A Graduation Celebration - plus quick card tips

This week, I needed a quick card for a friend who just earned her graduate degree.  Here's my card for her:

You might notice it shares some similarities to last week's post.....  I am so busy this week at work with graduation that I didn't really have time to just play for a while and come up with the perfect card.

So, what do you do when you're too busy to make a card but need one?  This is what I do:

• Use what's on my desk.  Invariably, I have scraps left over from other projects, and these often end up being my favorite cards.
• Be inspired by what's around you.  The sun is shining, and I feel like spring! My graduation cards usually match the school colors, but that wasn't getting me excited about crafting this week.
• Use some pre-cut pieces - when I made my last set of cards, I pre-cut some additional cards and panels that didn't work for that project, but they were perfect for this card.
• Finally, don't reinvent the wheel - I jumped on the banner bandwagon last week, so I'm staying on it for a while!
• Start with a kit.  I didn't do that on this project, but if I'm stuck for time, I just follow the instructions.  Creativity will show up when it needs to!
• Use something new - the baker's twine just arrived in the mail, so I'm using it!

Everything this week is from Club Scrap:

• Paper - Birds of a Feather and Tilescapes (blue mat)
• Ink - Tilescapes
• Baker's Twine - Come Sail Away
• Stamps - Graduation and English Garden (year) (no longer available)