Simple Stories

It is back to school week at our house and it is extra special this year as my daughter, Mila, started Kindergarten.  It feels a bit strange to start school when I am still dreaming of summer, but no better way to get into the spirit than with the Simple Stories “Old School” Simple Set.  You may already know that I love using the Simple Sets in my planner.  You get a few sheets of gorgeous paper that can be used to make dashboards, dividers, or can be cut up to be used as washi.  There are also journaling elements paper which have beautiful journaling cards to put in pockets or decorate a page. 

The collection goes perfect with my Black Speckle Carpe Diem Planner, and no planner girl can do without the Carpe Diem A5 punch!

Look how fun my planner looks all set up with using the Old School products.

Dashboards are so easy to make!  They are my go-to planner item when I want to be a bit crafty, but don’t have a lot of time.  I used the back side of the 3x4 and 4x6 Elements Paper for the dashboard, (don’t worry there are two of each sheet in the set!) layered on two 3x4 journaling cards, punched it and in to my planner it went.

Now, it is time to fill the front pockets.  I used most of the 3x4 and 4x6 Elements Paper to decorate the pockets.  I also added in some sticky notes from the Simple Stories Say Cheese line.

Here is my weekly spread I made with the collection.  The marker and alphabet “washi” are strips cut from the ABC 123 paper.  The rest are mostly stickers from the 6 x 12 cardstock sticker sheet and the Simple Stories Alpha Stickers.

The red Alpha stickers were actually white, but I colored them with a marker (while still on the sheet) and they worked perfectly.

What a colorful collection, all the colors and elements used together easily make a fun layout!

I also love daily planning.  When I don’t have a huge list of To Dos but have a day worth remembering, I make a daily page and fill up the lined portion of the insert with a photo or a fun memory.  I use the timeline on the right to practice my hand lettering.  For this layout, I mixed in some elements from Summer Days to play up the yellow, orange and blue elements in the Old School Collection.

Print out a picture and add some stickers iand you have quickly made a memory page.

Adding a journaling card to the page fills a bit of space so you won’t feel overwhelmed trying to decorate the whole page.  I filled the rest of the page with the remaining stickers and pieces from the decorative papers and now I will always remember my little girl dashing off to Kindergarten!

Keep your eye out for the Simple Sets, planner girls.  They can give your planner a lift and have plenty of fun things to inspire you to get crafty.

Until next time!

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Hello again creative souls! Leah here with you on the blog today. It’s been quite a while since I’ve shown you some weekly planner layouts! That’s what I have for you today, two vertical planner layouts with accompanying process videos. Yes, TWO plan-with-me videos! I am still using up lots of tidbits from the new Carpe Diem collection and have a few cool ideas to share with you all for your planner spreads.

In this first planner spread, I had a lot of fun layering the Carpe Diem stickers!

I like layering the patterned stickers that have no words, behind stickers that have quotes on them. It draws focus to the quote and adds a pop of color. I added a couple of these die cut stars to my layout that I made using a paper punch during my last planner setup video (you can watch that here).

I’m using the space at the bottom of the page to do a little mood tracking. The hearts are from the Domestic Bliss roller stamp. I rate my mood at the end of the day on a scale of 1-5, color in the corresponding amount of hearts, and make a little comment about why.

As I am writing this post, the second half of the week has not happened yet. Though I already have my week planned, I will continue add in the mood info at the bottom at the end of each day.

Also during my planner setup video last month, I fussy cut these clouds out of a pocket card to make die cuts. With the star die cuts on this layout, I really feel like the clouds add the sweetest whimsical touch.

Here is the process video of this week’s layout coming together.

For my second weekly layout, I went a little bolder with the colors, but using the same collection. You can see how just changing out the washi tape I used, allowed me to bring out those bolder colors from the new Carpe Diem line that I didn’t use as much in the last layout.

You might notice this week looks incomplete but that’s because I sometimes like to “pre-plan” and decorate a few weeks ahead and then fill in the plans as they come. In addition to decorating, I will also go ahead and write in plans I know are happening ahead of time. For example, I know I am going on a weekend trip during this week. So I dedicated a space to documenting that.

