Fiesta Graduation!

Yes it's time to celebrate one more graduation--that of my nephew from University of California at Santa Cruz!  Heading down there this weekend for a family gathering and celebration, so of course, I needed a special card.

Ben has majored in Spanish, and will be going on to advance his career in Speech Pathology.  He just returned from a semester abroad in Chile, where, living with a family, he got to really immerse himself in the language.  Next up, Spain!  Then on to grad school.

So with his love of Hispanic culture/Spanish language, I couldn't help but use the new Birthday Fiesta suite in the new Stampin' UP! catalog.  Take a peek:

This set just cracks me up!  The llama and cactus are so cute!  There are banners, flowers and two great phrases--my favorite is "Fiesta like there's no manana"!

This card is 5-1/2" x 5-1/2", because I needed plenty of room to add all my elements.  Let's start with the base--a 5-1/2" x 11" piece of new In Color Emerald Envy.  To which I added a strip of the coordinating designer series paper, Festive Birthday (I love the bright colors and designs!  You'll see lots of this paper!).

I cut the Crushed Curry "sun" using a retired Starburst Framelit and ran it through one of my favorite embossing folders, Large Polka Dot.  Then I stamped and cut the numbers from Number of Years, using Tempting Turquoise ink and the matching Large Numbers framelits.

Now for the fun:

My llama was stamped with Crushed Curry ink, and his little serape blanket is Tempting Turquoise.  He is cut with the matching Fiesta Time Framelits (it doesn't get easier than this, folks!).

And see that pink star on the sentiment?  That's one of the new Brights Enamel Shapes--what a fabby collection of colors and shapes, all easy to stick onto your project in a sec!

What else is new?  The great Gold Binder Clips, holding my sign to the cactus--these are going to be so much fun!

Inside I added a pocket for a monetary congratulations gift.

And of course I had to have a matching envelope:

Certainly not a traditional graduation card, but I know Ben will get a huge kick out of it!

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