Simple Stories

{simply summer fresh}

In each of the Simple Stories collection kits, you'll find beautiful transparencies for your scrapbooking or papercrafting projects.  For my project today, I have used a few of the transparencies from the Summer Fresh collection kit.  They are darling and just needed to be showcased!  

I created licorice pouches using these darling transparencies...so quick and easy and unique.  The process is simple:

1.  Cut a block of coordinating paper to fit behind the transparency.  I cut mine a bit larger than the transparency so that I could trim the edges and top with decorative scissors.  I used Summer Fresh Simple Basics including Honeycomb Ledger, Sky Blue Daisy, and Dictionary.

2.  Stitch the transparency to the coordinating paper along the sides and bottom, leaving the top open to form a pocket.

3.  Cut a coordinating Bingo card to fit across the center of each pocket using the Bingo Cards paper.  Adhere the Bingo card in place and embellish with Fundamental Cardstock Stickers, Expression Cardstock Stickers, trim, and buttons.

It's as simple as that!

 

Creating with Simple Stories is so much fun and such a breeze.  I love how effortlessly things can be combined to suit any style, theme, or project.

Thanks so much for visiting!

 

Simple Stories Supplies Used:

Summer Fresh Collection Kit #2400

Summer Fresh 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers  #2402

Summer Fresh 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2403

Red Flower/Honeycomb Ledger Paper #2417

Sky Blue Daisy/Notebook Paper #2419

Burlap/Dictionary Paper #2420

Bingo Cards/Stripes Paper #2421

She Is Awesome

Hello Simple Stories friends! Emily Pitts here today with a layout I made about my daughter. You might think, a layout about a girl, oh I'll pull out my Fabulous collection from Simple Stories! While I do pull that collection out a lot, I knew it wouldn't work for the topic of my layout.

But Awesome, with its guitars, car tracks, and wings, well that was what I was looking for! See, I'd had this conversation with my 17 year old daughter, all stemming for a typical thing teenage girls do in the car, sing along to the lyrics. Especially the lyrics by cute boy bands! But Annie hasn't really gotten into these bands, she has a few of their songs, but she's more into acapella and jazz. So this conversation happened, I loved her take on things so much, I tweeted it, and this layout is the result. I love that I could use Awesome on a girl page! 

I think the guitar and wings are perfect to represent the boy band theme. And the car track? My own cheeky humor showing up to represent the moving on in her statement. I love that the stripe of blue in the alphabet matches her shirt so well. Then there were the Scrabble type letters B-O-Y, perfect for my title. It's fun to break the "rules" sometimes!

Have a great weekend and rememeber, it's OK to switch things up, to not go with the flow all the time.

Products used: 

• Awesome 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers (#2202)
• Awesome 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers (#2203)
• Awesome: Extreme (2206)
• Awesome: Blue Dot/Mini Ledger (#2217)

 

Hello, State Fair!

Hello and happy summer! Jill here with a layout featuring one of my very favorite summer activities, the Iowa State Fair! Iowa's State Fair is one of the best in the country and I have gone every year since I was very little. It's a tradition that I definitely don't miss! I love the food, the activities, and of course, the people watching. Last year, I was able to see the fair through the eyes of my daughters and there were so many new activities that I had never seen before because I wasn't on the lookout for things for toddlers.

The "Summer Fresh" collection just screams fair to me (and so much more!). When we visited the fair last year, our photos were not stellar as we just took our point and shoot camera. Rather than be too picky about what we had for photos, I knew that it was more important to get the memories documented. It was their first trip (of many future trips) to the state fair, after all. I printed 8 of my favorite photos into wallet size and created a collage of them.

I cut apart the bingo cards and used the top 4 at the top of my collage of photos. I highlighted several of them with word stickers and used alphabet stickers on a couple as well.

That ticket sticker was just begging to be used on my state fair layout. I also cut out the burlap ribbon piece to hold my journaling.

