Hi friends! Linsey here today sharing some spooktacularly festive treat ideas for Halloween! The Spellbound Simple Set is just perfect for all kinds of crafty desires this Halloween! In addition to treat holders and decorations, this set will be your go-to collection to preserve you Halloween photos and turn them into beautiful and classy Halloween scrapbook layouts! Spellbound has a touch of elegance and sophistication, which makes it great for older teen and adult Halloween festivities too!

 

 

The 3x4 Journaling Card Elements were used to decorate the front of each treat bag and some of the cool stickers from the 6x12 Sticker sheet were added as well. A pretty satin ribbon slider was tied around each bag and a few sequins for a sparkly finishing touch.

 

 

Each treat bag holds a decorated tube filled with a special concoction from the mad scientists lab...Mwahahahaha! 

 

 

Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you've enjoyed my Spellbound treat ensemble and feel inspired to have some spooky crafty fun of your own with this great Simple Set collection! 

Supplies

 
Hi everyone! It’s Tara, aka Secretbees Studio  here with you today to share the sweetest mini scrapbook made with the ‘Vintage Blessings’ paper collection! It’s no secret that I love making mini albums and when you have a fabulous collection like this one, it is so easy and enjoyable!  
 
 
This paper collection is all about love for family, friends and Fall! There are sweet vintage images paired with lots of hearts,florals and birds in the deep, beautiful colors of Fall. This pocket and tag album is perfect to display all of the wonderful patterns that mix and match so well together! 
 
 
This is a chunky little album measuring about 3.25" by 4.25" and is full of 6 pockets and coordinating tags. The die I used allows you to cut as many pockets as you would like but depending on the embellishments, I would say 5 or 6 is the limit! That gives you lots of space for all of your Fall memories!
 
 
Each pocket holds a tag that I die cut first out of card stock for sturdiness. Each tag was then layered with a smaller tag of the pretty patterned papers of the collection. Because my mini has so many pockets, I kept each tag thin by just adding a few charming stickers. Here are the fronts of all of the tags!
 
 
And of course, the just as adorable back sides of the tags! The colors in this collection are so rich and lovely!
 
 
I just had to show you the inside front cover! The patterned paper of tiny houses is so sweet and I popped off the word 'love; from the background so there is plenty of room to slide a photo in!
 
 
Each pocket and tag combo is beautiful and unique, but I do have some favorites! I am a sucker for florals and Simple Stories does them in the most gorgeous way! This flowered pocket is highlighted with the amazing birdie washi tape and one of the sweet birds in the collection!
 
 
 
No surprise, another fabulous floral sticker together with a Bits & Pieces sentiment!
 
 
 
I just love the contrasting patterns and colors of this pocket! The mix of mustard yellow with soft pink and turquoise  are so retro and stunning! I have added in a heart and sentiment ephemera from the Bits & Pieces pack for just the right touch!
 
 
 
There are more pretty pockets to this mini album and if you would like to see them all, I invite you to my Instagram or youtube channel for a short video showing all of them! The 'Vintage Blessings' paper collection is a definite must-have for your Fall memories!
 
 

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Supplies

Happy Fall, Y'all!!

Nathalie here, bringing you some inspiration for the new Fall season.   In case you have not notice, I love Autumn!, and what better way to document it  that by using the new Simple Stories Vintage Blessing collection     The colors, designs, and overall feeling of this collection are perfect, especially for all those family portraits, and colorful nature shots, but better yet let me show you:

FAMILY

For the first project, i pulled a picture of my kids, the littles, and my younger sisters to create a page all about this new family generation.   I am a sucker for large titles, so I set to build one that could combine as many of the colors and patterns of the collection in one.

Using a simple font from the Silhouette store, I cut each letter from the word family out of papers from the 6x8 paper pad.   At the same time, i used the Silhouette Software to weld the letters together (just in the screen), and then use the formed word to create an offset -the white base of the title- where i could glue the letters together.

I glued the letters to the white cardstock base, and used some hand stitching to secure it all together, add texture, and bring the handmade feeling of the collection to the page.   

To bring in more of the vintage feeling of the page, i glued one of the papers from the Wood and Gingham 12x12 paper pad to the "So Thankful" paper.    I was careful not to add glue around the lines of the  wood grain design, and instead used an exacto knife to carefully slit the paper open, and  stressed the edges of each wood slat.

There are so many beautiful stickers and die cuts in this collection that it was so easy to combine them into clusters around the page.  Here is the final layout:

The final look of this page is simple, yet full of color and different textures.   The perfect combination to safe keep a moment in our family's life.  But now, let me show you how the same collection can be used to document the beauty of the season.

________________________________________

AUTUMN

Have I mentioned, I love FALL!   One of my favorite things to do at fall time is take long walks around the river bank.  My baby (our Boston Terrier) is my most loyal companion, even when i am taking a few pictures of leaves along the way.  So I set to create a layout that captures our daily walks:

For this page, I wanted to bring a bit of the outdoors in; that meant recreating some of the foliage for the page.   For this, I used the Cut Shoppe's "Leaf It To Me" cut file to create leaves from some of the 6x8 papers.

While the machine cut the leaves and vellum to back each leaf,  a  colorful background was created on watercolor paper that had been stitched to the "Happy Life" paper from the collection.  I made sure to add the mixed media just to the area where the picture and leaves would be placed.

