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05.05.15

Hello Simple Stories fans! Nancy here with a look at the pretty and colorful Enchanted line. I used various shapes, icons and patterns to create this grid-based design and a favorite Disneyland photo.

​I started with a 4x4 photo and then built 1” squares of patterned paper to frame it out. I used the 6x6 paper pad for scaled down patterns.  Some of the squares were cut diagonally and glued together to add even more color. Cutting out a large letter “T” for Princess Tiana personalizes the story and adds another shape to the grid.


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​A few swipes of lime watercolor paint sets the perfect spot for storytelling and adds a punch of color to the white background.

I also have some of my April and May planner pages to share. First up – looking at my creative to-do list for April. It was a busy month! I used alpha stickers, washi tape and flag stickers to add splashes of navy and aqua to the yellow text background.

 

 
Looks like “create” was the theme for April. Here’s a peek at a typical day plan for the month. I used a SN@P card to remind me of upcoming assignments to be completed that week. I hole punched it and just kept moving it from day to day until it was complete.


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Looking ahead to May I used the I AM collection to highlight the ‘Mom’ theme of the month.


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I used the planner numbers to highlight some of the dates in gray. I like the bold impact of it in contrast with the very soft look of the I AM collection. I also used the notes section to practice handlettering and add a favorite quote.
 

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05.04.15
Hi Everyone! Marie here today to share some tips for putting together Pocket Pages for your SN@P! Binders.  I am using the I AM collection on these pages.
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 I like to plan out my pocket pages in advance.  After I initially get my pages laid out I like to go back and switch things around until everything is where I want it. But once everything is glued down, it is almost impossible to go back and make changes. So here are a few temporary measures I take to be able to make changes to my pages.
 
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On this insert I used a piece of vellum on the bottom card for my journaling.  Instead of typing directly on the card and possibly running out of space and ruining the card,  I used my computer to print out my journaling on a piece of vellum and then layered it over the card. This way I could make sure I had plenty of space, had no spelling errors, and was happy with what I had written.
 
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I did something similar with the upper part of the insert. I first placed the sticker words "I AM Grateful" on a transparency cut to size to make sure I was happy with the spacing.  When I was done I could simply place the transparency inside my pocket page, and have a see-through element in my album.
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Stickers can be tricky because once they are adhered to paper they can be difficult to remove and place elsewhere. I like to first place stickers on the outside of the page protector. I can then see how they look and if I want to change their position, they are easy to peel up and place somewhere else. 
 
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I'm also a big fan of the interactive elements that are part of the I AM collection.  These layered booklets can be made ahead of time, or even taken on the road with you while you are traveling.
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Once the entire booklet is done and you are happy with how it looks, you can slip the whole thing into a 4x6 pocket.  If you want to add things later, you can simply take it back out and work on it anytime.
 
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I hope some of these tips come in handy the next time you are planning out your albums. Giving yourself the freedom to make last minute changes to your pages can make a huge difference! 

 

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05.02.15

 

Happy (inter)National Scrapbook Day, friends!  

To kick things off, we're excited to share a SEVEN page FREE printable that coordinates with our BRAND NEW Summer VIbes collection released earlier this week -

Click here for your FREE download!

Next up, TODAY ONLY, get a whopping 50% off in our Digital Store!  

With more than 25 collections in digital format, you're sure to find just what you need for your digital crafting needs!  Visit our digital store here and enter code NSD2015 during checkout.

Last but not least, we revealed 4 NEW collections this past week.  We have giveaways running for each collection through midnight on Monday, May 4th.  Visit each of these links to see the new collections and enter to win!

Summer Vibes

So Fancy

So Rad

Stars & Stripes

We hope you have a FABULOUS day!!

 

 

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05.01.15
Hi everyone! Allison here with a new layout using the beautiful I AM... collection and a new sketch that mixes traditional scrapbooking with the SN@P! Pocket Pages.
 