I even made this cute little interactive booklet with a few paper scraps, so have a place to add some photos and journaling after my trip. When you don’t have enough real estate to write a lot on a planner spread, adding a “flippable” element can give you more space for memory-keeping.

While we are talking about fun planner tips, get two stickers out of one by cutting out the border from around those box stickers you’ve been using, to get a little frame sticker that you can write in. You’ll be able to see how I do this in the video below!

Check out the process video for this second weekly spread!

To me, this is the most fun detail of the entire layout – and this is why you should always come check out the blog post in addition to the process video, because there’s always more content here! You may have noticed in the video, that I used a small ½ inch circle punch to cut out a few circles from one little square sticker. I did that so I could turn them into mini balloons. Aren’t they adorable? What a fun way to mark a birthday in your planner! Also, here is another example of how I’m using the border of a used sticker as a box to write in.

So I am curious friends, do you like to decorate ahead a few weeks? Or do you plan and decorate as you go? Sometimes when I get in the creative zone, I just don’t want to stop after one layout is complete, so I keep going. Let me know your style in the comments below! Be sure to check out the Carpe Diem Planners Instagram and Facebook for lots more planner inspiration, and come say hello over on my Instagram @sunny.leah. I hope you will tag me if you try any of the tips/techniques from this post. I LOVE seeing you all get creative with your Simple Stories products!

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Autumn is my favorite season!  I love the crisp air and the show of color everywhere!  If you love Autumn too you’re going to fall for the new Simple Stories Vintage Blessings Collection. 

Fall is a time for families to gather for Thanksgiving and for us to count our blessings.   Who wouldn’t love a hand made card with a personal note expressing how much they’re loved and thought about? 

The papers in the collection are the fall colors you’d expect like green, yellow, and red with a surprise pop of aqua blue and pink.  The colors work beautifully together and have a homespun folk feel.  I cut a hilly landscape to create the scene on this card mixing gingham, floral and calico.

Sentiment stickers are from the Combo Sticker in the 12 x 12” Collection Pack that’s also sold separately.  The house and banner are from the 6x12” Chipboard Sticker Sheet.   The tree, leaves and sun are from the Bits and Pieces die cut pack.
 

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I’m smitten with the birds in the collection!  They’re a patchwork of the different patterns in the set that looks amazing!  You’ll find them printed on the paper, die cut in the Bits and Pieces pack, and on the Chipboard Sticker sheet. 

I perched the bird on a branch from the Bits and Pieces.   My tip for breaking up patterns is to add some solid color.   As an example, to help define the circle of yellow gingham paper I cut for a sun, I added a slightly larger circle of solid yellow card stock backing. 

I created the background in lighter colors to help the branch and die cut leaves stand out and create more contrast.

There’s even sticker packs available in this collection to add smaller images and sentiments to your projects like the bitty “fall fun” I added on the border.

The Combo Sticker sheet has so many great embellishments including a row of tabs like the “blessed” on my card.  The script font is beautiful and the soft blue matches the papers perfectly!  

The Bits and Pieces die cut pack includes 58 die cut pieces ready to work with so creating scenes and embellishing your projects is a treat.  The colors match the card stock perfectly so everything looks great together! 

I just know you’re going to love this collection!  Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

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Hi everyone, I had a very nice summer holiday and enjoyed nice weather and lots of delicious food. Now it is time to loose those extra holiday pounds I gained and to set up my fitness planner to help me achieve that! I am using the A5 Fitness Planner Inserts and the Coral A5 Carpe Diem planner.

To decorate the planner and inserts I will mainly use the Fitness sticker tablet and the ‘High style’ 12x12 paperpad. This paperpad has beautiful watercolor papers that match the fitness inserts perfectly.

Before I set up the planner I decided to create some flag paperclips. I took some small and bigger gold paperclips, cut some different shaped banners from the ‘High Style’ paperpad papers and decorated the banners with diecut shapes, stickers and enamel dots.

