Thursday, May 28, 2015

Graduation Day - It's Party Time!

                           Welcome to SCRAPPING OUR STASH monthly blog hop. 
You should have arrived here from Suzanna's  Blog and her extraordinary layout. What a talent!

Last month I gave you a preview of decorations I was making for a friend's graduation party for her children.  Well, the day has come and gone and it was a great day.  I have layouts and altered items, party decorations and mementos to share. Much longer than my usual post, but full of fun and memories and the ideas can be changed up to fit your celebration... whatever it may be!


As you walked up, you were greet by a sign so that you knew you were at the right house.

The pieces were actually left over foam board from the "letters" (to come)... seemed a shame to waste!  Letters and Stars were cut on my very old (30 years old but still very usable) Ellison Die Cut machine... its usability attests to physical, manual die cutters vrs. computers. I chose to use this because of the number of cuts I would be making - these plus the 3 banners and attribute poles - all needed 6 inch letters. It was both faster and economical as it didn't wear out any blades or mats - and gave my arms some much needed exercise!



Then we headed into party central, the patio and back yard. We were blessed with beautiful weather (it really "never rains in Southern California" ).  First - the attribute pole - 4  chosen for they are both desired attributes and those already developing in the grads.






These again used the Ellison die cuts and were accented by Cricut cuts (yes, I do love and use my Cricut a lot!) Cartridges are listed in the final part of the post.

The back wall of the patio held the large banner, 2 smaller ones were outside. You see the gift table on the right.  Here's a close up.


The balloon display on the right was formed from their soccer picture folders (floral foam in center).  The 2 framed pictures were gifts from their parents. The flowers - aren't they fun? They're from Michaels!

The frames are 11x14 so I had to piece together 2 sheets of 12 inch paper.
Paper and Stickers were from Paper House - Live by Faith collection.


Used a little velum for the cross and a metal flower (stash - sorry no manufacturer)
The copper stars are cut from DCWV shimmer paper. "God's love" sticker is by Paper Studio.



Here are the "letters" I spoke of earlier. Cut from foam board, they are a collage of current pictures. They were mounted on side windows.


Onto the outside.



The singing boards, with instructions. Very simple with Forever in Time Washi tape used as the border, Recollections Paper black and white line for mount/frame.









I made the tri-fold board below out of foam board to get it to the size I wanted. You can see that some of the mountings are 12x12 and ready to slip into the scrapbook. I'll remove the others and remount as well.






Again, the background paper is wrapping paper. Pattern paper is from Recollection.
Slide on down to the next entry to see the centerpieces and blog listing. (It wasn't cooperating so there are 2 entries... ever have one of "those" days?)  Even on a trying day, I remember the verse, dear to my heart and chosen by their parents for them.... "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Graduation Day - It's OVER!!!











The Centerpieces featured pictures of the grads at various ages and they were reversible, featuring  Yaya and Tommy on opposite sides. The biggest challenge?  A breezy day and it catching the flags, knocking them over. Yes, they were weighted with rocks but the size of the flags and pix caught the wind and required more than I thought. Thankfully, the wind settled and they were fine.
Flags and pictures were attached to balloon sticks and placed in floral foam, rocks under and over and topped of with Easter grass ( 10 cents/ clearance... wish I could have found more.)

Supplies:
Solid Color papers - Coordinations
Print papers - Recollections (Michaels)
Bags - Michaels
Cans - Trader Joe's Coffee ;-)  covered with wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby
All die cuts are Cricut - Bible verses from "New Testament" cartridge
Other cartridges used were: Phrases, Lyrical Letters, Alphalicious, Plantin Schoolbook, George and Basic Shapes and Sports Mania
Shapes were embossed with Paper Studio star folder (on Cuttlebug machine
White/black "Congrats" and "2015) flags: lessthanperfectlifeofbliss.blogspot.com    (Thanks for the free download).
And then there's Ping Pong Man.   Used a paddle and cut a ball in half, added the mortar board and he's ready to play!

Hope you've enjoyed our graduation day celebration.  Keep "hopping" along - Wendy C is next. 
I have listed the whole blog in case you missed one (that would be sad!)...and comments bring happiness to this scrappy heart!