 
You can download the full sketch with measurements and placements here. 
 
The right side of the sketch used Pocket Page Design 7 while the left side has more of a traditional style of scrapbook design. 
 
 
It’s not often that I include myself in my scrapbooking. I’m usually so focused on getting pictures of the boys and trying to document their lives that I often forget about including myself. I wish I was better about getting in front of the camera instead of hiding behind it! Thank goodness for my phone and our love of “selfies” or I wouldn’t have very many pictures of myself with my kids and husband!
 
 
The I AM... collection is was what inspired and motivated me to use some of our favorite selfies and a few of the rare photos of me in front of the camera. I have such a fun and goofy relationship with my boys and I love that we can capture that in our everyday lives with my phone. 
 
 
My favorite paper in the whole I AM... collection is the black and white striped paper with the gold foil heart in the bottom right corner. I knew from the start that I was going to use that paper and basically arranged everything around that. 
 
 
I added tons of heart circles and small punched hearts across the whole page.
 
 
A few of the hearts and circles have hand stitched circles around them. 
 
 
I used the chipboard frames for the smaller photos and then added more hearts, circles, photo stickers, and some word/phrase stickers to the photos.
 
 
For the right page I used SN@P! Pocket Page Design 7. This is one of my favorite of all the Pocket Pages! I love the large 6 x 12” pocket!
 
 
For the 6 x 12” pocket I kind of repeated the same design on the left page by arranging lots of hearts and circles across the paper and photos.
 
 
I added a photo sticker, a word sticker, and a few small hearts to the right corner of my photo. I love adding small details to the empty spaces of my photos!
 
 
In the middle pocket I used two of the chipboard frames with two smaller photos and added them over a few strips of patterned paper.
 
 
I added another sticker and some of the heart photo stickers to my photo in the bottom left pocket.
 
I hope you enjoy using the new sketch!
 

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04.24.15

Hi Simple Stories friends!!

I'm taking a moment this month to share one of my favorite new items from the SN@P! collections...the Fresh SN@P! Pack. I confess that I hadn't really investigated what they had to offer until recently, and boy was I surprised!!







In one coordinated pack, you get my favorite elements from Simple Stories: die cut Bits & Pieces and a great variety of fun 2x2, 3x3, 3x4, 4x4 & 4x6 pocket cards that are 100% on trend. Phrases that are able to be used for just about any project you're working on + FIVE different sizes of cards!! I selected a few to fill in the backs of some 6x8 pocket pages I already had in my album and sat down to work.







I will tell you that this pocket spread came together in 25 minutes...and that includes printing my own photos at home. The cards and die cuts literally took all of the 'work' out of figuring things out, and all I added were a few stickers from the Life Documented collection to spruce things up here and there!







Layering cards together is a fun way to fill a pocket, and when you get different sized cards that coordinate well (like the two you see here from the Fresh pack) things just fall together. No joke...I can't stress how easy this makes things!!







When I find a card that I love in a set, I'm totally OK with just slipping it into a pocket...as I did with the 'let's be happy together' card. Not every pocket has to be filled with a 'masterpiece', and as a lover of pretty paper things I do this frequently. Don't get hung up on the notion that each pocket has to be a work of art that you slave over for 30 minutes. ;)



As I mentioned, the Life Documented embellishments paired perfectly with this pack so I sifted through and added a few elements. And with the 12x12 3-ring binder albums, I was able to slip these 6x8 pages right into my 12x12 album (the holes were designed to match up!!) ...I love the variety it gives to be flipping through and come across an unexpected page size. If you haven't checked out the SN@P! Packs, do so ASAP!!

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04.23.15

Click here to download your free copy of the Enchanted eBook!  Enjoy!

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04.22.15

Hello!  Shellye here today with a set of three fun cards featuring all sorts of pieces from a few of the SN@P! Pack Collections.

To accommodate the larger 4X6 journal cards, I chose to use 5X7 card bases for each one.