In total I created six flag paperclips, three small ones and three bigger ones. These are perfect to decorate the planner pockets and extra pages in my planner.

The fitness insert set includes six colorful dividers and different tab stickers to choose from. I selected the following six sections in my planner: Goals, Tracking, Calendar, Motivation, Get Fit and Notes. The ‘Calendar’ section will hold my monthly and weekly fitness inserts and the ‘Get fit’ section some menu planning inserts.

For this setup I also created a fun motivational bookmark. I selected the light pink watercolor paper from the ‘High style’ paperpad, cut it down to size and punched holes using the Carpe Diem punch. I decorated the bookmark with some diecut shapes, words and stickers from the tablet.

Now it is time for one of my favourite parts of setting up a new planner: decorating the planner pockets!

I selected a few papers from the ‘High Style’ paperpad as a base and used different border punches to create beautiful borders at the top of the papers. I decorated the pockets with my diy flag paperclips and some stickers from the sticker tablet.

The back of the dashboard that came with the Fitness insert set had awesome fitness hashtags so I slided it in the large side pocket and added a little piece of light blue watercolor paper with a cute border. I am very happy with how these pockets turned out!

With this fitness planner setup I included the ‘Bold stripe’ doc-it journal and decorated the front with some motivational stickers and the fitness decal. The decals are designed to put on the outside of your planner but it works fine on paper or these doc-it journals.

In the doc-it journal I am going to track all my gym workouts such as cardio and weights. Ofcourse the journal needs a fun intro page so I used the ‘High Style’ papers to diecut the letters ‘Workout progress’. I finished the page with strips of washitape and stickers from the tablet. The doc-it journal slides perfectly in the back pocket of my planner.

For this planner I decided not to create a new front dashboard but use the planner pocket that came in the fitness insert set. I am planning on putting my gymclass schedule in here and other notes I need to save.

I thought it would be a nice extra project to create a fun spread to track the weightloss journey for my few extra holiday pounds. I used plain graph paper and papers from the ‘High style’ pad to diecut the letters. With a circle punch I punched circles from light wood paper from the ‘Wood and gingham’ paperpad.

To decorate the pages I used arrow and quote stickers from the tablet. On the right side of the page I glued a clear pocket, which holds some star icon stickers. For each half pound I will manage to loose, I will put a star sticker on the circle as a reward. The end result is a fun two-paged spread on which I can track my progress.

For the monthly spread of August I thought it was smart to plan all my gym sessions and to do a fun monthly challenge. This month I am going to do a daily squat challenge so I diecut the letters and wrote down a daily checkbox to check off whether I did my squats.

All the monthly pages from the fitness inserts have awesome fitness quotes. For August it was: ‘How bad do you want it?’ I added the ‘very bad’ and two little butterflies to decorate it a bit.

The setup for my planner is mostly done, now it is time to use it!  Simple Stories has some free fitness printables that you can download here - I printed them in different sizes to decorate my first weekly spread to track my food and exercise.

I hope this blog inspired you in creating and decorating your own fitness planner! On my instagram page createplannernl I will show some more spreads and extra pages in my fitness planner. Have a nice day!

Hey everyone! Traci back here again with a new traveler's notebook to show off! I made this traveler's notebook from scratch using the Summer Days collection I designed for Simple Stories to document our vacation to Pensacola Beach, Florida.

And when I say from scratch, I mean from scratch! I designed this Traveler's Notebook template that is available in the Simple Stories Silhouette store here, then cut down a few non-fancy-edged 8x8 squares papers to incorporate into the book as well.  Then I folded each paper in half, and used regular old sewing thread to bind the notebook.

I also designed a bunch of exclusive word art cut files that are beach-related and match the fonts used in the Summer Days Collection perfectly - you can pick those up in the Simple Stories Silhouette store as well here.

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Hello friends! Linsey here today sharing my latest altered project featuring the Summer Days collection! With summer flying by so fast, I wanted to capture this delightful season by creating a fun 3-D project that embodies the spirit of summer and all the good things that come with it. The Summer Days collection does just that! Without further ado, I present my summer days bicycle shadowbox!

