Emma Toon's Blog Posts

11.06.17

For my fall set up I decided to have a switch round and use the A5 Marigold CarpeDiem planner, the colour is perfect for an Autumnal set up.

You can see here how I chose the Happy Harvest Collection, just look how fabulous the colours work together!

I have stuffed the pockets full with papers from this collection and also used some of the fun stickers, how cute is that Fox!

I always like to make a dashboard for each new set up and here I’ve used the pretty floral paper which I’ve then layered up with some of the cut a parts from the journaling card sheet and stickers from the 6x12 sticker sheet.

In the close up above you can see the layers including the doily and the faux stitching I always like to add.

On my monthly spread I really wanted to add the pumpkins which were on one of the journaling card sheets, so I fussy cut them out and layered on top of some washi...and of course I put faux stitching around with a black fine liner!

Hope you’ve enjoyed looking at my Happy Harvest set up.

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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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