For the first card, a 3x3 square from the "Fresh" pack was used for the sentiment piece.  A smaller 1.25" wide strip was cut from one of the other cards and layered side-by-side onto a mat of blue dot paper.  To tie in with the blues in the banner and bow, the assembled piece was then attached to a 4X6 arrow card from the collection.

I love this sentiment from the "Epic" SN@P! Pack; it's an endearment in the simplest fashion!  I dressed up the 'white' areas of the 4X6 sentiment card with two halves of a 2.5" circle that was die cut from the back side of one of the cards.  A few die-cut embellishments, enamel dots and this card was complete!

The final card features some lovely pieces from the "Lovely" set.  The 4X4 square was centered onto the 4X6 card and machine stitched in place.  Next, a circle was die cut from one of the cards and added with foam adhesive.  The embellishment pieces were clustered together and a burlap heart from the DIY collection just added to the homespun feel of the card.

Thank you for joining me today at Simple Stories!

Comments
04.21.15
Hello fellow memory keepers!  I'm having a really hard time believing we're already over halfway through April - spring has finally sprung here in Minnesota and we're just all crossing our fingers for no random blizzards to sprout up!  I've been enjoying getting outside to exercise and ride bikes and clean out the garage (okay, I didn't really enjoy that!).  But I've still managed to squeeze in some time after the kids are all tucked into bed at night to get some scrapbooking done. 
 
I was so excited when we were told that the Simple Stories Digital Pocket Pages were going to be offered as templates in the digital store!  I am all about anything that saves time - that allows me to get more memories scrapped - and I love the various unique configurations that Simple Stories offers in their page protectors and now I can use them on my digital pocket pages!  So naturally, that was the first thing I grabbed to work with this month to slowly (ever so slowly) inch toward catching up on my pocket scrapbook album, along with the Digital Daily Grind collection.  I was looking for something bright and colorful and inspired by the everyday, and Daily Grind was a perfect fit!
 
 
I went back in time to January (thankfully only in photos, I don't want to travel back in to winter!) when we celebrated a birthday in the family and my boys got silly with some stick on moustaches! 
 
 
To use the template, I just deleted the top layer and then just placed the card/paper/photo over the layer that I wanted it on, right click and select "create clipping mask" and then adjust as needed.  Once I have it where I want it, I merge the clipping mask and layer and apply my shadow style to make it look a bit more realistic.  They are so easy to use!
 
 
I love how the finished product turned out - using bright colors on my winter layouts is especially fun for me!
 
Have any of you tried the new templates from the digital store?  We'd love to see what you created with them!
 
Have a great day!
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04.20.15

Hello Friends! 

It's Kristine with you today and I am here to share a pocket page spread featuring another NEW SN@P! Pack - Lovely! I love the SN@P! Packs because they have everything you need to complete a page spread and more!  It contains Bits & Pieces, cards of all sizes and of course you can also create a layout with the leftovers!

The month of March for me was a good one, I enjoyed time with friends, family and kept myself busy.  I found that a complete spread was enough for me and leaving out the minor details was okay. This spread captures what I want to remember and I can always add more later if i want to ;-)

I kept the inserts the same on both pages this month. I love the 4x4 size to add those instagram pics and also trimmed 4x6 photos.   

What i did differently this month is doodle! I went to a crop a few weeks ago and I created 2 layouts that were filled with doodles and I LOVED IT! The process was so easy, kind of liberating and fun. I decided to add some of those doodles in my spread this month. All my cards are traced with a black pen and I also added details around the images and diecuts.

Did you know that Simple Stories has a great Photo Crops for your pocket pages and layouts? YES! they do... simply place on your photo and cut to size!  There's also a video that show you how fun & easy they are to use.  

Here are a few more of my pages featuring some Doodles and Stitching.

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

 

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04.19.15

Click here to shop from the new Silhouette designs.

Click here to shop from the new digital collections.