Once it was all dried, the page came together rather easily.   Once the leaves were put in place - I used foam adhesive, glue and pop dots to attach the leaves in place), the picture was then nestled a the bottom right corner of the mixed media.

To continue the flow of the leaves's trail, clusters of stickers and ephemera were created at the corners of the picture that was set on the leaves.

All the small details in the stickers, and ephemera pieces of this collection are perfect t

o bring the fall colors in the picture to the page.  I just love the end look of this page!

Don't you just love the versatility of this collection?!  What can i say, it is FALL PERFECT!  I hope you all are inspired to use the  Simple Stories Vintage Blessings collection to document those close to the heart moments in your life!

Remember you can always contact me if there is any questions on how this came together.

See you all soon!

 

Hello, its Meredy here showing off my newest experiment, the Carpe Diem Traveler’s Notebook.

When I saw that Carpe Diem was coming out with a Traveler’s Notebook in black and white, I was super excited to try one out!  I am not usually a TN person, but I fell in love with the design of the Aztec pattern, isn’t this a beauty!?  I thought I would give it a go for my weekly planning and set it up for fall.

I used the Bits and Pieces from the Vintage Blessings Collection to decorate the front of the notebook that came with the Traveler’s Notebook.  With a few pieces on the front of the notebook and some in the pockets, I was all ready to go.

Since the notebook is unlined I made my own week on two pages just by making a horizontal line every couple of inches and using Sn@p Alpha stickers.  I added the washi down the middle as I do in a ring binder and went to town decorating the pages with more bits and pieces.

I was surprised by how easy it was to set up the Traveler’s Notebook as a planner by just using some embellishments.  I have definitely found my new favorite planner!

Hi everyone!  It's Traci ... back to share my newest SN@P! album with you. Christmas is absolutely one of my favorite times of the year so playing with some Christmas goodies this week was lots of fun.  When I saw the new Very Merry collection, I fell in love with the traditional red and green colors mixed in with pops of black, so I decided to use this fun black and white striped binder album, and I couldn't wait to tie a big red ribbon around it!

 
For the inside of my cover, I added a 4x4 card where I will journal that the book is about our 2012 Christmas spent in Georgia.
 
I thought that this page from the 6x8 paper pad was perfect for the opening page...
 
We spent the holidays with my sister and her family.  Even though it's Georgia, it was a cold winter and my Florida family enjoyed ice skating and bundling up with some hot cocoa.  The little snow man die cut was perfect for this page .... 
 
I love chipboard stickers....and I especially love Simple Stories chipboard stickers.  Here's why -- I always want to see how my piece is going to look on my project before I commit to it.  The fabulous thing about Simple Stories chipboard is that they easily pop out of the packaging with the backing attached (not all chipboard does this).  You can lay the piece down on your project and decide if you want to "love it, or leave it off".  For the cute snowflakes below, I decided to "love it" so I peeled off the backing and stuck them down, overlapping one of the pockets (a fun way to bring spaces together)!
 
Another thing I love to do is cut a plastic page protector that has four 3x4 spaces in half (top to bottom).  The piece below, that has the 3x4 "Eat Drink & Be Merry" card, along with a cute pic of my Dad and stepmom is an example.  The size difference adds interest to the album, and the elements behind the piece (like the cute pic of my darling Reeci pup) can show from behind.  Don't be afraid to cut things up and make them different than they were originally intended :)   
 
For my little 1/2 page, I added a tab sticker to the front and back ... I LOVE when a company makes stickers that will work back to back! 
 
 

We went on a snow-tubing adventure while my family was in town.  My "Florida family" did not have winter coats, but Meme did!  My stepmom dug several ski jackets (from the 90's) out of her closet and the kids LOVED it!  We were the brightest, most neon group on the tubing slope .... ha ha!  So much family fun!

 
 

I had a lot of fun reliving our crazy "Very Merry" memories when I created this album.  I hope you will enjoy playing with this collection as much as I did!

Hello Friends! 

 

It is Kristine Davidson with you today and I'll be sharing 2 layouts using the latest collection from Vintage Blessings. 

The first layout is called " Love & Laughter " 

 

This layout was created with 1 piece of 12x12 patterned paper and the rest was used with 3x4 journal cards that I cut out from the Journaling Card Elements paper. So simple to create a layout using these cards as 3x4 pieces of paper and not necessarily journaling cards. You can use the reverse side, only parts of the card or trim what you need! 
 

 

I added a few pieces of stickers from the 4x6 sticker pack, a few chipboard pieces and some enamel dots. I did add some glossy accents on the hearts to add a bit of glossy shine and dimension. 

________________________________

 

My second layout is called " Thankful "
 

 

I used a bit more papers on this layout. I love how they are match each other and the picture kind of fits perfectly with this collection! 

 

 

 

I used the Thankful chipboard piece to create my title. For some extra depth and dimension I used some dimensional adhesive underneath and of course layered around the title and photo.

 

I hope you enjoyed and found some inspiration today !  Remember to share your pages with us on instagram using #SimpleStories 

Supplies

Fall icons & vintage graphics paired with warm tones of ruby red, harvest gold, moss green and hints of robin’s egg blue accentuate the thankful sentiment of the Vintage Blessings collection. 

