Simple Stories

Simple Inspiration: Adventure Seeker

Last summer I moved from the Sonoran Desert of Phoenix, AZ where we rarely see weather below 80 degrees to the northern Arizona pines, a mere 7000 feet higher in elevation. That meant new adventures and also new experiences - SEASONS - awaited. So, last week when we were enjoying sunshine and 60 degree weather, we were fooled into thinking winter was over (I have a foot and a half of snow to shovel out of my driveway as I type this). We loaded up the car and headed out to one of my favorite areas, Sandy's Canyon, which is also a section of the Arizona Trail.  Cool, huh? I got a great shot of my daughter on the rim of the canyon that I was immediately inspired to scrap. 

The Take a Hike line was a perfect starting point with its greens, oranges, and rich woodgrains. I knew I wanted to play with the colors and patterns a bit, so I started by creating these square embellishments. 

I found a great print on Pinterest which inspired the embellishments, and I love the way they give visual interest without taking away from the photo. Next I played with the title a bit. I knew I wanted to use those amazing woodgrain alphas prominently. So, I layered them on top of one of the mini flashcard stickers. 

Finally I wanted some weight at the bottom of the layout, and I needed space for journaling. The "Field Notes" journaling block is cut from one of the 6x6 pad sheets. I love that those offer smaller versions of many of the 4x6 cards!

I finished the layout off with some woodgrain strips stitched to the top and bottom of the layout. 

I love how all the elements came together! Hopefully this has inspired you to get out on the trail and seek out your own adventure! Oh, and to scrap it, too. 

 

Simple Stories products used:

 

Adventure #2508 

Back to Nature

#2505

Brown Wood/Map

#2516

Green Dot/Prints

#2518

Orange Stripe/Ledger

#2517

Yellow Chevron/Grid

#2519

6x6 Paper Pad

#2501

Expressions Cardstock Stickers

#2503

Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers

#2502 

More from 24/7

Hi all! Kay here with some of the projects I did with the new line 24/7. I am IN LOVE with the bold yellows and reds, with the contrast of black and white. SWOON!

I also did my title page for my Project Life album for 2013

And finally you may have seen this page on the Page Maps site for January.

I hope you're as excited as I am to work with this new line!

Simple Inspiration - Our Very Own

I Love You: Right Now and Always

The school semester has finally ended, and that means I have a bit of a breather. One of the first activities I sat down to do with my free time was to craft with some of my favorite product. But when I've had a long absence from scrapping, I often find I need a little push start. So, off I went to find some inspiration. I didn't really have to go too far because I found just what I needed with our very own Simple Stories DT. Wendy recently posted this amazing layout using the Handmade Holiday collection:

I fell in love with this layout the moment I saw it, and that twine running through the layout really caught my eye. I've always admired Wendy's style, but me, I'm more of a clean and simple gal. This is why the Sn@p! line and I get along so well. And if I'm being perfectly honest, I have a bit of an obsession with polka dot and grid paper. So, I turned to both and came up with this layout.

 

For me, scrapping needs to be a non-stressful and FAST event these days. This layout held up its end of the bargain taking just under an hour to create. In my world, that's some fast scrapping. 

The elements down the side consist simply of a piece paper cut from the Sn@p Life collection as well as the days of the week stickers. 

 

I then added the twine (thank you, Wendy) and the letter stickers to the bottom. 

Finally, I misted a wood veneer frame and adhered it to the cut out piece and added a heart sticker with a pop dot. 

The following individual pieces were used to make this layout:

So, next time you need a little inspiration, I hope you'll wander here to the ol' Simple Stories blog and check out some of the posts you may have missed or revisit some favorites. You might just find the inpsiration you've been looking for! 

 

Simply {Sn@p!}

Hi all! Kay here with a few layouts using the Sn@p line. Man, these colors make me HAPPY!!!

The first is a simple 8.5 x 11 page.

And here is another layout:

I just love how quickly you can pull together these products to make a fun, happy page!

Supplies used:

3x4 Sn@p! Cards - Snappy Sayings #4006

Sn@p! Stickers - Icons #4018

Sn@p! Stickers - Labels #4019

Sn@p! Life Collection Kit - #2800

Sn@p! Life Basics Kit #2822

Simple Inspiration: Simple Embellishments

Hi All! It's been a while since I've posted as I've been on the move, literally. I recently left the home (in which I've lived for 19 years and in which I raised my children) for a new adventure in the cool pines of northern Arizona. All this was happening during our release of Simple Stories fantastic new lines during CHA in July, and it means that much of my life remains in boxes. So, when I'm short on time, space, and opportunity, I need to grab some easy inspiration and go. 

That's what happened with one of my CHA layouts using the adorable new Harvest Lane line. Feathers are all the rage right now, and I'd been eyeing this little piece of inspiration on Pinterest for the last 8 months. :

 

The moment I saw the rich fall colors of Harvest Lane, I knew it was finally time to use this inspiration to my advantage.

Seriously, can't you just see the two together?

I went straight to my Thanksgiving photos, grabbed the beauatiful papers and voila, I came up with my own version of the pieced together feathers as a simple, but trendy embellishment. 

So as school starts up, and the weather turns crisper, go gravitate to those warm, rich papers of our Harvest Lane line and create a cozy layout today!

Little layout

Good morning Simple Stories fans!! It's Natasja here with a layout I created using the Summer Fresh collection.

The layout is made with pictures of our now 14 week old son Aiden. These cute pictures were made when he was seven days old :)

 

To create this 8.5x11" layout I put my Silhoutte Cameo to use. I cut the white cardstock on both sides 0.5" smaller than the background paper and than cut out the text "Hello Little One".

