Bella Blvd Studio Blog: A New Twist On Back To School Photos With Laura

"Junior Year", by Laura Vegas.

Hey everyone, it's Laura here. It's that time of year. Time to send our kids back to school, to new grades, new classrooms, and new teachers. I know many of us started school last week, I'm seeing many starting this week, and some of you may be lucky enough to have a bit of summer break left with your kids. Whenever your child returns to school, one thing that I think we all end up with are those must-have "first day of school" photos.

I used to scrap these first day of school photos as just that. "First Day Of School" layouts, with journaling that said something along the lines of how they were excited to go back to school, meet their new teacher, and see their friends again. A few years back, I got the idea to scrap that first day of school photo at the end of the school year. This allows me to document all that happened in that particular school year. Sort of a "looking back" take on how the year went. Of course, I didn't get this idea until my youngest daughter was in high school, so I'm a little late to the game on this way of documenting. But I love the idea none the less.

For my layout, I turned to the Star Student collection and pulled out a few patterned papers that coordinated with my photo. I knew that I wanted to keep with a white cardstock background for this page, so I layered a white woodgrain Clear Cut over my cardstock for a little subtle interest.

I usually only manage to get one or two photos of my daughter, as she's a typical teen and thinks I should be happy that she allowed me those one or two photos! So I picked one photo and printed it big. Really big. I also typed up my journaling ahead of time, which isn't something I normally do. I wanted to be sure the photo and my journaling were the focus of this page, so I wanted to plan around those from the start.

I arranged my photo and journaling block in the center of the page, and then randomly cut my patterned papers, along with an embossed piece of cardstock, into pieces to layer on either side. I distressed the edges of all of my papers and machine stitched around the edges before adhering them in place.

I really do love the idea of journaling about the school year and pairing it up with that first day of school photo. It's hard to remember what happens from year to year, as they all start to blend together (or maybe that's just me!), so I welcome the chance to sum up the year on this type of layout. If you never got around to scrapping last year's "first day of school" photos, why not give this approach a try!

Supplies:
Star Student: Geek Chic, Daily Details, Collection Kit Bonus Pattern; Clear Cuts: White Woodgrain; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Blueberry; Tiny Text Alpha Stickers: Pretty Boy; Enamel DooDads: Oreo Black