Back to School Cards

 

My kids went back to school this week so I made each of them a special back to school card for their first day. I used the adorable Pack It Up die from Spellbinders to make custom backpacks! 

The backpacks actually open up to reveal all of the school supplies inside. How cute is that?!

The inside flap is stamped with the grade each of my boys started this year. The paper backpack also matches the color of their real book bags. 

The stamping was done with some older Papertrey Ink school themed sets and the notebook paper in the background is actually pattern paper, also from PTI. 

These were so fun to make and I think the kids enjoyed them. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: School Days, Teacher Tickets, Back to School (PTI)

Paper: Pencil Me In Pattern Paper Pad, Soft Stone, Bitty Big: Soft Stone, Enchanted Evening, Bitty Big: Enchanted Evening, Blueberry Sky, True Black, Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Green Parakeet, Stamper's Select White, Luxe Silver (PTI)

Ink: Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, Smokey Shadow (PTI), VersaMark

Dies: Pack It Up (Spellbinders)

You Make This World a Beautiful Place

The last day of school for my oldest son is tomorrow so I have been a busy bee making end of year thank you cards for all of his teachers. This particular card was a fun one as it is meant for his art teacher! 

I used an old die from My Favorite Things called Artist Palette & Brush die namic. I also dug through my stamps to find images with small splatters. These splatters are from two different sets, Distressed Patterns by MFT and Corner Adorner: April by PTI. 

Each little color of paint was originally die cut from white card stock and then I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to color them in rainbow colors. I also added Glossy Accents to the paint to give it some realistic shine. I also used my Zig markers to color in the tip of the paint brush. 

The sentiment is from the My Monthly Hero Kit May 2019. That kit is super fun because it is all about crafting and art supplies! I can't wait to give this to my son's teacher tomorrow!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: My Monthly Hero Kit May 2019 (Hero Arts), Corner Adorner: April (PTI), Distressed Patterns (MFT)

Paper: Basic Black (SU!), Kraft (PTI), Accent Opaque White, silver

Ink: Real Red, Only Orange, Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise (SU!), Mowed Lawn (Distress Ink), Midnight Violet (Altenew), Candy Violet (Pinkfresh Studio), VersaFine Onyx Black

Dies: Artist Palette & Brush die namic (MFT), Crimped Frame (The Greetery)

Other: Zig Clean Color Markers, glossy accents, fun foam

First Day of School Crayon Box Cards

 

These are the back to school cards I made for my two boys this year. My oldest son went back to school the first week of September, but my youngest just started today! 

This card is for my oldest son, who is now in 2nd grade. I used Honey Bee Stamp's awesome Small Crayon Box Card die to make this! SO fun! The die has everything you need to cut both the crayon box, and the individual crayons that fit inside. The red label for the crayon box is a die from Honey Bee Stamp's Brilliant Day die collection. The sentiment, from Papertrey Ink's School Days set, is embossed in white. 

I cut the crayons from a rainbow of colors and stamped each crayon with a fun school related sentiment. I pulled out nearly all of my school themed sets to find enough different phrases! I used Teacher Tickets, School Days, and School Time Additions (retired), all from Papertrey Ink. To give the crayon tips and ends some definition from their labels (since they were cut from the same colored card stock) I actually went over them with my Zig Clean Color markers in closely matching colors to darken them. I think it really helped them pop. I also hand drew the black lines on the labels to resemble Crayola labels. 

And here is the card I made for my youngest son, who just started Pre-K today! This time I stamped the sentiment in green ink directly on the crayon yellow box for a more vintage look. 

The labels are very similar, but of course I used "Preschool" instead of "2nd Grade". Both boys loved their cards and thought they were very cool! Wishing them both a wonderful school year!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Teacher Tickets, School Days, School Time Additions (PTI)

Paper: Summer Sun, Garden Green, Real Red (SU!), all other colors generic

Ink: Garden Green (SU!), Versa Mark, Versa Fine Onyx Black

Dies: Small Crayon Box Card, Brilliant Day (Honey Bee Stamps)

Other: white embossing powder, Zig Clean Color markers

First Day of School Cards

My last post was for teacher appreciation gifts and now I am posting back to school cards; summer certainly flew by! I wanted to make some special cards for each of my boys to celebrate their first day of school, and what better way than with a fun shaker card?

My oldest had his first day of school last week, I now have a first grader! Both cards center around the Shaker Shapes: Pencil die from Papertrey Ink. So fun! I die cut the pencil from traditional colors and filled it in with little alphabet confetti, cut from a die that is included with the shaker die set. There are also a few gold and clear sequins.

The words "first day" are from School Days and "1st Grade" is from School Time Additions. I really love the additions set because it includes everything from preschool to senior, I'll be using this one for a long time!

To give the shaker dimension and hold everything together, I used double sided foam adhesive sheets. These are a life save and make shaker cards to much easier than piecing together little bits of foam tape!

The notebook paper is actually pattern paper called Pencil Me In, also from Papertrey Ink. I added the spiral edge with the Moments Inked: Edged die. I gave this card to my son at breakfast on his first day of school and he loved it! I hope it made the day a little more special and calmed any first day jitters.

This next card I will give to my three year old when he has his very first day of preschool next week. Everything about this card was done the same way, only I switched out "1st grade" for "preschool" and reversed the colors. 

I hope this provides some inspiration and if you have kiddos going back to school as well I hope they have a great year!


