Simple Stories

{simple} gifts...

Hello again!  I'm so happy to be back blogging and have a few sweet treats prepared to share with you.  My projects today were inspired by a creation I saw on Pinterest which used none other than an empty toilet paper tube stitched across the bottom to form a treat pocket.  

(photo from Becky Shander via Pinterest)

I couldn't wait to create my own version and set to work using papers and elements from both the Documented, Year-o-graphy, and Fabulous collections.

Each tube was wrapped with patterned paper, embellished with trim across the bottom and then the bottom secured with machine stitching.  Holes were punched in the sides of each tube and handles were formed using some wired pom pom trim I had in my stash.

I piled on stickers and paper cuts using the Documented collection.  The fun papers are from the Fabulous and Year-o-graphy Designer Cardstock collections and the pinks and creams tie in so perfectly with the vintage feel we love from the Documented collection.

Of course....no project is complete without a little card to go along with it...

Each card coordinates with a different treat holder, all that's left are the treats and the special someone to share them with!

Below is a list of the Simple Stories products I used so you can create your own.

Thank you for visiting!

 

{Simple} Gifts and Cards Supplies Used:

Documented 6x6 Paper Pad #2301

Documented 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2302

Documented 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2303

Fabulous Pink Flower/Ledger Designer Cardstock #2116

Fabulous Bingo Cards/Stripes Designer Cardstock #2121

Year-o-graphy Pink/Ledger Designer Cardstock #1921

 

A Fabulously Documented Yearly Event

Hello Simple Stories friends! Welcome to my home. Every spring our family gets to take part in a little miracle. I have a flower bucket that I've been hanging on our front door for the last 6 years that we've lived here in Colorado. A little bird decided that bucket would make a great home for her nest of eggs. She happily builds the nest, lays her eggs, waits for them to hatch, feeds the babies, then watches them leave, all from her perch on our door.

And since the peep hole in our door happens to be exactly at nest level, we can check in on her yearly process. Numerous time a day, you'll find one of us peeping through the door to see what's up. The only problem with our little guest is she scares the pants off any human visitors to our home, waiting until they've rung the doorbell to suddenly fly away, she's made a few of them duck! We warn our regular visitors, but there's always the random guest who has a terrified look on their face when we open the door. It's only for a couple of months, and we enjoy it so much, we deal with it. I took a picture (not a very good one, but it's our view...) this year through the peep hole and decided it was time to document it. 

I love the Documented line for two reasons: its dark colors ground a design quite well, and you can add any color you feel like adding and they don't compete. I love Fabulous because it has all the rich colors I want to add to my scrapping.

Here's a few details from my layout that you can employ in your own scrapbooking. I used the bird on a branch sticker from the Documented line as a mask because the text on the sticker made it a little too busy for my design. I gently adhered it, misted over the whole page, then carefully removed the sticker for later use. Because the stickers are coated, you can easily wipe off any mist and have little to no change in the color of the sticker. Double duty at its best!

 

Another alteration I made was the the mini alphabet stickers. They come in solid and outlined letters. I didn't have enough of the solid letters so I decided to color in the outlined letters with a paint pen. I think it gives a more coherent look in my title.

So if you stop by my house in the next few weeks, consider yourself warned. Make lots of noise and go left, the bird flies out to the right usually.

 

 

 

Supplies used:

• Documented 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers (#2302)
• Documented 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers (#2303)
• Ever After (2305)
• Fabulous 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers (#2103)
• 100% Girl (#2105)
• Sweet (#2106)

 

Fabulous: 1st Love Party!

Hello, friends! Jill here and I have a two-page layout to share today using the Fabulous collection. (We're actually in party mode at our house today as my girls are turning 3!) My layout is all about their first Valentine's Day party with their friends at church. They were so excited to create Valentine's for their friends and then the party was soooo fun! I had quite a few photos that I wanted to showcase plus I wanted to include the Valentine's they received so I used the 6 x 8 Odds & Ends Memorabilia Pockets (#2009) on the second page. (Make sure you click on the photo to see it larger!)

Here's a close-up of the title...

And the collage of photos...

And here's the pocket full of Valentine's! I added the journaling to the 4 x 6 Vertical Journaling Elements (#2112) from the Fabulous collection. The element actually said "My Top Favorites" so I simply added a few tiny alphabet stickers to change it to "Our".

Thanks for looking today and enjoy your weekend!

Supplies:

Fabulous Collection Kit (#2100)

6 x 8 Odds & Ends Memorabilia Pockets (#2009)

4 x 6 Fabulous Vertical Journaling Elements (#2112)

Little Link....

