Simple Stories

Hello!  This is Amber, founder and creative director of Simple Stories.  I'm thrilled to start a new 'behind the scenes' monthly feature on our blog about my vision, our design,  product development & glimpses of how I'm using our products. 

It was 5 years ago when we introduced our Simple Stories products and philosophy with our first collection, Life Documented.   In celebration of 5 years of sharing stories 'simply' we've brought Life Documented back, better than ever.  Just like our first launch, this Life Documented collection is all about sharing your story for the year simply, easily and with lots of fun!   We introduced a ton of scrapbook products with the new Life Documented collection, and a Planner component as well.  Today I'm focusing on our amazing planner portion of the collection.

I've always been a planner fanatic - even way back when, before it was cool.  After spending lot’s of $$ on many different planners and sizes over the years, I was never truly happy with the final results- even with some of the big names and trendy designs.  Whether it was too generic, too detailed, too small, too big, too restrictive, too complicated, too limited – nothing seemed to fit my life and what I was looking for in a planner.  

For me, the perfect planner had to be big enough and with just enough space needed for day-to-day planning.  I didn’t want it to be limited to an 'off-the-shelf', 'one-size-fits-all' planner; I wanted options to personalize my album, but not so many options that it became complicated or overwhelming.  It had to offer complete functionality and choices - from full size daily inserts, to weekly pages and monthly calendars, to notes, lists, journals and menus - however I wanted to plan my life.  Of course, it had to be fun and bright with just enough creativity to keep me excited about planning my day-to-day.  Most importantly, I wanted something that covered all the facets of my life -  work, business, home, family, personal and even my memory keeping hobby.

This entire 'planner' program has been a long time in the making for us …from the minute I held the first sample of our 6x8 Faux Leather Albums, I was in love and couldn’t wait to develop a planner system to compliment them.  From start to finish, this collection was so well thought out - down to every last detail - and I can't wait to share the 'behind the scenes' with you on how I've approached setting up my planner!

GETTING STARTED

It's so easy to start - just choose your favorite 6x8 SN@P! album or binder, including faux leather, chipboard and burlap.  I'm using our Teal 6x8 Faux Leather SN@P! Album - I LOVE the color & it matches my handbag perfectly...plus the high-quality album is simply gorgeous with contrast stitching, decorative metal label on the spine and metal corners. 

Next...select from many of the a la carte SN@P! Life Documented Planner Products - from Monthly, Weekly, & Daily Inserts to Clips, Sticky Notes, Bookmarks, Pockets, etc.  Last comes the FUN part - compiling your planner for day-to-day use...here's how I put mine together:

HELLO MY NAME IS...

Every good planner needs a basic information page, so the Monthly Dividers includes one with a cute label and icons for you to store all your personal details.  I wanted to add even more fun to my intro page so I added fun "hello" and arrow stickers to dress it up. 

*TIP:  We added plenty of space to add all of your personal details, including name, address, phone numbers and even space for you website or blog.  

I chose to start my planner with one of our cool Pockets - they come pre-punched and insert easily.  The front has a cool pocket to easily story random, everyday tidbits.  I added a 3x4 card to the back of the pocket from our 2015 SN@P! Card Set with a piece of Washi Paper Tape - a perfect quote to start the year & it coordinates with our very cool 12/52/365 dashboard on the next page (also included in the Monthly Dividers).

*TIP - I LOVE that our planner system is so versatile - you can put theses pockets anywhere you want, depending on what makes sense for you & your needs.  I love that freedom and flexibility - and you will too!

MAKE THIS YEAR GREAT!

There are so many things I love about our planners - but this has to be one of my favorite.  This interactive, fold out insert, included in the Monthly Dividers, lets you plan and view your whole year at a glance!  I love the quote on the front and added a few more details with stickers.  When opening you can see how easy it is to jot down the big, important things to look forward to with your year.

*TIP:  I chose to focus on just the big events of the year - not the everyday details - like holidays, events, travel, vacations, etc. This has been a great tool for getting a quick glance at what your year looks like.  And who can resist the fun, interactive fold-out feature?

It's the BIG 2015!

