graduation Archives - Dawn McVey Blog

Hello, friends! I’m back with more Fête & Fiesta Collection from The Greetery! We have lots of events on the calendar this month, so I’m excited to show you several more cards I made for them using this fun new collection of celebratory goodies!

First up is a baby’s first birthday card for one of my favorite babies in all the land!! If you’ve followed me on Instagram, you’ve seen baby MJ, the little darling that I’ve dubbed the smiliest baby of all time, who I’ve had the joy of babysitting several times while her mama was at work and she is now ONE!!! Gah! SO, of course I had to make Mira Jane a special card using the new For the Ages product suite!

I started off with the back layer and used the new For the Ages 3D embossing folder. I also used it on a coral layer that I’d first die cut with a Capsule Basics die, and then layered it up with some of the new Capsule Star Studded Borders.

The die cut candle was created with more goodies from For the Ages, including the dots that I stenciled on the candle.

PRO TIP: Gold glitter card stock makes for an especially fun candle wick! 😉

The sentiments are from the new Laid Back Basics sentiment set, and the “little one” feels especially clever to use on a first birthday card!

{Happy Birthday, Little One supplies — click on thumbnails}

Next up, we have two different guy graduation parties coming up, so I wanted to make their cards in their new university colors! For this one, I used the new Capsule Party Scene dies….I cut out one of each, stacked up all three and adhered them with foam adhesive between the layers. I used the companion stencils to stencil on the color before attaching them.

Pro Tip: Choose one side of your balloons to be the lighter side. Pretend that there’s a light source on that side of the balloons, and then use a lighter hand with your ink blending on that side of the balloons! It gives them a more realistic touch, much the same way artists do when painting!

The sentiments are both from the new Capsule Collection Celebration Borders stamp set.

{Way to Go Graduate supplies — click on thumbnails}

Lastly, I pulled out the metallic silver card stock for this one, which is SO hard to photograph without taking a picture of myself in its mirror-like finish! LOL! But seriously, that shiny silver adds some BIG personality to this graduation card, and a bit of masculinity, too, I think. It adds kind of a metal touch.

I used the new Capsule Collection Celebration Borders stamp set again, this time to stamp the border in purple, as well as the word GRADUATE. I paired that with the Congrats! from the new Laid Back Basics stamp set and then used the numbers from the formerly released Dreams & Plans die set to finish off the card.

It’s all layered on some various Capsule Basics layers, including the pinked edge die cut layers from the new Capsule Star Studded Borders.

Funny thing is, since I made all the graduation, birthday and Mother’s Day cards for May, we’ve gotten another invitation I’m gonna need to make another graduation card for! Good thing I’ve got just the goodies to use, to make it great!

Be sure to check out The Greetery Blog today and then head to the other gals on the Design Team, to check out all their projects!

1. Caly Person

2. Dana Kirby

3. Dawn McVey

7. Lea Lawson

9. Wanda Guess

And before you go, be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win one of the TWO COMPLETE FÊTE & FIESTA COLLECTIONS from The Greetery!

How fun would it be if you won??? EEEE!! I hope it’s YOU!

So tell me, what’s topping your shopping list from this release?

xo,

Shop my artwork on my website! Follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest for all the latest updates. Shop my Amazon Storefront and my liketoknow.it page for all my current favorites!

{Congrats Graduate supplies — click on thumbnails}

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Hello, friends! It’s The Greetery‘s 7th birthday and to celebrate, they have a brand new collection called Fête & Fiesta and it’s full of fun products for celebrating with! I put it to good use on a variety of cards for all the upcoming May events on our calendar! I don’t know about you, but we’ve got lots of graduations this year, plus birthdays, Mother’s Day, etc. So this collection came at just the right time, but obviously, even well beyond May, this set will have you covered for all sorts of celebrations….birthdays included!

First up, here’s a graduation card I created using the new Pretty Picado product suite! I used stencils to create the pretty pattern and then die cut the center with one of the Capsule Basics dies. I popped that section up and tucked some bright mustard card stock behind it, and then from the center of the capsule, I die cut the HAPPY using one of the new Pretty Picado Cutaway Sentiments dies. A companion sentiment from Pretty Picado Sentiments finished off the sentiment.

