Grade 6 - A Back to School Layout by Katie Howard

Good Morning and firstly let me say, oh my goodness it is March already!

Crazy how quickly each month seems to roll around,

it feels like New Year was only last week

and here we are almost at Easter!

Crazy!

Now the question is, am I too late for sharing back to school layouts?! 

Well, in all honesty, this page is already about two years out of date as it is about my son's last first day of primary school (grade 6 here in Queensland) and he started grade 8 earlier this year!

Oh well, I have never professed to being a "chronological scrapper".

Are you?

Do you find you need to scrap in order or are you like me and enjoy scrapping whichever photo takes your fancy?

I am using Fancy Pants Designs Take Note collection, which is, in fact, a school inspired collection, but this collection is so much more than that! It definitely has some school geared papers and embellishments,

but it could easily be used for other themes like travel.

I used the Take Note collection kit, which comes with papers and a 12x12 die-cut sheet

and some 4x4 brag cards which make it easy to put together a page without needing much else.

My page took on a central design, layering papers behind my photos, I also utilised my border punch to create the torn notebook look along the middle section, and the corkboard paper was perfect for a background.

One of my favourite "older tools" is a tab punch, they are great for adding layering details without adding bulk,

and it helps to get more out of your patterned papers too.

Layered with the tabs are a die-cut from the Take Note collection kit ephemera and some chipboard stickers from the Heidi Swapp Enjoy Vintage Chic Collection. This sticker collection has some great neutral shapes to add to just about any page. I finished off with a date stamp on the die-cut.

More layering in this little cluster, again using die-cuts from the Take Note collection and the Heidi Swapp chipboard stickers. This time I also used one of the 4x4 cards, but not as intended, I simply cut it down to form a layering piece with the phrase as I didn't need the whole card.

For my title I used the number six from the Take Note die-cuts and combined it with a stamped label using some stamps in my stash. The perfect matching ink for this was Distress Oxide in Peeled Paint. I love love love these inks, they are so very versatile and stamp beautifully as you can see! Also added was the chipboard camera, again from the Heidi Swapp sticker set, see what I mean about versatile shapes!

This final small detail was created using another one of the 4x4 brag cards from the Take Note collection kit, again I cut it down to be useful for me. I cut it into strips so it looks a little like journaling and, to help to stand out on the busy patterned paper background, I inked the edges using Black Soot Distress Oxide ink.

To finish off, another chipboard shape from the Hedi Swapp set. The final piece was a few black splatters which I added using Liquitex Ink in carbon black. I love using the dropper in these inks for splatters as you get nice round, big drops and splats. One tip - when used on patterned paper the ink is more likely to seep through,

so make sure you protect your work area!

Well, that is it from me today, I am hoping that this inspires you to go and scrap a page of an older memory, get those photos scrapped!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

Katie x