The papers in the new Vintage Blessings collection inspire nostalgic feelings of home. The the robins egg and blush pink are a wonderful contrast to the traditional browns, oranges and yellows of fall. This line is filled with beautiful accents like doilies, birds, houses, and so much more!

The Vintage Blessings Collection Kit is filled with beautiful papers and stickers to help you create pages and pages of autumn and family! With 2 coordinating washi tapes, more stickers & die cuts Bits & Pieces, you’re sure to find just what you need to add a gorgeous touch to all of your projects.

Each of these projects showcase the many different ways the Vintage Blessings collection can be used to create gorgeous projects. Whether it's cards, mini-albums, layouts or home decor, these are sure to make you happy & feel like creating for the fall!

Be sure to check out & follow our Vintage Blessings Pinterest board for more project inspiration now & in the future!

Hey everyone! Nicole here on the blog today to share a few layouts with you using the new Beautiful collection. I don`t know about you, but when I first saw this collection, I thought “wow, that is really beautiful”. I know, pretty obvious, but I also thought it was perfect for scrapping some recent photos of my daughter on our recent family vacation.

I wanted to create a grid of sorts on my page to incorporate some of the fun little details in this collection, so I diecut a simple circle background to help me along! I added in lots of diecut cardstock stickers and chipboard into my open areas, along with punches of patterned paper too!

I couldn’t resist adding a few of the great clear stickers to the inside of those same circles, I just love how they look like they were almost printed on the patterned paper background.

___________________________________________

Now, this collection is really pretty – but it is great for masculine pages too! I decided to challenge myself to use this same collection with a masculine twist, and I think it turned out great.

I used a basic grid for this page too, this time alternating between patterned paper from the collection and 4x4 Elements. It is really so easy to make a page come together when you start with a basic grid and color scheme.

I added in some of the less “pretty” cardstock stickers, like these fun balloon shapes and a lot of punched circles from the black gingham patterned paper to add around my basic grid design.

Although I used the same collection for both pages, I was able to take advantage of the girly and masculine side of things for two uniquely different pages and I hope you are inspired to do the same!

Supplies

Hi everybody! It’s Lori, marketing manager at Simple Stories, and today we’re talking about planning!

Everyone is loving our latest release of Carpe Diem planners and Travelers Notebooks! With so many options now available, we’re hearing the same question from lots of you, “How do I choose which planner is right for me?”

Oh my. Decisions, decisions.

If you’re one of those people who aren’t sure which route to go when it comes to choosing a planner, ask yourself a few questions to get you started on the right track:

What’s the planner’s purpose?

This is the first question you should be asking yourself when selecting your planner. How will you use your planner and what will be the purpose of the planner? Everyone plans, plots and tracks goals in different ways. Some people want to track appointments and to-dos. Others want to doodle and dream. The purpose of planning will guide you to the planner that’s right for you.

What size?

Will you be carrying your planner with you daily or is your planner going to stay on your desk? Do you tend to record lots of notes throughout the day or do you only write minimally? Does it need to fit in your purse or will any size do?

Which binding type?

Do you want to add pages to your planner on your own or do you want everything pre-designed and bound together in one notebook? Do you want a fold-over, spiral-type planner, or would you prefer more of a binder?

What’s my budget?

Planners come in a wide-range of prices. Binder-type planners are more expensive because of the hardware mechanisms, and they are easy to customize. Spiral planners are less-expensive, but you can’t do too much to personalize the contents.

 

Now that you’ve got some ideas in mind for using your planner, let’s quickly review each of our Carpe Planner types so you can make the right decision for you!

Carpe Diem A5 Planner

Our Carpe Diem A5 Planner is our beloved first-born. We have a special love for this baby of ours, and many people have found that this planner is a perfect fit for them. With lots of insert types to choose from, this 6-ring planner is customizable for everyone. Whether you use it for hourly appointment scheduling, fitness tracking or menu planning, there are insert options available to make your planning easier. And if you have our Carpe Diem A5 Punch, you can add any papers you’d like so you have all of your important items in one place.

The Carpe Diem A5 Planner measures 8 inches wide by 9.4 inches tall. At 1.375 inches deep, there’s lots of room to add pages to your planner so it’s just-right!

Select an A5 Planner if you:

·       Want customization options with inserts and tabs

·       Want to add additional pages to your planner to fit your needs

·       Want a wide selection of colors and prints

·       Want to plan a few months at a time

·       Want a larger area of paper to record items, notes, etc.

·       Want to track monthly important dates, goals, birthdays, to-dos

·       Plan hourly appointments

·       Track to-dos

Carpe Diem Spiral Planner

Our Carpe Diem Spiral Planner is one of our latest additions to the Carpe Diem family. We are thrilled to introduce a gorgeous planner at an inexpensive price point for our customers who are looking for a grab-n-go option. Our spiral planners are beautifully designed with pages you can fold over and keep compact on your desktop. This option is perfect for those people who are looking a planner with 16-months in one notebook. Sticker sheets are included for coordinated decorating.

The Carpe Diem Spiral Planner measures 8 inches wide by 8.75 inches tall, so this notebook will fit in a bag or backpack with ease.

