Simple Stories

Introducing Project Idea Sheets

Howdy!  Layle here with you again today with some fun news. 

We're super excited to introduce Project Idea Sheets - free, downloadable project idea sheets with step by step instructions.   Beginning with our most recent releases, you can now look forward to Project Idea Sheets with each of our new collections!

Project Idea Sheets include 2 projects - a 12x12 layout & a Pocket Page Spread - as well as a list of tools and products needed to create the project along with step by step instructions. 

Today brings you the first of our new Project Idea Sheets - Homespun; simply click on the link below to download & enjoy!

Homespun Project Idea Sheet

We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know we also have free, downloadable Simple Inspiration eBooks?  You can see that here!

On Pinterest?  To view more Homespun projects check out our Homespun Pinterest board -

 

Fan Focus Friday

Hi there!  Layle here with you today :)

Today I'm back with another Fan Focus Friday! 

We have so many great Simple Stories fans out there that we thought it would be fun to showcase some of the work shared with us. 

So, here goes!

This month, let me introduce you to Amber Boren -

Hi!  My name is Amber Boren.  I grew up in California, but now live in sunny Arizona with my husband and four children.  Yes, I love warm weather!!  Life is so precious.  That is why I believe we should document all the wonderful moments, and everything in between.   Life goes by way too fast.

I ran across Amber's gallery at scrapbook.com and loved how she uses our collections in her projects!

Here are 3 fabulous layouts she recently created with our A Charmed Life collection -

 You'll notice that Amber has photos of teens and boys are her layouts - A Charmed Life is not only a great springy collection, but it works great for older kids AND boys as well!

Thanks so much Amber for sharing your work with us this month!

To see more projects using our A Charmed Life collection, check out our A Charmed Life Pinterest board -

 

 

 

 

A Happy Hodgepodge

Hi there everyone! Donna here today as your host, and I have a bit of a mixed-up post for you today. Even though it's been two months since CHA, I still haven't had a chance to share my projects with you here on the blog. I love everything that Simple Stories designs, but the two main collections released this past season, A Charmed Life and Homespun are definitely up there among my favorites.

Since St. Patricks's Day is just around the corner, let's start with this lucky card first:

Layered clovers... might be my new favorite shape. Love the mix of kelly green and navy in this collection.

And of course, we cannot forget the yellow polka dots:

I made another card for the show using Homespun, and the chipboard pieces from that collection.

As soon as I saw that little bicycle I knew I wanted to feature it on a card.

Some of you may not know that I am a huge fan of sketches and have actually written two eBooks all about them, Stretch Your Sketches and Stretch Your Sketches 2. The first eBook covers one-photo to seven-photo designs, while the sequel covers 8-photo through 20-photo designs.

 

This next layout uses a variation of one of the sketches featured in my second book. In place of photos I used the new Insta-Squares that were released with Homespun:

These little pre-cut squares make it so easy and fun to create your own customized patterned paper grid.

Speaking of hodgepodge, grids are such a great way to fit a lot of otherwise mixed-up photos onto a page. This next layout wasn't made for the show, but I want to share it with you today. You see, until recently I still hadn't scrapbooked any of our past Christmas photos and really wanted to make something before too much time passed. I used December Documented's Simple Basics Kit as the foundation for my page.

You're probably getting tired of me saying it, but I love the Simple Basics packs. I think the chalkboard background worked really well here since it is fairly neutral. With all the busyness in the photos I wanted to keep the rest of the layout rather simple.

I took a few highlight photos from the season and created a photo grid on an 8x10, added my title and finished with some very simple embellishments. It didn't take me very long at all to put together and now we have at least one layout documenting our Christmas. That's what my grandma used to call, "a good deal."

Thank you all for stopping by, and for letting me share my creations with you today!

