Scrapbooking Stuff That Comes Home In His Backpack

Simon's backpack is a treasure chest.

At least once a week I find something pretty darn special inside that blue REI backpack he's had since kindergarten: handwriting samples (plentiful), drawings (few & far between), notes from teachers/aides, and sometimes wonderful little written or drawn sentiments that give a glimpse into his thoughts right now.

When I go through his backpack I
immediately decide to either keep or recycle the contents (and do it right then). Some days I
keep nothing and other days I feel like I have hit the jackpot in terms
of papers that can be used to tell his stories.

Last April I wrote a post called Organizing All The Stuff That Kids Bring Home From School (there were a ton of great ideas and suggestions in the comments of that post - definitely worth a read). In that post I talk about wanting to get to a certain place where as I go through the papers I immediately either add them to an album (just slipped into a page protector) or add them to a "to-make-something" pile on my desk. I'm still not quite there but I am getting closer. I have a to-make spot set-up (using a 12x12 Cropper Hopper Page Planner envelope to store the papers, artwork, etc I know I want to use) and I am making pages using those bits of life.

One of those bits of school life to make its way home on the bus last fall was the school-photo-option sheet you see in the layout today. I immediately knew I wanted to incorporate it into a layout at some point. I love that it has all those images (some of which are totally random), his name, etc. I knew that I wanted to pair it with different photo (something more "real life") and when I took this one of him working on his homework the other day it all clicked.

Here's a closer look:

AE_SecondGradeLeft_Low
On the right side the journaling was added directly to the photo in Photoshop and printed
here at home. You can do this same thing and have it printed at a
developer.

I did cut off the top of one of his returned worksheets and just used the portion with his name for the top of this layout. Don't be afraid to cut things up (most likely there is more where that came from) and on the flip side, don't be afraid to leave things whole just like I did on the first page.

AE_SecondGradeRight_Low

LAYOUT SUPPLIES
PENCIL PATTERN PAPER :
Cosmo Cricket "The Boyfriend Homework Paper"
METAL #2 : Tim Holtz "Numerals"
CHIPBOARD "s" : American Crafts "Mustard Typo"
FABRIC BRAD : Sassafras Lass "Vintage Gems Brads"
RULER STICKER : October Afternoon "Report Card 12x12 Sticker Shapes"

Sponsor Giveaways coming early tomorrow morning. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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52 thoughts

  1. Hanna says…
    02/09/2010

    What a wonderful thing the teachers/staff is doing, writing small notes of "shining star". A boost for the kid (and parents). I wonder if they do so here in Sweden? Don't think so :o( I would love to save those little notes of what my son is like in school.

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  2. Philippines property says…
    02/17/2010

    “I LOVE your style and your post. Your blog makes me realize everything every time I read because it comes from her heart...and that makes it beautiful.”
    Deirdre G

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