Select a Carpe Diem Spiral Planner if you:

·       Want a 16-month calendar in one notebook

·       Want an inexpensive option for daily planning

·       Want to track monthly important dates, goals, birthdays, to-dos

·       Want a spiral notebook with the ability to fold over pages

·       Want a pre-designed planner & stickers in one grab-n-go package

·       Plan appointments

·       Track to-dos

Carpe Diem Personal Planner

Our Carpe Diem Personal Planner is another of our new additions to the Carpe Diem family. Ever since we launched our A5 Planner in July of 2015, our customers have pleaded for us to release a personal sized option. Now we have, and everyone’s celebrating! Just like its A5 sister, the 6-ring Personal Planner has insert options to select from, and pages can be added to the planner to customize the planner for you and your needs.

The Carpe Diem Personal Planner measures 6 inches wide by 7.5 inches tall. This compact planner is perfect for carrying in a purse or bag!

Select a Personal Planner if you:

·       Want customization options with inserts and tabs

·       Want to add additional pages to your planner to fit your needs

·       Want a wide selection of colors and prints

·       Want to plan a few months at a time

·       Want a smaller, 6-ring planner option

·       Want to track monthly important dates, goals, birthdays, to-dos

·       Don’t need a lot of space to record things

·       Plan hourly appointments

·       Track to-dos

Carpe Diem Travelers Notebooks

The Carpe Diem Travelers Notebook is another great option introduced to the Carpe Diem family in our Q2 2017 release. While the Travelers Notebook is new to our product offerings, it’s certainly not new to the planning and stationery world. Made of high-quality simulated leather, the notebook itself is slightly flexible and expands to wrap around multiple Travelers Notebook Inserts. This notebook has an elastic band closure to keep all of your notes and books together in one tight package.

The Carpe Diem Travelers Notebook measures 5.5 inches wide by 8.625 inches tall. This notebook can hold multiple inserts and keep you organized in a completely customizable way.

Select a Travelers Notebook if you:

·       Want freedom to customize the entire notebook

·       Want to add additional notebooks to fit your needs

·       Want a wide selection of colors and prints

·       Want to plan, doodle, bullet journal, capture to-dos or dreams

·       Want a smaller, flexible cover option

·       Want freedom to record whatever, however you want

Hopefully we’ve been able to help you today so you can choose the right planning option that’s ideal for you. Remember, planning is very much a personal thing. Choose one system or multiple, the choice is yours. The most important thing is that you’re committed to planning and you’re having fun while you’re doing it!

Today I want to show you how I have setup my new personal Mint Vintage Floral planner! I decided to use the ‘Beautiful’ Simple Stories collection and the matching Carpe Diem products to decorate my planner.

The personal planners have three small front pockets and one side pocket. I filled the pockets with little pieces of scrapbook papers and a few bits and pieces. I teared out two stickersheets of the mini tablet and tucked them in the side pocket! 

In the Beautiful collection you can find a few papers with the vintage floral design on it, I chose the one with a beige background (it’s my favorite) and cut it down to size. A little tip: I always use an existing planner page as a template to quickly cut the paper to the right size and punch the six holes on the right distance! I placed the floral paper behind the clear acetate dashboard, this way I simple personalized my planner.

For this setup I wanted to make a personal pocketpage to hold some extra planner stickers. Besides the fact that these extra pages are functional, I also love to look at them. I chose the pink vintage floral design paper and a piece of paper with beige and pink stripes. First, I have cut the floral paper down to size and then I used my lace borderpunch on the striped paper piece. Next, I glued the piece on the page and cut two mini stickersheets in half and tucked them in the pocket.

What I like about the ringbound planners, is that you can decide what kind of inserts you want. So for this planner I added some daily personal planner pages to create a ‘daily’ personal planner. To decorate the spreads I used some washitapes and stickers from the mini sticker tablet.

The sticky notes are perfect to use as backgrounds on your spreads, I just glue them down and then write on them.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog! You can find more spreads in my Carpe Diem planners on Instagram createplannernl (https://www.instagram.com/createplannernl/)

Supplies

Hello everyone!  Nathalie with you today.  I am still crushing on the new Simple Stories "BEAUTIFUL" collection... what can I say, "It is BEAUTIFUL".  So I want to share with you all a few more layouts created with this collection.   Let me show you:

 

 

You know that feeling when you see a patterned paper, and suddenly the entire layout comes to mind, picture and all!   This is what happened as soon as I saw the "Shine Bright" paper from the Beautiful collection. For starters the name of the paper, and all the gold foil gave me the idea to create a star filled page.

 

 

Next i wanted to incorporate one of my favorite and most used techniques, "a large stitched title".   For this i used one  of the Simple Stories' Silhouette Store designs to cut the large "SHINE"  word from one of the papers from the High Style paper pad.  It was then backed with the Shine Bright paper, and then stitched together with pink and gold embroidery thread.

 

 

Once the stitching was completed, then I trimmed the page, and stitched on a slant to another of the High Style papers from the pad (I love that all these papers combine seamlessly), and attached the picture to the bottom of the page.

 

 

Using the same cut file, a lots of stars were created from different papers from the collection (all the leftover pieces from previous projects), and these were scattered around the page, so that they look as exploding from the bottom corner of  the page.

 

 

Using pieces from all the embellishment add ons, small clusters were created along the page, so that they form a visual triangle, and bring attention to the picture, and title of the page.  Here is the final page:

 

 

I love the combination of colors, dimension, and texture in this page.   It came together in a heart beat (though the stitching took some time), and the end result is just worthy of the title.  

