May 2015 Blog Posts

If you have a teen daughter, you most likely have plenty of photos lol...some you have taken, others she has snapped while with friends...there really is no lack of photos in our house. While I love some that I have taken, it ends up being the ones that she shares with me of good times had while we aren't around that really share insight into her world at 15. I had several that had been piling up and decided to slip them into one pocket page, paired up with the I Am... collection.







These photos weren't taken in the same week. Heck, I think they may be from two different MONTHS...I could care less. Not once has my family ever called me out on silly things like timelines...they seem to love that the moments they assumed were insignificant ended up being quite the opposite. They remember the birthdays, the holidays and the vacations. But the day to day stuff? The photo of a new hair cut or the one taken immediately after a muddy soccer game? Those may have slipped their minds.



Until they showed up on this pocket page. ;)







The generic theme that pulls this page together might be the start of her sophomore year, but the photos + words actually tell more than that. Enjoying Friday night football games with her friends is part of her world but the photo I included from the game isn't showing the scoreboard or even the field. Instead I used the pic she sent me of her sitting in the stands after she and her friends took a few bottles of paint and 'wore' their school spirit proudly, lol. 







Just a reminder, not every pocket has to be a masterpiece...or filled with enough words to be worthy of a Shakespearean sonnet. I am perfectly ok letting a lovely card stand all on it's own, as seen above. A few flicks of spray mist were all I added, and I love the sentiments on both of these cards.



Bottom line?

This shouldn't be stressful.

ENJOY!

Supplies

Hello there, Simple Stories friends!  Shellye here to bring you a sweet "Welcome Baby" basket brimming with paper flowers and baby's info; such a wonderful keepsake for a new mom!

For this project I have used the "Enchanted Collection"...it's ideal for any of those little girl projects, even to welcome baby.  The wooden box is one that I found at Michael's and measures approximately 4.25"W X 5.5"H X 2"D.  I traced the front and back of the box onto a piece of the "Rose" Simple Basic paper and then cut out.  Adhesive was applied with the Xyron Creative Station and attached to box.

To the front, one of the printed sides of the 3X4 SN@P! cards was edged in green ric rac and embellished with a sentiment cloud from the Bits & Pieces pack.  A butterfly was attached to a pixie stick straw and attached with a glue dot.

From the 6X6 paper pad, blooms were punched using the Floriana punch by McGill.  Two blooms were layered together and then attached to a paper straw.  Floral foam was inserted into the box and the flowers arranged in a staggered fashion.  The baby info was printed off using my home printer and then cut into strips and glued to the straws.  Various Bradz, Bits & Pieces and chipboard stickers were added to the centers of the blooms.

The sides of the box were covered with strips cut from 6X6 paper and satin bows were glued to the sides.

This would also make an adorable centerpiece for a baby shower or a nursery decoration!

With the summer sitting just along the horizon, I couldn't resist working with the Under the Stars Digital Simple Set to get into a summertime adventure frame of mind.  My family loves to go camping and each year we try to find new places to visit and explore.  Last summer we were able to take a longer weekend and visit one of our favorite places in northern Minnesota.  I knew I wanted to use some pictures from that trip on a layout featuring Under the Stars.
 
I started with a sketch (credit: Traci Reed Designs) that allowed me to feature a bunch of the beautiful patterned papers in the simple set.  I grabbed a kraft paper from my digital stash (credit: Jenn Barrette Designs) because I wanted something basic and neutral that would allow the colors in this set to shine. 
 
Once I got my papers situated, I layered on elements and added a simple title and some journaling to remember the day.  I wanted to add some faux tape to my layout, so I clipped a paper to some digital tape from my stash (you could just as easily create a square and clip a paper to it, then adjust the opacity of the layer until you can see a bit of the layers below through it).  I used a trick to make the tape look a bit more realistic that I learned from a tutorial I watched awhile ago (credit to One Little Bird designs), using the dodge and burn tools to create shadowing effects. 
 
