I have been waiting for much much-beloved nephew, Ben's graduation, couldn't wait to see him in his cap and gown! Ben is extremely dear to me, he and I have spent a lot of time together as he was growing up, from his first week of life onward, He would spend so much of his summer at my place (I treasured every moment), that his wonderful Mom, my SIL called my place "Ben's cottage", and I wouldn't have had it any other way, I love that boy with a fierceness that is so strong. He's not my son, he's my brother and SIL's son and they are great parents, yet, Ben is the closest that I will ever come to having a son, and I am very grateful for his presence in my life.
Of course, with the pandemic, graduations all over the world were canceled. So, this card plus his gift was it, and it was very important to me to make some sort of cool card for this young man who is just so very wonderful in my eyes!!!
His school colors at his high school were red, white, and blue, and so that's where I started, I have very few graduation supplies. I had used another "grad" die from Simon Says Stamp for his junior high grad card, and so I had ordered from my favorite online paper-crafting store, Simon Says Stamp a "grad" die and a "congrats" die from their own line in the same font, and I absolutely LOVE the clean lines and the whole sense of proportion with these two dies, and I look forward to buying more sentiment dies in this same line! I also purchased from SSS's own line a multi-pieced graduate cap die set and used mirror cardstock in red and navy from Crafter's Companion's luxury line with some foam dimensionals to add more definition. I cut the sentiment words as well as the main sentiment word inside the card plus the 2020 on the envelope from red, white, and navy fun foam, because I really like the dimension it gives with one pass for each word through my Gemini. The only potential downside is that mailing a card with these fun foam sentiment words that I love (and have used on many to most of the 50 hand-stitched cards that I made a couple of years ago, giving 44 of these to my Mom as well) has a high potential for being damaged going through the mail system. But as I knew that I was hand-delivering this card personally to Ben, that this should not be a problem.
When I created Ben's junior high grad card, I tried something new for me--I covered each of the grad die-cuts I had made from various rainbow colors in a thick layer of Glossy Accents, and I absolutely LOVED the effect, loved it!!! One SCS member, whose artwork I greatly admire said in a comment under that card that the effect of the Glossy Accents onto the fun foam die looked like molten glass, and how I loved and greatly appreciated that comment!!! This time, mainly due to the much more precise font of these sentiment words, I wanted a thinner coating but wanted it to look just as gleaming. On the inside of this card, I used the same congrats die, and I used the same Glossy Accents on the main word sentiment in combination with some sheets of graduation-themed sentiments with which I chose one in black cardstock with white lettering for the contrast. In addition to having another graduation cap on the front of the envelope, I die-cut the numbers 2020 from a wonderful numbers die set from Crafter's Companion Sara Signature, these numbers are chunky and bold, and I coated these navy fun foam numbers in lots of Glossy Accents as well, and I really liked the effect, but because of the lighting, it's difficult to see. That is why I went ahead and uploaded another view of the front of the card that shows the white fun foam with a layer of red underneath on the word, "congrats", and I apologize for perhaps including an extra view of this card to show this. I sometimes find it tough to find a photo that shows everything that I want it to for one card.
One thing I wish that was seen in this view is that for the front of the card for the word, congrats, which you see in white, I have another fun foam layer in red under the white congrats, but it's not seen, and for that reason, I am hoping to upload another view to show this double-colored sentiment die-cut. I thought that it looked kind of cool!
What was MOST important to me was that Ben liked this card (he received his 18th birthday card that same day, on his 18th birthday), and he knew that I had put a lot of effort and hopefully creativity into this very significant graduation card for him. I am VERY proud of this young man, who he has become, with his many gifts and talents, and his heart for others and for God. I don't think that I could love him more!!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to take a closer look at my card. When you leave a comment on one of my cards, please know how much I appreciate that kindness.
Please stay safe and be well especially during this very difficult and unusual time.
Best wishes,
Joanne
Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2021 GMT Views: 807
Favorited:2
Paper: Crafter's Companion luxury red mirror and blue mirror cardstock, Scrapbooking Made Simple Simply Defined Distinctions A7 heavyweight bright white card base and envelope, Navy cardstock, red, white, and blue fun foam
Paper Size: A7 (5" by 7")
Accessories: Gemini, Simon Says Stamp congrats/grad/multi-piece grad cap dies, diagonal stripe EF, glossy accents, black with white print SSS grad sentiment sheet (inside sentiment), Crafter's Companion numbers dies (envelope)
Techniques: Die-cutting with fun foam and metallic mirror cardstock, embossing with cardatock
The clean lines of this card make it all the more gorgeous! The glossiness of this card is stunning. It is wonderful that you got to hand deliver it so it wouldn't get damaged. Again, this is gorgeous!
------------------------------ Sharon ♥Blog: Foxy StampingScrapbook Goal: 2024: 30/60 as of 06/30/24
This looks awesome and so happy for a grad card. I love that the two of you have a special bond. Congrats to him! My second daughter is graduating from HS this year, too.
Registered: April 6, 2009 Location: Weyers Cave, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley Posts: 31237
Fri, Feb 19, 2021 @ 5:22 AM
Hi Joanne!
This is such a lovely card for an important time in a young person's life. I can see bits of the red on the right side of the Congrats lettering, but I'm still glad you pointed that out. You are so thoughtful to use each of the school's colors in making this card and you emphasized that he finally became a Grad too! I'm certain that he loved this card designed from his aunt. I also love the glossy accents that you added to give these words much more meaning. The diagonal striped embossing is perfectly masculine, to me. What a joy when Ben opened this card to see what you created.
I'm so impressed with the bond you and Ben have. That is wonderful. How fun that he has been able to spend quality time with you too, at your "cottage".
My husband and I used to have a garage/storage building on our property that wasn't taken care of. It was a small house to the first owners back in the 50's before they built the main house. We put lots of sweat effort to get it back to living quarters. We now call it "The Cottage" when we refer to it. It's actually a cottage in the pines because when you look out any window, you see pine trees. We have it for when our family members come to stay, but we also use it on the weekends when the weather is warm. It's so fun to sleep in a different place even though it's just down the driveway.
Keep safe and stay warm, Joanne~
------------------------------ ~Roberta
�Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.�
― Lou Holtz
Registered: December 9, 2005 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 2515
Tue, Mar 23, 2021 @ 1:17 PM
What a beautiful hard created for a beautiful bond. My heart aches for all the kids that didn't get the pleasure of having a graduation in this last year.
I wanted to thank you also for your very kind comment on my lilies card.
Stay well (((HUGS)))
------------------------------ ....~Tanya~....My Blog