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04.18.15
Hello Simple Stories fans!  Cari here with you today and I'm excited to share some layouts that I created with the new SN@P! Packs.  They are so easy to work with and help you create a layout in NO TIME!!!  You have everything you need right there in that little package! Makes it so easy to pack up for a crop or weekend of scrapbooking!
 
The first layout that I'd like to share with you is called ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS.  I used the Happy SN@P! Pack.  Such pretty colours and designs in this collection and they went perfectly with my picture.  
 
 
I know many of us love our coffee and I'm one of those people.  But this time my layout really doesn't have to do with the coffee but rather the sweet packaging it came with!  Yes, I was rather smitten with that adorable little pink sleeve around my cup.  So I used my Silhouette CAMEO to cut out a border similar to the one that was on the coffee sleeve.
 
 
I dug through my stash and used some of the awesome burlap embellishments from the DIY collection (flowers, hearts) and then added some enamel dots to the center of the flowers.
 
 
 
I love the photo stickers and on this layout I really liked the contrast that the black stickers gave to the layout.
 
 
 
The second layout that I'd like to share with you isn't so feminine.  This one is called BROS & BUDS and it's about my 2 amazing boys!  
 
 
For this layout I used the Kraft SN@P! Pack. It's so fun, colourful and quite cheerful!  I kept my design simple so the patterns came through along with my single photo.  I used some photo stickers again in various places on my page as well as some wood veneer embellishments (which I just love!)
 
 
 
The die cuts that come with these collections are great too. Often there's more than 1 colour of a similar design so that makes it easier when you're trying to match things up.
 
 
 
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're inspired to try out these awesome little collections.

 

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04.17.15
Hello, Hello :)

Candi here today and I am going to show you a few peeks inside my April planner pages as well as a few extras!  First things first...set up my month on two pages all filled in with numbers for each day, embellishments and jot down my important to-do's!  I just love how this turned out!  I grabbed different numbers from several different embellishment packs.  I am taking a vacation at the end of the month and I blocked it off with several stripes of the washi paper tape.

On the back side of the month on two pages is a month in review...I filled out a few things and left some spots open since it's only mid-April.  

I took a pocket page from the Vertical Pocket Pages Variety Pack and added a few of my favorite washi paper tape sheets...love having that right at my finger tips when I am jotting down notes and plans!


 

For April I am using the weekly planner inserts and I forgot to start my week on this side that you see here...instead of leaving it empty I covered it up with a few sheets from the 6x6 Life Documented Paper Pad and added a 3x4 card from the 2015 Card Set.

Here are my first two weeks in April.  I am one to use embellishments and stickers all over my planner pages...makes planning extra fun and it kinda makes you want to do the not so great things on your to-do list :)

I took Amber's awesome tip and added my printables inside a 6x8 pocket page.  I adhered two printables back to back and added a tab so it's easy to pull in and out of the pocket page.  I really love the March Free Printables because I hate to clean and hopefully this will get me on track to do little tasks throughout the week instead of spending so much time on the weekends!  
 
 
 
YES, I am behind on my pocket pages and YES, I am ok with this!!!  I am ok with it because of the Life Documented Planning Inserts...I know I sound like I am on repeat all the time, but these inserts really are a HUGE lifesaver for me!  Here is week 5 - I have everything written down...all of my photos and memorabilia are slipped into a 6x8 pocket page until I am ready to dive in!  
 
 
Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek inside my Life Documented Planner!  
I hope you all have a great weekend!
 
Happy Planning...
Candi

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04.17.15

Congratulations to Diane Fleming - the random lucky winner of the Paisleys and Polka Dots Enchanted mini book kit!

diane fleming  7 days ago

This mini is absolutely awesome. It truly is "Enchanted". This would be perfect for my granddaughters. Thank you so much for an opportunity to win.

 

 

Comments
04.16.15

Hi everyone, it's Audrey, and today I have a couple of thank you cards to share with you, made with the beautiful I AM... collection.

