Graduation

It's that time of year when students done robes and a hat with a flat top and tassel. They'll walk up, shake a hand or two, and receive a piece of paper saying they're all done with this phase. The tassel is worth the hassel; it's a symbol of the struggle not only to learn the material in the courses but also to learn how to learn, to learn how add more information into the mental database and also to retrieve it when needed, and to learn how to evaluate the information and assess its needfulness for the situation. Hat's off to you, dream big, and go out and find your journey.

Supplies

InLinkz.com

Putting It Together

I've been accumulating a few graduation related items for my stash and decided I should probably use some *laugh* It is the time of year when various institutions are handing their students pieces of paper and sending them out into the unknown, so.. a good time for it. 

The piece of paper that hangs on my wall is from the University of Maryland. I went to their European division while I was living in Germany married to someone in the US Air Force. It's a Bachelor of Arts and my major was history with a minor in English and psychology. For my day job I do software testing on router-like products and by night I imagine myself an artist and writer of sorts. Yup, not really related to the tassel *laugh* But, what the education taught me is exactly what I said in the intro: how to learn, how to expand my knowledge, and how to assess what knowledge is needed for a situation.

For this card, I wanted to use the sketch from the Your Next Stamp challenge. The stamp set I used is from Your Next Stamp, too. It's a great set that I've also used some of the sentiments for other types of cards.

I used an embossing folder to emboss a small panel and then ran the edges of the panel on a gold ink pad to rim it with a thin line. This gives the panel a finished look. When I embossed the small panel, I pre-cut the panel before running it with the folder and placed it in the folder so most of the hats would be slightly off the edge with at least one whole one.

I used the Misti and stamped the "Hat's off to you" sentiment multiple times on a small panel to give it the feel of a patterned paper. Even though most of it would be covered, I stamped the full panel.

After stamping the main panel, I ran its edges over the black ink pad.

I adhered the bottom two panels directly to the black card base and elevated the main panel with foam mounting tape for a little dimension. 

Since black can be so hard to write on (you need a pen that can be seen), I added a white panel to the inside of the card, the same paper used for the "Hat's off" on the front. I had debated rimming this panel with gold, too, but opted to keep it plain. I'm still waffling about it, though. If I make this card again, I think I would.

I decorated the envelope as I was making the card for an extra touch. Just stamping one element on the envelope, front or back, can make it just a bit more special.

Challenges

Your Next Stamp: Sketch

Crafty Card Makers: Add a Sentiment
Crafting From the Heart: Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-crafty: Anything Goes
A Bit More Time to Craft: Anything Goes