 
And I loved the way the layout came together!  This is the perfect kit to document summer memories and nights spent under the stars!
 
 
Have a great day!

Hello Friends! 

It's Kristine with you today and I am here to share a pocket page spread featuring a variety of collections today. I used Say Cheese II, and I AM Collections. I have the month of April in my spread today.  April was a quick month for me, I  was able to enjoy time with friends at a crop and some much needed time with my sister and her kids.

My spread is colorful this month. I used lots of colors to feature the pictures and to make it a fun spread. I love color and these colors in the collection are so bright and cheerful.

A fun thing to do in a pocket page is confetti! Lots of fun elements to create a great  " interactive" pocket!

I included a few diecuts, some silhouette cut words and numbers, punched out confetti as well as wood veneers. It's fun to include these items in a pocket page spread! Have you ever created a confetti pocket? Don't forget to sew the top of the pocket so your items don't fall out ;-) 

Here are a few close ups  of my spread.

I hope you enjoyed my Life Documented post today and I hope you enjoy creating with your favorite Simple Stories Products!

 

Supplies

Hi there!   Today I have 2 layouts to share with you using some of the recent collections.
 
PLACES WE GO:
The first layout that I'd like to share is about my trip to England with my Mom.  We went last September and had the most gorgeous weather the entire trip! It was wonderful.  We saw many sights, where my mom was born, visited family & friends and just had a great time. We even toured through Buckingham Palace and then enjoyed Tea in the backyard of the Palace.  
 
 
I used the Enchanted collection along with the diecuts shapes, and wood veneer embellishments.
 
The die cuts were perfect for my layout.
 
The wood veneer shapes add texture and dimension to a project which I like!
 
 
I used my Silhouette CAMEO and the Places We Go cut file by Simple Stories for the title.  I continued the title with some alpha stickers.
 
 
I also added a bit of punch in colour with the black photo stickers.
 
 
The second layout I'd like to share with you today is about me & my coffee!  Yes, I do love my coffee.  But mostly in the morning!
 
 
I used the Fresh SN@P! Pack for this page. There's so many funs little bits & pieces to this mini collection.
 
 
 
I typed my journaling onto one of the small 2x2 squares cards that came in the collection. Added a few more small circle die cut pieces, some photo stickers (heart) and some enamel dots.
 
 
Love the ampersand and had to use it for my title.
 
 
I also dug out some of the DIY burlap stickers (heart & arrow) to add some texture & warmth to my page.
 
Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies

Hi everyone, it's Audrey, and today I have a couple of bright and happy, spring-inspired friendship cards to share with you, made with the adorable I AM... collection. AudreyPettit-IAm-SendingSmilesCard Today's cards are all about the polka dots. To me, there is nothing quite as happy and fun as a bunch of polka dots. So I decided to really focus on them with these card designs, and have combined a ton of dots here using prints from the 12x12 and 6x6 patterned papers and prints from the SN@P Cards. I've even thrown in some dots from the I Am Washi Paper Tape. One might not think that all those dots would work together, but I think they do. And what could be more fun? AudreyPettit-IAm-SendingSmilesCard2 My first card is a sweet friendship card for those friends who live far away from you. The map prints on the chipboard globe and frame are fabulous images for long distance friends, and paired with the perfect stamped sentiment, you have a winning combination. I added a fun print from the 6x6 paper pad behind the chipboard frame for extra detail, and a Bits & Pieces die cut flower trio on top of the books to create lots of layers and depth. And a fun tip for you... This chipboard frame had a printed sentiment on the bottom that didn't work with my design, but was otherwise perfect. An easy solution is to just cover up the part that doesn't work with one that does, like I did with my stamped sentiment strip here. AudreyPettit-IAm-SendingSmilesCard3 And on to the polka dots! As you can see, I used a ton here, including a large-scaled 12x12 print for the card base, and two pieces of dotted SN@P Cards for the second layer. I loved the printed postcard image on this SN@P Card and thought it worked really well with my smiles across the miles theme, but it, too, had printing on it that didn't work with my design. So I covered up the bottom portion with a second journaling card, and strategically placed the chipboard frame to cover the rest of the printing. A bit of dotted washi paper tape placed across the middle seam helps blend the two edges. AudreyPettit-IAm-LittleThingsCard My second card also features lots of polka dots, in a simple and playful CAS card design. AudreyPettit-IAm-LittleThingsCard2 This card is a mini card at 3.5"x5", and is a more clean and simple design, yet still packs a lot of charm with all those happy dots. I love mixing different scales of prints, like I did here with the smaller sized dots for the main panel and the larger dot border at the bottom. It's a really easy and effective way to add interest to a design with very little effort. AudreyPettit-IAm-LittleThingsCard3 This card uses a mix of papers from the 6x6 paper pad and the SN@P Cards. Don't forget to look at the back side of the SN@P Cards for design possibilities, too. The flip side of this ombre polka dotted 3x4 journaling card was just exactly what I needed to balance the pinks from the top of the card to pull the whole thing together.

 

Supplies

Hi there!  Vicki here with something a little different for my post for the day.  This past weekend I taught an I AM... 6x8 N@P! Binder workshop to a bunch of fabulous ladies.  As we chatted throughout the class and played with a great mix of I AM... product, I fell in love with this line all over again.  The ladies kept commenting on how pretty the I AM... collection is and what a great color combination it has.  It was so much fun spreading the Simple Stories LOVE!!

The class was on Saturday and Sunday was Mother’s Day.  I was greeted with some handmade gifts from my daughter and a lovely wrapped present.  My family had purchased me a FitBit!  I was so excited!  I have been wanting to track my steps and they were thoughtful enough to get me just what I had been hoping for.

All of this background story was leading up to my project for today.  I wanted to create something that I can journal in and track my food and movement down.  So I covered a notebook in some goodies from I AM. These two go hand in hand!!  I can jot down all the details from my journey to a healthier me! Take a closer look at the notebook…

I love that the I AM...collection was the perfect fit for something other than my traditional scrapbooking projects.  It was just what I need to create a little something pretty to collect the list and notes I love to make! Thanks!  Have fun creating something special to document your I AM story!

Supplies

Hi there, Simple Stories fans! 

Teri here, and I'm happy to be bringing you some fun cards I created with the I AM... collection.
 
This collection is so fun! It's got a beautiful color scheme and such a fun feminine feel about it! I love the gold, the flowers and all those hearts in it.
When I look at this collection, I want to scrapbook with it. There are so many great phrases and icons to use to make scrapbook pages. But many of the elements can also be used to make cool encouragement, thank you and, even, graduation cards.
 
 
This first card is a thank you card.
 
 
The banner was actually part of a larger chipboard banner. I set it on my card and then snipped off the ends with my scissors so it would fit on the card. One of the things to remember about stickers and chipboard is you can always alter them and use only part of them.
 
 
To sauce up the banner a little, I added a couple enamel dots and a heart Bradz. I love that the Bradz have adhesive on them. Gone are the days of having to poke holes through chipboard to insert brads. It makes using brads so much easier! Hooray! 
 
This card is a little more on the simple side.
 
 
I built it around the house SN@P! card. I add the chipboard word, enamel dot and heart to it, just to give it a more personalized touch.
 
 
I think I am going to use this card as a graduation card for a friend who just graduated from college. 
 
 
I just love the words on the SN@P! card I used for it. So inspiring.
 
 
You might be wondering about those little stripes coming from the globe? Those are just a couple pieces of Washi Paper Tape stickers.
 
Pretty fun, huh?
 
My final card is just a fun card with a lot of different elements from the I AM collection. 
 
 
I just made sure every little square had some kind of fun element added to it, whether it be a piece a chipboard, a Bradz or an enamel dot. 
I think it just turned out fun!
 
 
Well, thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you again soon!

 

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