What a fun time it was altering this cute wood bicycle shadowbox! The wood bike was first painted with a coat of white gesso, then a coat of pink acrylic paint. Next, the bike was covered with different patterned papers--the pink side of Summer Snapshot for the tires and both sides of Soak Up The Sun for the bike, seat and inside tire walls. The back of the shadowbox walls were covered with the stripes side of Hello Sunshine. All the edges were lightly sanded to give the bike a bit of a worn look. Who wants a bike that isn't broken in just a little, right?!

A variety of adorable elements from the Combo Stickers, 6x12 Chipboard, Bits & Pieces, Decorative Brads and 4x6 Stickers were used to embellish the inside of the shadowbox wheels as well as adorn the outside of the bike. The back wheel is filled with yummy summer eats and treats that leave me itching to fire up the grill. Even a couple of Emoji Love enamel dots came in handy for reflective lights on the backside of the bike. 100% Happiness!

Every summer bicycle needs a basket and this one is filled to the brim with summer fun! I love all the sweet and happy elements that come with this collection--from the little pinwheels to the beach balls and bomb pops, Summer Days has it all! Ice cold drink, anyone?

The front wheel is filled with more summertime essentials like the pink sunglasses, aqua camera, a sand bucket and shovel and don't forget the sunscreen! Hello sunshine, we're beach-ready!  

Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you enjoyed my bicycle shadowbox! Here's to endless summer days and happy crafting!

The Emoji Love collection is by far one of my favorite collections! We all love using emoji’s when messaging our family and friends so when playing with all this amazing product it felt like they were closer to being real. I love all the emotions emoji’s project and how much character they can not only give a conversation but also our planners.

Not only am I in love with this collection but so are my kids! Who doesn’t love cute faces, unicorns, yummy food ad yogurt! Not only are the stickers the best but the ephemera in this collection is so fun and versatile.

The washi tape is the perfect color with so many emoji faces and sayings that tie this collection all together.

The page flags are perfect for not only marking our pages but to right small notes on them as remembers.  

The traveler’s notebook inserter can be put in your favorite Travelers notebook or in your planner of choice. It is perfect for note taking and those emoji’s made it so fun to track my feelings of the day.

p>Hello everyone! It's Lisa Dickinson here today to share some layouts with you! Since I'm currently in the middle of a few home renovation projects, including refinishing our hardwood floors, the majority of my scrap room is packed up in boxes in our basement. So when it came time to do this blog assignment, I had very few of my usual scrap arsenal available, but I decided it would be a great time to challenge myself to make something interesting with a minimum of tools and products. After all, Simple Stories is all about making creativity simple and easy! Here are the layouts that I created - and a few tips that helped me create simple pages that still have eye-catching appeal!

1. Add lots of color and pattern to take a basic design to the next level.  Just because a design is simple doesn't mean it has to be boring. Color and pattern add interest and movement to a page, so the more, the merrier! On this layout, I selected coordinated papers from the Hello Lovely line (and a few from the Domestic Bliss collection as well!) and used them to matte my 5"x5" photo. Each paper was cut slightly larger than the previous one for a layered look that allows lots of pretty papers to be showcased.

2.  Add dimension and texture to make the design pop. When you're using limited supplies, it can be hard to incorporate a lot of visual interest on a page. Dimensional adhesive is an easy way to help page elements pop. Here I adhered each paper layer with foam squares to create a dimensional frame. I also added stitching to the edge of every other paper, which is another great way to add tactile interest to a design. No sewing machine? Use a pen to create hand-drawn stitching for the same effect.

3. Use pre-made elements for a title.  Since I didn't have any alphabet stickers or my trusty Silhouette available to create a die-cut title, I opted to use a sticker from the Hello Lovely collection pack instead, placing it directly on the photo in the white space. Be sure to look through your stickers before creating your page - you just might find one with the perfect sentiment for your layout and save yourself lots of time!

