Personalized Graduation Card
Hello Paper Crafters!! Today I am bringing you a special card I made for my son. My son, Aaron, graduated from the University of North Texas on May 12. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical and Energy Engineering. It was a tough program and he worked really hard, so I wanted to let him know how special he is and how proud I am of him. I created this personalized graduation card with a Z – Fold in his school colors to commemorate his big day.
Why I Love Stamping
I love to celebrate special occasions with a handmade card. When you make a card, instead of purchasing one, you are telling that person that they are special and they are loved. Everyone wants to know that people care for them. I am telling my son that he is worth the time and effort I put into designing and making this card for him. On average, the cards I design take anywhere from 1-3 hours to design and create. It’s a time commitment that I look forward to because I love creating cards. It is so satisfying. I hope I will inspire you to create cards for the special people in your life. You can use this design to create a personalized graduation card, but you can adapt this design to make any number of celebratory cards.
The Color Palette
Recipe: Paper. Images. Embellishments.
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White & Call Me Clover card stock & Petal Passion DSP
Images: *Tassel Time stamp set, Large Letters Framelits, Large Numbers Framelits, StazOn & Call Me Clover Ink Pads
Embellishments: Gold Glimmer paper
Extras: Blender Pens, Stampin’ Trimmer, Big Shot, Dimensionals & Multipurpose Glue
*Note: The Tassel Time stamp set is not available for order. It was retired several years ago. You can easily substitute another graduation themed stamp set. I don’t keep every stamp set that I buy, but some sets that I know I will use from year to year I do keep. Substituting stamp sets is a great way to stretch your creativity.
The Project:
Personalized Graduation Card
Step 1:
Cut your pieces.
- Basic Black card stock base: Cut to 4 ¼” to” x 11” and score at 2 ¾” & 5 ½”.
- Basic Black card stock front: Cut to 1 ¾” x 11” and score at 5 ½” & 2 ¾”.
- Call Me Clover card stock: Cut to 4” x 5 ¼”.
- Whisper White card stock: 2 ½” x 4”, 1” x 5 3/8”, 1 3/8” x 1 3/8”, 1 5/8” x 2 5/8” – cut 2.
- Petal Passion DSP: 2 ½” x 4”.
- Year: Cut numbers using Large Numbers Framelits in Gold Glimmer paper.
- Name: Cut letters using Large Letters Framelits in Call Me Clover card stock.
- Tip: Not all names will fit in this space. If you need more space you could extend into the first fold section and substitute a smaller image below.
- Click here to see another card I created using Petal Passion DSP.
Step 2:
Stamp your images.
- Call Me Clover ink: Stamp the sentiment & the stars on the largest piece of Whisper White card stock. Then stamp the diploma and cap on the 1 5/8” x 2 5/8” Whisper White card stock pieces.
- StazOn ink: Stamp “Congratulations”, confetti & “Class of” on the remaining pieces of Whisper White card stock.
Step 3:
Color images.
- Using the Blender Pens color the confetti on either side of “Congratulations” with Call Me Clover ink.
- Tip: When Stampin’ Up! introduces new colors to our line up, I can’t afford to buy everything at once. I will buy the stamp pads first and then use my blender pens to color images just like a marker.
Step 4:
Putting together the pieces.
- Fold the Basic Black pieces so that they form a Z when viewed from the bottom.
- Basic Black card base: Adhere Call Me Clover with Multipurpose glue onto right side of card base. Then glue the DSP to the left panel and the Whisper White 2 ½” x 4” piece to the middle panel.
- Gold Glimmer year: Use Multipurpose glue to adhere to the top portion of the Call Me Clover panel. Then use dimensionals to adhere the “Class of” square, at an angle, next to the year. Tip: Make sure the year is mounted high enough to not be obstructed by the front panel.
- Basic Black front piece: Adhere the “Congratulations” panel to the left side of the front piece. Tip: Make sure to leave enough room to mount the “name”. Next, adhere the name on top of “Congratulations” panel. Then adhere the diploma and cap pieces to the right side of the front piece.
Step 5:
Creating the Z-Fold
- Put the Z Fold card together: Apply glue to the back side of the front panel, so that the right side is glued to the DSP panel and the other side is glued below the year, by applying glue to the back side of the cap panel only.
- Tip: The front panel should not be glued down in the middle so that the card will fold in half. As you can see in this bottom view, you have a Z formed by the base piece and a Z formed by the front piece.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to make a personalized graduation card.
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My project supply list for the personalized graduation card. Click products to shop online!
 |  Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406] $9.00 | |
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Visit My SHOP!!
When placing an order in May use host code:
NMND6CSP
Please join me every week as I share projects using Stampin’ UP! products.
We will have so much fun!
I would be honored to be your personal Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator!!
Happy Stamping,
Lois Avellanet
Creativity Coach
My mission is to teach you how to find your inner artist so you can create beautiful works of art to give to family and friends. I have a simple “recipe” that will make creating cards Easy As PIE. This is all you need to do: |
You’re welcome Kathleen. I hope you have fun making one and the recipient is thrilled with your creation!
Awesome card!! Thank you for sharing instructions!