Products Used:

A Charmed Life

• 12x12 Collection Kit
• 12x12 Simple Basics Kit
• 3x4 Journaling Card Elements
• [email protected]! Cards
• Happy. Go. Lucky
• Happy Times

 Homespun

• 12x12 Collection Kit
• 12x12 Simple Basics Kit
• Homemade
• Beautiful Life
• Insta-Squares
• Bits & Pieces
• Chipboard

December Documented

• 12x12 Simple Basics Kit
• Be Merry
• Brads

A Charmed Life - 3 Different Ways

Hi Simple Stories fans! Rebecca Keppel here with one of my favorite Simple Stories releases A Charmed Life. I adore the colors, the designs and just everything about this new collection, but I especially love how versatile it is. You can make an everday card:

 

You can make a more detailed layout:

 

You can even make a pocket page spread! I based mine on Becky Fleck's amazing skecth available now at Pagemaps.

 

How is that for versatility? This collection is perfect for boys and girls of all ages and all themes. I love how happy and sunny it is. Have you been creating with A Charmed Life? What other projects is it perfect for?

Supplies Used:

Simple Stories A Charmed Life:

- 12 x 12 Collection Kit #3700

- Bits and Pieces #3729

- Chipboard #3728

- Brads #3727

- Simple Basics #3701

- [email protected] Cuts 3726

- [email protected] Cards 33723

Silhouette Simple Stories Digital Cuts 

- Smile

- Star

Spring Forward with A Charmed Life Minibook

Hello Simple Stories fans, Layle here with you today :)  If you haven't changed your clocks to 'spring forward', here's your reminder :)

You may remember last year back in June and then again in January when I introduced you to a super talented designer - Julie Johnson. 

Well, I've invited Julie back again this month and I'm absolutely thrilled to share another one of her amazing mini albums she created for one of her March kits, this time with our A Charmed Life collection!   A Charmed Life is the perfect collection to 'spring forward' with it's fresh, springy pallette!

Here are some shots of her 'springy' minibook, prepared to be WOWED!

Here are all of the inside pages -

AMAZEBALLS - am I right?!!

She also created this fun two page layout with plenty of room for LOTS of photos -

Pretty awesome, right?!  Every time I see one of Julie's creations with our products, my jaw literally drops.  She's one talented lady!

Julie has graciously offered one of our readers her A Charmed Life mini album kit - everything you need to put together a gorgeous mini album of your very own!  Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below and on the 13th we'll be back here to announce the random lucky winner!

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To see more projects using our A Charmed Life collection, check out our A Charmed Life Pinterest board -

Thanks Julie for sharing your beautiful work with us again!!

On the Grid with Homespun and [email protected]! Birthday

Hi everyone, so glad to be back with you today!  Wendy here to inspire you to get even more use out of those wonderful Insta Square pieces from the Homespun line.

As I was looking through the pack of Insta Squares I was thrilled with all of the colors and designs and knew that I wanted to create a page to showcase these beauties.  I began by choosing my favorite pieces and arranging them in a grid using the navy dot as my background to really make them pop.  I could have easily stopped there and even framed the piece as it was so pretty to look at!  But I had the perfect pictures to showcase on my background.

After adding my picture of my son and his furry friend I began to add different items to the squares to dress them up.

And that is all it took!  Wow, I am totally in love with these Insta Squares!

 

I created my next layout using a grid design also and the [email protected]! Birthday cards to celebrate my son's 3rd birthday.  I decided to go with the teal and red color cards as my base along with the 3 favorite things card as my son was turning 3.  I again chose a navy background to make my cards pop, but this time to add a fun feel to my layout I tilted my design and used a bright yellow for more of a kick.

This time my grid wasn't exact, but it gave me a quick place to start from.  I again embellished the different cards using the pieces included with the Insta Squares and the [email protected]! stickers.

Since I had quite a few pictures from the various events of our little guys birthday I decided to showcase my favorite that really shows his personality and then using some cardstock which I folded in accordian style I included the rest of the pictures, tying them up in a neat little package.

I don't always use a grid design, but with such great products at your fingertips it makes the grid a great tool for your scrapbooking!  Join me at my blog for another look at a grid layout using the [email protected]! Everyday set.  See you next month!

Supply List for Just Like Family

Homespun
3803 Expression Cardstock Stickers
3829 Bits & Pieces
3811 Horizontal Journaling Card Elements
3821 Navy Dots
3830 Insta Squares

Supply List for Celebrating You

[email protected] Birthday
4194 stickers
4193 Insta Squares & Pieces
4196 cards

 

 

Happy. Go. Lucky. | Poppin' Tags with A Charmed Life & DIY Boutique

Hi Simple Stories friends. It's Heather and I'm here to share a couple of projects I made using A Charmed Life and DIY Boutique collections.

