Happy Graduation - a simple card design

We have several graduation celebrations to attend this month and I decided to create a quick and easy card design that could be customized to suit each graduate.  I used the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cartridge to create these cards.  The cake cartridges are full of phrases that are perfect for many card giving occasions - after all, cards and cakes go together!

I wanted to make a larger 5 x 7 card and I made the card design on the Gypsy since there were only a few pieces to cut.  I'll list all of the sizes so you can duplicate this if you want to.  These sizes are with the "true size" button selected (the one that is an "a" with lines above and below on the Gypsy keypad).  For Design Studio, you would just enter the values I have listed in the width and height boxes in the Shape Properties box.

The graduation cap is on the main keypad (5.31 wide x 4.13 high).

 The cap layer is on the shift of the main keypad (5.31 wide x 1.61 high).

The Happy Graduation sentiment is on the phrase special feature key (5.68 high x 1.71 wide).

The blackout shadow of the sentiment is on the shift of the phrase key (5.91 wide x 1.93 high).

I used a 5 x 7 guideline rectangle to help size the card elements appropriately.  This could be from any handy cartridge since it will not be cut (so it doesn't have to be from a cartridge you own).  In Design Studio I can also do color previews to get an idea of how the finished card will look.

 

The two tone design is easy to change to work with various school colors.  I was able to cut the welded piece and the two layers on one 12 x 12 mat. 

 On this card I added some gradient gem stickers along the edge of the cap and a larger gem sticker on the tassel.

 

I first put the stickers on the blue part of the cap but I decided they were blending in too much so I moved them to the yellow top section.

 I use foam dots (a lot!) to raise the finished cut from the face of the card.

 The sentiment inside was one that I printed on SafMat a while ago (here is a LINK to the post about this handy material).  It is nice to have a supply of sentiments already printed up and ready to use.

I also used a sentiment printed on SafMat on the inside of this card.  The white liner cardstock was punched with a Martha Stewart border punch from the Deco Shells Punch around the Page set.

It's great to have everyone home for a few days - we have lots of plans for the weekend, starting off with the Library Book Sale Saturday morning.  It looks like the weather will be nice and we will be able to use the deck and backyard for our party on Sunday.  Have a wonderful weekend!

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