Tara Chaussee's Blog Posts

09.09.19

Hi everyone! Tara here with Secretbees StudioSummer may be coming to an end but the gorgeous season of Fall will soon be here and  a surefire way to get excited for a new season is to play and craft with some gorgeous paper!  The new Simple Stories Autumn Splendor is a rich collection that is bursting with deep colors and detailed images. All in all a great way to document your Autumn memories.

I wanted to create a large project that would show off this stunning collection and so I created a memory box that holds even more boxes and of course, mini albums! There are six separate boxes inside and four of them hold mini albums with lots of space for photos and mementos!

The box itself is made from chipboard that I then covered in the wonderful paper designs.  I even made a double layered frame for the front of the box that showcases a gorgeous paper from the collection as well as lots of the flower and leaf bits and pieces. 

The album is tied together with a piece of ribbon and opens up to a beautiful scene of wildflowers and insects. There is a small pocket on the left side that holds some adorable ephemera and you can see all of the boxes and mini albums on the right. Each album is encircled with a beautiful belly band that is layered with stickers, bits and pieces and chipboard of the collection.

All of the boxes are removable and can be moved around and I couldn't resist lining the back inside of the box with another pretty piece of the paper in the collection. This memory box is pretty inside and out!

For the mini albums, I used all of the different sized element cards of the collection and made them all a bit different. The 4x6 cards are separate with space on the back for journaling or photos. The 2x2 element cards I kept in a strip of six and folded them. They open up to reveal decorative fronts and on the back there are a few embellishments and places for small photos. For the 3x4 and 4x4 element cards, I adhered them to an accordion strip of paper and made them into booklets. All are perfect spots for Fall memories!

Please visit my YouTube channel and watch the walk-through video of this album and see it in all of its beautiful detail!

Supplies
08.23.19

Hi everyone! Tara here with Secretbees Studio! You can't really have Halloween without a treat bag and this one holds one of my favorite things- a mini album!  This one is loaded with lots of spaces for your holiday photos and mementos!

The new Simple Stories Happy Haunting paper collection is so cute it's scary! The patterns are a playful mix of stripes, plaids, chevrons and polka dots with some pretty flowers thrown in and the images are charming and quirky. I adored it all so much I made a seriously multi-paged album to show it all off!

I wanted to highlight the journaling cards of the collection so I began by cutting page bases from heavy black card stock a quarter inch larger than the cards, That way I could layer the 2x2, 3x4, 4x4 and 4x6 journal cards right on top. I also cut the same sizes from the patterned papers to use as backgrounds as well.

There are also interactive pages, pockets and flaps too so I would have even more spaces to decorate with all of the adorable embellishments of the collection. There are bats, stars, spiders, ghosts and more in chipboard, stickers and bits & pieces. 

All in all there are 20 plus pages ready for all of those Halloween memories! Once all of the pages were colorfully and copiously embellished, I punched a hole in one corner of each and secured them all together with a metal ring that is also decorated with ribbons in the colors of the collection!

Not wanting to stop using this super fun collection, I decided to give it it's own treat bag as a holder! Using the same heavy black card stock as a base, I made the bag 5.5" square and 2.5" wide. The front is spookily decorated with haunted houses, tombstones, bats and even a cute little spider! I topped off the bag with ribbon wrapped wire handle so it could take the weight of this extra large mini.

I have a walk-through video of this adorable mini album at my YouTube channel so you can see all of its wonderful details, pockets and flaps! Be sure to check it out to get some of your own Halloween crafting inspiration! 

Supplies
08.08.19

Hi everyone! It’s Tara with Secretbees Studio  We might be in the thick of Summer but it is not too early to start getting those paper crafted Halloween albums and decorations started. Especially since Simple Stories has some of the cutest holiday paper collections ready for you! The Say Cheese Halloween collection is full of bright magical colors and so many bewitching patterns. Plus this collection has the happy kids dressed up in their most adorable costumes along with not so scary pumpkins, ghosts and spiders. All in all, this collection will add so much fun to any holiday project!

This sweet wallet mini album is perfect for holding lots of Halloween memories and it has lots of pockets and interactive elements! When closed, it measures 8.5" x 4.25" but it opens up to reveal lots of openings and pockets like any great wallet.

The bottom section has its own 'credit card' slots that holds four of the 3x4 journal cards and a gusseted pocket that holds 4x6 journal cards. All have been decorated and embellished with the charming stickers and bits & pieces.

The center section folds out on both sides to reveal several photo spots including a couple of small flip out sections and a pocket! The large center holds another photo flip that showcases the super cute 4x6 journal cards with photo holders on the backs. Check out the walk through with instructions on making your own photo wallet like this one on my YouTube channel!

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