Tara Chaussee's Blog Posts

10.24.19

Hi everyone! Tara here with Secretbees Studio! When I saw the new Simple Stories So Happy Together paper collection I was smitten.This collection is a delightful mix of beautiful florals and colorful stripes and plaids in fun candy shop colors complemented with sweet and cute family themed embellishments. The perfect way to scrap about home and family!

This folding house mini is not only adorable on the outside, but it opens up to reveal oodles of spots for photos and mementos! I found the tutorial online and it's multi sections are perfect to showcase all of the gorgeous papers and ephemera included in this collection. 

The roof of the album comes off and is pretty enough on the under side for a couple of photos. Then the whole album unties and folds flat into four sections that each hold surprises of their own! There are pages that open, photo flips and even pockets! Such a cute way to hold all of the wonderful memories of friends and family!

Untie the doors of the first section to reveal a spot for photos and journaling. Plus the doors flip down for another photo spot and a small pocket!

The second section is interesting with lots of flaps that open in opposite directions to finally reveal a set of cascading photo flips! All decked out in the gorgeous So Happy Together paper and embellishments!

A sweet pocket for the third section that can hold journaling cards or more photos! There are folds in this section as well that flip up, down or open for more photos and even a hidden pocket in the back that holds a cute tag!

The last section has another photo flip under the first flap and behind that another photo spot and pocket with another tag!

To really see this album in all of its lovely detail, please visit my YouTube channel. I  describe and show all of the different sections so you can be inspired to make one of your own!

Supplies
10.09.19

Even though I'm not a kid anymore, there is still a lot of anticipation and excitement in the days leading up to Christmas and one of my favorite ways to document that is with a December Daily! You can include a simple photo or memento along with a bit of journaling for each day through Christmas or even for the whole month and by making your December Daily mini in size makes it easier to log a memory for each day .

The new Simple Stories Country Christmas collection is full of gorgeously detailed vintage and woodland images that would make any project beautiful. Besides all of the stunning papers in traditionally classic Christmas colors, there are a ton of beautiful embellishments, including lots of numbers, that make creating a page for every day in December a breeze!

For my December Daily, I made a double sided card for every day and added numbers of varying shapes and sizes to each.  I knew all of these cards would be sitting in a decorative box and to give them more visual interest, I made each set of five a bit taller than the previous and used dies to cut fancy borders on the tops. Once all of the cards were done, I made a matching box from chipboard and more of the patterned papers!

Then each card was decked out and decorated with this fabulous collection. There are plenty of pockets, frames, tags and flip outs to hold all the special memories! These are the fronts of all the cards….

and this is the back of the cards!

These are just a few of my favorite cards in this December Daily but if you want to have a look at each and every card in detail, please visit my YouTube channel for a short video. I hope this inspires you to get started on making a beautiful December Daily of your very own!

Supplies
09.24.19

Hi everyone! It’s Tara with Secretbees Studio  I don't want to panic anyone but as of today there are only 92 days until Christmas! Believe me, it is never too early to start thinking about gifts, decorations and Christmas albums. I have already started my Christmas crafting and this sweet little album would fit any of the afore mentioned categories!

This mini album, which measures about 6 x8 at its largest point, is actually made up of three separate folders made from the brightly adorable Holly Jolly paper collection from Simple Stories. The smallest folder was cut to size from one of the patterned paper sheets and then the bottom portion was folded up to make a pocket. I then folded that whole paper in half to make the folder. The other two were made in the same way but I created hidden pockets in them by adhering another full piece of paper over the non pocket side and leaving spaces free of adhesive.

This cute album may be small but it sure packs a punch! It is full of interactive elements and will hold a ton of holiday photos and mementos. Not only are there the hidden pockets filled with tags,  but there are also some fold out pieces, photo flips and pockets on pockets!  

To fill some of the pockets, I used different sized element cards layered onto  coordinating pieces of the Simple Basics paper that goes with this collection. These cards are filled with super cute images and sentiments all in bright holiday colors! Of course I had to decorate and embellish every page, tag and pocket with all of the adorable stickers, chipboard, enamel dots and bits & pieces of the collection! Here are a few of my favorite pages!

This paper collection is so cute it almost (almost) had me wishing for snowmen and Christmas music and this album is a joy to flip through and will put a smile on anyones face!

There is a short video on my YouTube channel so you can see all of the fabulous details and interactive elements of this cute mini album!

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