PRO TIP: Play around with colors when stenciling. Notice that I used a couple different greens when I was using one stencil…..just the subtle shift in greens, layering more of a blue-green over the original green ink I started with, added more interest. Also, play with pressure. That first green I started with, I used a very light hand with on the outside border of the design. Whereas, I used more pressure and therefore achieved a deeper color in the middle of the design.

PRO TIP: Using foam adhesive to pop up that top layer, really lets those letters shine! So much more depth, thanks to the shadows that are created!

Lastly for this card, I used one of the new Capsule Star Studded Borders dies to add the star detail around the popped up portion.

Everyone knows money is a great gift for a graduate so for this one, I wanted to tuck the money into the cute new Arch Box Mini! And bonus, the Pretty Picado Cutaway Sentiments dies fit perfectly on the side of the box!

PRO TIP: You can leave the cutaway portion open, so the viewer can see into the box, or you can do what I did here, and tuck a piece of card stock inside so an alternative color shows!

As for the back side of the box, I added an another little die cut panel that I created with one of the new Pretty Picado Borders dies.

PRO TIP: You can create really pretty patterns simply by die cutting the borders repeatedly! Just line them up one after another and create your own pattern. You can put the borders as close or as far apart from each other as you’d like. This gives you the opportunity to create custom patterns to your heart’s content!

I love the new Pretty Picado Banners (See them below)! But don’t think you have to just use them as is!

PRO TIP: I took one of the banners, and cut off both sides of it. The result is the pretty little tag I tied on to the little Arch gift box!! Isn’t it sweet?!! And bonus….I used two little sentiments from Pretty Picado Sentiments to create this one, for a perfect fit!

The flower die cuts are from the new Pretty Picado Blooms die set.

{Grad Card & Gift Box supplies — click on thumbnails}

One more before we move on from Pretty Picado…..I used several of the new items to make a card for my Mom! She loves blue, so I layered up several blues and made a super sweet card! I started off with one of the Pretty Picado Banners and added the stamped & die cut HAPPY, as well as the Mother’s Day sentiment…all from the Pretty Picado suite.

Then, I used another of the Pretty Picado Border dies to create that awesome border!!

PRO TIP: I die cut the border TWICE, nestling the second die cut right up to the first die cut! What a fantastic double design it makes!!

On that same layer, I stamped the Pretty Picado Background stamp in a soft blue ink. Lastly, on the back layer, I ran the darker blue card stock through the embossing machine with the new Pretty Picado 3D embossing folder! Such pretty detail that adds!

I love that this card shows that even though the Pretty Picado suite has such a festive, party feel to it, you can still create things with a completely different feel just by changing up the colors and how you use them! This card has a very ruffly, ladylike feel to me! I hope my Mom loves it!

{Happy Mother’s Day supplies — click on thumbnails}

One more for today…..how stinkin’ fun is that?! I used the new Market Place Celebration Street dies and stamps to create this adorable birthday card. I kinda want to live there! Haha!

The thing I love most about these Market Street sets is the permission they give you to just have fun experimenting with color! There are so many opportunities for mixing and layering colors, that it just makes them such a joy to create with. And oh my word, don’t miss all the crazy-clever sentiments in the sentiment sign set!!

The Greetery Blog has way more birthday fun for you today, so be sure to head over there to check it out!

You’ll also want to visit the other gals on the Design Team!

1. Caly Person

2. Dana Kirby

3. Dawn McVey

7. Lea Lawson

9. Wanda Guess

Before you go, leave a comment to be entered to win one of the SEVEN $100 gift cards from The Greetery!!!!!!!!! You’ve got a great chance of winning! What’s your favorite new item so far? Or what are you most excited to play with first?

Thanks so much for stopping in! I hope you’re enjoying the release projects so far! I’ll be back tomorrow with lots more to share,

{Make a Wish Birthday Card supplies — click on thumbnails}

Shop my artwork on my website! Follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest for all the latest updates. Shop my Amazon Storefront and my liketoknow.it page for all my current favorites!

graduation

Fête & Fiesta Collection-Day 2

The Greetery’s New Fête & Fiesta Collection