Graduate "Wallets"

I seem to be in that period of life where all my friends, who had their kids years before I had mine, are graduating progeny. I have lost count of how many graduation cards I've made this year! Not surprisingly, I revert to the "tried and true" in a situation like this.

I first saw these on Sharon Johnson's blog. They require little more paper than an ordinary card, as they're based on a piece that measures 5.5" x 8.5", plus scraps for trim and "belly band". And of course, the Happy Grad single stamp in the Spring/Summer Mini was made for just such a purpose!

To make these fellas, I score a line about 2.5" from the bottom. I notch it with a circle or oval punch (makes it easier to grab hold of that gift card or cash), then crease and secure with Sticky Strip (really, don't bother with any other adhesive unless it's the Tombow and you have plenty of time to let it dry). Score another line such that the top flap just overlaps the bottom pocket edge. Oh, is your notch showing? That is what we do with all those narrow strips and scraps of paper that accumulate! We make a nice little contrasting band that covers the hole and adds to the tailored look.

For the belly band, I just grabbed a couple of strips roughly an inch wide in coordinating colors, glueing and folding them to EACH OTHER as I go until they wrap around the wallet. Don't glue them TO the wallet, the idea is that this band slips off so the recipient can get the goodies without destroying the stunning card. This double layer of card stock exerts quite a bit of "pop", so the final overlap should be secured with Sticky Strip (or you can use Tombow and weight it until dry). To make the medallion, I stamped the sentiment onto Naturals white card stock in a coordinating color, then layered it onto a coordinating solid color, and finally created a scallop base as described in the 5/11/10 Technique Tip for a scalloped mat. Some sort of 3D element seems called for as the final touch, in this case a button from the ancestral stash.

Hope this helps if YOU still have graduation cards to send - or cards for any event that you'd like to stuff with gift cards, cash, stickers, temporary tattoos... Kathy