Oh I am late as usual. It’s the last days of summer vacation and school will start tomorrow…well..Jana will start tomorrow whereas Josh will start Tuesday so there will be another day for me to get all ready.
I have been crafting a Schultüte (huge sugar cone filled with sweets and little toys that german kids get for their very first day of school) and will show some pics later.

Now as we will have some guests like Josh’s grandparents and god mothers and god fathers I thought of maybe doing some little favor boxes in shape of school bags for them.
It is a simple little box but it took me some tries to finally find the version that worked best for me and I will provide you with some kind of template later in case you’d prefer to create it digitally so you could just drag some digi papers over and print it out. I used a metric grid to draw my box but I am sure it transfers easily on an inch sized grid, too.

I created my boxes “traditionally” using pencil and scissors. I  stamped some of my Clearstamp Mini motives on and decorated all with some faux stitching that I drew with a thin black pen. When all was done I glued it together and let dry. Then I applied the belts that I cut from the remaining paper. Just measure them a slight bit longer than the back of the box so you can fold them to glue them down.
Well, that’s it. You can now start to fill the little school bags with M&Ms or Gummibears!

Supplies:
sturdy cardstock
scissors or craft knife
glue
bone folder (optional)
corner rounder (optional)
clearstamps (optional)
printer (optional)

How to:
You can or print and cut my template to create a template for yourself and use it to sketch it on the desired paper ,  you can simply print  my template on your chosen cardstock  or you can decorate it digitally and then print out the finished design.

No matter how you decide  doing it you will then have to cut all out and fold on the indicated lines. In case you still need to decorate your box, you may want to do it  before glueing it together. I also rounded the corners of the school bag’s front flap.

When all is done glue it. While it is drying you can cut some shoulder belts. I measured them a slight bit longer than the back of my box, folded the ends  and glued them to the back.
Your box is almost ready now, the only thing you have to do is to fill it with some little favors like M&Ms or Gummibears!

1. Gather your supplies and trace and cut template

2. Fold along the indicated lines. I used a bone folder so it folds easier

3. I rounded the corners of the box flap but you can leave it as is. Then I prefolded it, with the sloppy side inside.

4. Now you can start to decorate your box. I stamped on it and drew faux stitching along the edges.

5. Now glue your box together. Then I measured the belts using the back of the box as a rough guide.
I cut the belts from the leftover paper of the cardstock I used. Then I eyeballed the width and cut
2 strips.

6. Decorate them with some faux stitching if you like and fold the edges. Then glue them to the back

That’s it! You are done! Now fill your little schoolbag box with sweets! Have fun! Hope you liked my little tutorial!

You can download the template here.  Remember that it is for personal use!

I also decided to do some sugar cone tags to use them as decoration on my coffee table napkins. I stamped the cones of my Clearstamps “School” set with the boyish star motif on cardstock and colored them in. I still have to cut them out but I am sure they will look cute on the table.
It would be too sweet if you’d leave me a comment . I hope you liked my little tutorial!

Hugs and happy day

Sylvie

This week we are exploring the hybrid Valentine.  It doesn’t have to involve much hybrid at all – you can do it all digital and then just print it out, sign it and send it to somebody you love!!  Or you can cut, glue and stitch….it is up to you!!

We have some samples from our amazing Creative Team to get you started, but first want to point out some Sausan Design kits that are perfect for all your Valentine needs (and they are on sale too!!)  Read to the end though, as we have some great free cards made from Sylvie’s designs for you.

Some of my favorite Sausan Design kits will work perfectly for Valentine’s Day.  Cloud 7 is my huge favorite – that funky, hand-drawn plaid paper is just amazing.

Another great Valentine kit (an oldie, but goodie) is Valentino Valentina.  The papers are so richly textured and the elements are timeless.

Another option is to go the QuickPage route…  For the amazing kit My Little Heart, Sylvie has some gorgeous Quickpages that would make your Valentine a nice “love” book!!