Thank goodness it's Friday!  Kim here, and I am so excited for the weekend.  I do love my weekends with all activity, the chaos and the fun! Lately though, my weeks have been pretty great too.  I am blessed to be able to spend every day with my new grandson, William.  As you can imagine, we spend quite a bit of time cuddling, but even more time taking photographs!  He is such a fun subject and so stinkin' cute, of course! 

I love it when my daughter sends him over with all sorts of fun outfits...even better are the hats!  This cute Link hat was just screaming for me to get the camera out.  I just had to oblige!  So here he is in his adorable Link hat:

    

Pretty cute, huh?  LOL....I just love him to pieces!  The new AWESOME collection was just the perfect color combination and those element cards had just the perfect sayings for this set of photos.  This layout came together quick & easy.  I love it when that happens!

What I love about the AWESOME Collection is it's versatility...it seems to work with just about any photo I grab these days. 

You know my blog post wouldn't be complete without a couple of cards to go with it, so here you go:

Supplies Used:

• Awesome - Fundmental Cardstock Stickers
• Awesome - Expression Cardstock Stickers
• Awesome - Orange/Star Map Paper
• Awesome - Red Dot/Grid Paper
• Awesome - Grey Wood/Dictionary Paper
• Awesome - Vertical Journaling Card Elements
• Awesome - Flash Cards Paper
• Awesome - Totally Cool
• Awesome - Designer Cardstock
• Awesome - Journaling Card Elements
• Awesome - Title Strip Elements

I hope you have a wonderful weekend - get out and enjoy the fun!

 

 

Simple Gratitude

Hi everyone! It's Gail here and I'm so excited to be on the blog today! I'm going to share with you how Simple Stories products inspired a year long project!

I decided to document a simple gratitude list for each month this year. I was undecided on which format to use ie mini album, 12 x 12 layouts and then I discovered the Simple Stories 6x12" Page Elements and a lightbulb went off - 6" x 12" Layouts would be perfect!

Using the page elements as a base, it took no time at all to create my 'mini' layouts. I love all the different coordinating items for each range and of course I couldn't go past the Fabulous range when including photos of my daughter!

I've pop-dotted some of the stickers to add dimension and of course any layout of mine wouldn't be complete without some stitching, misting and distressing!

And you'll see in the photo below, I've tucked one of the 3x4" memorabilia pockets behind my photos so I can easily slip in handwritten journaling notes.

My gratitude layout from February was a little different. I used a patterned paper from the Awesome collection as my base.

I think I can count three collections on this project, including elements from the Yearography 6x6' paper pad.

I highlighted one of the sayings on the patterned paper by adding a chipboard bracket.

My journaling is on a piece of white cardstock tucked behind a patterned paper block. I've added a little pull tab with a 'tape' sticker from the Fabulous Cardstock Sticker sheet.

If you want to read more about my gratitude project, head on over to my blog.  

Thanks for looking today!

 

Supplies Used:

February layout

Awesome Simple Basics Designer Cardstock Blue Mini Dot #2217

Fabulous Collection Kit #2100

Yearography 6x6 Paper Pad #1916

March layout

Fabulous Collection Kit #2100

Fabulous Simple Basics Designer Cardstock Stripes #2121

3x4 Memorabilia Pockets #2007

Yearography 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #1903

 

Hi everyone! It's Natasja here and I am so excited about my first blogpost today and being a part of this amazing team! 

With only 3 weeks to go till we will be welcoming a little baby boy in our family I am quit busy finishing up the nursery. Since I was still planning on adding some nice altered frames I thought why not use some of the amazing Simple Stories products to share here!

I created 3 frames in total. On this first frame I will add our little boys name after he is born (Here in the Netherlands we (almost) always keep the name a secret till than!) and some info about the day he'll be born. 

For the background I used a sheet out of the Fabulous 6x6 paper pad and a bingo card, covered with one of those great transparency overlays. Next to that I used a memorabilia pocket and some stickers. 

See how simple it is to create something fun with the Simple Stories products :)

 

On this second frame I will add the first picture of our little boy and add some information like weight, length etc.

 

Here I used a sheet out of the Year-O-Graphy 6x6 paper pad for the background. All the little elements are hand cut frame some of those papers.

 

This last frame I created is a very special one to me. Last year my dad past away after a period of sickness. I thought he needed a special place in the nursery.

 

For the background I used a sheet from the Awesome 6x6 paper pad with again one of the transparency sheets. 