What makes our planner system so unique is that it incorporates our 6x8 SN@P! Albums, Pocket Pages and SN@P! Core products. I love that you can easily incorporate pocket pages of any format or design anywhere in your planner, just like I did here with our 3x4 Pocket Pages and 3x4 Cards from the Life Documented 2015 Card Set.  What a fun way to introduce the year in a BIG way!

*TIP:  One of my favorite parts of designing products is focusing on the details - things that customers may not even notice - but we do.  Our whole goal is to make it SIMPLE for you..so we do all the work for you, like these cards - they're double-sided with the large 2015 numbers,  then the backs show through with coordinating titles. 

COLORFUL MONTHLY DIVIDERS 

Again, I love that our system features a variety of options to personalize your planner, incuding these Monthly Dividers that feature a 2 page calendar spread for each month. My favorite part is the designer pattern that introduces each month - in the same bold prints that coordinate with our Life Documented scrapbook products.  You can choose to leave as is - or add a little something like I did.  I knew I wanted to add some sort of 3x4 card to each month & the 3x4 SN@P! 2015 Cards were the perfect fit.  I LOVE that I start each month with the specific dated 2015 month, since the Monthly Dividers are not date specific. I did this for each month and am so happy with the results - try this on your planner and even add washi tape or other embellishments!

TIP:  Did you notice how each monthly 3x4 calandar card 'month' matches the monthly tab color perfectly...yep, it's all in the details for us!

PLAN ON IT!

This is what the Monthly Dividers look like when opened to the month; they'll most likely be the core of your planner.  You'll find a pop of solid color and a basic non-date specific calandar.  We designed this as a 2-page spread because lets face it, your life is BIG and you need plenty of room to plan and organize. 

TIP: Remember the Details!  With all the fun and bright washi strips - well this is where I used those washi tape strips to help me plan my month.  There is so much going on in a single month that using our Basic and Designer Washi Paper Tape is a must to easily plan and coordinate your schedule.  We also offer Calendar Stickers, sized perfectly for our monthly dividers to help you plan your life in a fun way!

TIP: Our Monthly Dividers are not dated, allowing you to start & end your 12 months based on what fits YOUR needs.   The first thing I did when organizing my planner was add the dates to each month so that it's done for the entire year.

THE DAILY GRIND

We offer both Weekly and Daily Planner Inserts to help you plan your life; I'm using both.  Today I'm showing you how I use the Daily Inserts...pretty basic, right?   For me these Daily Inserts are all about functionality.  I'm choosing to focus on the tasks and important items I need to accomplish each day.  There's so much other fun stuff going on in my planner, so I'm keeping these pages basic.  Of course, you have the option of decorating away with washi, clips, stickers and so much more!

TIP:  It was important for me to have lots of space in our planner system and I insisted on adding these Daily Planner inserts to our line up of products.  They come with enough pages for all 365 days - they're not dated so you can start anytime.  We kept the design pretty general so it would fit anyone's life.  I'm using the 1/2/3 at the top for my daily health goals.  I love that the To Do section has plenty of room and then an added hourly scehdule as well.  The notes are perfect for adding reminders and important information.  I love how I can use these daily pages to incorporate my business, family, and personal life all in one!

KEEP IT TOGETHER

Remember this?  When we first launched our SN@P! products a few years ago we added this useful zipper Pouch.  It's the perfect way to store all of your planner goodies - stickers, washi tape sheets, embellishments, & cards all fit into this pouch, ready to go!   I put my pouch at the end so I have easy access to my planner supplies.

FREE PRINTABLES!

Now we get to the really fun part!  We've designed these FREE printables to coordinate with your Life Documented planner.  Even better, we'll be offering free printables each month!  

Click here to download January's Free Life Documented Printables - NOTE: this is a large file, so it may take a few minutes to download, depending on your internet connection :)

There are a whopping 12 free printables this month, including:

2015 Calendar
2015 Holidays
January Month in Review
Birthdays
Gift Giving List
Shopping List
Weight Tracker
Food & Fitness Tracker
Who, What, When Where Dashboard
... and 3 Printable Cards to punch & insert in your planner!

