Simple Stories

Hello everyone, Marcia here! I am so excited to share some Carpe Diem layouts with you today. This collection is gorgeous with those bright colors mixed with the black and white pattern papers. 

For my first layout, I really wanted to make a pretty, girlie scrapbook page that showcased the beautiful floral pattern paper. The title for this layout Make Today Ridiculously Amazing comes from one of the Bits & Pieces elements. It really goes with the theme of this collection, Seize the Day. Take a look ...

I used a piece of black cardstock as my background and used the diagonal pattern paper as a border. I think the black really makes those bright colors pop. I softened the look with a white die cut doily and also some white die cut leaves and flowers, Sprinkled amongst the die cuts are some Carpe Diem Bits & Pieces, Bradz and Enamel Dots.

This month I wanted to incorporate the new Heart Simple Set into my Carpe Diem planner.  Although the line was made to document our loved ones that have passed, the patterned papers and some of the stickers are versatile enough to use on other projects as well.

I wanted my monthly divider to match my layouts for the month.  I cut down one of the patterned papers and adhered it on the top of the existing April divider.

Then I added a recent photo and embellished with stickers.

I carried the same color combination from my monthly divider over to my monthly layout.  The weather is warming up where I am so I loved that the flowers gave this layout a little bit of Spring!

The first week of April was a busy one.  There were a few days that we didn't have any set plans, so I filled in the empty space with journaling afterwards.  I also added a few of my favorite photos with chipboard frames to finish my layout.

Hello scrappy friends!  It's Laura here today sharing two layouts using the super fun and whimsical Let's Party collection!
 

My first layout documents my youngest son's most recent birthday, he became a teenager last month!  He is my last teenager, and therefore he was my last little kid - that is just a little sad for this mom.

I can't tell you how much fun I had playing with this collection!  I let the playfulness of the patterned papers and embellishments guide me through the creating process.
 

I love graphic look of this patterned paper and wanted to be sure to highlight the numbers that run across the bottom of it, so I stitched a scrap of red paper above it to frame it in.
 

Which created a great spot for this embellishment cluster and my journalling.
 

Once that was done, I worked on creating some layers to frame my photos, front and centre.  I started by die cutting this circle element.  I kept some of the circles to flip and adhere into every second opening.  These colour play so nicely off of one another and are so perfect with my black and white photos!
 

On top of the circle element I added a strip of 3x4 cut-a-part card to anchor my trio of photos, which were popped up a bit so that I could nestle some embellishments behind them.
 

I love that some of the elements look as if they are glittery, and the clear stickers with black graphics help to anchor my black and white photos.
 

I layered a large sticker element with some alpha stickers to create my title, then I did some more machine stitching to add texture to my page, of course another embellishment or two helps as well! The very last step on this page was to sprinkle on some black Mr. Huey's mist.
 

Again I kept my patterned paper layers pretty simple, choosing to pull the grey tones from the collection for a bit more of a grown up look, while still maintaining the playful nature of the collection via my embellishing.

After running some strips of patterned papers in a variety of sizes, vertically across my page,I machine stitched some messy circles. This created the perfect focal area for my photo.

I have created text in three areas so I suppose any of them really could have been the title for this page, but I am going with this clear sticker combined with number stickers as my official title.  I just love the variety of fonts and styles of these products, and the clear stickers are magic layered over patterns.

Thank you for visiting!

Good morning and thank you so much for stopping by here today. My name is Brenda Smith and I wanted to share with you the first half of my year-end review I made for my 2015 pocket page album. 

Life in Color is absolutely perfect for this spread because of those watercolor month cards from the SN@P! Pack. How could I not use them? I also used some alphabet stamps from my stash to reiterate the month. 

This spread is obviously a double page 12x12 spread but what might not be as noticeable is that there is also a 6x12 insert in the middle of the two larger pages. I made this insert from Simple Stories 12x12 protectors by simply trimming of the unwanted pockets using my paper trimmer. 

Hey there!  It’s Vicki here just popping in with a quick look at a DIY Stamp class I'll be teaching in New Zealand later this month using the oh so lovely Carpe Diem collection!!!

I love the teal, yellow, salmon and black color palette in this line.  Actually…I love anything with black in it.  And text…I love patterned paper with text!!!

Take a closer look at the fabulous icons in this line.  I loved them when they were introduced with the Carpe Diem planners and I think they are awesome for layouts!!  I used a mix of the Carpe Diem Fundamental Stickers and the Chipboard.

These are some of the stamps we will be creating out of craft foam in the workshop out … aren't they so much fun?  And super easy to make, too!  They complement the flowers you see in the Carpe Diem collection and those that I pulled from the stickers and the chipboard embellishments on the layout.

