that. I really L.O.V.E. how using the drop shadow feature really gives the impression of a real paper card and not just a picture on the computer. So realistic! Know what else I love? The ability to change the sizes of everything. For my tassels, I used the white Grosgrain ribbon that comes with the program. Normally it fits all the way across the card and then some. I just kept decreasing the size until I got it where I wanted it. I added two to each cap because I wanted the impression of of movement. I have to say I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Usually, I test something out on MDS and then make it instead of making it and then trying to convert it.

Here's my inspiration piece (and the link) in case you didn't see it the first time around-

I just realized I had red and white tassels on the original card. Darn it! Oh well, it was the starting off point. :)

Here's the inside-

I really liked the arrow I put in my inspiration piece because I embossed it, cut it out, and raised it up with dimensionals. I had planned on doing that, with this card, until I found out I didn't have the right stamp set. I still liked the idea of it though, so I punched and filled an arrow, increased the size so it could be a background image, added the text and then lightened the opacity so my sentiment could be read over it. The sentiment is one I wrote just to tie the front and inside together. I just realized I could have put a cap inside as well. :( My only excuse is, that I was doing this at around 11pm last night, as I was waiting for my laundry to finish, and I was tired. Maybe I'll try adding it and see how it looks. I'm pretty happy with it overall though, so who knows.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you thought it was worth the wait. :) Your comments make my day, so if you liked it or have any feedback about today's project I'd love to hear from you! Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today. I hope you have an Amazing day and that you come back real soon to see what else I have in-store for you.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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End of the Week Technique #34 -Side Step Card / Graduation Card #2 For My Girl A

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! It's overcast here in the DMV and we're expecting some strong storms to sweep through today. I hope it's warm and sunny wherever you are! Do you have plans for the weekend? I'm going to the Big Crawfish Festival tomorrow, so maybe I'll be able to do something Digital with that for next week. Do you like Crawfish? I Love them and wait till you see the amount of them and how they cook everything. Unbelievable!!! As much as I love crawfish (and the free beer that comes with it) in spirit I'll be in Colorado. A sweet, fun, young lady that I know will be graduating from High School and I'm so excited for her! I was trying to come up with a card for her and ended up with two and couldn't decide which one I liked best.What to do? I sent her both of course! Why not, it's not every day you graduate from High School. I showed you the first one earlier this week.

Here's the second one-

Side Step Graduation Card with Extra Card

Obviously her school colors are red and white. I wonder if she was curious why her dad was asking? This is actually two cards. Most of the card samples I saw didn't really have anywhere to write a note, well at least no-where private, so I decided to add a small matching card to this one. 

Here's the original card design-

Side Step Graduation Card

I love this sentiment and thought it would be great for a graduation card. To add a little "something extra" to this I stamped the sentiment in Black Staz-On and then heat embossed it. I then inked the little arrow with my Real Red marker and Versamark, heat embossed it as well and then hand-cut it & popped it up for a little extra dimension. I just love the glossy look of it and how this portion turned out. I stamped it at the top of the c/s leaving room for a small picture if she wanted to put one with the card. The hats were fun & so easy to make. I punched out 1" squares and then cut cardstock into little fringes and attached them to the squares with mini-brads. I covered the mini-brads with Staz-On so they'd match the hats. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I punched it with my Word Window Punch and then matted it with a piece punched with my Modern Label Punch. Both the sentiment and the hats were all popped up with dimensionals.

Here's the matching card-

Very simple. I used a card base of Real Red and then added the other layers to create a gowned effect (at least I hope she thinks it looks like one) and then popped those layers up. You know I like to add a little something extra to the inside of my cards to make them pretty too. I added another cap & tassel to the inside, but wrote my note before I attached everything so no picture for you. :( Sorry. I have Horrible nurse writing and didn't want to risk attaching everything to the inside and then messing up the writing and end up making the whole card over again. LOL!

Before I give you the instructions for this technique I just want to give my girl a shoutout, just in case she checks this out-

Way to go Alex!!!!! SO excited for you. Enjoy your special day and everything that comes with it. You deserve it. I forgot to put in a coupon for Noms with your other card, so here's my I.O.U. for treats next time you're in town. Or, if you decide you need some before then, let me know and I'll "Food-Ex" them to you. I've got some new recipes I think you'll like. Congratulations!!!!! 

So here's what you need to make this style card- Cardstock, Paper Cutter, Scoring Tool ( I used my Simply Scored), Bone folder and stamps/DSP as desired for decoration

1- Cardstock cut at 5 1/2 x 81/2.

2- Score at 4 1/4 all the way across the c/s, This is your center fold.

3- On the short edge position your c/s at the 3 1/2 mark and cut from 1 1/4" to 6 1/4" this is all you need to cut. This will give you a 2" wide section to decorate. 

3- On the long edge score in to the cut line on the following marks- 1 1/4, 2 1/4, 3 1/4, 6 1/4. 

