#TGIFC486 — Back To School

Happy Friday! For this week’s TGIF Challenge, we are focusing on “Back To School”. While I don’t have school age kids anymore, I do remember how important it is to have teacher thank yous on hand. Teachers play such an important role in our kids’ lives, and I believe it’s important to let them know they’re appreciated for all their hard work and thoughtful actions.

I decided to decorate a Scalloped Gift Card Box with the new Changing Leaves Bundle. These boxes are great, because they’re super easy to assemble, come in a pack of eight, and have a handy insert to add a gift card.

The Changing Leaves Bundle includes stamps, dies, and a coordinating embossing folder. One of the dies fits inside the embossing folder to both cut and emboss at the same time! I love hybrid embossing folders like this, because they save time and add beautiful dimension to my projects.

There are several different ways I could have created the watercolored leaves. I could have pre-painted Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and then cut and embossed the leaves at the same time. I also could have cut and embossed them first, and then watercolored them afterwards, although I don’t particularly like this option, because the water tends to flatten the embossing. A third option, and this is what I chose, is to cut out the leaves first from watercolor paper, then watercolor them, and then emboss them. I like this option because I can control where to add the colors and the embossing stays crisp.

For the large leaves, I used Blackberry Bliss and Petunia Pop ink. For the small leaves, I used Misty Moonlight, Pretty Peacock, and Pool Party ink.

Next, I cut out the solid die-cuts from Misty Moonlight, Petunia Pop, and Blackberry Bliss Cardstock and added Misty Moonlight or Blackberry Bliss ink with a Blending Brush.

I think one of my favorite parts of this project is the belly band made of Mercury Gold Vellum. Photos of that paper don’t do it justice! It is GORGEOUS!!! I’m definitely buying more for holicy projects.

Be sure to check out the other designers’ projects at the TGIF Challenge Blog. You can also enter our challenge at the bottom of that post.

Have a wonderful day!

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