Tara Chaussee's Blog Posts

03.21.19

Hi everyone! Tara with Secretbees Studio here! Simple Stories has some new paper collection releases and they are fabulous! One of my new favorites is the 'Simple Vintage Traveler'. I love to travel and I think one of the best (and cutest!) ways to document a trip is a mini album!

I made this mini into a travel folio with lots of places for photos, journaling spots and mementos! There are even some hidden pockets too!The folio, which measures 5"x7 3/4" when closed, has a tie closure and I included a luggage tag from the Bits & Pieces along with some travel charms as accents.

This inside flap has both a photo and journaling spot as well as a hidden pocket with a pull-out card! The tickets on the edge are from the combo stickers included with the kit! The other flap is actually a large pocket with a long pull-out card that features quite a few spaces for photos or journaling.

The flaps open up to reveal a pocket with a large tag that also holds photos. The pocket has a few sticker embellishments and been stamped with one of the new clear stamps from the 'See The World' stamp set! In the center are a couple of multi photo flips that have been decorated with small stickers and sentiments.

The center of the folio has three sections. The left flap features a beautiful frame from the Layered Frames packet and the right flap has one of the Bits & Pieces adhered to the corner to hold a couple of photo and tag card! For the center, I folded a Simple Stories pocket page in half to hold more photos. Behind the pocket page is another hidden pocket holding another cute card!

The center section folds up and flips over to reveal the back of the folio. There is another frame, ready for a photo, and a pocket that hold a travelers notebook that I made using a piece of the patterned paper. I cut notebook paper down to size and used that for the inside of the notebook. Super cute! Now I just need to got a trip so I can fill up this folio!

There is so much more amazing detail to this folio that you really should see! Head over to my YouTube channel to check out a short walk-through video to see it all!

Supplies
02.28.19

Hi everyone! If you have a special boy in your life that is celebrating a special occasion or needs some extra love and affection, make any day a party with the bold and bright 'Lil' Dude' paper collection from Simple Stories! This collection is full of everything boy- trucks, dinosaurs, frogs and dogs along with the coolest boy sentiments!

This fun party set includes treat holders, cupcake wraps and a cute drink bottle! All super easy to make and they look even more fab with all of these awesome embellishments! I used a Silhouette cut file to make these adorable popcorn boxes that can hold all kinds of edible goodies or prizes. The papers in this collection have great prints on both sides so they look wonderful inside and out!

For the cupcakes, I simply traced a cupcake wrap that I had on hand onto the patterned paper and then cut them out. I then wrapped them around the cupcake and taped them together in the back before layering on the charming stickers, chipboard and Bits & Pieces. Voilá, the cutest treat ever!

For the milk bottle wrap, I cut strips of the patterned papers with decorative scissors to add details around the edges and then decorated them with more of the marvelous stickers and chipboard, layering some with foam adhesive for dimension. You could easily do this with water and juice bottles too! The treat holder is cut from a die and is also embellished with more bright pieces from the collection! These cool touches will bring a smile to any boys face and make for the raddest party ever!

Supplies
02.06.19

Hi everyone! It’s Tara here with Secretbees Studio  When I was a little girl, my mom made me the most wonderful busy book! I loved that book and played with it for hours on end! My book was made from fabric and had the most fun activities inside of it. I still have the book and will definitely be passing it down to my grand baby who is due very soon!

Since I am a paper crafter, I wanted to make one of these from paper and the 'Dream Big' paper collection from Simple Stories is a magical collection perfect for a girly busy book! Its full of whimsical unicorns, cats and fairies in bright and pretty colors that will delight girls of all ages.

The covers and spine of the book were cut from chipboard and covered in the beautiful patterned paper. The book is chunky to hold three pages that are extra deep for the activities. The first section of the book has an embellished pocket to hold stickers and a cute drawing/writing pad along with a pencil holder made from the patterned paper. I added in chipboard and combo stickers for extra cuteness!

Memory matching games are super fun and I included one in this book! I simply cut out these adorable 2x2 elements and layered them over more sweet patterned paper before applying sticky velcro to the backs as well as to the page so no pieces will be lost. There is also a magnetic board cut from a vent cover and adhered to the page. I cut strips of magnet and foam and glued those to the backs of the whimsical Bits & Pieces images for hours of endless fun!

Puzzles are a great activity and these are perfect sized for a little girl! I double layered two of the 4x4 journal cards for thickness and then using a puzzle die, cut them into puzzle pieces. One page has pockets with twine closures to hold the puzzles and I gave each pocket a clear acetate front so the inside contents can easily be seen! The other page has a chipboard frame covered in patterned paper to hold the completed puzzle in place! 

No busy book would be complete without coloring so I made a pocket on one page to hold coloring book sheets and on the opposite page I doubled up a strip of the patterned paper and scored it in sections just large enough to hold a set of colored pencils! There is also a small ledge made from chipboard and patterned paper to hold the pencils in place. 

A 4x6 journaling card is layered with a pretty doily and more of the colorful paper along with chipboard stickers on the cover of the book for lots of girly details! To keep everything in place I added in a piece of pink tulle that can be tied in a big, pretty bow! To see this book in all of its wonderful detail, be sure and check out my YouTube channel for a walk-through video.

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