Here in Germany schools started again on Monday and over at
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog our theme for this week is "back to school". It is fitting perfectly, I think...
We're having some great sponsors for this challenge:
Prize - 7 Digis of winners choice
and
Prize - $15 Gift Certificate
and
Prize - 4 digis of winners choice
First I made a bookmark as that was the only thing I came up with when I thought about the theme... Here in Germany it is not common to give cards to the kids that return to school after the summer holidays, that's why I had been struggling a lot with that theme - actually I always skipped those challenges in the past.
Here's the great corner bookmark I made:
and a bit closer as well...
Stamp: "Emma Blowing Bubbles" from Fred She Said & "Sparkling Bubbles" from Magnolia
Pigment Ink Pad in silver
Colours: Polychromos from Faber Castell
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities
Punches: Floral Punch from Nellie Snellen
Charm: from Pink Gem Designs
Stickles, rocailles pearls, plain papers and cardstock from my stash.
I am entering the card in the following challenges:
But as the start of school always reminds me of the first years that start school, I also made something different - a small "Schultüte" (a Schultüte is a large cornet of cardboard filled with sweets and little presents given to children in Germany on their first day at school).
The tradition of the "Schultüte" leads
back to approximately 1810, to Saxony and Thuringia in Germany. The
first documented report of the cone-shaped Schultüte comes from the city of Jena in 1817, closely followed by reports from Dresden (1820) and Leipzig
(1836). It started in the bigger cities but spread quickly to the small
towns and villages, soon becoming an institution all over Germany.
At
first the practice of the school cone, which did not spread to other
parts of Germany at this time, was to not give the bag to the kids
directly. Marked with the students' names, they were taken to the school
by parents or godparents and in a ritual, reminiscent of the Mexican piñata,
hung on a metal "Schultüten-Baum" (School cone tree) from which each
child had to pick their cone, without breaking them. The story told to
the children goes, that there is a Schultütenbaum growing at the school,
and if the fruits (the Schultüten) are ripe and big enough to pick,
it's time to go to school for the first time.
The
only custom that
has changed in the later half of the 20th century is that fewer sweets
seem to appear in the Schultüte, with more practical gifts such as
crayons and pencils, small toys, CDs, books and even articles of
clothing replacing the traditional chocolates and candies. (from
Wikipedia)
The kids are also
bringing the Schultüte into school... it's a good thing to hold on to
when you're pretty shy (as I had been when I was small).
This is me with my Schultüte on my first day at school...
Back then people bought those Schultüte, nowadays most moms craft their own in kindergarten.
and a close up of the bubble blowing girl...
Stamp: "Emma Blowing Bubbles" from Fred She Said & "Sparkling Bubbles" from Magnolia
Pigment Ink Pad in silver and red
Colours: Polychromos from Faber Castell
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities
Stickles, ribbon, crêpe paper, plain papers and cardstock from my stash.
I am entering the card in the following challenges:
