Out of hundreds of suggestions, we're thrilled to announce the name of our Carpe Diem mascot! Thanks to everyone that submitted names, we had a ball reading through all of them! 

Believe it or not, there were 10! people that suggested the pooch's winning name of Winston - 

Facebook - Manda Moore, Wendy Gee England, Marie Heiderscheit, Kelsey Josephson

Instagram - Armartinez, Iraemalloy, Dananich3, Librarianelf_uk, Mrsjoecool, Adiaz2710

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for exciting adventures featuring Winston!

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Hello friends! Allie here today, and I'm so excited to be sharing two layouts with you today using the BRAND NEW Posh collection! I think this might be my favorite Simple Stories collection ever! It has my favorite colors with a touch of platinum foil, and lots of "love" themed elements, which are my most used items.

For this first layout, I used the Live Simply paper to create my background. I cut the color blocks from the paper, and trimmed them down so that they would have a border of white cardstock between them. I stitched each piece down and my background was complete!
 

Next, I cut flowers from my Silhouette Cameo in various shapes and sizes. I printed out two small black and white photos, and layered the flowers underneath and around my pictures. I added the beautiful foil title from the chipboard, and then placed butterflies around my photos. A few hearts and mist splatters finished the page!
 

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Good Morning!

By now you have all heard that Simple Stories is trying to solicit your help with naming their infamous Carpe Diem mascot dog - read more about that here :)

Honestly, I created this layout before this mission started!  When I saw the big pup on 12x12 sheet of paper, he/she was begging to  be fussy cut and highlighted on my favorite pooches layout!

We purchased Flo's Patriots' jersey right before the AFC championship game last year.  Of course we were routing for the Pat's but they lost to the Broncos.  Boo.  

With the big dog at the bottom, I opted to keep my layout pretty simple.  Only thing he/she really needed was a little floral bling on the collar!

We are grateful that our pup is as big as she is going to get, so next year during the Super Bowl, we will already have her jersey!  Win win!

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How sweet are all the little embellishments from Posh, coordinating together and helping emphasis the love that is in the air with my sister and BIL?!

I love the dark blue that is throughout this collection, perfect for the man in the photos!  

After building my background,  I chose to use a couple of the 4x4 blocks from the Journaling Cards behind my photo, scattering the dark blue to help your eye travel around my layout.  

I also created a triangle with the birds to help you flow around the page.

It came together rather quickly.  The patterned papers helped add their own textures and embellishments.

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Hello Simple Stories friends! Marcia back today with a look at a couple of our newest collections.

Fall is hands down my favorite season, when all the trees are in full color and my favorite pumpkin spice coffee returns. So the Simple Stories Hello Fall collection was one I could not wait to get my hands on. I am not the only one who loves Fall though... so does my dog Satchel! His favorite Fall activity is squirrel chasing. When the days get cooler, he gets to wear this sweater I knit for him and he thinks he is so handsome wearing it, lol. Here is my layout...
 

I used the 6x6 Hello Fall paper pad along with the 12x12 woodgrain pattern paper from the collection to piece behind this leaf cut file from JustNick Studios. The result is a vivid splash of color. This chipboard squirrel sticker was a must since Satchel loves to chase them so much.
 

I kept my cluster of embellishments mostly around my photo, adding a journaling spot and lots of other bits & pieces.
 

The alpha stickers in the Hello Fall collection are fun cursive letters and they work so well to link together.
 

There are some fun stickers that I used to embellish my page; a banner, spiders, and fun phrases.
 

Hello Friends, It’s Kristine Davidson with you today.  I am going to show you 2 of my latest layouts created using the Bloom & Grow collection.  This collection has so many great colors and can be used for pretty much any themed layout.  

The first layout I'll be sharing is called " Happy Little Moments"

I started with the wood grain background paper called "Dig It".  This as my base makes it easy to add assorted colors from this collection while not making my page too busy.  I added tons of flower diecuts and subtitle using the word 'lovely' with a word sticker.

Adding some sewing to my layouts is something i've done for quite some time and the little thread bunched under my photos was inspired by Missy Whidden. I love the little extra detail it gives to my page. I usually add some form of twine but I avoided that this time and created texture with this thread.

Journal Strips are easy to do since I am more comfortable journaling this way compared to journal tags or other. I type my journaling on a word doc and print it on a 4x6 piece of cardstock and then cut up to make strips. Most of my layouts have this form of journaling.

I cannot leave a page unfinished without adding dimensions. Of course I used my dimensional adhesive under the flower diecuts! One must always use popdots!

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My Second layout for you today is called "Happy With My Gnomies"

My nephew being so cute while hanging out with his mom and myself. He is at the age where he enjoys having his picture taken, so I'll take advantage of that for now ;)

To start this page I used a diecut background that I created using my Silhouette Cameo. It's a simple background and so perfect to use some left over pieces of paper. I used a variety of colors and also a mixture of papers for this layout.

The little gnomes were perfect for that smiley face of his. I just felt like it added Fun to my page.

A closer look at the dimensions of my stickers and diecuts. You can also see I did some sewing on the cardstock alpha stickers, and the diecut background.

Adding chipboard pieces to a page can sometimes be challenging especially if you love layers or aren't sure how to position those larger pieces. Stack them! Add some popdots to one side of your chipboard piece and then the other side position it on top of your first chipboard piece. This creates dimension and looks great on a layout.

To see more of my work you can find me on instagram @KristineDavidson 

Thank you so much for reading and being a fan of Simple Stories!

Howdy friends!  You may recognize me, I'm the Carpe Diem mascot!  You've seen me appear in the original Carpe Diem planner & scrapbook collections as well as the Posh planner & scrapbook collections.  I'll continue to appear in future planner collections, but I need your help!

There are some really FUN things happening with me in the near future; however, I'm in desperate need of a NAME before the fun begins!  

Would you like to help?  Please leave a comment on this post sharing a suggestion for my name.  My name will be chosen and announced here on the blog & on social media on Tuesday, August 30th.  The person that suggests the winning name will receive a fun prize pack full of products with my likeness!

Thanks for playing along, I can't wait to have a name so we can continue the fun!