On my second page, I used the same tips & techniques to add elements to a basic design. I started with a bold striped patterned paper from the Emoji Love line as my background:

The colors were perfect for my photos, which included lots of pink and yellow, but I wanted to some additional pattern in the design. Instead of using the paper as is, I cut some 2-inch paper strips (the pink dot, yellow crosshatch, and aqua dot) and layered them over the solid stripes.

In between each of the strips, I sewed a zig-zag seam. Stitching is a great way to add texture and a handmade feel to your design!

For this page title, I selected a 3x4 journal card and layered speech bubbles atop it.  These are part of a Simple Stories decorative brad set, but you could also fussy-cut small elements from patterned papers or use die cuts + brads to achieve the same look.

While I'm excited to get my scrap products unpacked again, I enjoyed the challenge of creating simply and it was surprisingly easy with these fun Simple Stories products. (And bonus - this was way less messier than my usual scrap method!)  I hope you're inspired to create something quick and easy as well - happy scrapping!

Hi everyone!  It's Traci, and I'm back to share a new Sn@p album with you.  This one is for my family's 2013 trip to Hawaii.  I love the bright colors in the Summer Days collection and it worked perfectly for these photos.  As you can see, like many of you, I am a bit behind on my scrapbooking!

Hi it's Lisa today with a fun and hopefully inspiring post for you.

I have a question for you. Where do you find most of your inspiration from?  Do you love to use a sketch as a starting point? Do you let your photos inspire you?  For me, it's color. I'm so driven by color. I love bright colors when it comes to scrapbooking and creating. I find them so uplifting.  One of my tricks to get me started is to set myself a color combo. I decide of 2-3 main colors and usually a couple of accent colors too.

I removed some of the papers and bits and pieces. The papers with the element cards to cut out make wonderful titles. I rounded off the corners with a punch here.
 

Planner girls just love to fill their planner pockets with all kinds of goodies. I used bits and pieces and journaling cards to decorate my pockets.
 

 Close Up of Planner Pocket Love
 

I made an envelope to add to my planner.

I use this envelope to store all my planner stickers and other goodies that I might need.

Here I made a simple divider to add in my planner.

Hi everyone! Tara Chaussee, aka SecretBees Studio, here to share my newest mini scrapbook with you! Colorado is a wonderful and near perfect place to go camping! I have lots of great memories of spending days in the woods hiking, climbing and fishing so I was thrilled to see the new Cabin Fever collection! Everything in this collection is absolutely cute and charming and has the best details!  Since I spent much of my camping days in tents, I thought it only fitting to create this adorable set featuring a tent and mini album!

I designed the tent to be a pyramid box and knew that I wanted it big enough to hold a small scrapbook. I cut all of the pieces from chipboard and then had the best time covering them with a mix of the awesome Cabin Fever papers and embellishments!  This tent is so cute and realistic- it even has mesh covering the windows and door! 

The tent is 6.5" square and stands about the same height. The four triangle flaps are re -inforced with grommets and tied together with rustic twine that unties to reveal the super cute mini scrapbook inside!

The mini itself is 4 inches square and has seven pages that are covered in more of the fabulous Cabin Fever patterned papers and fun embellishments! I tied the pages together with more twine and added a sweet trio of camping charms too! Inside there is a pocket holding some tags as well as two interactive pull out pages for even more camping photos! Take a look!

One of the tags is from the Bits & Pieces pack and I have added lots of details to both pages with the combo and 4x6 stickers!

The chipboard stickers are amazing and so realistic not to mention totally adorable!

Above is one of the interactive pull out pages made with some of the 3x4 journaling cards. I used a small sticker form the 4x6 sticker sheet as a tab at the bottom!

More adorable chipboard pinecones and flowers together with stickers from the combo sheet!

Smores are such an important (and tasty) part of camping! More great stickers and chipboard on these pages!

Oh so cute! The papers in this collection go so well together and have amazing patterns and details! It was such a joy to layer all of them together with the fabulous stickers, chipboard and bits and pieces to create this adorable little memento!