_____________________________ 

 

For the second project, I wanted to focus on using the soft patterns of the collection to create a very feminine and simple page about this year's Mother's Day portrait  ( I am so glad i save this picture for the right collection!)

 

 

I wanted to keep the page clean and simple, so I reached for some white cardstock for the background of the page.  Then cut two triangles, and two strips from the "CHOOSE HAPPY" paper, and glued them onto the white cardstock making sure to show the b side of the paper  in the strips .  A bit of machine stitching secures is all together to the cardstock.

 

 

All the soft patterns in the paper are perfect for recreating flowers on a layout.  For these, I used a steel die to cut the  petals, and a JustNick cut file to create the leaves for the page, and cut them all from the 6x8 paper pad. Then just layer the petals together and glued a small enamel dot from the Faith collection to the center of each flower.

 

 

Once all the flowers were ready to glue, then assembly on the page started.   I glued the picture onto the bottom corner the page, and added two large  clusters of flowers, and stems to  the two corners that run along the paper triangle.   

 

 

Then added a few pieces of ephemera, and stickers around the  flower clusters.   The pop of black, white, and gold in the pieces make the flowers softer, and bring out the details in each of them.

 

Finally, I wanted to bring a bit of shine to this page, and what better place than to create a foiled title for this page.  Using the Deco Foil PeelnStick toner sheet, and one of the Simple Stories  Silhouette store cut files, i created the  title for the page.  The paper was so easy to use in the Cameo machine!  Then a bit of gold foil, and some heat from the laminator bring the title to life.

 

 

The simplicity of the page is not lost with the soft flowers and stems that decorate the page.   The dimension created on each of the flowers is perfect to bring the patterns on the papers to life, and keep the focus on the picture.   I really love the final look of the page!

 

I hope you are all inspire to use the patterns, colors and foiled details in the  Simple Stories BEAUTIFUL collection.  It is one of my favorite Simple Stories to date, and i am sure you will also fall in love with it!  Remember i am a comment away if you have any questions on how this came together.

 

See you all soon!

 

Supplies

Hello fellow creatives! Leah here with you on the blog today. Happy Tuesday and welcome back to the Simple Stories blog for another dose of creative planning fun! I hope you all are having an awesome September so far. It’s been a pretty busy month for me since I last spoke with you. I got a promotion at work! I’ve been undergoing a total life and culture shock in this new job, all changes for the better as far as I’m concerned, but still a significant adjustment to my life. My schedule is way different, my responsibilities and workload are much more challenging than any job I’ve ever had. I bought a cheap daily planner that I’ve been using strictly for work stuff, but I have a lot of personal life things that need planning as well, especially right now. A lot of home priorities, including my creative time, have fallen to the way-side as I continue trying to find a new work/home balance. It doesn’t help that I’ve been in such a planner funk when it comes to organizing my home and personal life. I have been itching to change up my planning system. I am on that infamous, never-ending quest to find planner peace.

I am still in the process of figuring out what will work best for me as a day-to-day life planner, but something I learned at the start of this year is that I really love using a spiral planner. I think it’s the ease of being able to fold the planner around to lay flat when I’m writing that appeals to me. Imagine my excitement when I found out that Simple Stories was going to be releasing spiral planners! I could not WAIT to get the “Beautiful” one in my hands – it was love at first sight. Well that time has come my friends, and it is everything I hoped it would be!

Not only is the planner simply BEAUTIFUL, as the name suggests, but it is extremely sturdy and well-made. Stay tuned to my YouTube Channel – a thorough review is forthcoming because I love this planner so much it needs to be featured in its own video. The biggest highlight of the planner for me is the amazing paper quality (standard 120gsm, like all other Simple Stories planner inserts), which is pretty rare to find in a spiral planner. The monthly and weekly pages are mostly black and white, which I prefer so I can decorate with any colors and supplies I want. The dividers have the same gorgeous muted colors and stunning designs found throughout the rest of the Beautiful collection, giving this planner a very sophisticated and elegant aesthetic. The gold foil accents are like the strawberry on top of my favorite cheesecake…..assuming my new favorite Simple Stories collection was a cheesecake. ;)

I am excited to show you a couple of weekly layouts I created using products from the Beautiful collection in this gorgeous new planner. For both of these layouts, I used mostly the same supplies - from the Beautiful collection: the sticky notes, die cuts, and A5 sticker tablet. I used several washi tapes from my Simple Stories collection as well: two from the Reset Girl collection, the new butterfly washi from the Bliss collection, and the “Dream Big” washi from the Bloom collection.

Here is the first weekly spread:

The Beautiful 6x8 paper pad is full of charming vintage florals that I cannot get enough of. I used one of the pages that had flowers along the bottom, fussy cut the floral edge out to use on the bottom of my planner spread, and then used the leftover paper to punch out little butterflies to scatter around the layout.

Whenever I add paper butterflies to a project, I usually add a small dot/line of adhesive along the body only so that the wings can lift off the page to add dimension. I’ve done this on scrapbooking and mixed media projects a lot, but it’s also a really fun way to add dimension to your planner pages because it doesn’t actually add any extra bulk. The butterflies just lay flat when you close the planner.

