Back to School ideas

I know it's probably a little early to be thinking about going 'back' to school when most schools aren't even out for the summer yet... BUT, for teachers or moms who like to get a good head start, this project is for you ;-).

I often start a project by pulling out something that I haven't used for a while. I just hate for my stuff to sit around doing nothing. As I was taking a mental inventory of stuff I haven't used for a while, my Bag with Scallops die came to mind and there it stopped, lol! I made another mental inventory of my colors of card stock to see what color I wanted to use and stopped at Kraft, which was a ways down the list! Ah ha! Light bulb moment! I thought it would be so cute as a paper lunch bag! Where are paper lunch bags used the most? Kids taking their lunches to school, of course ;-). So I pulled out my First Day stamp set and went to work. This is my new lunch bag, sponged with Soft Suede ink, perfect for little surprises for the first day of school.

These would be great for teachers to make to welcome their new class and possibly put little things like those cute little erasers in it. They would also be a nice little ice breaker for a student starting a new school or just to introduce themselves to new classmates as they start a new grade. To go with the brown bag special, I made a matching bookmark. Kids can write their names on the stamped paper at the bottom and the teacher could laminate the bookmarks after wards, making a sturdy bookmark and also a little keepsake of the child's handwriting for mom to keep forever ;-).

The paper stamp is part of the First Day stamp set. I just used markers in Tempting Turquoise for the lines on the paper, Real Red for the margin, and black for the words on Whisper White. I used other stamps in the set to stamp 2nd Grade on the paper. You could stamp any grade from 1st to 12th, so this is a set that could be used for a looooong time. I made a First Day of School mini scrap book with this stamp set and it could be paired with this paper bag and bookmark easily.

The brown lunch bag could be used for office workers or other jobs where people bring their lunches in brown paper bags and filled with chocolate or whatever you want to put in it. I just used a glue dot to close the top of my bag, so it's easy to open, but stays closed. I hope you'll make some of your own brown bag specials with this great die. It was a lot of fun! Have a great day today and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: First Day- 120051 (wood mount- 118521)
Paper: Kraft- 102125, Whisper White- 100730, Brilliant Blue-100721, Real Red- 102482
Classic Stampin' Ink: Soft Suede-115657
Stampin' Write Markers: Tempting Turquoise- 100058, Real Red- 100052, Basic Black-
Dies: Stars #2- 113461
Punches: 1" Circle- 109046, 1 1/4" Circle- 104403 100082

First Day of School Mini Book

I love the Summer Mini stamp set First Day, it's too cute! I wanted to make a little scrap book using the set for my grandson when he goes back to school in August. To make the mini book, I used the Movers and Shapers Curly Label die. The die makes a 4.25" x 5.5", 5 page, card sized scrapbook using one sheet of card stock. You can add as many pages as you like, but I generally stick with one sheet of card stock to make my books. One of the things that I like about the Movers and Shapers Curly Label die is that it not only cuts out a window in the card stock anywhere I want it to be, it also adds a decorative dashed line around the die cut. I used Real Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White for the main parts of my book. As you can see in the photo below, I stamped inside the window of the cover.

Inside Cover and page 1

Pages 2 and 3

Pages 4 and 5

I created a black board for the last page of my mini book using some Basic Black card stock and a strip of Textured Soft Suede card stock. The letters are die cut from Whisper White and the chalk is the lower case letter L. To color the little bookworm, I used Watercolor Wonder crayons and a blender pen. Look how cute he is....

Ya' gotta love him! This little guy just makes me smile :-). I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Wishing you a wonderful day today!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: First Day- 120051 (wood mount- 118521), Tart & Tangy- 111541
Paper: Real Red- 102482, Whisper White- 100730, Basic Black- 102851, Tempting Turquoise- 102067, YoYo Yellow- 102824, More Mustard- 100946, Pretty in Pink- 100459, Apricot Appeal- 105124, So Safrron- 105118, Soft Suede Textured- 115719
Classic Stampin' Ink: Pacific Point (available in July), Real Red- 103133, Tempting Turquoise- 100814, Soft Suede- 115657
Watercolor Wonder Crayons: Bold Brights- 16695 (Green Galore, Glorious Green, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red), Neutrals- 106746 (Going Gray)
Dies: Stars #2- 113461, Billboard Letters- 114510, Movers and Shapers Curly Label- 114506
Punches: Word Window- 105090, 1/8" circle
Other: Silver embossing powder- 109131, 1/8" white grosgrain