Non-themed theme layouts

The class Twelve that I'm taking over at Big Picture Classes has been terrific. I have been able to scrap so much more than I have, and on a variety of topics, too. This page is under the category "People," and it's about my son, who has had a lot of homework in third grade and is not liking it. His reaction to the homework, I'm not liking too much either. I'm becoming a drill sergeant, goshdarnit. Here's the final page:

When I made the layout, I didn't want to dig into my bins of themed supplies. (I keep four bins, one for Christmas, one for Halloween, one for Travel, and one for School. Any other theme I can use stash for.) Instead, I grabbed a Studio Calico kit I wanted to use more of, January's County Fair. Not schoolish, but bright and fun.

I started with the kraft number paper Good Measure by My Mind's Eye. Most of his homework is math, so that seemed fitting. I added the bright strips of patterned paper along the photos for fun. The last strip I used my EK Success Bumpy Road border punch, since that seemed fitting for the story.

For accents, I dug into the October Afternoon Sasparilla Flower Sack and buttons for the most part. I picked some of them to fit the school theme: the stars, of course, and the lined or graph paper die cuts:

 

For the title, I used a Russell and Hazel sticky note to make the title stand out; again the stars and lined paper suggested school. I picked "Giddy-up" since that seems to be what I'm saying to him when he comes home from school and needs to get started. The Ace of spades I picked because of the letter A, suggesting grades (I'm ignoring the playing card's ominous qualities!). Finally, the "Winner Winner" chipboard is my goal for him, should he continue with his hard work. I added buttons just because.

 

So that's my way of turning non-themed products into  a themed layout! Remember that the next time you feel like you need to go shopping for a themed product. Check out what's lurking in your stash, unnoticed!