Here is the second weekly spread:

Page flags anyone? I used some in their original form, from the sheet of sticky notes and the sticker tablet. However, I often cut square or round stickers, paper, and washi tapes into different sized flag and banner shapes as well, to add variety and interest to my embellishment clusters.

When I finished these layouts, I was in the creative zone and was so inspired by this collection that I had to keep going. I thought to myself, I dress up the front of my ring bound planners all the time, why not dress up the front of my spiral planner too? I decided to turn the intro page into more of a decorative cover page, much like a dashboard. In the center of the page, I layered a doily, a couple of my favorite die cuts, and a tag I cut out of paper scraps from earlier. I fussy cut some more vintage florals from another 6x8 paper and arranged them around the edges of the page, and then added the paper butterflies and a fancy paperclip as a finishing touch.

To make the front pocket feel a little more special, I left the sticker backing on the big “life is beautiful” chipboard sticker and used some repositionable adhesive to stick it onto the pocket, just in case I wanted to remove it later.

I had such a lovely time playing with the Beautiful collection and my new spiral planner. I’ve never been so excited to film a planner review before! What new planner or collection are you the most excited about? There are SO MANY amazing new products to choose from. Be sure to go check out ALL of the new pretty paper planner things over on the Carpe Diem Planners Instagram!

Hello everyone! It's Dorymar back on the blog today! I can’t believe that Autumn is almost here! It is a beautiful season when Mother Nature gives us majestic colors and invites us to be thankful for our blessings. I want to share a beautiful altered project I designed with the stunning Vintage Blessings collection. I took the inspiration from one of the houses in the collection and recreated it with a beautiful "stand mini album" that you can use to decorate the table during this Fall season and showcase your photos during family gatherings. 

¡Saludos a todos! ¡Es Dorymar en el blog hoy! ¡No puedo creer que ya casi es Otoño! Esa hermosa época donde la madre naturaleza nos brinda esos majestuosos colores y nos invita a dar gracias por ser tan bendecidos.  Quiero compartirles un hermoso proyecto alterado que diseñé con la maravillosa colección Vintage Blessings. Utilicé de inspiración una de las casas que encuentras en la colección y recreé la misma con un hermoso “stand mini album” que puedes utilizar para decorar la mesa durante esta época de otoño y exhibir tus fotos durante las reuniones familiares.

The project is designed to be used as part of the decoration where you can keep the mini album inside the house after the holidays. 

El proyecto está diseñado para ser utilizado como parte de la decoración donde puedes guardar el mini álbum dentro de la casa luego de las fiestas.

To build the house, I used chipboard for the walls and ceiling. Then, I covered them using the Homespum Happiness and Very Blessed papers. To make the windows, I used a cutting file from Silhouette. Also, I used the word "Thankful", the little bird and the flowers from the chipboard stickers to decorate the house. Loved it! 

Para construir la casa utilicé “chipboard” para formar las paredes y el techo. Luego con los papeles “Homespum Happiness” y “Very Blessed” los forré. Para hacer las ventanas utilicé un archivo para cortar de Silhouette. Usé la palabra “Thankful”, el pajarito y flores de los “chipboard stickers” para decorar la casa. ¡Todos hermosos!

For the album cover, I used the beautiful Happy Life paper as background and the frame of one of the 4x6 cards to make a small collage highlighting the theme of this project. As a title, I used the chipboard stickers with the words blessed and family. I also used bits and pieces and chipboard stickers that are super adorable to decorate. I used foam tape to give dimension to all the elements. 

En la portada utilicé el hermoso papel “Happy Life” como fondo y el marco de una de las tarjetas 4x6 para hacer un pequeño “collage” representando el tema de este proyecto. Como título use las palabras “blessed” y “family” de los “cardstock stickers”. Alrededor seguí utilizando parte de los “bits and pieces” y los “chipboard stickers” que son super adorables. Todos los elementos los coloque en “foam tape” para darle dimensión.

The theme of this album is family, home, blessings and giving thanks. In all its pages, you will see the phrases and quotes that you find in the collection’s stickers and in the bits and pieces. All are full of feelings and much love, I adore them! 

El tema de este álbum es la familia, la casa, las bendiciones y dar gracias. ¡En todas las páginas del álbum vas a observar las frases y citas que encuentras en los “stickers” y en los “bits and pieces”! ¡Todas están llenas de sentimientos y mucho amor, las adoro!

On the first page, I made pockets and used the 3x4 and 4x6 cards that are so versatile to make frames and have space for journaling. 

En la primera página, hice bolsillos en donde utilizo las tarjetas 3 x 4 y 4 x 6 que son muy versátiles para hacer marcos y tener espacio para el journal.

On these pages, I used both sides of the Love & Laughter paper. I love these burgundy roses. They look spectacular! To decorate I used the cardstock stickers and one of the quotes that you’ll find in one of the 4x6 cards. 

En estas páginas utilicé el papel “Love & Laughter” por ambos lados. Me encantan las rosas color “burgundy”. ¡Se ven espectaculares! Para decorar usé los “cardstock stickers” y una de las citas que encontrarás en una de las tarjetas de 4x6

The colors and designs in this collection are so perfect! All the elements and phrases match beautifully! On the small page, I used the Grateful washi tape to make the background. Love how it turned out! 