 

Supplies used:

Hello my name is frame:
*    Fabulous 6x6 Paper Pad #2101
*    Fabulous Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2102
*    Fabulous Bingo Cards/Stripes #2121
*    Fabulous Flash Cards #2118
*    Fabulous Orange mini dot/doily #2118
*    Fabulous 4x6 Transparency photo overlays #2100
*    Odds&Ends 3x4 Memorabilia Pockets #2007

 Welcome sweet baby frame:
*    Year-o-Graphy 6x6 Paper Pad #1916
*    Year-o-Graphy Green/Notebook #1918
*    Fabulous Expressions Cardstock Stickers #2103
*    Odds&Ends 3x4 Memorabilia Pockets #2007

Guardian Angel frame:
*    Awesome Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2202
*    Awesome Expression Cardstock Stickers #2203
*    Awesome Flash Cards #2209
*    Awesome 6x6 Paper Pad #2201
*    Awesome Transparency photo overlays #2200
*    Odds&Ends 3x4 Memorabilia Pockets #2007

 Hope you enjoyed my post! Happy creating :)

 

 

Fabulous page

Hi All! This is Yuki and I am so excited to share my very first blog post with you today! For today's post , I wanted to create a 12 x 12 page using Fabulous collection kit.

To make this layout I used this cute 12x12  piece of patterned paper for my  background.

I simply cut and added the adorable overlay on the picture.   The 4x6 transparency photo overlays  are exclusive to the Fabulous 12x12 collection kit !

 

I love card stickers!  Those stickers are what it takes to make a fast and fabulous page.

 

I made the banners from some patterned papers as  a title space.

I made an original border strip using a flower punch .

I hope you enjoyed it!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies Used:

Fabulous 12x12 Collection Kit # 2100

Fabulous  6x6  Paper Pad #2101

Fabulous 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2102

Fabulous 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2103

Simple Sightings!

{Take a picture it will last longer!}

 

As scrapbookers we know this statement is too true! We love to take those special moments and everyday memories and make them last!

Check out this Simple Sighting from Scrappy Gourmet - They are featuring this "Peace,Love & Happiness" mini album as their project kit for the month of April!

 

 

 

We just love how they've taken our hip and happy "Fabulous" collection and turned it into something memorable! Check out more photo's of this great mini on their blog here or to join in on the fun and create your own "Peace,Love and Happiness" mini album!

Simply Inspired

{This is ME}

Hello everyone! It's Cari Locken here I'm thrilled to be sharing my 1st post with you today. If you're just crawling out of bed on this lazy Saturday morning then grab your cup of coffee and join me as I share a fun little project with you.

I love creating layouts and find that is my favorite type of project that I enjoy most.  However, I love creating cards and mini albums also.  And when I came across the Awesome collection I was completely inspired to create a mini for one of my sons.  (I'm sure I'll do another one for my other son as well because I don't want him to feel left out! :))

What inspired me most about this AWESOME collection were the 4x6 Journaling Card Elements. As soon I looked at them I knew that I wanted to make an album.  

I cut up the 4x6 pieces and ended up with 6 pages.  I used the "This is Me" card for my album cover, embellishing it with a photo of my youngest and some of the 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock stickers from the same collection.

I love dimension so I added pop/foam dots under the star for visual interest.

As I created this album I was also inspired to add some pockets for some hidden journaling, etc.  So I used the 3x4 Memborabilia pocket between page 1 & 2 of my album.

I embellished the pocket with some stickers from the 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers  ...

... and on the other side of the pocket I adhered some striped patterned paper and filled the pocket with some smaller patterned paper pieces that I cut from the 6x6  Awesome collection.

Between the pocket and page 2 I incorporated a 4x6 transparency page . I simply added a sticker in the center of the transparency and matched the size with another sticker on the other side of the transparency. The small patterned paper piece with the 'list' is from the 6x6 Awesome collection.

As you can see my son had his hand in adding his own personal touch to the album as well by writing down a few of his favorite things.

Pages 3 & 4 were quick to put together by just adding a photo and some additional stickers. As you can see I didn't add a thing to the left side because I thought it was just perfect the way it was!  (that's what makes it so easy to make an album like this!)

Pages 5 & 6 were easy & quick to put together as well.  I just added some photos and a few stickers along with a bit of handwritten journaling.

Here's a close-up to show you how adding a pop/foam dot to the stickers really adds interest and your page isn't so 'flat' looking.

Pages 7 & 8, once again, ... easy & simple.  I loved the words on the right page "Are you looking for trouble?" because that is exactly how my little guy is so this fit him to a T!!