AudreyPettit-IAm-GratefulCard

I absolutely adore the script font of this beautiful wood veneer sentiment, and wanted to make it the focal point of my first card. Love the large size and how it takes center stage in this simple card design. I decided to alter the wood veneer a bit, to make it stand out even more. And once I did, I got me thinking of other ways to highlight the wood veneer embellishments. So for both my cards today, I decided to really focus on these fun accent pieces, and show you some different things you can do with them.

AudreyPettit-IAm-GratefulCard2

The Wood Veneers are beautiful in their natural state, but are also super easy to alter and embellish to create your own unique embellishments. The "grateful" sentiment piece used here was colored with a Worn Lipstick Distress Marker, which was a perfect match for one of the striped 4x6 SN@P cards from the collection. It only took a minute to color, and I love how the sentiment really pops off the card now, especially layered against a bit of black paper from the 6x6 Paper Pad.

AudreyPettit-IAm-GratefulCard3

A smaller 3x4 SN@P Card and papers from the 6x6 pad make up the base of the card. I wrapped the card with yellow twine and added a chipboard flower to the bow. Then to help frame the focal sentiment, I added a few small flowers from the Wood Veneers, this time colored with markers and given a coat of Glossy Accents. Love how the wood finish looks with all that shine.

My second card also features lots of the Wood Veneer accents, along with layers of pretty papers from the 6x6 Paper Pad.

AudreyPettit-IAm-ThankfulCard2

This time I used both markers and ink pads to apply color to the arrow, bird, and hearts, and you can see a bit of the difference if you look closely. The arrow, hearts, and the legs of the bird were colored directly with a marker, and you may notice the color is deeper and richer on those areas. I used an ink blending tool to apply Distress Inks to the bird's body. It's definitely a softer look by applying color this way, but it's a great way to blend different colors without harsh lines.

AudreyPettit-IAm-ThankfulCard3

Once my wood pieces were colored, they were all coated with embossing ink and heat set with clear embossing powder. It's not quite as glassy as the glossy accents, but a wonderful shiny finish and visual texture, still. Hope I've given you some fun ideas for using the adorable I Am Wood Veneers on your next card projects! Enjoy! 

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04.15.15
Hey there!  It’s Vicki here with a peek at a 6x8 SN@P! album I put together for a workshop I taught last weekend.  When the Life Documented Planner and Scrapbook Lines were revealed I knew I had to create a project that would marry the two together!  I absolutely adore the rainbow of colors in this line and it was so much fun to work with!!!  Take a look at what I came up with…
 
 
This project is an album that will house one year of memories!  It is over 125 pages!
 
Here is a closer look at the cover…
 
 
I stenciled the cover with Distress Ink and added a 4x6 card, a diecut camera and some stickers and button.  I like to add a nice wide ribbon to my 6x8 SN@P! albums.
 
 
This project utilized the Monthly Dividers from the Life Documented Planner collection.  They were perfect for splitting up the sections in my book.  Here is an Upcycling idea for this years planner…keep the divider pages and turn it into an album next year!
 
This album is full of pockets, flaps and flip outs.  Here are a few photos of the inside pages….
 
 
 
 
 
When you build your next SN@P! album, cut some of your 3x4 cards in half to create pockets, make side flaps and layered pockets, too!  This Life Documented line works really well with elements from the Daily Grind collection if you have hoarded that line like I have!
 
That’s it for me today!  Thanks for letting me share a little glance at this Year in Review 6x8 SN@P! album I put together.  I hope it inspires you to look at some of the planner products in a different light.

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04.14.15

Click here to download the Enchanted SN@PBOOKING Guide!  Visit the Project Downloads area of our website for more free downloads!

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04.13.15
Hi everybody ! It's Mindi here with you today sharing some pocket pages documenting my week 5 of 2015. I am using the new Fresh SN@P! Pack! 
 