¡Los colores y diseños de esta colección están perfectos! ¡Todos los elementos y las frases emparejan maravillosamente! En la página pequeña, usé el “washi tape Grateful” para hacer el fondo. ¡Me encantó el resultado!

To design this page, I was inspired by one of the chipboard stickers and recreated a window where you can place four 2 x 2 photos. I fussy cut flowers from the So Very Blessed paper and used some of the bits and pieces to decorate this page. 

Para diseñar esta página me inspiré en uno de los “chipboard stickers” para recrear una ventana donde puedes colocar cuatro fotos 2 x 2. Alrededor utilicé las flores del papel “So Very Blessed” para decorar en conjunto con los “bits and pieces”.

The houses, the flowers, the hearts, the messages, all super adorable! 

¡Las casas, las flores, los corazones, los mensajes, todos super adorables!

On this last page, I used the 4 x 4 Elements paper cards to make a waterfall in which you can place up to 4 photos interspersed with the love filled messages of these cards. 

I hope you enjoyed this project using the beautiful Vintage Blessings collection and that it inspired you to create! Happy crafting! 

En esta última página utilicé las tarjetas del papel “4 x 4 Elements” para hacer una cascada en la que puedes colocar hasta 4 fotos intercaladas con los mensajes lleno de amor de estas tarjetas. 

Espero que hayan disfrutado este proyecto con la hermosa colección de “Vintage Blessings” y les sirva de inspiración para crear un hermoso proyecto en esta época tan especial. Happy crafting!

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Hi, Everyone! Jana Eubank here. Autumn is my favorite time of year to take photos and my favorite time of year to scrapbook. It's a time of getting together with friends and family and a time to count them as your blessings.
 
The unique color combination of the Vintage Blessings collection made scrapping the photos below especially fun. Not only does it include my favorite fall colors of red, orange, yellow, brown and green ... but it feels fresh and exciting with the addition of pink and aqua! 
 
THANKFUL
 
It's no secret that I adore patterned paper and like a colorful fall quilt, had a blast combining together several patterns together with stitching on this page.
 
 
I began with a trio of patterns down the left side of the page. I added a punched olive green border and machine stitching in between each strip. 
 
 
I used more strips of patterned paper behind my family photo and the title, dovetailing the ends of each strip to look like a series of banners stacked on top of one another.
 
 
I handcut several doilies from the Home Sweet Home paper to use as anchors for the different clusters of die cuts and chipboard pieces on each side of the title.
 
 
At the top of the page, you will see more handcut doilies peeking out from behind the tabs and phrases.
 
 
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GRATEFUL
 
One of the highlights for me last year was making some new scrapbook friends through a Facebook group. We live about an hour away from one another, but made plans to get together and scrapbook. We had such a great time!
 
 
Fall is the season of textures, right?! It has been awhile since I have used my patterned scissors and thought it would be the perfect time to add that extra bit detail to this page by edging the large patterned paper circle with a pinked edge.
 
 
I ran the title across the seam of the two photos, accenting it with a couple of flower die cuts from the Bits & Pieces and a few enamel dots.
 
 
I cut the artisan label shape from one of the cards on the 4x6 Vertical Elements paper to use for my journaling. I added a flower die cut with foam squares over the area where I had to cut along the shape.
 
 
Below the journaling I created a happy little scene with a house, tree, and two die cut tickets. Like the ticket says we did all "gather together" at my house for a night of fun!
 
 
Have you made plans to get together with your friends and family this season? If not, come up with a reason to gather ... and then be sure to take some photos with the people you love. You will count them among your blessings as you go to scrapbook those memories in the future.

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Hello everyone. It's Mindi here with you today. I am so excited to be sharing some pocket pages that I have created with the new Vintage Blessings collection. This collection is full of fall inspired colors and elements as well as a Grateful/Family theme as well. That is what I chose to focus on and I had a bunch of great family photos to use. These photos were from a few years ago when my parents were here visiting for Thanksgiving. We thought it would be fun to go and take some family photos. 
 
 
When I started putting these pages together I thought it would be fun to add a starter page. I thought that It would be different to have a see thru element to divide these pages in my album. These transparency sheets from Grafix are perfect for these types of projects. You can find them in some craft stores and also at Scrapbook.com. I cut it down to the same size of the pocket page protectors and then I cut it down to be 3.5 in width. 
 
 
Since it was going to be a see through element I played around with some of the die cut pieces and ended up using the word Family. It was a great fit as it layered on top of the photo so nicely. I placed it sideways and on the edge for a fun and layered element. 
 
 
Let's talk about this first page for a minute. I knew that I wanted to include a photo of all of us to begin this set of pages. The other bit of information that I wanted to add was the date and what these pages were about. This pink doily paper looked like a great place to add some stickers and other embellishments. 
 
 
Here is a look at the next set of pages. This top left journaling card was so cute with the row of houses on the bottom and it had lots of room for some journaling up above. I added the story about how we originally had plans to have our photos taken by a professional photographer friend of mine but one of my kids was super sick. We waited a few days so that she could get feeling better and headed out to try and get some family photos on our own. 
 
 
One of the things that I wanted to do is to include photos and pages not in page protectors. I had so many photos that I wanted to include that I enlarged this one of my son and added in my album. There was some white space on the photo that I added in some journaling and a sticker that says JOY. 
 