Overlapping papers and stickers can add so much interest to your pages as well.  On this page I used a variety of Cardstock Stickers from the 12x12 sheet and also cut up a small patterned piece (brown) from the 6x6 Awesome pad.

Page 9 & 10: I added another 4x6 Memborabilia Pocket to the album embellishing with pieces from the Awesome Flash Cards as well as some stickers.

And here are the last couple of pages to my album.

The back cover I just left plain.

After finishing every page I then bound it all together using my Bind-it-All machine and brown colored o-wires.

Supplies used:

• Awesome 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers  #2202
• Awesome 12x12  Expression Cardstock Stickers #2203
• Awesome 4x6 Transparency Cards (that are included in the Collection Kit #2200)
• Awesome Flash Cards #2209
• Awesome Signature Elements: 4x6 Journaling Card Elements #2210
• Awesome 6x6 Paper Pad #2201
• 3x4 Memorabilia Pockets #2207
• 4x6 Memorabilia Pockets #2208

 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you're inspired to sit down today and create a little mini album of your own!

Two Kids & A Card

Happy Friday!  Shellye here with a couple of pages and a card for you today. 

First up, first kid.  It goes without saying that I have lots more photos of my daughter than I do of my two boys combined.  Probably because she's always happy to share a grin and get in front of the camera.  The boys either run, turn their head, or give me the "you-are-so-annoying-me-right-now" look.  This is especially true of the 18 year-old (can I get a "I hear ya sister?).  But in usual fashion, I digress. 

I love this picture of my daughter and our beloved Bear (our school mascot, hence the name).  This was taken in late February when the daffodils were in their fullest bloom.  I've incorporated the winsome FAB{U}LOUS Collection into this layout entitled "There Blooms a Flower"

I am a paper frugal, especially when it comes to papers that I almost can't bring myself to use!  I wanted to save as much of the Sassy patterned paper as possible, so I cut four 1/2" strips to use for the border.  To do so, I just took a plain sheet of cardstock and layered my patterned papers on top and then machine stitched into place. 

After determining my photo placement, I sponged on a bit of acrylic paint using a mini tile template as my guide.  This helped to re- enforce my photo as the focal point. 

 

I simply had to use the adorable overlay...it added just the right amount of pop to the B&W picture.  And of course, not too many sticker letters get by me without being machine stitched into place ;)  A couple of punched butterflies, a few buttons and stickers complete my page.

Products Used:

Fabulous 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers| #2102

Fabulous 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers| #2103

Fabulous 12x12 Sassy| #2107

Fabulous 12x12 Amazing| #2108

Fabulous 12x12 4x6 Journaling Elements #2| #2111

Year.O.Graphy Simply Basics Designer Cardstock: Orange/Grid| #1920

 Next up, middle boy.  The middle boy comes closer to letting me snap his picture than the oldest.  He actually begged me to take these at our last Varsity football game of 2011...the smiles before the heartache!  AWESO{ME} of course is an awesome palette for those boys' pages and projects.

When I spotted the Verticle Journaling Card Element stating "take your place, make your mark, live your life" I knew I had to use it somewhere, somehow on this layout.  I think it ties in nicely to the boys doing their 'tebowing' :)  Really, no title was needed, but I went ahead and added a few naked chipboard letters to the mix. 

I stamped on the 'splatter' to give a little grunge and to help define the visual triangle.  I used a 1" circle punch and several hand-sewn buttons to boast a verticle element that was much needed after I completed the basic design.  Lots of hand-cutting...the stars, journal strips and the 'keeping it real' banner, which I just HAD to have!

Products used:

Awesome 4x6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements| #2212

Awesome 4x4 Quote and 4x6 Photo Mat Elements| #2213

Awesome Totally Cool 12x12 Paper| #2208

Awesome 100% boy 12x12 Paper| #2207

Awesome Boys Rock 12x12 Paper| #2205

Awesome 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers| #2202

Awesome 4x6 Journaling Elements| #2210

Awesome 4x6 Photo Overlay

 

Finally, card.  To think, just two years ago I was only making the occasional birthday card.  Now I LOVE cardmaking!  I wanted classic, vintage romance for this particular card, so I utilized the DOCUMENTED Collection.

Combined with a couple of ingredients from my stash, this was  quick and easy!  I love the Odds & Ends Memorabilia Pockets...perfect for cardmaking.  I handcut the butterfly from one of the 'blocks' in the 6x6 paper pad and then embellished it with a smaller, punched butterfly.

Products used:

Documented 6x6 Paper Pad| #2301

Odds & Ends 3x4 Memorabilia Pockets| #2007

That's all I have for you today, Simple Stories Fans...Happy Creating!