 
This new Fresh SN@P! Pack is full of great cards and bits & pieces. It's perfect for documenting those everyday moments. 
 
I started my title card by cutting out the arrow from one of the 2x2 square cards in the pack. I added the "week" stamp after I had printed my dates on the card and the number 5. I finished it up with a few embellishments here and there. 
 
 
My pockets really started coming together as I played around with the misc. paper embellishments from the kit. I added a few to some photos and even cut up another 2x2 card to add a title to my journaling card. 
 
 
 
I have to say that this particular card might just be my favorite ! I knew immediately what story that I was going to tell with it. This week I caught all my family members, and yes even myself, playing on an electronic device ! And I'm so glad that I snapped some photos to go along with it ! I think we can all relate to this fun card, am I right ?!! 
 
To make the title for this card I used the word family directly from the silhouette store here. I love the look of the word! 
 
 
Let's move onto the second page now. 
 
This today card is another one of my favorites. I think it is perfect for lots of journaling, which is what i did. I surprised the kids with some new sidewalk chalk to play with outside. I added some embellishments to the bottom. When I am planning out my journaling cards I love to leave room for embellishments, that part makes it personalized. 
 
 
To finish off my second page I got busy playing around with some more of the bits & pieces. The possibilities are endless, so go for it!  The circle journaling card in particular - I thought it would be fun to group all the circle pieces together on one card. 
 
 
 
You don't need to look further than the SN@P! Packs for lots of fun cards and embellishments to add to your pocket pages. These packs are all color coordinated to make documenting your life effortless. Now I encourage you to go forth and get those memories and stories scrapped ! 
Comments
04.11.15
Hi everyone!
 
Teri here, and I'm excited to share with you some cards I created with Simple Stories' new Happy SN@P! Pack!  With Simple Stories' SN@P! Packs, creating a lot of cards easily is... well... a snap!  They come with a generous assortment of SN@P! cards , squares and Bits & Pieces die-cuts. Because of that you can put a lot of coordinating projects together quickly! I just love that!
 
 
To save time and to keep the supplies I used to make my cards to a minimum, I deviated a little from a standard size card. Instead of making standard A2 sized cards, my cards are each 4" x 5 1/4". I find that size accommodates the size of the SN@P! Cards nicely.
 
 
I decorated the base of this first card with a large 4x6 SN@P! card. 
 
 
Then I added a few die-cuts. To give the flowers a little extra dimension, I added a smaller flower on top of the pink one. I love that extra pop.
 
For this card, I layered four squares together to make one big rectangle panel to add the die-cuts to. 
 
 
 
I created the background for my Enjoy card by cutting up two 4x6 SN@P! Cards.
 
 
To give the card a more personalized touch, I added the heart die-cuts, as well as half of a circle die-cut. I also poked a hole through one of the hearts and brought a little twine through it, tying a bow in the front of the card. Twine is a great to way a little extra "umph" to a card without a lot expense or bulk.
 
 
I applied some of the same design tactics in making my "You Make Me Happy" card. 
 
 
I again created the background by cutting up two large 4x6 SN@P! Cards. And then I added some die-cuts and twine to the card.
 
 
For this last card, I used a 4x6 SN@P! Card as my background paper. And then I added a 3x4 SN@P! Card to it. I love that layered look.
 
 
I finished the card off with a couple die-cuts, enamel dots and that butterfly square!
 
 
I plan to give these card as a set as a gift to a one of my friends. And to really make it gift-worthy, I also put together a matching frame.
 
 
I just used a standard size frame that would fit a 4x6 picture.  I removed the glass and put a 4x6 SN@P! Card inside it. Then I chose a 3x4 SN@P! Card with some inspiring words. I added a few die-cuts and enamel dots. To make the die-cuts really stand out, I used foam tape to adhere them to the frame.
 
 
Pretty fun, huh?
 
Well, thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you again soon!

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