Simple Stories

The Page Divided - Tips and Tricks

Hi All! 

First, I need to say, my camera battery has bit the dust unexpectedly. So, I'm sorry if these images are less than perfect! 

Second, man, are you all as busy as I am? I bet you are with the holidays in full swing! 

Third, well, that's why I'm here - to help you out :) . I know that when we get busy, it's hard to keep up on things like Project Life, December Daily, even picture taking in general! So, I'm here to show you a few tips and tricks for those times when you either have too few photos or simply want to spend time in the moment and not take photos, but still want to play along with things like Project Life and December Daily. I recently put together this two-page spread using Sn@p supplies.

The layouts actually cover three weeks worth of photos and fun. 

So, tip #1... don't be afraid to combine weeks! Here's how I noted it.

You'll see above that slot, is some wording. That's just a printed transparency layered on top of some cardstock... So, Tip #2... don't be afraid to use pre-printed materials and no photo!

Tip #3 ... take advantage of Simple Stories pre-printed journaling pages. They are created in all shapes and sizes. Here I used a vertical 6x12 page.

 

There are so many days I thought about giving this up. I didn't think it would be worth doing without photos and such. But in the end, Simple Stories continues to remind me that I CAN do it! I don't have to get fancy, I just have to keep going. 

 

I hope you found some quick and easy inspiration here today! Don't worry through the holidays, just enjoy!

Simple Sightings - December Daily Style!

{Simple Sightings}
Simple Stories - Sn@p and December Daily go hand in hand! With our December Daily themed blog hop this weekand all of the amazing inspiration from our team we've heard from so many of you about your plans and ideas for your very own December Daily keepsake! Today we would like to highlight Jamiee Howard and her inspiring December Daily using our Sn@p! binder and our Handmade Holiday collection!

Don't you just adore Jaimee's dimensional cover!

 

 Jamiee started with handmaking her daily numbers by layering Tim Holtz tickets, snowflake stickers, punched circles and number cut outs!

 

Jamiee's 4x6 washi word inserts add so much to her December Daily!

 

Simple Stories trimmable element cards and Sn@p! binder divided page protectors make your Decmeber Daily so much fun and super quick and easy!

 

 

Add tags, embellishments or stickers for extra dimension!

 

Thank you so much for your super yummy December Daily goodness Jaimee!!

Make Christmas Tags - Check!

It's that time again.  Time to make that Christmas to-do list and start checking things off. Now I know that it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I try to get as much planned out and accomplished early so that I can enjoy the Christmas celebrations without last minute stress! 

Before I jump into my project, I want to give you a glimplse into my Christmas decorations. 

I know this photo is more focused on my daughter and I, but I think you can get a feel for what our homestyle Christmas looks like.  Rustic, homemade ornaments with a warm, homespun feel to them.  This carries over into our presents also.  Everything is wrapped to match with basic kraft paper, twine and homemade tags.  The Christmas lines from Simple Stories fit the bill perfectly. Last year, I used the 25 Days of Christmas for my gift tags.  This year I was able to cross off "create Christmas tags" with the help from the fabulous Handmade Holiday Collection!

I create over 40 tags and I do it in an assembly line fashion.  Simple Stories makes this so easy....with everything coordinating perfectly!  This year I added in some paint and a star stencil and had them all completed within a couple of hours!

I used my Cricut to cut out the first initial of everyone on my gift list and then added some distressing ink to help coordinate them with the papers. Each one contains a holiday word sticker from the cardstock sticker sheet.

So one thing off my to-do list!  It feels great to have these all created and ready to go! Now, all I have to do is get all the presents!  That is going to be the hard part!

Simple Stories Style - December Daily Blog Hop!

What could be better than a memory full of cozy - warm handmade holiday memories!  Our new Sn@p! binders in 6 different colors are just what you need this Holiday season! The combination of the perfect 6x8 size, sturdy chipboard, cloth spine, 3 ring design and all of the mini page protectors, scrapbook/journal pages that are included with each album are a must have for any memorykeeper! Whether your scrapbooking Simple Stories style with our trimmable elements and divided page protectors or in a tradtional way - this album is for YOU! Our Handmade Holiday Collection  + Our Sn@p! Binders = a PERFECT December Daily!