Supply List:

Summer Fresh Colleciton Kit #2400

Summer Fresh 12 x 12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2402

Summer Fresh 12 x 12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2403

Burlap/Dictionary #2420

Bingo Cards/Stripes #2421

Looking Forward to Summer!

May 23, 2012

Hello!  Kim here...and I've been dreaming - dreaming of the long, hot, lazy days of summer .  June, July, August and even September are my favorite months of the year.  I love the warm sun, the long days, and the sound of the kids laughing and playing from sun up to sun down.  So, when the SUMMER FRESH Collection arrived on my doorstep, the dreaming started!  This has got to be my all-time favorite collection EVER! 

Do you know who else loves the summertime?  My puppy dog, Cooper!  He loves having his kids home all day to play with him and especially all the trips to the beach:

Those are some of my favorite photos from last summer and now the  Summer Fresh Collection has me dreaming of summertime and even more long, hot, lazy dog days of summer....


Supplies Used:

• #2402 - Fundamental Cardstock Stickers
• #2403 - Expression Cardstock Stickers
• #2410 - 4x6 Journaling Card Elements 1
• #2411 - 4x6 Journaling Card Elements 2
• #2414 - Border & Title Strip Elements
• #2417 - Red Flower/Honeycomb Ledger
• #2420 - Burlap/Dictionary

 *******

Congratulations to our 2 Summer Fresh winners; Ange who said “Those stamps are adorable!!! And I love this line!”  and also to Mandie Wade who said “WOW!!! Love the collection and the stamps!!! Can't wait to get my hands on that "Ribbon" stamp!”

Please email your address to sales@simplestories.com before May 25th to claim your prize!

 

 

Keeping things "Simple"

Hi everyone! It's Natasja here who almost forgot about todays blogpost..woops!! I must says life is a bit hectic with a 3 weeks old baby and I am trying hard to get some structure back in the daily routines. Next to almost forgetting about this I also have a birthday in the family for which I haven't bought a pressent jet. Sounds familaire that sometimes things like this are hard to keep track with?! Can you also believe I felt the stress rising when I realised all this?! But then it hit me!! I am on the SIMPLE Stories design team! So no stress, keep things simple!

So what did I do...I combined this blogpost with creating a giftcard for my niece!

I used the brand new "Summer Fresh" collection here. I cut the big yellow label on two sides about 1/2" smaller. Than I cut a piece of 12" x 8" from patterned paper and fold that in half, adding tape on 3 sides with washi tape and punched out half a square at the top side which I left open.

I punched 6 flowers out of patterned paper, wrickled them a little and than created 2 flowers with 3 layers. Put a staple in the middle and covered it with a button. Embellished the cover of the "envelop" with stickers and the flowers.

To finish things off I put some text on the yellow label and added a pocket. You can use the pocket to put in money, a voucher, maybe tickets to the movies or... In the upper left corner there is some space for a nice personal note.

And done!

No stress, keep thing simple :)

products used:

* #2416 Denim/Grid
* #2413 4x4 Quote & 6x8 Photo Mat Elements
* #2405 Countrey Garden
* #2408 Easy Breezy
* #2402 Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers
* # 2403 Expressions Cardstock Stickers
* # 2016 Odds & Ends Memorabillia Pockets 

A Simply Creative Project Life

Happy Monday Simple Stories fans! I hope you had as restful and productive of a weekend as I did. Although by the calendar, summer may be a month away, summer has arrived here in the Valley of the Sun with triple digit temperatures and constant blue skies. That also means that I'm on break and staying indoors with my air conditioner. So, what better time to play catch up on all the Project Life layouts I have yet to complete. Even though I've fallen WAY behind, I love the concept too much to give up. With Simple Stories divided page protectors and elements system though, I don't have to worry! 

I know I've said it before, but I love the ability to mix and match the various lines together. For Week 5, I combined the brand new Summer Fresh (loved the denims), Documented (love those neutral tones), and the Destinations (what better line for a week of traveling) lines together. 