4- Fold at 4 1/4 and use your Bone Folder to make the fold crisp.

5- Fold on the other score lines starting up from the bottom and then use your bone folder to again make sure the lines are crisp.

6- Decorate the panels however you would like. The only limit is your imagination.

7-Smile when you see your finished card and think about the smile it will hopefully bring to it's recipients face.

I put off making one of these cards for the longest time, because I was afraid it was going to be difficult. It was definitely not hard and I will be making more of these for sure!

I hope you liked today's project and I hope it inspires you to make something new and different for someone special that you know. I really hope A enjoys her cards, although I have a sneaking suspicion she'll be more excited by the I.O.U. for noms. LOL! I love feeding that girl, cause she always enjoys my snacks. She's even been known to share a little. (And I do mean "a little!) What a girl! :)

If you liked today's project, feel free to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you! If you'd like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

I hope you have a beautiful, sunny, and dry weekend with plenty of time for Family, Friends and of course time for creativity. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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A Special Fun-Fold Graduation Card

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday, just two more days until the weekend. I love short work weeks! :) I hope your weeks been Amazing so far!

It's that time of year again...graduation time. I thought I was pretty much done with that, at least until my nephews manage it (and Heaven forbid, my baby brothers) but there's still 4 more years before I have to worry about that. Whew! However, I have a special friend whose daughter is graduating this weekend. She is such a sweet and funny and altogether tremendously special girl, how could I not make a card for her. So I started looking around for ideas. I found a couple that gave me a good jumping off point. In fact, I made two and couldn't decide which one I liked better so guess what she gets? That's right! Both of them!!!! :) If anyone deserves two, it's A. I'd really love to be sending her some sweets. I love baking goodies for her and she loves eating them. See, I told you she was special and worthy. :) However, I fear they would not make the trip as her dad loves him some home-made goodies too. Oh well, maybe I'll just put a little I.O.U in with her cards.

I didn't want to create just any regular ole' card for A. No-siree-Bob. It needed to be as unique as she is. I've seen lots of this style card around blog-landia. Some call it a "kriss-cross" card, some a "square-petal" fold, I just call it fun. I got the inspiration for this card from Debbie Henderson's blog. Mine has a lot of the same elements, just done in a different way.

Here's today's card-

Fun Fold Graduation Card with Owl

I knew saving those little punched owl pieces would be a good idea! I sponged the sky background, in Bashful Blue, because I wanted the feeling that the sky's the limit and for A, I'm sure even the sky couldn't hold her back. The sentiment is from a retired hostess set I got as a door prize. How cute is that font?

Here's a closer look-

You know how I like to do a little something special on the inside of my cards....well this whole thing is the inside. LOL! I added a little sparkle to the butterfly for that something extra. I also popped the sweet little owl up with dimensionals to make it look like he was flying. I really hope she likes this.

This fold is soooo easy. If you check out the link above it shows you how to do it. It all starts with a 7.5 x 7.5 piece of cardstock and folds down to fit in one of our standard envelopes. When it's closed this is what it looks like-

For the inspiration piece I think she just flipped it over to make a graduation "cap". I wanted to do something a little "more" for A's card so I made a belly band and cap. Here's what it looks like-

I punched a strip of Silver Glimmer Paper with my Scalloped Border Punch and adhered it to the underside of my belly band. I then made a miniature of the big card for the cap. I did this, instead of just cutting a square, so the cap could have some added dimension. I punched a 1/2" circle and elevated it with a dimensional for height and so I could use it to secure my bakers twine. My sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes was stamped in Black Staz-On an punched out with my Word Window Punch. I used a Mini-Glue Dot to secure it in place.

Here's a closer look-

 By placing the cap on an angle, it effectively covers the "seams" created by closing the folds. I thought this was kind of clever if I do say so myself. :) When you slide the belly band off, you can see just how to open the card, no flipping over necessary.

Now, you know I'm not necessarily the brightest light-bulb in the box right? Hey, everyone should be aware of their assets as well as their shortcomings. At least I'm honest about them....As I'm typing this I realize I could have hidden the seam on the belly-band by simply placing the cap over it. DUH!!! I guess that would be too easy though. I noticed this as I was about to, excitedly, type that I had not left the seam uncovered. *SMH* Oh well, let's just call it another design element shall we? Here's what I did-

I carried the glitz over from the front of the card by punching a medallion from the Silver Glimmer Paper with my Small Scalloped Circle Punch and adhering it over the seam with a few Mini-Glue Dots. I'm so  happy with how this turned out. I think it looks so pretty from either side. I really hope she likes it. I know I enjoyed making it for her. And if she doesn't well at least she has a second card, and a promise of Noms! :)

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you to try something new for someone special. I'd love to hear what you think about today's card. Your comments always make my day! If you liked today's card and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too!

Hope to see you back soon, I've still got this weeks challenge card and the End of the Week technique to show you. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-
Shan

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