Here are the papers and elements for My Little Heart, so you can add some pages to your Quickpage love book.

Also found a couple other element packs that work well for making Valentine’s.  How cute are these hand-drawn, hand-colored hearts.  Sylvie has a great eye for colors and designs.  Also, the pressed flowers are always timeless.

Ok, enough eye candy…now let’s see what you can do with these amazing designs.  Below are some samples from our Creative Team.

Polinka put together this beautiful card.  I love that it is different from the traditional pink and red of Valentine’s day.  Beautiful work.

Lena put together these two gorgeous cards.  Love all that cut paper on the first one.  The second is just plain fun!!

Chengie made a couple very cute cards and she was kind enough to offer them to you.  See these cards below and click here to download them.  Thanks Chengie!!

After all that, seems crazy to add some more.  I put together a couple Valentine’s day cards, printed them out and added some stitching with my sewing machine.  I sort of thought the ends of my flower stems looked a bit messy, but a friend was kind enough to point out that they seemed clumped with dirt. LOL!! Thanks, Nevermore!!  Anyway, you can download my cards by clicking here.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this.  When you get a chance, please play along with us.  Please post your Valentine’s creation sometime before Tuesday, February 16th to be eligible to win a free kit from Sausan Designs.  You can post your creations in the In my Handbag Gallery at SausanDesigns.com.  Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday and a great Valentine’s Day.  We will be back in two weeks for the next “in my Handbag” challenge!!

If this isn’t a fab start into the new year!! Check it out!

Snag one paper and Little Red Riding Hood! Hope you like it! (just click on the image) 
Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter for the latest “gossip”, coupons or freebies! Those of you who signed up via the shop, please sign up again!

Just click, download and have fun!

Today I thought I would highlight some of those older kits – those that have been around for a bit, but still have LOTS of LIFE left in them.  One of my favorite kits of Sylvie’s is Little Monsters….the colors are bold and bright and the patterns are just plain funky.  What a great kit to scrap your little monsters.

How about adding these adorable felt monsters to the layout….how cute!!

Here is CT member Marussia’s latest layout with Little Monsters….

Another one of my favorite kits is on sale for $2…that is only TWO dollars.  Quite crazy as this kit is filled with gorgeous papers!!  Here is Sweet Grunge.

I did a layout for this about my Mom and her ability to make everything seem ok when I’m stressed or ready to lose it….

Last, but not least I’d like to highlight my very first introduction to Sylvie with her amazing Funky Funky kit!!  The colors, the artwork and the textures are all first rate.
 

Here is a great layout that CT team member LilachO made.  I just love the graphic looks of it and that photo of her daughter looking at the brother is just SOOO Sweet….

Wanted also to offer you a free template for taking the time to read this…..

Well, take a look at what Sylvie has to offer and don’t forget to keep scrolling back because those oldies are still amazing designs AND are a great value right now.

I made this doorhanger to help my son with his daily routines, and we decided to give it away on the blog. I used Sausan’s I Robot kit as well as Fontologie’s Messy Bessy font.

We’re giving it to you as a blog freebie, so you can fill in your own checklists as desired.  It’s sized to fit a standard sheet of photo paper to make this easy to print at home. Open the jpeg up in your photo editing program, add your checklist text on top of it, and print out on matte photo paper or cardstock as desired.

Cut away the excess paper, and score the fold line to make folding easier. Fold and crease firmly. Using a glue stick, paste the 2 sides together.

I measured the size of my door knob, and chose a circle slightly bigger than the knob for my opening. Using my circle cutter, I cut out the center (if you look at my finished photo, you’ll see I did take away a bit of one robot. I chose my circle placement to be centered and to miss the smiling robot). Using a corner rounder, I rounded all 4 corners.

Because I had Ranger Ink Stickles Glitter Glue, I painted it very lightly to fill in  some details on the robots, the space ships and the planet Saturn.

Have fun!

Karen Bowers