TIP: Free printables are on a single PDF document with 13 pages - print off what you want and the quantity you need.  We've added cut marks to each printable, so you can easily trim your pages to size.  

Here's how I've included a few of these Free Printables in my planner - 

Hi all!

Hi there Simple fans, Nancy here today with a look at the brand new Say Cheese II collection. The red, yellow, white and slate blue palette is one that I love and find myself reaching for again and again. It definitely has a theme park feel, but I’ve found that on second look it’s definitely versatile!

I began this page with one of my favorite photos and an idea for a shaker box.  I used a chipboard frame from the Say Cheese II collection, stickers, star punch, patterned paper and a transparency to make a custom embellishment that adds movement and a punch of color to the layout.

To add texture, I used a sewing machine to attach a chipboard frame to the layout. Placing a plastic clip in the center of the frame adds dimension and a bit of a ‘flap’ to the area.

​Say Cheese II is a practical collection that goes a long way. Here I used to scrapbook a layout about  a cruise vacation. The bold colors compliment my photos without overpowering them.

​To add a subtle title, I used a tone-on-tone effect with white lettering on a white background. I used a sewing machine to underscore each word in the title. This draws attention to the title and texture to the page. The overall design is a simple grid that came together very quickly. It’s a design that I use often when I’m stumped for ideas.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek at my favorite release this Winter – Say Cheese II!

Hi Everyone, Marie here today to share a new Life Documented project using the new I AM collection. I decided to change things up this year and switch to a 6x8 album to document our everyday moments.

I love the look of mixing different size pages and dividers within an album. The I AM collection has a lot of premade dividers, envelopes, and tags of different sizes and shapes.  To carry it one step further I trimmed off the final column of one of the 2x2 page protectors to add even more variety to my album.

I tend to focus on my kids a lot in my albums, so for these first few pages I made sure to document the things that I'm doing right now.   It was a good challenge for me, and the papers and embellishments in this collection really lend themselves to that.

The last couple of pages are about what I am reading/watching right now, and also what I am doing which is mostly a lot of organizing.

I hope you've enjoyed a peek into the start of my 2015 album.  Have a great month!

Hello!  Shellye along today with a set of cards using the beautiful new I AM... Collection.  The collection is filled with all sorts of sweet sentiments, or if you prefer, use the pretty papers and embellishments to create an assortment of note cards!

For the first card I used a 3" and 4" circle die to cut the 6X6 patterned papers. 

The circles were layered together with foam adhesive and black pom pom trim was adhered to the back of the larger circle and then attached to the card front.

The typewriter sticker was embellished with one of the cute clips, a label sticker and butterfly sticker.  And I love that the new adhesive brads!  A small strip of washi tape was applied to a scrap piece of paper and then added to the bottom.

The focus of this next card was the adorable chipboard frame!

The inset of the frame was filled with one of the smaller journal cards and then layered onto a black mat. 

In keeping with the floral pattern on the frame, matching patterned paper (for the card base) and stickers were used.  The gold foil chipboard pieces add just the right amount of glitz and shine.

Thank you for joining us today at Simple Stories!

Hello everyone!  I'm Sara and I'm a part of the newly minted design team for Simple Stories digital products!  I have been a long-time digital scrapbooker, in love with memory keeping, but not so much the mess.  I got hooked on Simple Stories a few years ago when I tried my hand at pocket scrapbooing using paper products, so naturally I was thrilled to hear that Simple Stories has introduced digital collections!

Hello Friends! 

It's Kristine Davidson with you today and I am here to share a layout I created for CHA using the new I AM... Collection. This collection is filled with such beautiful colors; a little red, turquoise, black, yellow and touches of gold. For my layout I used mostly 3x4 journal cards from the collection, the 6x6 paper pad and also the Chipboard pieces. I had no Bits & Pieces but I made my own by cutting out some elements from the journal cards. It's really easy to do !

I wanted to add as many colors and papers as I possibly could on my page so i added several 3x4 cards or cut up 6x6 papers underneath each other for layers - I sewed a few of them for a little extra texture and because I love sewing on my pages.

