Graduation Card Using Tap, Tap, Tap

One of my favorite parts of being a teacher is watching my students grow into amazing young adults, spread their wings, and fly off to follow their dreams! Because I am a piano teacher, I get to spend a lot of quality one-on-one time with students, and if students stick with the instrument long-term, we can spend upwards of 270 hours together. We get to know each other REALLY well, and I think this kind of relationship is one of the most valuable experiences I remember from music lessons at all levels.

A dear student of ten years graduated this spring, so a graduation card was in order! The Tap, Tap, Tap stamp set from Stampin' Up is one I often use for school-themed cards, so I broke it out and created a simple watercolor panel. A die cut border jazzed things up a little, along with some Basic Gray scrap paper from my stash.

In my experience, we can't doubt the kindness, generosity, or work ethic of young people for a moment. The world is in good hands! 

Fishy Birthday

Today's project is based on an original idea by Annette Elliott. When I saw this gorgeous card on Pinterest, I had to give it a try! 

Ink blending on vellum is a technique I often forget about, so when I saw this card using a vellum tag, all kinds of ideas started to percolate. Ink blended vellum obviously creates beautiful water, but I have to remember to use this technique for sky, stained glass effects, florals, and all kinds of other images! 

This project uses the Seaside Shore stamp set for the fish, seaweed, and bubbles, and the Happy Birthday, Gorgeous set for the sentiment. I used Mint Macaron for the card base, Calypso Coral and Whisper White for the second background layer, and Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, and Night of Navy for my fish. 

What tried-and-true technique can you revive this week? I'm so glad there are a wealth of inspirational resources like Annette's blog out there to keep great ideas alive!