This top section was created by first cutting the Summer Fresh pattern into a 5x12 size. Then, I used the Simple Stories/Unity map stamp to create the background. I layered a Destinations border sticker along the top. I then cut an Elements Border strip from Destinations and adhered to the top so that the end result was a 6x12" background. A few stickers, photos, and staples (my favorite embellishment, I think) and voila. 

For this section, I used a 4x6 vertical Element from the Summer Fresh line. I didn't really do much except exacto cut the little ribbon/banner piece so that it would overlap the photo rather than be underneath it.

This section was also created with the Summer Fresh 4x6 vertical Elements. Again, so simple, a few added stickers and staples and I was done. 

So, if you are falling behind on your own Project Life albums, don't stress about it! Just grab your Simple Stories lines and go to town. Don't be afraid to mix "seasons" and "themes" either! Look how well Summer Fresh fit with the winter photos of my Week 5. There are no rules. So, just scrap and enjoy.

Products Used:

• Summer Fresh Expression Cardstock Stickers #2403
• Summer Fresh Journaling Card Elements #2, #2411
• Summer Fresh Vertical Journaling Card Elements #2412
• Summer Fresh Sky Blue Daisy/Notebook #2419
• Documented Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers #2302
• Documented Vertical Journaling Card Elements #2312
• Destinations Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers #1302
• Destinations Title Strip Elements #1314

From Ok to Awesome!

Hi everyone! It's Gail here today to share how I took a layout from simply ok  to awesome using the (you guessed it) Awesome range from Simple Stories!

I took a photo of my basic layout. It's ok. It's using papers and letter stickers from the Awesome range as well as a pocket for some journaling and a couple of accents to add dimension.

And here's the layout after I've added more Awesome! 

Cute huh?

I've added more character and layers using my favourite thing - elements cut from the 6x6 paper pad as well as a couple of cardstock stickers raised on pop dots.

And the layout is finished off nicely with a simple row of stitching and some white mist splatters.

Confession time: it's probably one of half a dozen boy-style layouts I've created and I LOVE IT! The collections make is so easy to create interesting, perfectly coordinating layouts!

I hope I've inspired you to add a bit more Simple Stories to your next layout!

 

Products used from the Awesome range:

• #2201 6x6 paper pad
• # 2209 Awesome flash cards designer cardstock
• #2204 So random designer cardstock
• #2217 Blue mini dot/Ledger simple basics designer cardstock
• #2202 Fundamentals cardstock stickers
• #2203 Expressions cardstock stickers

a simple challenge

Good morning Simple Stories fans, Yuki here!  Have you submitted your project using signature elements to  ” a simple challenge” ?  I wanted to create something for this challenge because awesome projects of Design Team’s members  had really inspired me!   

I used the newest collection "Summer Fresh" for this page. I got it a couple days ago! I really love bright sunshiny yellows, ripe reds, garden greens and country fresh blues to crisp denim, rustic burlap and country-chic white, Summer Fresh is perfect for your happy, bright summer memories!

 Used signature elements for my title work,

for the hidden journal card,

 

for the background.

Supplies Used:

-Summer Fresh #2405 Country garden Patterned Paper

-Summer Fresh #2406 Sunshine & Happiness Patterned Paper

-Summer Fresh #2407 Summer Quilt Patterned Paper

-Summer Fresh #2408 Easy Breezy Patterned Paper

-Summer Fresh #2412 4x6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements

-Summer Fresh #2413 4x4 Quote & 6x8 photo Mat Elements

-Summer Fresh #2416 Denim/Grid

-Summer Fresh #2420 Burlap

-Summer Fresh 6x6 Paper Pad

-Summer Fresh 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers

-Summer Fresh 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers

Thank you so much for joining me at the Simple Stories blog today. I hope you enjoyed my project – and hopefully you’ll be motivated to try some of the ideas yourself!  I can't wait to see what you do! Have a nice weekend!!

