The goal of “Graduation Card Making 101” is to teach you how to make quick and simple graduation cards using images from the Great Grads stamp set. This card, which can be altered to reflect the graduate’s school’s colors, once more focuses on matting to make a statement. Oh, and creating the tiny tassel wasn’t at all difficult.
You can color the letters on the “Grad” stamp from the Great Grad set in Handsome Hunter (or the appropriate school color), and the mortarboard in Basic Black. Real Red and Brilliant Blue card stocks are placed on top of the Whisper White and Basic Black cardstock that was used for stamping. Check the graduation invitation here.
Attach to a card base after adhering to Whisper White. I chose Handsome Hunter because it was the graduate’s school color.
How to stamp congratulations on white card stock?
Stamp the “Congratulations” sentiment onto a strip of Whisper White card stock that is just a bit wider than your card using Handsome Hunter, Real Red, and Brilliant Blue Stampin’ Write Markers. Remoisten the inks on the stamp if necessary by “huffing” on it.
Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, precisely position your stamp to create a continuous stamped image.
Mat onto Real Red and trim to the desired card width. at the base of the card, adhere.
Stamp the Grad stamp again onto Whisper White card stock after inking the mortarboard portion. Paper snips are used to cut out. Create a tassel out of leftover embroidery floss, attach it to the mortarboard’s underside with a Mini Glue Dot, and finish off. Position this mortarboard with tassel above the original. (1)
Why did a tassel require such a hassle?
On April 8, NSU sent a formal invitation to graduating students that included the first comprehensive instructions on how to order graduation regalia, reserve guest tickets, and RSVP to the ceremony itself.
Like most seniors, I processed my degree during winter break on December and submitted my graduation fee. 28, 2020. I had no information about our caps and gowns for the roughly 101 days that followed. Receiving this crucial information at last lifted a tremendous burden off of my shoulders, but after spending so much time in the dark, I find myself wondering why it was so difficult to share it with us.
How can you get the right information?
I am not the only member of the NSU class of 2021 who had trouble finding information about this significant day in our lives. Up until now, none of us had received any information from NSU about where to buy our cap and gowns or who to contact to learn that information. When I discussed this with my academic advisor months ago, she assured me that my college, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, would get in touch with me.
In casual conversations and over messages in group chats, I have overheard countless other seniors expressing the same viewpoints. We were all contacting NSU representatives, but all we got back was “soon,” directed to contact another department or a simple “I’m not sure. I understand. We’ve all had a challenging year, but it’s crucial to keep students informed about these issues. To us, it represents surviving the past four years of all-nighters, finals weeks, quarantine, social isolation, and the COVID-19 pandemic. I know it may only appear to be a navy polyester smock to you. It indicates that in spite of everything, we graduated.
I am aware that this particular graduation ceremony has some unique characteristics from other ceremonies. It will take place a week or so later than usual, rather than in the Rick Case Arena, and we won’t know for sure until April 15 how many people can attend. All of this is based on CDC recommendations and is reliant on COVID-19 infection rates. We understand that as a class and value the university’s efforts to hold an in-person graduation, but even with all of those details still up in the air, I still ought to have had access to information about when I will be able to finalize those plans for the ceremony.
Despite the fact that we now have this crucial information, I think the university overlooked the fact that students might find it difficult to afford the cost of the graduation regalia. Given that we already paid the university’s tuition for the previous four years and the $100 graduation fee, I can only speak for the undergraduate experience when I say that $70 ($55 with taxes and shipping cost) is a steep price for a gown with an outdated NSU logo.
I believed that was what the graduation fee was used for. Students have until April 26 to buy this for graduation, and I suppose you can’t go to graduation if you don’t have a job or are between paychecks. You’d think that students would get a break given the historic times we are living in and the financial strain we are all experiencing. The adage “The tassel is worth the hassle” probably has its origins in this.(2)
Speaks from heart, always too passionate and driven by emotions. Spins the words with kindness & sharpness, intriguing your ever-inscrutable minds.