Join our talented design team as they inspire you to create your most amazing December Daily ever!  Be sure to leave a comment here on our Simple Stories blog for your chance to win your very own Sn@p December Daily bundle! 

And as a special blog hop bonus we will randomly choose (2) other winners from comments left on our design team blogs.  So lets get hoppin!

Start Here

 Simple Stories

Cari Locken

Donna Januzzi

Emily Lanham

Gail Lindner

Guiseppa Gubler

Jill Cornell

Kelli Rabideau

Rebecca Keppel

Shellye McDaniel

Tonya Dirk

Yuki Shimida

 

Hello Fall Family Fun!

Hello, friends! It's Jill here with you today with a couple of projects using the Harvest Lane collection. And (gasp!) I even did some stamping and heat embossing on both of them. (I am gasping over here because I usually do not take the time to stamp. But stamping is definitely something that I am trying to include more in my work and get some use out of the sets I seem to collect).

My family loves, loves, loves visiting the pumpkin patch every fall (we actually go to two of them - one of them is just a little urban place to buy pumpkins but it is always beautifully decorated and the other is an actual, country pumpkin patch complete with a hay ride to a field to choose pumpkins). 

For my title, I mixed and matched alphabet stickers from several collections.

I added a few details here and there...brads and vellum for texture.

The leaf stamps are a set by Cocoa Daisy that were stamped with colored inks on vellum and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. (Yes, you can heat emboss vellum - just don't hold the heat gun too close and keep it moving!) I also used leaf stickers from the Harvest Lane collection.


And like always, I made a card after I created my layout. I stamped a few more images and then layered them here and there on the card.

Supply List:

Harvest Lane Collection Kit #2600

Harvest Lane 12 x 12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2602

Harvest Lane 12 x 12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2603

Harvest Lane Simple Basics Kit #2624

 

Wedding in a SN@P!

Hello! Emily Pitts here today. My sister got married in August. It was a very happy day and I got to take a lot of pictures. I decided to put together an album for her and her new family, combining the happy colors of the Sn@p! collection with the lovely subdued Documented line. I thought the two would blend together nicely. I was right!  

I most often create 12x12 layouts, but since Simple Stories features so many products for the divided photo sleeve, I went with the hybrid scrapbooking approach. I've got a few 12x12s planned and then the rest of the album will use various forms of the divided photo sleeve.

This is my cover page, I used the Damask paper from Documented for a formal, yet subtle, background. Stickers from both lines worked together to create my two-sided border. I love how the playful elements of Sn@p! work so well with the elegant feel of Documented. I hand cut my title using paper from the 6x6 Sn@p! LIfe Collection pad.

This is my first interior page, my sister married the most wonderful man who has two awesome little boys. Getting to be a momma right away is completely up her alley, she's always loved my kids as her own, so I wanted to do a page to highlight this new instant family connection. 

I thought the phrase from the Documented line was perfect. Add the happy exclamation from the Sn@p! collection, and this page came together so quickly, I have a feeling this whole album will be done in no time. I have resisted hybird scrapbooking of this kind, but I after putting this much of the album together, I get the hype now! :)

Products used:

Sn@p!
Core Collection:
Sn@p! Stickers Icons (#4018)
Sn@p! Stickers Letters (#4020) 

Sn@p! Life Collection:
12x12 Calender Cardstock Stickers (#2803) 
Basics 6x6 Paper pad (#2823)
2x12 Border and 4x12 Title Strip Elements (#2814)

Sn@p! Color Vibe Collection:
Teal Chevron/Mini Dot (#2827)
Yellow Chevron/Mini Dot (#2831) 

 

Documented
Damask/Florish (#2317)
4x6 Journaling Card Elements #1 (#2310) 
12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers (#2303) 

Other: Maya Road

 

Simple Christmas Ornaments

Happy Monday everyone! It's Gail here today to share a little Christmas project with you! But here's the twist: I've used Harvest Lane goodies on it!

