Sneak Peek: Introducing The Graduate Graduation Stamps & Dies

Hello, and welcome to the last of our Summer Sneak Peeks!  All week, I have been sharing cards showcasing our newest collection, now available to purchase! Yay! Before you run off to shop, though, I have one last new set to share that I'm very excited about.

Card No. 1: The Graduate Stamps have been on my wish list for a while now. It not only features two bold greetings to pack a real punch, but four graduation caps and three diplomas in varying sizes to allow you to turn any kid or critter stamp in our line-up into a graduate.

For my first card, I paired the largest diplomas and grad hat from the new set with three of the adorable seals from the Sealiously Sweet Stamps. I had stamped and colored the scene from the Ocean View Stamps for an earlier card that I didn't end up using, but it had been stamped too close to the cardstock's bottom edge for this design, so I moved it up and added an additional sand dune using the stitched hill die from the Slimline Nature Border Dies set. Lastly, I stamped the large greeting from the set in bold red ink to match the red accents on my card.

Card No. 2: Next up, I paired The Graduate Stamps with one of the largest critters in our line-up from the Big Bunny Stamps. When I saw the plumeria flower in our coordinating Big Panda Stamps, I thought it would be so fun to stamp multiples to form a Hawaiian lei for my bunny to go with his cap and diploma. For the background, I inked up a pink gingham print using the Buffalo Plaid Diagonal Dies, along with the Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils, and then trimmed it down with the Stitched Rectangle Dies. I then mounted that onto a scalloped mat cut with the Frilly Frames Eyelet Lace Dies, using kraft cardstock for my card's base.

Card No. 3: For this graduation scene-style card featuring The Graduate Stamps, I turned to all the underwater creatures from our Best Fishes Stamps, Sea You Soon Stamps, Fintastic Friends Stamps, and the crab from the Ocean Views Stamps. I inked the ocean water background with a blend of Salvaged Patina and Peacock Feather Distress inks, and then stamped a diagonal pattern of bubbles around my critters using the bubble images from the Best Fishes set. Lastly, I inked up my pre-stamped graduation greeting from the new set to blend with the background, then layered it with the coral border from Tropical Scenes Stamps.

Card No. 4: Up next is a clean and simple red, black, & white card (which happens to be our local high school's colors) using The Graduate Stamps. I started by die-cutting the three stacked stitched circles along the right-hand side of my card from white cardstock using the Window Trio Circle Dies. I then backed the circles with black-striped patterned paper from our Sleek Stripes Paper pack. To fill each opening, I added the two dogs from the Puppy Love Stamps and the cat holding a heart from the Meow & Furever Stamps. To add a bit of fun & whimsy, I topped each critter with different-sized grad caps. I then added scattered red hearts from the Puppy Love stamps and a thin strip of red-striped paper from the Joyful Holiday Paper pack, which had been given a stitched edge using the Ribbon & Lace Border Dies.

Card No. 5: While on the dog theme, I created a dog graduation scene-style card using The Graduate Stamps, with the dogs from the Puppy Dog Kisses Stamps and Puppy Parents Stamps. I kept the rest of my card somewhat simple, blending Mowed Lawn Distress Ink for my grass into a light hand of Salty Ocean Distress Ink for the sky. I then layered in some cumulus clouds from the Tropical Trees Backdrop Dies to fit around the large "Congrats Grad" greeting and red dog house from the Puppy Parents set.

Card No. 6:  Next up is another clean and simple card featuring the new little monkey from the Monkey Business Stamps holding the Number Balloons, dated with the year 2026. To give the balloons a more realistic appearance, I stamped them in my MISTI tool first in yellow, then sponged on some orange ink along the left side with a finger dauber to make them look even more three-dimensional.

I created a simple cloud background using the Fluffy Cloud Border Dies as stencils, and then framed them with the Icing Rectangle Frame Dies. I needed to give my monkey a resting spot so he wasn't floating in space, so I stamped the "Happy Graduation" greeting from The Graduate Stamps in blue and topped him with a grad cap and diploma to match. Using a paper piercer, I poked holes behind the balloons and threaded matching thread using a sewing needle, taping the loose ends on the back before adhering it to a yellow-striped print from the Dots & Stripes Jewel Tones Paper pack.

Card No. 7: For my final graduation card of the day, using The Graduate Stamps, I created a special college graduation-themed card for my daughter, who will be graduating from the University of Washington soon. I started by printing a mirror image of the UW logo onto my purple and gold cardstock, then fussy-cutting it with scissors so that when I flipped it over to the correct side, no one would see the printing. To frame my large "W," I used the largest pennant from the Slimline Pennant Dies, then layered the "Happy Graduation" greeting on top, stamped in a coordinating shade of purple with Gina K. Designs Wild Lilac Ink. 

My daughter has always loved hedgehogs, so I formed a trio of graduates using the adorable critters from our Quill Cuties Stamps and topped them with mortarboards and diplomas. To carry out the collegiate feel I was after, I used the purple argyle print from our Amazing Argyle Paper pack, paired with the diagonal stripe in the same color from the Dots & Stripes Jewel Tones Paper pack. I added stitched details with the Ribbon & Lace Border Dies and a decorative zig-zag edge using the Ric Rac Border Dies. Lastly, I added two coordinating buttons on either side of my pennant using the layered button images from our Woolen Mitten Dies. I was happy with how all the elements came together.

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner, who will be randomly selected from comments on this blog post and on our Facebook and Instagram posts. Our daily contests will run through Saturday, April 25th, at Midnight PST, with winners announced here on our blog on Sunday, April 26th.

I've also created a video sharing a closer look at all the products and the cards I made with them, which you can view below on our YouTube channel HERE.

Here's a closer look at our new 3x4 The Graduate Stamps and The Graduate Dies, which are now available for purchase.

  

Other Supplies Used:

Buffalo Plaid Diagonal Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Diagonal & Straight Stripes Stencils Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ribbon & Lace Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Pennant Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Frilly Frames-Eyelet Lace Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ric Rac Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Window Trio- Circles Die Shop at: Sunny Studio
Meow & Furever Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Meow & Furever Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Puppy Love Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Puppy Love Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Puppy Parents Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Puppy Parents Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Puppy Dog Kisses Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Puppy Dog Kisses Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Best Fishes Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Best Fishes Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sea You Soon Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sea You Soon Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Tropical Scenes Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tropical Scenes Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fintastic Friends Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fintastic Friends Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Sealiously Sweet Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sealiously Sweet Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ocean View Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ocean View Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Big Bunny Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Bunny Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Panda Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Panda Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Balloon Numbers Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Balloon Numbers Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Icing Rectangle Frame Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fluffy Clouds Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Quill Cuties Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Quill Cuties Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tropical Trees Backdrop Shop at: Sunny Studio	Woolen Mitten Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Monkey Business Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Monkey Business Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Nature Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio	Zig Chisel Tip Glue Pen Shop at: Sunny Studio
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Studio Blending Brushes Shop at: Sunny Studio
Amazing Argyle 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Dots & Stripes Jewel Tones 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sleek Stripes Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Joyful Holiday Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio