back to school time...

and that means back to school cards.  I have made a card welcoming back everyone on the campus where I teach for 3 years.  Last year I made 27 and so when I had 27 made, I looked at the new contact list and there were 40! YIKES! So I made 40 as of this morning and then looked at the list in my new teacher folder that I received on Friday and there are 43 names on the list...minus 1 for me and I am still short 2 cards. That should be easy enough to fix, but I also washed all my stamps and put them all away...that'll teach me;)

So I would love to share some cards.  First up are some cards I made with the Sandlot card kit from Studio Calico.  I also used the Studio Calico teachers pet stamp set for all of these cards.

The first card was a lift of Maggie Holmes's card in the CT gallery.  I used Studio Calico color theory inks to color the shapes and added some color theory stars.

I also made this card using the scrap 2" from the card above and another sheet of paper from the kit.  The shapes were colored with colored water color pencils dipped in water and used directly on the shapes.

I used the other half of the paper above used above and some numbers cut from the scraps of the paper used in the first card, and added in some Love, Elsie paper that I have been hoarding. I also added in a Stampin' Up library card. These shapes were colored with the water color pencils and then brushed with water.  

So now, I am into using pieces of the kit with the Love, Elsie paper. These shapes were colored with color pencils.

 and this one colored with Heidi Swapp color shine...

and this one using up the remaining numbers, some sewed on paper clips and these shapes colored with the water color pencils and then brushed with water.

I really loved how the color shine and color theory inks looked when painted on, but if I was going to do this frequently, I would invest in a good paint brush.  I used the paint brush from one of my daughter's paint sets (she is 12 and probably used these when she was 4) and it was a little difficult to control where the color was going.  I also loved the boldness of the water color pencils dipped in water and used directly on the shapes.  The other methods are good if you are looking for lighter colors. 

I'll share some more cards and coloring methods tomorrow.