After glueing down the cardstock I outlined the letters with a black marker to get some shade effects.

 

In the smaller square patterned paper (Sunshine & Happiness) I cut out a few hearts in differant sizes also using my cameo. The cut out hearts I adhered using 3-d tape and outlined them with a white marker. 

 

I handcut the banner shape out of the dark (Easy Breezy) patterned paper and than assembled the rest of the layout with some tissue paper to create lots of dimention in this layout. Put down the pictures and finished it of with some stickers.

I hope you enjoyed this post and that I have inspirated you a little today!

 

Supplies used:
*    Country Garden #2405
*    Sunshine & Happiness #2406
*    Easy Breeze #2408
*    Summer Fresh 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2402
*    Summer Fresh 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2403

 

 

{simple page} Happy Campers

Hi all! Kay here, with another project to share using the "Take a Hike" collection. We are avid campers, and on each trip we are lucky enough to meet the nicest people. This picture was taken our last night together, and I think summed up how we felt about our new friends.

A close-up

I kept the page rather simple beause 1) that's who I am, and 2) because I wanted the photo to be the center of attention.

Products used from Take a Hike:

Collection Kit#2500

Expression Cardstock Stickers #2503

Title Strip Elements #2514

Post CHA Week

Hi friends! Summer CHA is now over and Simple Stories has released four really awesome new lines that I can't wait to get my hands on, how about you? My personal favorite is SN@P- I will definitely be collecting the binders in each color!

For me, now that CHA craziness is behind us, it is now time to start thinking about making room for new goodies! So, today I created a layout using some of my leftover Summer Fresh.

I hand cut the ribbon shape from the Bits of Summer paper, then punched a 2" circle to layer over the "best memory" title. Then, I added cardstock stickers to make my own title. I also used the "Details" journaling spot from the same page, but cut off the edge so it fit on the page a bit better.

I'm looking forward to playing with the new Simple Stories lines, but until then, I'm glad I have a bit more time left with Summer Fresh!

Pebbles Supplies Used

Summer Fresh 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2402
Summer Fresh 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2403
Summer Fresh Bits of Summer #2404
Summer Fresh Country Garden #2405
Summer Fresh Flash Cards #2409
Summer Fresh Simple Basics Denim/Grid #2416
Summer Fresh Simple Basics Red Flower/Honeycomb Ledger #2417
Summer Fresh Simple Basics Yellow Lace/Stitched Lattice #2418
Summer Fresh Simple Basics Sky Blue Daisy/Notebook #2419
Summer Fresh Simple Basics Burlap/Dictionary #2420

Change it up!

Hi there! Kay here with a mojo-buster for you.

Sometimes when my mojo takes a hike, I change something up. Like for this layout instead of my normal 12x12 layout I tried something different. An 8.5x11 layout.

I also used another favorite technique, which is blocking. It helps me get past the not-so-creative moments.

What do you do to keep creative?

And don't forget,

Scrapbook Trends is sponsoring a giveaway here on the Simple Stories blog.  Comment today, and everyday from June 5th-9th for your chance to win a free copy of Scrapbook Trends' June issue featuring our fun Fabulous collection!  Winners will be announced on the blog next Tuesday.

Products Used:

Summer Fresh

12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2402

Country Garden #2405

Sunshine and Happiness #2406

Summer Quilt #2407

Easy Breezy #2408

2x12 Border and 4x12 Title Strip Elements

Simply Nostalgic

For most of you, I'm guessing springtime brings thoughts of bright days and colorful flowers. But for me, spring is always a time of reflection. My grandmother Mina passed away several years ago, and spring holidays with her by my side as we cooked and cleaned and prepared for our family were a sweet time for me. So, my thoughts drift to her memory quite a bit this time of year. My sense of nostalgia was heightened when I came across this photo of a piece of china that once held a prominent place in my grandmother's kitchen, but came to have a home by my coffee pot after her passing. I'm grateful that I have the photo because I happened to break it a few months ago which I will admit caused me to burst into tears. It was time to put the photo in its rightful place in my scrapbook. 

 I started by cropping my photo to place focus on the item itself. I then grabbed for a Simple Stories line that couldn't have fit my mood more perfectly, Documented. Documented really brings a sense of family and days of old to mind when you look at it. I also love the transparency overlays which I simply placed on top of my photo to frame it. 

I then went through some of the preprinted cards and elements and fussy cut a few pieces out. How perfect was the 'M' right there since my grandmother's name was Mina? I really wanted that initial to stand out just as my gram would, so I popped it up with some dimensional adhesive tape. 

 

A few added stickers and the look was almost complete. I also popped a couple of pieces of dimensional adhesive tape under the wings of the butterflies, just to add a little bit of movement to them. 

 

Finally, I wanted the layout to be a happy feeling. So although the Documented papers provided a great sense of nostalgia, I snagged a bright pattern from the Fabulous line to bring a little sense of joy to the layout because that's what I feel when I remember those moments here in my kitchen with my gram. 

In the end, the layout has a simple design and a simple feeling. But that's perfect because my grandma was a simple, hardworking woman, and I miss her. I bet you have someone or something in your life that causes you to think back on a happy memory. Why not grab some Documented yourself and scrap about it today? 

Supplies:

Documented Line:

Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2302

Photo Overlays

Ever After paper #2305

Vertical Journaling Card Elements #2312

Flash Cards #2309

Photo Mat Elements #2313

Fabulous Line:

Sweet Paper #2106

Happy memory keeping!