Here is a little close up where i created my own " diecut ".  I used the feather from a 3x4 card and cut it up to place it underneath a piece of chipboard.

For this next card I added the letter M from the " I AM "  for my niece's initial M - for Marissa.  

The last one I'll show you is a the gold heart. I cut this up as well and added a pop dot under it to give it some dimensions.

As you can see, it's so easy to add dimensions or little extras even if you only have a few 3x4 journal cards!

I hope you enjoyed my post today and I'm sure you'll enjoy creating with your Simple Stories I AM... Collection - Make sure to tell your Local Scrapbook Store you NEED this collection ;-)

Hi everyone, Amy here to share my first layout on the Simple Stories Blog! I created a layout using the fabulous new I Am collection that was just released for CHA 2015.  This collection is amazing, and very versatile.  It worked perfectly for a layout about my sweet boy at three.

Here are some closeups. I cut the 3 out using my Silhouette Cameo, and all the other bits and pieces are from Simple Stories.

This line has the most perfect embellishments and so much color and good things that come with it! I loved using it and can't wait to create with it again.

Candi

Hi everyone, it's Audrey, and today I'm here to share a couple of fun cards using the adorable new I AM... collection.

Gold has been such an on-trend color this past year, and I am so excited to see that trend continue into the new year. For this first card, I combined the shiny, elegance of gold accents with the softer look of pastel papers and fabric for an eye catching combo that's full of visual texture. 

As a card-maker, I am always smitten with the smaller prints of the 6x6 paper pads, as the toned-down scale is perfect for card designs. For this card, I started with a base made of two contrasting prints, then added in additional paper accents and a soft layer of cotton batting.

A 3x4 SN@P Card creates the perfect frame work for the focal point and sentiment. Chipboard, Bits & Pieces die cuts, and a yummy gold glittered Enamel Dot, all tied up with some pretty metallic trim.

My second card shows a bit of the bolder side of I Am, with lots of pops of strong black mixed into the works.

The main focus of this card is one of the cool Interactive Elements, the window pocket card. So great for hiding journaling on a scrapbook page, or for housing a secret pull-out note on a card. Or why not tuck in a gift card, too, for an instant all-in-one gift idea.

Once again, this card starts with papers from the 6x6 pad. And this time, I added interest with both a torn edge and punched edge border. A plain manila tag placed behind the pocket helps convey the interactive theme.

The window slot was the perfect spot for a die cut sentiment banner. Additional Bits & Pieces accents and a chipboard banner add the finishing touch. Although the original chipboard banner was too big for the card, one quick snip brought it down to size, with some left over for another project. So don't be afraid to alter embellishments to perfect suit you. 

Hi there friends! My name is Rebecca Larson (ig:@digiscrapbec) I am so excited to be here at Simple Stories, and even more excited about the new digital lines that are givingscrappers additional options and flexibility for collecting the memories we cherish.

For the last couple years, I have been fascinated with family history. Lets be honest, because photography was so expensive and hard to come by, our predecessors went all out when getting their portraits taken!  When browsing the digital The Story of Us collection, I was drawn to the vibrant gold, sleek black, and antiqued white and knew that I had to give life to a classic bridal photo.

One of the great things about digital scrapbooking is the option to correct photos, and tweak colors to match the scheme of the products that you are working with. Take this gorgeous picture of my good friend’s great grandmother:

I was able to clean up the image, by removing the bend/tear in the corner, smooth out the texture, lighten, and change the color to better match the paper and elements in the Story of Us collection. 

I wanted the to gold in the photo to shine (no pun intended:)), and so I used the striped foil paper for the majority of the open space. Doesn’t the quality of the detail make it look like actual physical paper?

Finally, the coordinating elements really make the photo pop, and gives it the timeless feel. Another positive aspect of adding digital components to a layout is the flexibility to resize the item to fit your design, as I did with the photo mat. It is actually one of the 2x3 cards, that I resized to fit and mat the photo perfectly!

I didn’t want to add any additional distraction, so I added name, location and date of the photo in the bottom right corner. 

The possibilities with this kit are endless and timeless! Thank you for stopping by!