Since my daughter's first Christmas four years ago, each year I create a photo ornament for our tree. I can imagine in years to come it will be amazing to look back on how little they used to be! Here's this years ornaments:

And in case you want to get ahead with your Christmas projects, here are the instructions:

Step 1: Gather your supplies 

• Photo Size: 2 & 3/4"
• Patterned Paper Size: 3 & 3/4" x 8 & 1/4", folded in half
• Approx 9" length of ribbon

Step 2: Use a craft knife to cut the window for the photo to show through. For the size photo I used I measured 5/8" in from both sides, and from the top measured 5/8" and then another 2 & 1/2". 

Step 3: Put it all together. Adhere your photo, and sandwich your ribbon in between the patterned paper. I stitch mine to keep it all together securely. Then comes the fun part - embellishing! And don't forget to add the year!

I just need to make two more sets (one set for each of the Grandparents). Another thing I can tick off my Christmas preparation list! Yay!

By the way, I chose to use Harvest Lane for my Christmas projects as the colour scheme matched my Christmas decoration colour scheme!

Thanks for visiting today and have a great week!

 

Harvest Lane Collection Supplies Used:

• #2602 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers
• #2603 Expression Cardstock Stickers
• #2605 Harvest Blessings Designer Cardstock
• #2609 Havest Lane Flash Cards

My finished travel journal

Hi everyone!! It's Natasja here today and I want to share with you my finished travel journal! Remember this post where I showed you this all prepared travel journal to take along on our trip? Well..to be honest, next to taking pictures, collection memorables and write down some notes......I didn't do all this much during our trip!

But....the good news is, when back it only took me about 4 hours to complete the whole album!!

So here you go, hope you like it and get inspired!

 

I kept all the journaling in Dutch this time since my 7 year old love going trough albums like this :)

 

Here I slided the map of the caravan park in one of the page protectors

 

We staid in a caravan, which is more than enough camping for me ;)

 

Almost all the pictures are made using instagram! (NatasjaVerbeek)

 

Here I put the stickers on top of the page protector

 

I loved using the "Take a Hike" release and putting together an album like this is SO MUCH FUN!! Hurry....you really need to make one of your own!

 

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by today.

 

Home Decor with Harvest Lane

Hello everyone Yuki here! Today I am sharing a simple idea of fall home decore.

I decorated 8”x8” wooden shadow box with the Harvest Lane collection. This collection is perfect for your fall projects!

I love the patterned papers and stickers in this collection so much!

I cut out 4x6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements then inserted it in the simple wooden frame. Is this too simple?

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope you have been inspired today. Have a nice weekend!!

Supplies used:

Harvest Lane Collection :

12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2602

12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2603

4x6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements #2612

Made with Love #2608

 

 

It's {Simple} with Harvest Lane

I am so in love with this collection!
Harvest Lane just warms my heart with the rich colors and designs that it offers.

Today I'm going to share with you a layout that I created using this fabulous collection.

After begging my husband and kids to let me have a little family photo shoot they finally co-operated.  (but trust me ... it wasn't easy!)  Good thing I had a remote because everyone had a chance to play with it & that seemed to warm them up to the whole smiling idea for the camera!

Anyways, onto my layout.
I used the Homemade Happiness (#2607) patterned paper and matted it onto some wonderful Core'dinations cardstock. I then added some more layers of patterned paper using a 4x6 Journaling Card Element, a 2x12 Border, and a piece of Antique Dot paper. The layers create depth and colorful interest to the layout.

I added a banner by cutting out the little 'flags' from 4x6 Journaling Card Elements. I just adhered some twine behind each piece and then attached some threaded buttons as finishing touches.

The alphabet stickers help to create fun titles with different sized fonts and colors.

 

Plus the word strips stickers add some extra color and keep with the theme of my layout.
I also used a small journal card from the 6x6 paper pad. 

 

Here's a look at my finished layout.

Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies used:

Harvest Lane Collection :

12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2602

12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2603

Splendor #2606

4x6 Journaling Card Elements #2610

4x6 Journaling Card Elements #2611

2x12 Border & 4x12 Title Strip Elements #2614

Red Floral/Antique Dots #2618

Bingo Cards/Yellow Floral #2621