 

{Simple Style} ~ "True Love"

I must admit that I am not the type of scrapbooker who pulls out all the tools and gizmos to scrap with. I like things simple and I like my embellishments simple. I'm too impatient to wait for things to dry, etc.  I like it "here" & "now" ... that is why I just LOVE Simple Stories collections. They help me create amazing pages in no time and have everything that I need.

Yesterday my hubby & I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary.  I really wanted to create a layout about this but didn't have a recent picture so I used one from last summer (taken by a dear friend, Allison).  I used the Documented Collection. I just love the warmth that it creates on a layout whether it's with color, black & white or sepia photos. It's just so rich!

I enlarged my photo to 4 1/2" x 9" and layered the 2 patterned papers. I cut a piece from the 2x12 Strip/Border Elements and added that across my page horizontally. I printed my journaling on a 4x6 journaling block, added some stickers to the upper portion by using foam squares for added dimension. (same with the butterfly sitckers).

I love how the stickers can add so much interest and take no work at all to create. Love that!!  ... see I told you I liked simple & easy!!  Below I just added a couple of stickers and ...

... in this photo I added a few more of the strip-style sticker words and my title as well.

And of course, I did make my hubby an Anniversary card!!  I used the same collection - but this time I used the papers from the 6x6 paper pad.  They are absolutely perfect for making cards!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you enjoyed the projects today. Remember beautiful layouts don't have to be time consuming - they can be easy & simple ... and still look like you spent hours creating them!

 

Supplies used:

Ever After #2305

Words to Live By #2308

4x6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements #2312

2 x 12 Border/Title STrip Elements #2314

12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2303

12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers#2302

6x6 paper pad #2301

Summer Comes Early

When you live in Texas, Summer does indeed seem to come early...we pretty much bypass Spring with a handful of comfortable days and straight into warm, warmer and HOT!  {Summer Fresh} evokes the feelings of a perfect Summer:  calico sundresses, catching lightening bugs in mason jars, sipping lemonade on the back porch and watching pinwheels spin on a southerly breeze.  I wanted to bring some of that {Summer Fresh} feeling indoors so that I may enjoy it even when the dog-days-of-summer have settled in.  I took a whimsical wooden frame and created a fun shadowbox for hanging on my kitchen hutch!

I first painted the frame a beautiful Cardinal Red.  After measuring the inset of the frame, I cut the desired patterned papers to size and then machine-stitched together.  Strips for the sides of the inset were cut from the Sunshine & Happiness patterned paper. I love the "keep calm" sayings, so this particular 4x6 vertical journaling card was perfect for the focal point. 

Next, I wanted to add some dimension to the collage.  I hand-cut the sweet air balloon and cloud  motif from one of the 2x12 border strips.  I then embellished with a couple of wooden buttons, layered flower and leaves.  Because I cut the balloon away from the basket, I thought adding a bit of baker's twine for the ropes would be just the right touch :) 

I applied the pieces to the collage with foam squares.

From the same 2x12 border strip, I hand-cut the sun and clouds and grouped them to the top left of the collage. In finishing, I made a generous bow and attached it to the top.  I also included a jute hanger so that I may hang it from a hanger or knob!

Simple Stories Products:

-Summer Fresh #2414 2x12 Border Strip Elements

-Summer Fresh #2406 Sunshine & Happiness Patterned Paper

-Summer Fresh #2405 Country garden Patterned Paper

-Summer Fresh #2408 Easy Breezy Patterned Paper

-Summer Fresh #2412 4x6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements

I also created this {Summer Fresh} Card in conjunction with the brand new {Summer Fresh} stamps by Unity Stamp Company!

What a fun time I had making this card!  I used a scrap of burlap from my stash to dress up the jar stamp from Unity.  I then embellished with {Summer Fresh} cardstock stickers, a sunny yellow button, felt flowers and jute.

Simple Stories Products:

-Summer Fresh 6x6 Paper Pad

-Summer Fresh #2419 Sky Blue Daisy/Notebook Patterned Paper

-Summer Fresh #2406 Sunshine & Happiness Patterned Paper

That's all I have for you today...hope you've enjoyed the projects!