Simple Stories: Simple Style

{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

Comments (3)

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!

Comments (30)

My Guy - Quick and Simple!

Hi everyone! Hope you're enjoying your week so far, now that Monday is over!

Today I have a really quick and easy page for you using Awesome Elements. I started with the 6x12 Page Elements sheet and cut out the cute mat with the patterned tape on top and bottom. Then, I added my 4x6 photo on top (also matted) and then used a few other elements like the Bingo card and a portion of a 4x6 journaling card to build around it.

I added in a few stars backed with dimensional adhesive and built my own embellishment with a large star die cut, a die cut circle, and the backside of a patterned, wooden button.

There's not a whole lot of extra embellishments on this page because the elements I chose to use are large and pack a big punch on their own. I just filled in some of the space with bits of the Awesome cardstock stickers and there you have it- a simple page you can create in less than 30 minutes!

Supplies Used:

Awesome 12x12 Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #2202
Awesome 12x12 Expression Cardstock Stickers #2203
Awesome Totally Cool #2208
Awesome Journaling Card Elements #2 #2211
Awesome 6x12 Page Elements #2215
Awesome Simple Basics Blue Mini Dot/Ledger #2217
Awesome Simple Basics Orange Star/Map #2218
Awesome Simple Basics Green Stripe/Tickets #2219
Awesome Simple Basics Bingo Cards/Chevron #2221

Comments (6)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I hope that many of you are being spoiled rotten today by your husbands and kiddos. It is such a great thing to have a mom and be a mom and wonderful that there is a holiday to celebrate motherhood. I was inspired to create a couple of simple Mother's Day cards with our BRAND NEW Summer Fresh Collection. This has to be my favorite collection to date since you cannot go wrong with red gingham, denim and burlap - oh my, what an amazing summer collection.

The burlap paper in this collection looks like it is the real thing and adds a wonderful element of texture and dimension to a project. This is actually one of the 4 x 6 journaling elements that I trimmed down to fit on my 4.5 x 6 inch card. Added a 6 x 6 pattered paper as the mat to the journal card.

I added some of the Expressions Cardstock Stickers for the sentiment and then used some foam tape to add a little lift to the cardstock sticker pocket. The flowers and gems are from Petaloo.

For this card I used the 6 x 6 patterned paper version of the Summer Fresh Designer Cardstock. It makes a fun and simple background for the design.
This cardstock sticker wagon is about as cute as can be and needed to be a focal point for my card. I added some of the Expressions Cardstock Stickers for the sentiment.
Wrapped a little packaging twine around the card and added a Petaloo flower.

Summer Fresh Products:

Twine

Foam Tape

Red Cardstock

Have a wonderful day!

Comments (4)

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!

Comments (7)

Fabulous

{Simple Style}

Hey...it's Guiseppa and it's great to be here! This is my first blog post with Simple Stories and I am beyond excited to be designing for them and bringing you all of the fun crafty things we can create using Simple Stories!

This year, you will be seeing a lot of layouts and cards from me. So, I wanted to start off my term with a fun layout I did featuring my sisters and I. These funny girls always inspire me!

If you know me, then you know I love foam adhesive and I use a lot of them on my projects, in fact, I don't know when the last time was that I didn't use foam adhesive on a project. Let's take a look!

So, you can see that I used foam adhesive on this layout? Now, lets take a closer look.

Lots of foam adhesive to add dimension! Let me just tell you what is so great about Simple Stories and what attracted me to them. I love, love, love the paper and all of the things you can do with it. Simple Stories offers so many differnet patterns and images in their patterned paper. Adding dimesion to layouts and projects is super hot right now and with all of the patterns and images on their paper, I can cut, layer and lift all I want. Which is exactly what I did to my layout.

I can guarentee you will be seeing more of this from me. Hope you enjoyed my project today and are inspired to break out your Simple Stories Collections an foam adhesive.

Products Used:

Fabulous Collection

4x6 Veriticle Journaling Card Elements # 2112

2x12 Borders & 4x12 Title Strip Elements # 2114

Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers #2102

Sweet #2106

Kraft Grid/Typewriter # 2120

Brown/Damask/Antique # 2119

Comments (9)

Combining Fabulous and Documented

Hello Simple Stories Friends! Emily here, reminding you that today's the last day to get your application in for the Design Team call. In case you are on the fence about applying, I highly recommend you do so, this has been such a great team! I know all the current DT members love it here.

Today I have a card for you that I made using both the Fabulous line and Documented line. I love that Documented is so neutral and can go with anything you want to add to it. I think it makes the colors of Fabulous shine so well! It was easy to pull the sentiment from the 4x4 Quote and 6x8 Photo Mat Elements (#2313) and add it to a premade card blank with some minor embellishements. Here's a quick rundown of how I put it together.

