Hats Off

Here's my card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge to create a clean and simple graduation card. I used the School's Out set from Our Craft Lounge for this card that will work for just about any graduate--high school or college, male or female. It's a great one to have in my stash!

I started by using cardstock pieces to fashion my own mortarboard cap. For a realistic touch, I used embroidery floss to create a fun tassel to hang from the cap. To set the cap off from the rest of the card, I set it on a gold circle using foam tape.

I used two solid panels on my card base, a gold one on the bottom, layered over with a black panel. The cap is set at the top of the black panel. I heat embossed the set's "hats off to you" sentiment in gold along the bottom of the panel. A trio of black brads along the bottom of the gold panel completes the simple design. It would be easy to personalize this card for a graduate by switching up the black/gold color combination to the school colors. I'll have to keep that in mind . . .

Materials Used:

School's Out stamp set (Our Craft Lounge); Versamark ink (Tsukineko); white cardstock (Xerox); Basic Black cardstock (Stampin' Up!); gold shimmer paper (Target); gold embossing powder (Ranger); circle punches (EK Success); black brads (Joann); embroidery floss; foam tape