Back to School with Esse Cardstock!

Hey there! It's Kristie Larsen again today sharing some back to school fun. I think we say it with the changing of any season but especially in the summer we GASP! "Where did the time go? How is it back-to-school already!?" I can imagine the tv commercials in the states already running all the ads for buying new shoes, clothes, backpacks and accessories. So, I'm sorry people but it IS coming!! 

Can I get, by the raise of hands how many teachers are out there?? Well, if you are one, or want a gift for you, this post is for you:

I made a Welcome Back sign for a teachers door, but this could easily be revamped to be a card, either big or small. Let me show you what I did.

I started by taking some white Esse textured card stock and I sponged a variation of distress inks across the entire piece.

I blended it a bit but kept it kind of splotchy. If you look at actual changing leaves their colours are not very smooth. And I know once you cut these babies up, they don't look as splotchy as a whole sheet does. So save yourself some time and elbow grease and don't worry about perfect blending.

I used this leaf die cuts from TopDogDies.com to die cut the card stock. It created all these beautiful fall leaves.

I laid out the wording by starting with the centre letter of the word 'welcome'. This way I was sure to get it perfectly set in the middle. I scored a line into the card stock using a ruler and bone folder. I needed a straight line but didn't want to use a pencil and you can't see the score line in the end.

After glueing the words down I used this sponge dauber to rub white chalk ink around the letters to give it a 'chalk board' feel.

You can see a bit of a close up here. I glued all the leaves down using some Tombow Mono glue from the store and added a twine bow to the bottom middle acorns and two top acorns in the corners.

I added some black ribbon to the back of it so it could be hung on the teachers door or pin board.

And that's it! A really easy way to make a fun sign, but also you could make it into a card or even a scrapbook layout. The Esse textured card stock takes the ink so easily it goes together fast. You could even whip up a whole set of cards with this same motif in a matter of 15 minutes. A great fall gift for a friend.

I hope you found something inspiring here today! Thanks so much for stopping in. Be sure to check out the store because ALL Esse card stock is on sale. YAY!

 I hope you have an amazing week, and find some time for crafting!
xoxo
k