Back to School with Exploring Cricut and More!

Wow, I can't believe it's time to go back to school already.  Over at Exploring Cricut and More we're celebrating with that theme!  Yes, it's time for those kids to get on the bus and be at school for the day so we can crank up those Cricut machines and cut the day away!

It's an interesting time for us because we have a son leaving for his Senior year at Purdue and a little grand-girl starting Kindergarten.  Therefore, I have 2 projects for you today!

Sunflowers, Star and Smiley face, Washi tape, Wood grain stamp, Inks, Memo assortment tag

This layout is for my little grand-girl.  I left the spots open for pictures since she hasn't started school yet.  Katie can fill out the little journaling tag with something special from Lucy's first days of school!

The layout was inspired from the sketch from Paper Secrets. 

The ruler, frames and banners were cut from Artbooking and Art Philosophy.

This new paper from CTMH is Chalk It Up!  The cute glasses, smiley, sentiment and star are from the coordinating assortment pack.  I embellished with Smoothie Washi Tape, Baker's Twine, Aqua Dots, Shimmer Trim, some flowers from the Retired Skylark collection, and a chipboard note piece from Memo Assortmet (retired).  All embellishments are from CTMH.

I stamped the ruler with the wood grain stamp from Universal Backgrounds.

I used Lagoon pigment ink with embossing powder and heat embossed the ABC and 123 to make them stand out a little more.

My second project is a backpack perfect for college students!  I made this backpack in Black and Honey with some of the retired Laughing Lola paper for the pockets.  It measures almost 4 inches tall which is a great size to put some gift cards in there.  I plan to put some restaurant cards in it.  Maybe if Keith is nice between now and the time he leaves, I might tuck some money in those pockets!  ; )

You can find this backpack, as well as several more really adorable cuts, in the Cricut Campin' Critters cartridge.  The letter "P" was cut from Plantin SchoolBook.

Now it's your turn to create your Back to School project and enter the challenge!  Check out all the ideas over at Exploring Cricut and More!

You also might want to head over to KatiesCorner to see the new Idea Book from CTMH.  The new papers are so fun!  There is definitely something for every crafter there; the variety in this book is amazing!