Graduation Exploding Box

Last week at the Salem Etsy Team Spring Sale, I met a very nice lady who requested a custom graduation exploding box card.  I had one that I had previously made there as a sample, and she loved it so much she wanted one for a family member who is graduating from a local university in June.  I was happy for the challenge!  I made my sample box in the colors of my son's high school, complete with the high school logo, and my customer really liked that, and asked that I do the same using the university's colors and logo.

Now, I've posted exploding box cards here before, but this one is different.  This one is not a standard box, but an octagonal one!  Part of this idea actually came from my BFF Kendra awhile back, when I was in the planning stages for the craft show last weekend.  She said I ought to have an exploding box there for people to see, and suggested one in a graduation theme.  I took that idea and played with it, and came up with a design for a box that looks like a graduation cap- cute, huh?  I found a tutorial for the octagonal exploding box on a blog here, although after doing the first one, I figured out a slightly different way of making the layers.  Check back here for a tutorial on that in the future!  I really like the results of this- I hope my customer does too!

As you can see, this is a far more complicated box than the standard four-sided box!  It is a lot of measuring and cutting for the three layers, and embellishing 24 panels plus the bottom is very labor-intensive.  However, it's worth it- what a dramatic presentation!!  I am so happy with how this turned out, and I hope my customer is happy with it!  The panels on the outer two layers are embellished with some graduation paper that has sayings on it like "Congratulations" and "Celebrate".  The center layer, has the university logo and "Class of 2012", which I printed out on the computer.  I made the tassle out of embroidery floss,and attached a little tag with a ribbon, so that she can write a message to the box card recipient.  The tassle attaches to the box lid with a brad that I found at Michaels- it was just perfect for this!

In other news, I hit a big milestone in my Etsy shop today- I made it over 100 sales!  My hubby's best friend's mom placed a big order for 8 cards from my shop today- what a sweetheart!  Thanks Sharon!  You might remember this thank you card from a few weeks ago- this was the card that I made to send to Sharon and her husband for letting us use their beautiful beach house to celebrate our anniversary.  I guess she loved the card so much she wanted to buy some of her own!  Anyway, I was only 3 items shy of 100, so Sharon's order put me over the top and then some!

Well, I guess I will start working on some stuff for Father's Day next, since it's just a month away.  If I had more time, I'd prepare months in advance for each holiday or occasion, but as busy as life is these days, that won't happen for awhile.  Maybe when I retire!