Challenge #142 - August 16, Making the Grade

Good morning HMITM Challengers!!! I'm so glad to be back & participating in the HMITM challenges & this weeks challenge is Making the Grade. Excited school is starting up again & what great way to kick start it with your favorite school pictures using the newest 'school' collections by your favorite manufacturer.

Here is your challenge, create a layout using the following:

A. Use your favorite "School" themed papers.
B. Incorporate a real pencil on your page as an embellishment (can also be a coloring pencil, etc)
C. 1-3 photos that is school related (college, pics w/ Teachers, graduation, college football, etc.)
D. Use something you would find on a school supply list (paper clips, staples, post-it notes, rulers, etc.).
E. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic: Include journaling & numbers on your page. I'm looking forward to seeing what all of you create!


Cindy: I enjoyed creating my layout for this challenge, but I will say, it was more challenging than I thought it would be. But hey, that's what challenges are suppose to do, right?! hehehe. I had fun mixing up patterns and colors for this page. Adding the Ikea kraft pencil I thought was a nice touch to embellish the tag. I've been in the mood to scrap school pictures and loved these of my son on his first day of school as a Kindergartner (I can't believe he's a 2nd grader now).

Janet- This was a fun one to do for my grandson's book that I have been putting together for him. I enjoyed using all the elements in the challenge the one I didn't fit in was the pencil so I used pencil paper in two places and a pencil embellishment. Paper clips and staples rounded out the school supplies on the list.Fun challenge thanks Cindy for it.


Michelle: Thanks for giving me the push to scrap these school photos Cindy! Yes, I 'cheated' too and used a Doodlebug pencil sticker. I promise I followed all of the other rules. I used some of the new We R Memory Keepers Show & Tell line. I added some staples as my school supply.

Debbi T: I was tempted to "cheat" too because I have a peculiar aversion to pencils, but I am an obedient pupil and I made a trip to Office Depot to buy a pencil and sharpener! I don't really have a favorite school collection, but I love ledger papers, and they're sort of school-ish, right? I used the Noel Mignon Office Party kit for my page.Since I'm a teacher, I had planned to use my favorite pictures taken over the 20 years I've been teaching, but for the life of me, I couldn't find my pictures. I managed to dig out these 3 horrible school pictures, and here is what I journaled (hidden on the pull-out card that says "Report Card"):

20 years of school photos.
20 years of cringing when I open the envelope and see those photos.
20 years of students that see this image of a fat me in their yearbooks.
I no longer want to cringe when I open those envelopes.
I no longer want to be memorialized as the fat teacher in the yearbooks.
I'm hoping this year I will smile with pride when I open my envelope!
Goodbye to those 20 years.

(Side note: I've lost 55 pounds in the past year and a half.)

Please share your creations by linking them up to this blog post or over at 2Peas. happy creating & have lots of fun!
xo, Cindy :)