Emma Toon's Blog Posts

09.03.17

Hi again, I'm back, as promised with part two of my blog looking at how I have used the new Vintage Blessings collection in my planner.  If you missed part one, you can see it here.

As you know I enjoy setting up my planners to be completely unique to me, I like to fill the pockets with my own style of decoration and make my own dashboard (decorative first page) and dividers.

It's so easy to make your own dividers, I simply use an original insert as a template, draw around and cut out. I think I've mentioned before how I use scissors but you can use a trimmer to speed things up, and then I punch the holes with the CarpeDiem A5 hole punch. I make all the dividers before I begin to decorate.

My 'style' changes frequently but at the moment I'm very into adding faux stitching, I use a black ink pen to roughly draw around pretty much everything & anything to make it 'pop'.

The Vintage Blessings collection is full of these gorgeous house images, so I just had to fussy cut some out to use on my dividers, to give a 'picture' like feel I've also used a cloud punch and dotted these around, again using the faux stitching which I think gives almost a quilted feel! 

I like to layer as much as I can on my dividers using papers, doilies, washi tape and ephemera, you can see in these pictures how I build the scene with lots and lots of layers. 

The different paper layers can be torn, cut neatly and even roughed up using the edge of your scissors, this gives such a great texture! 

Using the cut apart elements from the 12x12 collection pack gives you plenty of 'quotes' to use and I do enjoy cutting out words from the element pieces to use as word strips. 

Chipboard pieces are perfect to add depth to your dividers, I also get this effect by adding sticky foam to the backs of stickers to lift and add dimension.

Shaped punches for me are a fabulous way to use every last scrap of my papers, you can see in the picture above where I have used a large circle punch, halved each circle and built up a pretty scalloped edge, and yes once again I've used plenty of faux stitching, but how well does that work with the semi circles of doily, it gives a real homemade, make do and mend feel! 

Finally I'll just show you this little page marker I made by chopping up a pocket page, punching holes, the holes are slightly lower so the top sits proud of the the pages. These are great fun to make, and a perfect way to use up any scraps of paper you may have left.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how I've used the Vintage Blessings collection to make homemade dividers and that it's given you the confidence to make your own, you really can't go wrong!

Until next time if you would like to see more of my projects then please pop over to my Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/heartsbyemma

Supplies
08.29.17

Hi there, it's Emma here to share with you the utterly beautiful new collection, Vintage Blessings. Well, where on earth do I start?? I know every time I say how fabulous the collection I'm showing you is, and that, let me tell you is what I adore about Simple Stories, but, this collection, oh my word, I have had so much fun!! You may have noticed that this blog is titled 'Part One', I have done so much using Vintage Blessings that I've had to make it into a two parter! 

As I always do, I cut out all the cut a parts from the 12 x 12 paper pack and placed them in a container along with the stickers, chipboard stickers, bits & pieces and a selection of co ordinating washi tapes, this is so I have everything at hand.

Decorating the pockets was so much fun, I picked out a few items from the Reset Girl collection too which I thought went well, love how the colours work so nicely together in the Ballerina CarpeDiem planner. 

Just look how cute these little birdies are, you'll find them popping up throughout the Vintage Blessings collection. I've used two of the chipboard birds to make into paperclips, I love how they sit proudly at the top of my pages! 

A super easy way to make dividers for your planner is to use the 6 x 8 paper pad, using the CarpeDiem punch you simply choose the picture you want, punch the holes and away you go! You can use paperclips at the side or top of each divider if you don't want to have to add tabs to them. 

Next month in the second part of my Vintage Blessings blog I'm going to take a much closer look at divider making, I can't wait to show you!

Here's a pocket divider I have made, I thought the houses were just so gorgeous that I had to use them everywhere! I fussy cut these out so they sit prettily at the top of the pocket. 

I used some journaling cards from the reset girl collection which I snipped the top corners off, punched a hole and attached some twine, to make a set of tags to fit in the pocket. These can be used for anything you fancy, journaling, list making or even to store some washi on.

Along with decorating my pages with the stickers I also enjoy cutting up bits from the papers and making little flags and banners, you can see here how I've done that and then used a black fine ink pen to draw around the edges for a faux stitching effect. I do this a lot, you've probably noticed! 

This is how I decorated my August monthly pages, I've used washi, stickers and again I've also cut up pieces from the 12 x 12 papers to fill some of the boxes. 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the first look at how I've used the Vintage Blessings collection, I do hope you'll join me next month for a closer look. Until then, if you would like to see more of my projects then please pop over to my Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/heartsbyemma

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Supplies
07.26.17

Hello again, It's Emma.  My blog today is all about making dividers using the fabulous new A5 Carpe Diem hole punch!   I've chosen to use the Cabin Fever collection for my Marigold planner. 

I have to admit that this collection is not the style or colours I would normally turn to but that being said, I always like to try to push myself out of my comfort zone and explore new ideas!

This collection, as all the Simple Stories collections, is positively overflowing with products.  The first thing I did was cut the element pieces from the 12x12 paper collection kit, pop out all the chipboard stickers and fill this handy tray with everything I needed, so it was all at hand.

I picked out the coordinating washi tapes I wanted to use, filled a section with the bits & pieces and was all set to start creating!

The 12x12 papers are just perfect for divider making as they are double sided and a good quality cardstock so there's no need to laminate.

I choose the Marigold planner for this collection as the colours work perfectly with it.

I chose a selection of chipboard elements, bits & pieces and cut up some of the papers to fill the front pockets, I also used a border punch on another piece of co ordinating cardstock and tucked it in the large front pocket, I like to do this just to tie in all the colours. I do also like to keep the sticker sheets tucked in this large pocket so they are always to hand when I'm setting up my weekly pages.

The dashboard is one of the first things you see when you open your planner and I like to imagine it being like the front cover of a book, it's what makes you want to look inside and turn the pages!

Now, I just can't tell you enough how awesome the new A5 CarpeDiem punch is!!...I've tried using many different punches over the years and had many disasters!! This punch is so easy, there's no messing around trying to line it up as it does it all for you, literally slide your paper in until it won't slide any more, this means it's in position, punch, and away you go!!

Making these dividers was an absolute pleasure using the punch!

To make the dividers I draw round an existing divider on the cardstock I want to use to get the size and then I cut out with scissors, this is purely because I'm useless with a trimmer!!  I use a tab punch but it's really not necessary, you can again just trace the tabs and cut by hand.  I make the holes in all the dividers before I begin decorating. 

You'll see from the pictures that I like to use lots of layers on my dividers and I also like to mix the designs up by using differing techniques, for example I may layer with papers that are cut with nice clean lines for one divider but on the next I'll use papers that I have ripped roughly.

To make the different layers pop I like to add 'faux stitching' around the edges, and I'm quite happy to do this with quite a rough, some might say 'messy' finish, but the homemade effect appeals to me. 

We all have our own styles and that's what's so nice about making our own dividers because we have free reign to make them however we like!

So to say this planner is very different from my usual style I actually really like the finished look! ...it just shows, we should all try and push our boundaries and try new things!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog and possibly taken a little inspiration, if you would like to see more of my projects then please pop over to my Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/heartsbyemma

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