Thanks for joining me today!

Good Morning!  It's Mary-Ann with a couple layouts to share with you.  Both are created with Life in Color.  It is pretty amazing how one collection can take you in so many different ways when creating.  

For my second layout, I used Life in Color as well.  I started with the photo on the lower center and went from there.  I added until I had the section down the middle.  I imagined this in my mind and it actually came out a little better than I thought originally!  I love it.  

 

 

Below you can see that I cut my title.  I did this because when it was across the page, it was a bit wide.  I cut it where you would in a sentence.  So it still made sense.  

 

 

 

 

It was a ton of fun to create this layout.  There are so many items that help decorate this collection.  The Bits & Pieces are my fave but I also adore the brads and Decorative Clips.  

 

Thank you for taking time to stop in today.  See you again really soon!

Howdy!  Today on the blog we're sharing a fun 4x6 SN@P! Binder created by in house designer Sue Kendall using our Let's Party collection.   

Sue created this fun project to document one of her son's birthdays, but the collection is neutral enough to document either a boy's or a girl's birthday -

The collection has lots of great traditional birthday icons and fun glitter accents.  Even better - the glitter is just part of the paper design, so you have all the fun look of glitter without all of the mess!  

The 2x2 pockets in the 4x6 SN@P! Binders are some of our favorites!  Sue made great use of them in this spread - mixing 2x2 cards to spell 'happy' alonge with different chipboard pieces, die cuts, and tickets - such a fun look!  

The cow that makes an appearance in the Let's Party collection - he's one of our favorites!!  :)

When working with our SN@P! Binders, dont forget about decorating the backs!  Sue made great use of the 12x12 sticker found on the Element Sticker sheet - she started it on the inside of the back cover and wrapped it around to the back cover; the birthday candles sticker is the perfect accent!

Hello there, it's Allie here today! Today I have two layouts to share, one using the Life in Color Collection and one with the Heart Collection. These collections are both so beautiful and versatile, and they are great for mixing and matching with each other!

For my first layout, I used the Life in Color collection. I love the string-art printed "LOVE" and wanted to use it for my title. There are lots of fun quotes and phrases about living life in this collection, and so I built my layout around the theme of loving life.
 

To create this layout, I cut the Happy Little Moments paper at an angle and placed it on the teal watercolor paper. I used a black and white photo to match some of the black and white elements throughout the collection, and placed it in the middle of the layout. I kept adding embellishments and bits and pieces until I could add no more!
 

One of my favorite parts of this layout are the beautiful butterflies! I used chipboard, wood veneer, and metallic die-cut butterflies.
 

I love the giant "LOVE" stickers!
 

Hello dear Friends! Alexandra here with a new pocket page spread for Simple Stories and I am continuing with the Life in Color collection. 

I like how the touches of primary colors make me think of Spring...

I included the public library receipt of the books miss Lily borrowed. That is fun and priceless info right there! 

And speaking of the Miss, she was kind enough to draw me this little frog as a marker of the leap year.

This page is mostly about the weekend. I did not witness the Polar Plunge (although every year, I think to myself "that is something I would love to do once!") but I enjoy documenting it with pictures found on the internet. Lady Gaga and her fiancé did it for the second time in a row. I didn't do the plunge because I was busy eating doughnuts! No, not really, but we did have a little get-together for the miss and her girlfriends at Glazed & Infused. 

Beside the photos of what is blooming in the kitchen, a cool mural in Lincoln Park and two dishes I made in the slow-cooker (Seafood Chowder and Moroccan Lamb) I made a pocket with two pieces of printed papers. I can add more journaling this way or more receipts which are a great source of information. I also included a picture of "moi" with the new spex because, why not, and one day maybe I will look at it and think "Gee, I was still so young!". Thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave a comment. I really appreciate it!

Hello, planner friends!  A super excited Meka here with you today  to share my spring Carpe Diem planner makeover! But first, a minor disclaimer—I may have gone slightly overboard with florals this time around. Spring is in the air and I just couldn’t resist!

Just about every Simple Stories collection out right now has florals or light-hearted colors that I picked to springify my #teampink planner. From stickers and washi paper tape, to scrapbook paper and enamel dots, it’s all in here! Collections I used: You and Me, Carpe Diem, Life in Color, Hope, plus tiny bits of both Heart and You are Here.





My planner pockets have come to life with paper flowers adorned with Decorative Bradz and chipboard stickers. A You are Here camera, Life in Color butterfly, and Carpe Diem floral bouquet will make dreamy paperclips this month.






