Back to School Layouts

Hello everyone!  Last week was the first week of school for us.  My daughter started high school this year..eeek!  We have a tradition of taking pictures on the first day of school.  It was much easier before she reached the double digits in age..lol.  Now, I have to bargain to get my pictures.  But in any case, I get them and that's what counts.  I have an album that is dedicated to just that, the first day of school pictures and her annual school pictures.  It's really amazing, and a little heartbreaking, to flip through the pages and watch her grow up.  This album is now officially caught up until I get school pictures from this year.  I thought I would share with you the last two layouts in the book that I finished this weekend.

 

Out of all the paper packs we have had in the past few years, I think I have used Laughing Lola the most for my child.  The colors have been prefect for her pictures.  This layout was straight out of the book with just a little adjustment.  It worked perfectly for my modus operandi, first day pictures on the left and portrait on the right.   I used the LL complements for embellishments and the Artbooking cartridge, with a little help from Cricut Craftroom, for the titling.  I actually cut that title twice, once in black and then once in Thistle.  When I layered them, I just slid the black down and to the right to give the title a little drop shadow effect.  I didn't use 3d foam tape at all.   What I did find out was that our new color Thistle worked great in the place of LL purple.  That is what I used here for the purply color cardstock.  The other cardstocks are Whisper, Black, and the LL B&T's. 

For the following year's layout, I used  our retired Proplayer paper pack.  I'll be honest, I hadn't used this paper pack until now.  But the colors worked out great with the school pics.  

I used the free sketch for June from Scrapbook Generation to plan my layout.  When I saw it, it just clicked.  The cardstocks here are White Daisy, Ruby, Pacifica, and Silver Glitter along with the B&T from the PP pack.  I cut the title using the Artiste cartridge.    I used the School is Here (retired) stamp set to stamp my small title and the little apple on the left page.  I went online and found a font called Eraser ( I think)  for free, and printed my journaling and tag.  It wasn't exact, but it was pretty close to the stamp's font. I used a couple of my Marvy punches, Sizzix Star die set, and SSS Holiday Shapes dies for the stars.   

Although I haven't had much time to play in all the new stuff that has been released in our new catalog,  I did use a couple new items on this page.  The striped strip across the top and bottom is actually one of our new ribbons, Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon.  I absolutely love it.  It's very thin and easy to tie if need be.  The other thing I used is our new mini stapler. I have been wanting one for quite some time, so I was very excited when we got one added to our arsenal of great tools.

 

Here's a closeup of the little banners at the top right corner of the page.  I used the mini stapler to run a little line across the top of the banners.  It's pulling double duty here.  It's holding my banners in place and it almost appears as faux stitching.  

That's it for me tonight.  Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend.   Thanks for stopping by!

 

Love You to Pieces

Hello, my blog friends!  I'm behind as usual.  I have had so much going on lately, it seems I'll never get caught up.  School is about to start again, we had a new book go live, we have tons of new product, and I've been trying to get some Studio J caught up, not to speak of this work thing I have to do every day.   Busy, busy, busy!

For those of you who didn't know, Close to my Heart has released its Annual Inspirations book, instead of its semiannual idea book as it has done in the past.  

 

If you would like to peruse our new catalog, you can view it online by clicking here.   I feel certain you won't be disappointed. 

On to the crafty stuff!  I have been making some cards by request lately, I thought I would share one with you.  This card is made with the Stitched with Love stamp set, that was a part of Jeanette's Archive and now retired, again, and the Stitch Wonder (C1564) stamp set.

 

I had a co-worker who was giving a gift which was a mason jar full of Reeses Pieces with the idea of "love you to pieces."  I have been waiting to use this little girl on something for a while.  The gift was for her babysitter and I just thought it kind of fit.  I stamped the sentiment and the border stitching from the Stitch Wonder set in Chocolate, Canary (new color!), and a SSS ink called Orange Peel.  That way everything matched the Reeses pieces.  This little girl is actually colored with our now retired alcohol markers and Copics for the flesh tones. I fussy cut her and then popped her up on some 3d foam tape. Very simple and sweet. 

That's it for me tonight. Hope everyone has a great week!  Thanks for stopping by!