 
I took one of my favorite photos and enlarged it so that it went all the way across my album for a dramatic look. I kept the embellishing pretty simple so that it didn't take away from the photo. 
 
 
On the other side of my big photo I wanted to balance out the photos with some patterned paper and embellishments. I layered some washi tape and some stickers underneath the big house sticker. 
 
 
Putting together a collage of photos is always a great way to add more photos to any project. I added 4 smaller photos together and printed them to use on this page. This bird patterened paper was simply too cute not to use in a major way. So I cut it down and added my photo collage to the corner and finished it off with some embellishments. I sure love the photo stickers. I think I used them on every page. 
 
 
On the other side of the photo collage page I wanted to add in another non photo page. I went with this pink polka dot paper and then embellished it with this darling quilted heart and then some other stickers and die cut pieces. Opposite from the pink page I added in a photo and a journaling card. The two cute birds were a perfect combination to the photo of my two boys. I layered some stickers and journaling in the middle of the journaling card. 
 
 
Here is a look at my last set of pages. A few last photos and journaling cards. I continued with using the same similar embellishments, stamps, and enamel dots for a consistent look. 
 
 
 
Thank you so much for coming over to the blog today. Putting these pages together was so fun. I hope that you found some inspiration today. 

Supplies

 
September is here & that means summer is coming to an end.  It's still sunny & warm where I am, so I'm getting as much use out of the Summer Days collection in my planner while I still can!  Every summer has a story and with the beautiful Summer Days collection it has allowed me to express it through my planners. 
 
 
 
These bright, fun, inspirational papers are perfect for making dashboards to showcase your summer vibes. 
 
 
The journaling cards from this collection are so inspiring and bring so much summer love to any project. I loved including them in my pockets as well as making dashboards. 
 
 
The stickers will make that summer feeling real and make you want to go out and enjoy the sun and an ice cream. 
 
 
Summer memories are full of brightness and happiness just like these chipboard stickers. 
 
 
September is here and that means summer is coming to an end what better way to end the summer than with a notebook where you can dot down what you haven't been able to do this summer as a reminder of what you want to be sure to get done when summer hits next year!. 
 

Supplies

If you’re a card maker like me, it’s never too early to get started on your holiday cards.   There’s so much going around during the holidays that you’ll be glad they’re made and ready to send.  With not one, but three new holiday collections at Simple Stories you’re sure to find one that speaks to you!

 

Today I’m playing with the Very Merry Collection!  It’s a traditional mix of reds and greens with a fresh look.  You’ll find candy stripes and plaids, and polka dots that look like snowfall!

You’ll also find a sleigh-full of accessories in this collection!  There are chipboard stickers, rolls of washi tape, “Bits and Pieces” die cuts, and stickers that make your paper crafting a breeze.  All the images are printed and die cut ready to work with!

The flowers on my design are chipboard stickers, they add dimension and texture.  Other elements like the December calendar, snowflake, and postcard are from the Bits and Pieces Pack.  The sentiments are both stickers  (Hey Santa – Combo Sticker / Let Your Heart Be Light 4x6” Sticker pack).

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My second card is fun and whimsical!  Who doesn’t love Santa?   When my kids were little they used to call him “Ho Ho”!  This is for all of us young at heart.

I love the vintage Santa reminiscent of images from my childhood – his kind face and rosy cheeks are perfect!

There are so many different elements to choose from in this collection!  I had lots of fun looking through the pieces.  I chose pieces that I associate with Santa like the arrow pointing the way to the North Pole, and the Jolly Bingo Card.

Just about every embellishment on this card is from the Bits and Pieces pack.  The only exception is Ho Ho.. I mean Santa LOL!  – he’s a chipboard sticker.

I know you’re going to love making everything you need for the holidays with this collection.. cards, tags, place cards and so much more! 

The Very Merry Collection is just that!  Everything to make spirits bright!

Hi everyone! I’m back today to show you how I decorated my month and weekly pages in the new Beautiful 16 Month Spiral Bound Planner with the Beautiful Collection.  I absolutely love anything spiral bound because I can fold it open on itself, so I am thrilled that Simple Stories is offering a Carpe Diem version of their own.
 
 
So when you open the planner, there’s a nice planner pocket already attached on the left side and I just filled it with my planner stickers and journaling cards.  I also glued on a couple of the floral Bits n’ Pieces to the pocket to make it more pretty.  On the right side is a “The Planner Belongs to..” page, but I wanted to dress it up with some of the 6x8 cardstock and the typewriter is from the 4x4 journaling elements cardstock.
 
 
 
For the monthly spread, all of the stickers are from the A5 Beautiful Sticker Tablet.  I love the sticker tablet in this collection because it really has a ton of functional stickers and icons, as well as a few sheets of decorative stickers.  To add some more color, I used the Black Speckle washi tape from the Bliss Collection the Dream Big washi tape from the Bloom collection in the monthly boxes.
 
 
 
On the weekly spread, I used the same stickers from the Beautiful Sticker Tablet and a few stickers from the Combo Cardstock Sticker Sheet, such as the typewriter and the scallop trim along the bottom of the pages.  
 
 
 
 
I hope you enjoyed having a look inside of the spiral bound planner and setup from the Beautiful Collection and I look forward to utilizing this gorgeous planner every week!

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