To make this fun washi sampler, I used a Life in Color Bits and Pieces tag as the base. A scrap of thin cardstock glued to the back made it sturdy enough to wrap with some of my favorite washi tapes. The tag would have looked just as sweet with the top adorned with ribbon, a Decorative Brad, or one of the many flower stickers in the Simple Stories collections, but I chose a resin cabochon for variety.






My “It’s a Brand New Day” dashboard got a lift with stickers and word phrases. They should peel off the plastic without too much fuss whenever I’m ready.






Underneath the clear dashboard, I sandwiched a translucent vellum sheet in front of the floral explosion that is the Believe patterned paper from the Hope Kit. This way the title stands out from the background, but you still get a good dose of spring pretty.

 

 

 

​I wasn't sure what to journal on this page.  I wanted it to be more of a fun - You are Here page than a page about who what where and when. So i took some journal strips found on the horizontal elements page.

 

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 This was perfect to add the simple touch of journaling that I wanted. I added a date and of course the weather forecast tells the story that we were in Las Vegas.  Adding some pop dots underneath these journal strips also gave them more dimension and definition. 

 

You can see in this next photo that I layered and layered so many Bits & Pieces. I really love the look of layers and this just brought more details that I enjoy in a page.

 

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My second layout for you today is a pie chart page! I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out a pie chart and then simply cut out some pattern papers to fill in the empty spots and created an easy peasy page! 

Hello and thank you all for visiting today! I hope you and your families are enjoying your time together over these special holidays. Chantalle (Instagram @chantallemcdaniel) with you, sharing some pages I have created with the stunning new You are here! and one of my favourite collections from last year, So Rad. 

This page was inspired by the sense of absolute joy that my son was clearly experiencing during the long school holidays last year. On one occasion we visited a theme park, where a trip down the lazy river cooled us down and brought some very big smiles to little faces. A rainbow of colour and elements sure bring a smile to my face now too!

The fabulous variety found in the Bits & Pieces pack were perfect to help me tell the story… a weather report, a fun report… flamingos - what more could I ask for in Tropical Queensland! I arranged the elements that I thought would work and then I built up the combination, starting with some of my favourite product in the form of photo stickers. They are just so wonderful - put them on your photos, your projects and your planners. I just love them!

The happy jumble, arranged in all their colourful glory draw the eye down and unify the page. It’s all finished off with a bit of machine stitching and few bright pops of coordinating enamel dots.

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By cutting a little slit just under the silver bulldog clip and sliding my photo underneath, it has added even more realism to the element. I love punching holes into notepad images, then ruffing up the edges to give them a realistic effect.

This 3x4 Sn@p card has been framed with a So Rad chipboard frame to highlight the text. While it might not be a rugby union ball, the cute football die cut element will do the job!!

To create a sense of flow between the two paper jet stickers, I’ve used some embroidery thread and hand stitched a flight path. The colour matched perfectly with the hue of the arrow that is already printed on the clipboard element.

Draw attention to a pattern by multiplying it, like these stars. I’ve added a couple more cute little star stamps as well as some die cuts created by our very own Nicole Nowosad.

Hi crafty friends! Stacy here today with 2 layouts inspired by the theme of love - the love for the other half.

I had some old photo shoot pictures and it was coordinating very nicely with the Simple Stories Carpe Diem Collection! It is one of my favorite collections so far because of its vibrant and beautiful embellishments! 

The first layout is titled "Love without Words". Sometimes, all it takes is a smile or a hug, and you will just know what the other half is thinking!

I first did some diamond stitching on the background of the layout, and started layering random size pattern paper from the Carpe Diem Collection. The vibrant colors help to bring out the photo and create a good focus. Next I layered with fussy cuttings of the flowers, and topped it up with other embellishments. I personally loved the clip! In addition, I could not help it but also added the candy machine. It is a symbolic figure of the epic sweet smiles on our faces.

The title portion was the area of most fun! Try adding washi strips behind the journaling or stickers, it helps create a subtle attention to the words! The clear heart sticker is also a useful tool to fill up the empty spaces and give a good flow to the entire look of the layout.

On the other end, i used the cloud cut-out as a background on top of the stitching. Adding layers is easy with the sticker and chipboard sheets!

For the other layout, I used one of my favourite photos - us with the colorful umbrella! I titled this layout "Rain or Shine". Using the alphabets from the sticker sheet, i stuck them to a translucent paper before adhering to the layout. Not only does it create focus, it also allows me to give it a lift with the 3d foam dots. See where the enamel dots are? I hid the 3d foam dots just below them! 