SUPPLIES
Stamps: School Days, School Time Additions (PTI)
Paper: New Leaf, Hibiscus Burst, Sweet Blush, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Kraft, Smokey Shadow, Pencil Me In (PTI), Brilliant Blue, Real Red (SU!), silver
Ink: Brilliant Blue (SU!), New Leaf (PTI)
Dies: Shaker Shapes: Pencil, Moments Inked: Edged (PTI)
Other: sequins, doubled sided foam adhesive sheets, 1/8" score tape, clear acetate

End of Year Teacher Gifts

 

These are the end of year gifts I made for the teachers who taught "specials" at my son's school, as well as the secretary, school nurses, and custodian. I found the popcorn buckets 3/$1 at Dollar Tree and I filled them with a bag of microwavable popcorn, a mini can of Coke, and a coupon code for a movie rental at Red Box. I thought the idea of having a movie themed gift to celebrate the end of the year would be fun and different!

I wrapped them up in clear cellophane to keep everything together and made tags to dress them up. The schoolhouse image is from Petite Places: School, the "thanks" is from Ways to Say: Thanks, and "for everything" was from Enclosed: Apple.

And this is the gift I gave my son's classroom teacher. I wanted to do a bit more for her as she is with him day in and day out, and as his mom I know that is a lot of work! Ha! This larger popcorn bucket is also from Dollar Tree, and this time it was filled with an assortment of movie theater candy (more Dollar Tree finds), three bags of microwavable popcorn, a bottle of Coke, the card I shared yesterday, and Red Box codes for three movie rentals.

This tag is very similar to the others, with the same school house image. This time I used a larger tag to accommodate the larger sentiment and also used a scallop border punch on the bottom.

I was very happy with how they turned out and hope his teachers all enjoyed their gifts and enjoy their summer break!


SUPPLIES:

Thanks for Everything Tag
Stamps: Petite Places: School, Ways to Say: Thank You, Enclosed: Apple
Paper: Stamper's Select White
Ink: Real Red (SU!), Bright Buttercup, Weathervane (PTI), Versa Fine Onyx Black
Dies: Traditional Tag STAX die namics
Other: red stitched ribbon, hemp twine, crop-a-dile

For a Special Teacher Tag
Stamps: Petite Places: School, Great Teachers (PTI)
Paper: Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Ink: Real Red (SU!), Bright Buttercup (PTI), Versa Fine Onyx Black
Dies: Traditional Tags STAX Die Namics (MFT)
Other: Scallop Border Punch (SU!), crop-a-dile, red stitched ribbon, hemp twine

Thank You, Teacher

This is the end of year thank you card I made for my son's kindergarten teacher. I had really been wanting to make a red bicycle card, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I love how the pure poppy bitty big pattern paper pairs with the bike. The bicycle panel is stamped on a stitched rectangle die cut, and layered over the pattern paper which is cut with the smallest of the scallop stacker dies.

The sentiment is from Petite Places: School, and was just the right size to fit in the small upper corner space. The stitched panel is popped up with foam tape for some dimension.

That's it for now, have a great weekend!

SUPPLIES:
Stamps: Pedal Pusher, Petite Places: School (PTI)
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy Bitty Big (PTI)
Ink: Pure Poppy, Classic Kraft, Green Parakeet (PTI), Smokey Slate (SU!), Versa Fine Onyx Black
Dies: Scallop Stackers: Small (PTI), Stitched Rectangles (SSS)

Thanks for helping me grow!

I've been working on end of year teacher gifts for my son's classroom teacher and each of his specials teachers, and I'm really excited to share when they are finished. In the mean time, though, here are what we gave to his preschool teachers last year (life got busy after school and I never posted them!).

My son absolutely adored his preschool teachers last year and as I was thinking about what to give them I wanted it to 1) Be something they would actually want and 2) Reflect how special they were to our family by helping my son feel loved throughout the year. I came across this sentiment on Pinterest and it really resonated with me. He had grown physically of course, but also socially and academically, so it was perfect!

I purchased several succulents and repotted them in terra cotta pots. Then I created the sentiment on my computer and printed out a sheet of them. Once printed, I used a tag die to individually cut each sentiment out. Each pot had a different color ribbon, and I stamped a small spade image behind the sentiment in a matching ink. These were given to the teacher's assistants and music teacher.

I also had three lavender plants that were given to his classroom teachers. I left them in the plastic containers they came in, but to dress them up a bit I put them in brown paper lunch bags that I had trimmed down with a scallop edge punch.

I tied some delicate hemp twine into a bow around the hole in the tag, but stapled them to the actual brown bag. Each of the spade images were stamped in purple to match the lavender.

I was really pleased with how they turned out and I believe his teachers liked them too. :)

For a Special Teacher

With young kids in school I'm learning that May means end of year teacher gifts (and cards!). These are actually the cards I made for my son's preschool teachers at the end of last year but never posted. I still think they turned out cute and hope they'll provide some inspiration for others as well!

For my focal point I used Papertrey Ink's Enclosed: Apple die, along with their Keep it Simple: Teacher mini stamp set. The cards are all slightly different, mostly by changing the pattern paper in the background. Most of the red pattern paper is from an old Stampin' Up pad I have from ages ago. The gray paper is Smokey Shadow card stock, with the sentiment embossed in white. 

Here is what they all look like together. It was fun to mass produce them but have them each be unique as well. I remember letting my son decide which teacher received which card, and him being very excited about and giving great thought to.

I have a half done teacher card on my desk right now for my son's current teacher. When it is finished I'll share it, hopefully before a year goes by!


SUPPLIES:
Stamps: Keep it Simple: Teacher (PTI)
Ink: VersaMark
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Smokey Shadow (PTI), Old Olive, pattern paper (SU!)
Dies: Enclosed: Apple (PTI), Stitched Rectangles (SSS)
Other: button, baker's twine, white embossing powder