Many Thanks!

I graduated this past weekend, and my parents threw me a party at my house at school. Despite my embarrassment at such a fuss, I truly appreciated everyone coming down (or up!) to help celebrate this transition in my life.

I got to make quite a few cards, so I thought it would be fun to explain my process.

For: my wonderful family and friends
Occasion: Thanks!


When I am privileged enough to make a lot of cards all at once, I try to use my supplies as economically as I can. In this case, it meant getting two cards out of each sheet of paper. As you can see, that meant the card on the left was a side-fold and the right a top-fold. They end up being the same size, but I waste much less card stock. There was a little piece left over from each sheet, however. Here's how I used those:



By gluing the paper scraps over the names on some of the store card envelopes I had gotten, I was able to reuse the envelopes, save paper, and keep my costs down.



For the design of the card, I knew I wanted to accomplish a few things: First off, I wanted to make all the cards with the same design. Second, I wanted the design to look a little stately and academic, to be reminiscent of graduation pomp. I also hoped that each card could be detailed enough to require a little special effort. To satisfy all these requirements, I came up with this design: a scroll with a little plant life behind it on a yellow-orange with light blue. The UofI is an ag school, so the foliage seemed appropriate; the cards' colors are just off the school colors as well.

I think these cards came out great, and it was a fun challenge to be mindful of cost and supply! That college degree is already coming in handy--problem solving, for the win!