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Community > Articles & Projects > Thena's Article
Thena's Article
Thena Smith
Thena Smith

BACK TO SCHOOL!

Well, here it is, the time of the year that parents both love and dread; it means freedom to some extent. By now most parents are probably hearing “I’m bored!” and “What is there to dooooo…? With the beginning of the school year also comes a bit of being tied down with school functions, homework, after school activities, etc. It means parting with new kindergartener’s (sometimes with tears on the face of one or both parties), planning ahead for graduations (from preschoolers to college students) and usually means new classrooms and new teachers for students of all ages.

While pcCrafter has a number of Creatables fitting for students of all ages. Let’s deal with the younger set for now.

Kimberly Montgomery has a cute selection in Kimberly’s Klassroom. Her Creatable provides a fun place to start in your creation of a back to school album or for a number of other crafty projects. This is fun to team up with Teach Kindness by Beth Yarbough which has some images showcasing nice qualities we all wish to instill in our students.

Marie Cole has just released the adorable and versatile School Days. Her previous Making the Grade has some art suitable for dividing your album by grade.

Colleen Parry’s Teacher’s Helpers has some adorable “students” and “parents” for your pages as well as some cute little bears.

Jeriann Sabin has a unique selection of art in School Rules.

And I must not leave out Paint Your Future by the talented Carolee Jones. We mustn’t forget the artistic classes! Carolee’s School Dazed is great for the junior high and high school students due to its older looking students.

For those extra curricular activities, you will need Carol Halm’s School Spirit.

If you prefer a Scrapable, check out Deena Rutter’s Back to School,or for tags, Kate Merkley’s Teacher Tags. Laurie Furnell never lets us down, and she shines again in A is for Apple giving us the Alphabet for our albums and her Country Mice is just plain fun!

Lori Barnes has a wonderful realistic “paper created” look in her School Time Memories.

These are just a few of the school themed kits available and each one is worthy of an entire article devoted to them. Unfortunately, I can not showcase them all, but I do hope you will check them out in the shopping section along with my own A Taste of Paste (poems for the classroom) and Board Smartz (Learning quips and Bulletin Board tips).

Moving right along…Let’s create some pages for your back to school experiences!

Project 1:
(At the top of the page) was created by placing images straight from Kimberly’s Klassroom onto a new page. This would make a great cover or first page for your album.
Project 2: Your First Day on the School Bus
  1. Create a new 12x12 page at 300 dpi.
  2. Add a shape, rectangle, and stretch it to fit (*in Digital Image Pro). Fill with color.
  3. Add bus from Kimberly’s Klassroom. (Use eyedropper tool to match the blue to the blue in the bus.)
  4. Add a verse from A Taste of Paste (poems for the classroom) by Thena Smith.
  5. Optional: Add tiny photos in the bus windows.
click image for larger preview
Project 3: A Taste of Paste
  1. Create new page at 300 dpi; add black background.
  2. Add glue image from Kimberly’s Klassroom.
  3. Add apple. I used one from Bits and Pieces by Shan’l Parish.
  4. Add lunch bag or lunch box.
  5. Add bottle of paste. I created one using shapes in Digital Image Pro.
  6. Add poem from A Taste of Paste (poems for the classroom).
Project 2
click image for larger preview
Project 4:
  1. Create a new page and add a background of your choice.
    (I chose pink and made tiny whiffs of lighter cloud like spots using the transparency brush.)
  2. Add image from Country Mice by Laurie Furnell.
  3. Add photo on layer behind the clipart.
  4. Add poem from A Taste of Paste (poems for the classroom).
Project 3
click image for larger preview

Project 5: Fun with Color
  1. Chose the colors you desire.
  2. Use the dodge and burn tool to add depth.
  3. Add some filters for texture.
  4. Create a stripe by linking them together.
  5. Create a plaid by placing second layer on top of first and using the transparency function.
  6. Now you have a plaid background for you scrapbook pages.
Project 4
click image for larger preview
Project 5: Creating with Simple Shapes
  1. Follow the chart to see which shapes are used to create the paste jar used in project 1.
  2. After each section is completed, fill it with color. Use the gradient option.
  3. To finish things up, use the dodge and burn tool for added depth.
Project 5
click image for larger preview

There you have it! Another great bunch of Creatables to check out and a few (I hope) helpful hints to get those creative juices flowing.

Now for your assignments if you should decide to accept them:
  1. Be kind to each other.
  2. Listen to each other.
  3. Hug each other.
  4. Meet me back here next month!

Hugs,
Thena
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