Graduation Cards with Gift Card Pocket Ideas

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I was tasked with a major project of creating 13 graduation cards. Aside from the graduation theme, the request was for the graduation cards to have a pocket for a gift card. If you follow my blog, you already have a preview of two of the graduation cards. I added these two cards on this post.

The card on the right is a pocket card with a belly band for accent. I am so happy to be able to add some stitching to this card since my fingers have been itching to stitch. The one on the right is a gift card box. I used the We R Memory Keepers Shadow Box Punch Board to create this. The features of these cards can be more appreciated on the short videos below.

Belly Band Grad Card with Stitching

Shadow Box Grad Card

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These graduation cap cards are fun to create. I designed the graduation caps how the caps are jazzed up these days. The tassel is made of rolled up, fringed crepe paper. The card on the left stands up for display as shown on the photo below.

The features of these cards are better shown in the short videos below. 

Stand up Grad Cap Card

Folded Grad Cap Card

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The card on the left features a wobbly Cricut cut graduation cap. The one on the right is an oversized tag to which I added a gift card pocket. I also added two elements that I love, stitching and rosette.  Below are videos showcasing these two cards.

Wobbly Grad Cap Card

Oversized Grad Pocket Tag 

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I created a slimcard sized graduation card with the gift card pocket on the front which can be seen through the front panel year window. 

See Through Gift Card Pocket Grad Card

So as not to waste the number drop outs of the previous two cards, I used these numbers to create the above cards. The gift card pocket was a simple pocket which I forgot to take a photo of.

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Let's not forget the first two cards of this graduation collection which I created for Stick It Down. This a two-for-one card. The card on the left is a shaker card and the card on the right has 3D stars. Details of this card can be seen on this post: 2-for-1 Graduation Cards.

And for the star of these graduation cards collection, the card made especially for the son of the person who commissioned me to do this graduation project. (Thank you for allowing me to share this card.)

I used the Karen Burniston Photo Collage Pop-Up Craft Dies. This die set may look intimidating at the start but after putting the elements together, it is actually fun. Opening and closing the card is like ASMR. I added a bit of twist on this pop-up card by substituting some of the pop-ups with letter/number dies. I personalized the card to the graduate's faves and his future college. 

This card does not have a gift card pocket. I added stitched rectangles for the sender to write a message on.

Below is a video showing the ASMR moment of the card. 

If you got this far on this post, thank you so much. I apologize for a very long post but I hope you enjoyed the short videos showcasing the grad cards I made.

Have a blessed, brilliant and created day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this project at

Simon Says: Masculine

Challenge 6~Anything Goes

Spotlight Stitched Slimline Card

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project is a stitched card. The pattern I used is from Cross Stitch Floral Dreams by Durene Jones. The die I used is the Crafty Meraki Stitch-A-Cross slimline die. I used a Neenah Desert Storm cardstock for my stitching panel. 

There are 8 holes per inch on the stitching panel created by the die. Any design you use on this stitching panel will be enlarged. Finding a pattern that fits this stitching panel can be a challenge that's why I resort to spotlight stitching. This technique involves choosing a part of the pattern, usually the focal point of the pattern, to stitch on the stitching panel. 

Since the holes are large, I used 6 strands of DMC floss per stitch. I separate the strands from each other then put the strands together again before stitching. I just practiced this lately. It can be time consuming to do this especially when the strand gets knotted but this step makes a difference to the floss by making the stitch fluffy.

I die cut a slimline frame using a Trinity Stamp die on a darker kraft cardstock. I die cut two frames, adhered one on top of the other then adhered it to the stitched panel.

I stamped a sentiment form My Favorite Things Bitty Birthday Wishes stamp set on the same dark kraft cardstock using a purple dye ink. I die cut the sentiment into a strip using an Avery Elle die. I die cut five more pieces of strips and stacked in on top of each for dimension. I adhered the sentiment on the stitched panel. 

I adhered sequins to the stitched flowers for embellishment. I added Nuvo drops and Stickles to the centers of the sequins. 

I hope you like today's project. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

Card Stitching

Hello! I created this card for my husband who celebrated his birthday last Friday.

