Celebrating Graduation...

Well, this isn't a Stampin' Up! post; it's a post about my other world of academia.

My favorite part of the year, and my favorite ceremony, is graduation.

I've come to realize that not all professors share my enthusiasm for watching their students celebrate this milestone. I've attended every graduation ceremony I could since I got my doctorate and started teaching myself. And each time, I get one or more colleagues who offer their sympathy that I've drawn "graduation duty." I've gotten suggestions to bring papers to grade with, or a paperback slipped up a sleeve of my robes, or other materials to take away the tedium of the speeches and the calling of the names as students walk across the stage.

I find it rude.

Maybe that's because I have a slightly different perspective on graduation than some. I earned my education. I paid for it myself, with burns from deep-fat fryers, sweat from midnight deadlines at the student newspaper, many versions of "Twinkle, Twinkle" sung for four-year-olds at the campus day care center, and hard studying to keep my four-year full tuition scholarship. I was one of the first in my family on the Mattson side to get a bachelor's degree, and I value it. I recognize the blood, sweat and tears it takes to get that degree.

And I believe we all should celebrate it.

Both universities at which I've worked as a professor have student bodies comprised of working-class students. Very few of these students have a great deal of family money to help them over the hurdles of tuition and books. Most are working in addition to going to school; some have families; some are single parents, reaching for that degree.

We in the professoriate should honor them for their hard work and the significant achievement of attaining a bachelor's degree. They could have given up on it at any time. We could have given up on them.

But they didn't, and we didn't.

And that's worth celebrating.

To Oval All, or Not To Oval All ... Well, Why Wouldn't You?

I'm in love with the new Oval All stamp set in the Mini Occasions catalog, the large oval punch and the large scallop oval punch. In minutes, I made this card:This card uses the Echoes of Kindness and Oval All stamp sets, the large oval punch and large scallop punch, and Walk-in-the-Park Designer Series paper, in Nearly Navy ink, matted on Nearly Navy card stock which is, in turn, matted on a Very Vanilla cardstock card base. (Tough to see here.)

It's remarkably easy to use these sets! And as you can see, the results are very nice.

I spent a good hour Sunday playing with just scraps of paper, the Oval All sets, and the punches, creating easy gift tags. I've got stacks, now, let me tell ya. Some samples:


The far right, top tag was the inspiration for the card above.

Quick tip of the day:

When matting on cardstock, cut each piece a half-inch smaller than the piece before it to get a nice, quarter-inch border on your card.

For example, if you're making a standard 5.5 inches by 4.25 inches card, size the next piece of stock at 5 by 3.75 inches, and the next one up at 4.5 by 3.25 inches. The standard sized border there is actually an historically accurate measure called a pica, and in journalism, we have research that shows us human eyes like that border. From the files of "Who knew?"

Probably only PhDs in mass communication.

Happy stamping, and don't forget to visit my other website: http://harmonyshouse.stampinup.net.

Books, brads, and banter ...

Well, all right; I only added "banter" to keep the "b" alliteration going. Once a writer... well, you get the idea.

I've been psyched this weekend after the discovery of a great book about making books! It's Esther K. Smith's book about book crafting, purchased for me by the Man of the Place, and I'm already head-over-heels for the ideas inside! They're simple ways to make small-to-large, handcrafted books, content not included.

I immediately went to work with plain typing paper and a scissors, and got the techniques down for a 3 by 5" book, a 2 by 2" accordion-style book, and another 2 by 4" book. These all can be generated from single sheets of paper, folded and cut properly. I also crafted a single, multi-paneled 3 by 3 inch accordion-folded book that I wrapped in black designer paper to create a really unique little album-style book. It would really be perfect for gifting, set with individual pictures of family members. Or a neat little alphabet book for a shower gift. 

I also made two small notebooks, using the simplest form of the beginner book folding technique, designer paper covers, and brads to hold it together. I presented the first one to the Man of the Place in thanks, and he loves it. He plans to use it for taking notes during his martial arts lessons. If I can wrestle it away from him for a few seconds, I'll scan it it in for y'all. And yes, I'm still waiting on batteries for the camera.

Finally, a note about brads: I'm now completely in love with these little decorative elements. As a journalist by trade, and therefore, a book-o-phobe (there's gotta be a better word for that), I love how I can use brads to bind and hold things together. However, just lately, I've been using them purely for decoration on certain cards. I'm also using them on the belly-bands that keep the accordion-style books and mini-albums together. There's a beautiful line of decorative brads available through Stampin' Up!, and I'll have to get some more.

That reminds me: Paper's on sale this month! Buy three designer packs and get one free. Check out my other web site: http://harmonyshouse.stampinup.net  for more details.

Peace!