Spellbinders™ Goes Back to School

For those of us who have kids, I'd guess we've been back into the school routine for a while. Mine have been back for almost 9 weeks. We homeschool, so I am in the thick of trying to get things finished so I can do our 9-week grade reports!

To celebrate our first 9-weeks I am showing an ensemble made for the Spellbinders™ Idea Gallery. I created a 12x12 page layout, a card, and a notepad in the same theme.

My inspiration for the layout was the amazing (and sandable) Core'dinations cardstock and the text paper from Canvas Corp. I used the Core'dinations Jenni Bowlin Everyday Patterned Paper for the background. It has a kraft core, so I paired that up with black and kraft cardstock.

This is my younger son, Jonah, who was in 3rd grade at the time of this photo. He's in 6th grade now, which shows you how behind I am in my scrapbooking! Since we don't have the opportunity for "picture day" I have to either do an "at home photo shoot" or take them to a studio for yearly school photos. The "at home" version is so much cheaper!

I used the Spellbinders Banner Basics Two templates to create borders around my photo, and also for the title at the top of the layout. The letters were made using the Presto Punch and the Noble Roman Punch Templates.

The note card and notepad make a nice back-to-school gift or even a teach gift. I used the same color scheme as the layout.

The text paper was originally white, but I sprayed it with Clearsnap Smooch Spritz Spun Sugar Ink to change the color to be softer and more rustic. I cut and embossed the text paper with Grand Labels One. This label shape comes in the grand size, as well as small and large!

I decorated the inside of the card as well, using the Banner Basics Two templates.

The notepad and pencil set is a nice gift on its own! And so easy to make!

I get my notepads at the local office supply store. They are 5x8 inches and come in packs for a good price. For a few dollars the store will cut them in half to make 2.5x8 inch pads! Perfect!

To create the holder, trim your cardstock to 5 1/4 x 8 1/8 inches, and score at 2 5/8 and 2 7/8 inches. Glue some decorative paper to the top of the notepad to hide the "ugly" top, then adhere the notepad to the inside of the folder. The width of your holder may vary, depending on how fat your notepad is.

Create a band to hold your notepad closed, making sure it's snug enough to stay on, but not so snug that it cannot be easily slipped off and on.

I tied two pencils together with twine, and added a little tag (cut with Presto Punch templates). Some buttons finish off the project!

I hope this inspires you to create some "schoolish" items this weekend!

Spellbinders Supplies:
S4-161 Labels One
S5-045 Banner Basics Two
LF-161 Grand Labels One
S4-114 Standard Circles LG
S4-194 Classic Inverted Scalloped Circles LG
S5-028 Nested Pennants
S4-323 Ribbon Tags Trio Three
Presto Punch Starter Pack
PT-F03 Noble Roman Punch Templates
Spellbinders Grand Calibur® Die Cutting Machine
Spellbinders Presto Punch Machine

Preferred Partner Products:
Unity Stamp Company, Learning Year by Year Stamps
JustRite Stampers, Birdhouse Set Originals Stamps

Cross Promotional Partner Products:
Core'dinations, Jenni Bowlin Everyday Patterned Paper
Canvas Corp., Black and White Fresh Words Patterned Paper
Echo Park Paper Co, Advertisement For the Record Patterned Paper
Bazzill Basics Paper, Smooth Kraft Cardstock
Clearsnap, ColorBox Charcoal Fluid Chalk Ink, Smooch Spritz Spun Sugar Ink
Buttons Galore And More, Buttons
Glue Dots, Craft adhesive dots

Other Supplies:
Black Textured Cardstock; Black Ink; Ribbon; Twine; Floss; Tape Runner; Foam Tape; Glue; Hole Punch; Bow Easy Tool; Note Pad; Pencils