Week #39: Back to School Layout

Hello, Nicole Mantooth here.  I am happy to be here sharing this layout with you today.  

I have gotten so behind on making actual real scrapbook layouts and just in the last week I have now completed 4. It has been so much fun to throw myself back into what really started me on the love of paper crafting. 

Every year I make a layout to go in the boys school albums.  When I saw this SMARTY PANTS paper line from SIMPLE STORIES I knew I had to have it.  I ordered it and it sat there until the kids started school in July.  Then it sat there some more until I finally got around to starting this years layouts. 

I pulled it all out and then my brain couldn't function and I just had to stare at the stuff while I was finishing up some other deadline stuff.  But sometimes that works best for me because I have all the papers in my mind and I work on a layout in my mind and can change the ideas several times before I actually get started on the layout.  So then I have sort of an idea of what the layout will look like in my mind already. 

For my layout I started with a black 12x12 piece of cardstock and then I trimmed down the stars paper about half and inch on each side.  I layered that on top of the black so that it could be the border to the stars.  

I printed my photos in 3.5x4 inch size and trimmed those all down to size.  I print them all on one 8.5x11 size paper, so all I have to do it cut out each photo.   I then took one of the cards on the patterned paper and trimmed that down a little to size.  I also cut out a card in size with my SILHOUETTE CAMEO .  

I cut out the long Dr. Suess card from the patterned paper as well.  

One thing I do every year for their scrapbooks is to have them hand write their names on a tag or a card, to include so that way we can see how their writing has changed from year to year.  I also include all that years class and school information.  I have their school name, their teachers name, the classroom number, and their grade.

So I had Caleb write his name on a PROJECT LIFE GRID CARD and I hand wrote all the school info on the card I cut out with my SILHOUETTE CAMEO. 

With my SILHOUETTE CAMEO I also cut out the 2nd grade round circle from one of the patterned papers in the line, I then cut a tiny strip of paper from the stripes patterned paper.  

Before I did anything else I roughed up the edges of all my photos and the tags with my fingernails.  It isn't that noticeable, but just adds a little tiny something extra.  

Then I started assembling my page.  I first put on the photo and tag to the left, then I put on the long Dr. Seuess strip saying and the other photos.  I then put on the tag from the line and layered on the black circle and red 2nd grade tag.  I trimmed down the PROJECT LIFE GRID CARD and attatched that above the top right photos.  I took the tiny strip of paper I cut and added that to the bottom of all the photos, just to break up some of the colors. 

Once all my base elements were down I started looking at my stickers and embellishments that came with the line.  I added some star stickers randomly over the entire layout, I added the back to school stickers and some strip saying stickers all over the page, with a little stack of them in the bottom right corner of the page.  

I then took some twine and a few tag stickers and threaded them through to look like they were on hanging on the string.  I took a tiny paper clip I had in my desk supplies and threaded the twine through the paper clip and stuck down the stickers. I added a few tab stickers to the card and a photo. 

I added the first day sticker above the die cut round  second grade, and the remember sticker to the top of the long Dr. Seuess strip.  

I looked at it and thought it needed something else in that top left corner, so I cut a small piece of the alphabet patterned paper and added some foam adhesive to the apple sticker and added that to the empty space.  It was just what that to corner needed.  

Thank you for checking out my layout and if you want to keep up with me all the time you can find me over here on my blog RANDOM RAMBLINGS.  I'd love to have you stop by and leave a few comments.  

SUPPLIES USED 

• Simple Stories SMARTY PANTS collection  
• Silhouette Cameo 
• Project Life Grid Cards