I started off by finding a design that will fit the total area of the die cut holes on a cardstock. The design is from the book 100 Cross Stitch Card Designs by Joanne Sanderson. I edited the stitched design, removing the wine bottle and adding the greeting.

One of the difficulties in converting a stitched design on cloth to a stitched design on paper is the paper has bigger holes. A design might be small if stitched on cloth but when stitched on paper, the size becomes bigger. Another difficulty in stitching on paper is that there is no quarter stitch on paper. Either you leave the square blank or just put a cross stitch to that square. This also applies when doing a half running stitch. What I did is do a straight stitch from point A to point B, bypassing the holes in between these two points. This is better explained by looking at the orange star.

The die I used to create the stitching holes is Crafty Meraki Stitch-A-Cross Slimline die. I die cut an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" heavy weight white cardstock. I die cut one side of the panel first. To die cut the rest of the panel, I matched the holes on the cardstock with the raised holes of the die. I taped the die and the paper together to prevent shifting while I run this through the machine. Although despite this, I still had some shifting which created non-circular holes and unequal hole spacing. Running the shims back and forth might have made my shim shift. I went ahead and use this die cut panel. After the stitching has been done, the imperfect holes are less noticeable since the stitched design becomes the center of attention. Also, don't forget to use a metal shim when using this die. 

Removing the tiny die cut circles created by the die can be a challenge. I used the Waffle Flower A2 Piercing Panel die to help in this process. I rubbed the raised side of the die to the back side of the die cut panel to remove the die cut circles. Do this over a trash can for some clutter control. For the circles that did not fall off using this technique, I used a Spellbinders Tool n' One to brush off the circles and poke the circles out.

After I got done with the stitching, I adhered a white cardstock to the back side of the panel. 

To accommodate the large design, I created an A8 card with the size of 7.875" x 5.25". I used a heavy weight Neenah Desert Storm cardstock for the card base which I cut at 7.9" (I just eyeballed this, cutting it a hairline off the 8" mark). I scored this at 5.25" on the long side.

I adhered the stitched panel to the front of the card, cutting off any excess. I added a woodgrain washi tape around the edges to frame the design. 

I also want to show another stitching project I created a while back. My 9 year old son requested me to stitch our last name so he can put it up on our wall. For this project, I am using The Stamp Market Stitched Alphabet Die to die cut the holes for each letter in our surname. Good thing, we have a short last name =). Instead of doing a cross stitch, I did a running stitch, using a different color for each letter. I used a black metallic floss for the outline.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this card at

AAA Birthday Card Challenges #221

 

Hinged Die Cut Slimline Card

Hello! I created this card for a co-worker of mine who recently lost a loved one. I hope in this little way she will feel that we are thinking about her. 

I am using the following products in this card:

• Crafty Meraki Crafty Plaid Slimline die
• Trinity Stamps Sending Hugs die set
• Honey Bee Paper Hugs die set
• Honey Bee Paper Hugs stamp set

I die cut a light gray cardstock using the slimline die. I adhered this on a light blue cardstock. I trimmed off the excess.

I die cut the sentiment and the letters on Grafix Dura-Bright Black Film Pad. I die cut extras so I can adhere it to the back of the black sentiment & letter die cuts. On the letters, I slightly offset it to create a shadow.

I die cut a pink cardstock using the heart die. I die cut several more hearts using white cardstock. I die cut the arms using a cream cardstock. I inked the pink heart die cut and the arm die cuts with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide. I spritz the pink heart die cut with pearlized water for some shimmer. I set this aside to dry. 

To create the heart die cut into a mini card, I trimmed some acetate, about 1/2" x 1". I scored this at the middle. I adhered half of the tab on the back of the white heart die cut. I adhered the other half to the back of the pink heart die. I adhered a white heart die cut to the back of the pink heart to cover the acetate hinge. I did not have to do this to the back of the white heart since this side will be directly adhered to the slimline panel.

I stamped the sentiment to the inner heart panel.

I adhered the sentiment die cuts and the mini heart card to the slimline panel. I added Nuvo Morning Dew Crystal Drops to the bold letters. I set this aside to dry. I added pink sequins from Ink Road Stamps.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog~Sending Hugs #91