The umbrella on the chipboard sheet is a must for this layout! How can i forget the fun we had with the umbrella? I remembered that it was a hot shiny day and we were sweating a lot from the humid heat. The umbrella was not only a beautiful prop but also helped us shade from the strong sunshine! 

I could not help it but layered some clouds on the top portion of the layout. It reminds me of the few clouds and the bright blue sky that day. Let your layout embellishments help you document a particular memory of the photo!

Hope you get some inspiration from the layouts! Thanks for stopping by today!

Hello, Violet, here. I wanted to share with you my  monthly Carpediem planner spread and how I  utilized the Heart collection kit. I made a Dashboard and decorated my planner with this wonderful design filled with mint green florals, Navy blue and Gold. Perfect for March.

I created a dashboard and planner bookmark by simply tracing around the original inserts. I embellished them with stickers and punched out hearts to create clovers on the dashboard. I really enjoyed using the Simple Stories Heart Collection it had everything  I needed to make such a beautiful planner bookmark.

My main focus this month was to begin creating a spread that screamed March. I wanted it to remind me of days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold. I believe I accomplished that by applying tons of green in all shades, navy blue , yellow flowers and gold accents.  I made strips out of the Heart scrapbook paper to go on top and on the sides of my planner pages. The Life in Color washi paper tape, enamel, icon stickers and Heart collection kit stickers, worked perfectly to add some character to the spread. It's also a creative and adorable way to track your appointments and obligations.

I absolutely love the way my monthly view turned out. Thank you once again to everyone who took the time to stop by the blog. 

Hey there, friends!  Missy back with you today.  I couldn’t wait to dig into the Carpe Diem collection and create some fun and bright layouts with it!  For my first layout, I focused on the theme of the collection, which is Seize the Day.  My youngest daughter comes to mind when I hear this phrase, so I used these two adorable pictures of her doing just that.  I used my Silhouette Cameo software to create a large title on some white cardstock.  I backed all the open letters with various patterned papers and had so much fun embellishing around them and the photos.  I love every piece of this collection!

Creating this big title gave me a lot of opportunity to use lots of patterns and colors without being overwhelming.  I used the 6x6 Paper Pad to fill in the letters and then went over parts of the page with white gesso.  I like to apply that first before adding watercolor to give the background a textured barrier.  This helps the watercolor blend better.  Here, I combined a few of the Chipboard Stickers, Expressions Cardstock Stickers, Clear Stickers, Illustrated Life Stickers and a Brad. 

Here you can see some of the watercolor and ink splatters.  I fussy cut that gorgeous floral cluster from the Brand New Day paper.  I just couldn’t resist using it as layering piece under my photos.  I also layered in more chipboard and stickers here and stitched through them with my sewing machine.

Here’s a close-up of that gorgeous floral piece.  Isn’t it just gorgeous?  I love how it looks against the pretty watercolor background.  Sometimes fussy cutting something from patterned paper gives you a fabulous embellishment.

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For my second layout, I was inspired to use one of the 6x12 page elements.  I love the quote on this piece and I simply cut it in half and adhered it to the black polka dotted Total Chaos paper. I was also itching to use some of the adorable Chipboard Frames!  I pulled three of the small ones and printed out three small photos of my daughter.  I printed them in black and white to really allow them and the bright colors to pop.  I smudged some white gesso with my finger along the center edge of the black paper.  Once it was dry, I used some watercolor paint to create a fun colored smoky look.  I stitched down the center and then began arranging the frames on the right side.  Once they were in place I went through all of the fun embellishments and did a bit of fussy cutting again.

Although the quote could certainly serve as my title, I decided to add another title on the right.  I combined a die cut from the Snap Pack with alpha stickers from the Expressions Cardstock Stickers.  I stitched through the Illustrated Life Sticker and added cute little hearts from the Word Label Stickers.  These bright colors look amazing on a dark background!

Here you can see some of the texture created by the gesso and paint.  These frames are so fun!  I added pop dots under them to give them dimension.  I fussy cut the striped cloud and yellow circle from a card in the Snap Pack.  I added this so there would be some yellow in that area.  I try and get all the main colors equally around the page.

By adding pop dots under the frames, I was able to add some tangled thread very easily underneath them.  I love the messy look this gives.  I also added those cute balloons from the Word Label Stickers.  They were the perfect colors!

Here’s another fussy cut cloud paired with a cute sun die cut from the Bits & Pieces.  I couldn’t have clouds without a sun! 

I hope these layouts inspire you in some way!  Be sure to check out this amazing Carpe Diem collection.  It has something for everyone!