One Memory, Three Ways – School Edition!

As a mom and teacher, September always feels more like the beginning of a new year than January does! I love the fresh start of a new school year, so needless to say I was over the moon when Creative Memories introduced the new “Study Buddies” collection of fun, school-themed products! The collection consists of a GORGEOUS Album, Predesigned Fast 2 Fabulous Pages, a Paper Pack, a Slide-In Pack, Embellishments and Stickers! There is really something for every type of memory-keeper in this collection. To prove it to you, I created three school-themed layouts – a Fast 2 Fabulous layout, an easy Multi-Pocket Page layout and a more Traditional decorative layout – with these adorable products. Let me show you!

Fast 2 Fabulous Layout

Using the Fast 2 Fabulous Predesigned Pages is the fastest way to create a coordinated layout. Select your photos first to get an idea of which of the many pre-printed pages might work best. Add your photos on top of the rectangular spaces, or simply place them randomly on the pages. There is no right or wrong way to use them and they will look great no matter how you arrange your photos!

I chose two pages that had space for six photos, and then opted to use five photos and place a Slide-In Card in the last space to act as my title. I added just a few die-cuts from the Embellishments pack, popping them off the surface with Foam Squares for just a little more dimension. I finished off by journaling on the die-cut journal box and writing the grade and date with my Black Dual-Tip Pen. This layout only took 5 minutes to create but it looks like it took much longer than that…I love that Creative Memories does all the design work for us with these F2F pages!

Multi-Pocket Page Layout

If you have a lot of photos, Multi-Pocket Pages might be just what you need to show them off! You’ll have space for ten photos, but in this case I used eight photos and two Slide-in Cards – one as a title and one for journaling. Simply slide your photos and title card into the slots, add journaling to the final card and slip that in as well. To decorate the sides just a bit, I trimmed four pieces of the Study Buddies Designer Paper, two 1/2″ pieces and two 3/4″ pieces. I carefully cut a small slit in the top of the vertical side pockets with an exacto knife and slipped the strips inside. This layout took about 15 minutes to make, and most of that was trimming the strips and sliding them in.  You get a lot of impact with just a little effort!

Traditional Layout

I think most of us scrapbookers are like kids at Christmas…when we get our hands on fun new products we want to play with and use them all! I truly enjoy going through all the new papers and embellishments to select the ones that are just right to use with the photos I am working with. Then of course I need to use all the new tools that come out as well! On this layout I used a few different papers from the Study Buddies Paper Pack, a variety of the Embellishments and Stickers, the new Circle Weave Border Maker Cartridge AND the new Shooting Star Punch, and set them all off against our Black Album Pages!

So. Much. Fun!

This layout definitely took the longest to complete (about 35 minutes) but I find the end result so satisfying! Here are the instructions and measurements:

• Trim the red patterned paper into two 6″ x 9-1/2″ pieces. Adhere on either side of layout, butting right up to the jeeping edges.
• Trim the striped notebook patterned paper into two 5″ x 9-1/2″ pieces. Adhere these right beside the red pieces.
• Cut out two pencil borders from the pencil/apple/school bus patterned paper. Trim these down to 9-1/2″ long and mount over the red and striped papers, covering the seam.
• Mount photos as shown, leaving space above the vertical photo on the left hand side of the layout for the title, and space below the vertical photo on the right hand side for journaling.
• Cut six Circle Weave Borders from a piece of Royal Blue Cardstock using the Border Maker System and the Circle Weave Border Cartridge. Trim each border down to 10″. Adhere each border strip as shown to cover the edge of the papers already adhered to the pages. (Tip: the new Repositionable Adhesive makes short work of adhering intricately detailed borders!)
• Cut four 1 -1/2″ circles from the leftover Royal Blue Cardstock using the Custom Cutting System (inside cut of the smallest circle template using Red blade). Mount one circle over each corner where the border strips meet.
• Punch five Shooting Stars with the new Shooting Star punch – three from the leftover red patterned paper, and two from the green patterned paper. Make sure to keep the extra mini- stars! Mount a shooting star on each circle with Foam Squares. Add a mini-star in the contrasting color for a little extra design!
• Place the “Star Student”sticker on the leftover green patterned paper. Trim around it, leaving a green border peeping out. Mount the final red shooting star and then  layer the Star Student title over top of it using Foam Squares.
• Journal below the photo on the right hand side with a Black Dual-Tip Pen.
• Add a row of the self-adhesive Star gems between the photo and your journaling.

No matter what type of layout you want to create or how much time you have to devote to it, I hope you have fun preserving the school-day memories of your child (or of your own childhood!) with this fun collection!