1. Cut 4x4 sentiment.

2. Cut a 6.5" x 5" rectangle from Ever After (#2305), adhere to the front of your card blank.

3. Cut a 5.25" x 4" rectangle of Sweet (#2106), adhere to card as shown.

4. Hand cut a doily from the other side of Sweet (#2106).

5. Stamp two quatrafoils on Sassy (#2107) (I used the new stamp from Cocoa Daisy, which will be available on March 1st), cut out and attach a pearl to the middle of each.

6. Cut a muslin strip and mist with Cream Maya Mist.

7. Attach all pieces as shown and you are done.

Once I decided on the design, this was super easy to put together. Now I have a card of encouragement when a friend needs a little reminder that all will be well in the end.

Thanks for joining me today!

Supplies:

Documented

Ever After (#2305)
4x4 Quote and 6x8 Photo Mat Elements (#2313)

Fabulous
Sweet (#2106)
Sassy (#2107)

Other:

Quatrafoil stamp from Cocoa Daisy
StazOn from Tsukeniko

Maya Mist in Cream
Muslin Trim from Pink Paislee
Tiny Attacher from Ranger
Adhesive

Comments (19)

Simply Creative: Project Life - Week One

Can you believe we are almost halfway through January already Simple Stories fans? I am in full swing trying to organize and prepare for the start of the semester. So, I wanted to be sure to get on top of my Project Life album. As promised, I'm going to share my journey at times here on the blog. I was so excited to put week one together.

I again started with a divided page protector with 6, 4x6 pockets. But I had a lot to discuss during this first week, and too many photos to use as well. So, I made this week a 2-page spread.

Once again, I used mostly the Year-O-Graphy line.

Here's how the first side came together:

I love how versatile that line is! How much do I love that this line features almost a full sheet of number stickers? Oh yes, SO much!

I also grabbed some of my favorite Simple Stories/Unity Stamps for week one. I have to say that I LOOOVE my Unity/Simple Stories stamps. They create such wonderful, clear images!

But I think my favorite part of this week is the second page to the spread. I was recently perusing our website, and I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't know something about Simple Stories until quite recently. Each line features a full page, 12x12 special journaling sheet. How did I not understand this before? So, I decided to try it with my Week 1 layout and I have to say, this paper is brilliant! I absolutely love how it came out. I simply added a few photos and a couple of embellishments and voila'. This page was done.

I loved sort of freestyling with this particular page. I didn't actually do the list of top ten, but the photos captured the sentiment.

When I'd run out of things to say about the week, I just added a label sticker and my current favorite Simple Stories/Unity stamp

Now that week one is complete and in my album I can't wait to move on to week two! Be sure to keep popping by the Facebook page for some fun announcements. Also, if you are using Simple Stories in your Project Life albums, please share with us!

Comments (7)

Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Place cards

The table is ready, the bird is in the oven, you've got 30 minutes and decide you need to make place cards! Has this ever happened to you? It did for me a few years ago. Before Pinterest was around, I'd seen these really cute and funky turkey hats/place cards from a website called Kate's Paperie. They are a stationary store in New York City and every season, they share a few different paper crafts to share. I'd made things from the site before and when I saw this project, I filed it away, hoping I'd have time before my out of town guests arrived. I knew my mom and dad would probably sport the turkey as a hat, but I was sure my grandmother would prefer the place card function. I also knew they'd be pretty easy to put together, and I was right. Once you get in the groove, you can create a number of turkeys in 30 minutes, I made 8 in that amount of time. I used papers I had on hand, but wanted to show how our Generations line looks all dressed up as a turkey:

First thing you do is print off the pattern from the website. Then use a removable adhesive to attach the pattern to your papers. Our Generations line is perfect for Thanksgiving festivities, don't you think? The pattern has directions printed directly on the paper, all you need are scissors, a scoring board, and some liquid adhesive.

Follow the directions and you've got a gaggle of holiday birds directing your guests to their spot at the table!

Comments (2)

Simple Style - Year.o.graphy!

Kim Holmes

Oh my, oh my, they have done it again! Simple Stories has hit another home-run out of the ballpark with the new Year.O.Graphy Collection!

My first thought when I saw this new line was of making 2011 Calendars. Of course, it's absolutely perfect for that! But, when it arrived on my doorstep, I was immediately drawn in by the colors, designs and potential for so many other creations! Don't get me wrong, I still have big plans for those calendars, but they will take a bit of planning. Being the impatient person that I am, I just had to dive right in and start cutting that paper! So, here are my first creations with this new line - super quick & easy!

This paper popped rght out at me as the perfect background to document a perfect moment: