Backpacks

Mmmmmm. Mornin'. What a slow start to the day. I'm usually up at 7:30am, and that's all well and good- I only have one in school in the morning and she can get herself dressed and make her own lunch. My mornings are always so laid back- for now :D it's nice... but my afternoons and especially the evenings are so chaotic, that they make up for it. So all you busy morning bees don't envy me- cuz after the noon I don't really get to relax til the kids are all in bed :D And I know that this will change when my other kids are going to school and I may get a job outside the home then. We'll see. God's timing. Tho it was all my timing this morning when I dozed on the couch for a bit cuz I was soooo sleeeeepy and woke up last minute to wake up hubby, feed and dress kids and try to get all who needed to out the door on time.

Aigh.

So I made those two backpacks for a friend of mine. There are alot of tutorials and sizes out there- but the one that suited me best was found here: http://tracysstampinschool.wordpress.com/category/back-packs/

She has a video tutorial as well as a pdf file for the cutting measurements. I liked it because it alloted me creative liberty, only took 2 sheets of 8.5x11 cardstock and didn't take very long to make, but turn out so cute!! So thanks to Tracy for doing all the hard work :D AND she had some other cute video tutorials on there too- so check her out!

So yea- I made one back pack and I got mad. I dont know about you all- but I try to get everything just so- and if it's a gift, or especially if someone is buying it, I want to get it close to perfect as possible. Now to for-warn you, you'll need velcro for the backpacks. I don't have any. I didn't know where to get any, and being as hubby and I are a paycheck to paycheck family and we're in between paychecks- I didn't even have the cash to pick some up if I wanted to. So I had to be inventive with closures. So I tried putting a brad on the inside and a hole in the flap. I don't have very many circle punches (I have 1) and so I used my eyelet setter and that didn't work too well. I used my hand held hole punch and the brad just didn't fit in properlly- but it worked. Then I tried it with the pocket- was off mark- and it didn't work at all. Needless to say- that backpack found it's way to the garbage.

Now I have a notch set from Making memories- and darned if I could ever really figure that thing out. So measuring on my new backpack, I thought I could tuck the flap into the notch. AGAIN with being off the mark and now I had a half mood slit hole in the backpack. sigh. So I covered it up and did the best I could. Now my setter is broken (it's been on the fritz for a while) so I think I may invest in smaller circle punches for notches and I asked for a crop-a-dial for Christmas- I've wanted one for a while so YEA!!! I never really use my notch set anyways- or my grommet set. Again- I've never been able to figure them out. Oh well. Work with what ya know.

SO here is the backpack that has caused me so much grief:

I love the 2.5x2.75 notecard for the front pocket. I really had no idea what I would do. So I took some bright pink cardstock (again guys- I don't have Stampin' Up! I use the Paper Company and they just come in nameless packs- don't worry- I'll hop on the train someday :D) I stamped the cardstock using my clear and woodmounted inkadinkado snowflakes in clearsnap Pink and White- I feel it gave it a snowflurry feel with out being overwhelming. I then added Fruit Punch stickles here there and every where for a bit of bling. I did the same for the pocket. Now- idea!! I think a person can alter the size of the pocket a bit and put a giftcard in there!! Too cute. ANYWAYS!! I took some white cardstock with a random snowflake, stamped in pink and embossed with glitter powder (my new term for glitter embossing powder!) I added some buttons and made the card. It was still missing something, so using my glue gun and some trim I found at the dollar store, I added the trim around the flaps to match the notecard. I thought it was just the finishing touch. y'know how sometimes something you make is okay- it's just missing something? Well the trim was it- I love it!! And so does she :D I decided to do the exact same thing, but in blue so both teachers weren't getting exactly the same thing. So here's that one:

So it's the exact same thing- only substituting blue for pink!The notecards were so simple- and like I said, I had no idea what I would do. I like making ellaborate cards- so a simple notecard has kinda evaded me. But I just stamped the paper to match the flaps on the backpacks and stamped a sentiment from this cute circle Christmas stamp set I found on vacation this year (I have no clue who makes it- I need to start remembering so if people see stuff they like they can go and get it too!) and added a scallop. Now- unlike most of the crafters out there- I don't own Spellbinders nor do I have all of (well, none of) Stampin' Up or Marvy's scalloped punches. I use Cricut's Mini Monogram cartridge. The circle is so nice. The square really isn't the same, the scallops are a bit too far a part. I want to order the Storybook cartridge because they have scallops (and some awesome trims!) on there. I'd also like to get a Cricut Create so I can go every quarter of an inch instead of every half inch! Christmas is around the corner- so who know's what Santa will bring :D

So, there they are. I've always been a tradtitional Christmas person with the greens and reds and golds. It was fun getting out of the box and trying something new- a new template. A new colour scheme. A new technique.

So go out there and try something new today!! Thanks for stoppin' by!