Happy. Go. Lucky. | A Charmed Life

I absolutely LOVE to stitch on my layouts and this one (and the one below) are no exception.  To create this layout, grab your A Charmed Life supplies and do the following:

1. Cut the 6x12 Page Elements (Hearts) Paper in half to use on the right side of the page
2. Cut the Navy Stripe Paper at 8"x12". Machine stitch in different places along the stripes with navy thread to get a tone on tone effect.
3. Adhere the stitched navy paper to the left side of plain cardstock. 
4. Adhere the heart paper to the right side overlapping the navy.
5. Cut small strips of the Happy. Go. Lucky paper and adhere where the paper seams meet.
6. Using the Green Stripes, Happy Times papers, along with 3x4 snaps cards and the tag from the Bits & Pieces, distress and layer them under your photo. 
7. Cut the Happy. Go. Lucky. card from the Insta squares into individual banners. Staple over the photo.
8. Add embellishments (chipboard, die cuts, fussy cut elements) to your page. Use pop dots of various sizes to add dimension.
9. Add a journaling spot and you are done!

 

 

"Poppin' Tags" PageMaps Layout | DIY Boutique

I love working with sketches so when the opportunity to worj with Becky Fleck's March PageMaps presented itself, I jumped at the opportunity. The sketch was perfect for documenting a girl's weekend with some of my favorite scrappy friends. The DIY Boutique collection, with it's bright colors and great sentiments, was a sure fit for fun times with friends.

To create this layout, take a peek at the PageMaps sketch and follow these easy steps:

1. Trim a 1/2" inch off the top and one side of the grey woodgrain paper.
2. Center over the polka dot paper and adhere.
3. Stitch a 9" diameter circlein the upper right of the page, approximately 1 1/2" from the top of the grey and 1/4"  from the right. TIP:Draw your circle in light pencil first to use as a stitching guide. Erase after you've sewn  on the page.
4. Cut a 6" diameter circle out of the bright pink paper.
5. Cut a 5" circle out of the black/white polka dot. Adhere inside the pink circle. TIP: This is the B side of the pink paper so I cut these at the same time by simply cutting them inside each other. I just flipped the middle over and it was a perfect fit inside the pink circle.
6. Stitch it to the layout overlapping the larger stitched circle as well as overlapping the black polka dot on the side.
7. Cut frames out of the frame paper in the 6x6 paper pad. Arrange them around your photo.
8. Embellish with sentiments, stickers, brads, etc.
9. Add cards to the top and bottom to pull the layout together. 
10. Embellish with more stickers, enamel dots, brads, mist, etc.
11. Add your title and journaling to complete the page.

Happy. Go. Lucky Project Supplies from the A Charmed Life collection:

• 6x12 Page Elements 12x12 Paper | 3715
• Navy Stripes 12x12 Paper | 3717
• Happy. Go. Lucky. 12x12 Paper | 3707
• Green Stripes 12x12 Paper | 3721
• Happy Times 12x12 Paper | 3709
• Insta-Squares | 3730
• [email protected] Cards | 3723
• Chipboard | 3728
• Bits & Pieces | 3729

"Poppin' Tags" Project Supplies from the DIY Boutique collection:

• 6x6 Paper Pad | 5122
• Insta-Frames | 5145
• Chipboard | 5128
• Brads | 5127
• Outside the Box 12x12 Paper | 5106
• Who's to Say? 12x12 Paper | 5107
• Boutique Dots/Pink 12x12 Paper | 5113
• Card Foundations | 5126
• Stickers - Boutique | 5141

Thanks so much for looking. Stop by my blog or visit me on Instagram (@heatherleopard) for more great Simple Stories projects using all new CHA collections.

Pocket Page Scrapbooking with [email protected]! Birthday Set

 

Hi there Simple Stories fans, Nancy here with a [email protected]! Birthday  Set layout and pocket page example. I began with a Page Maps sketch to lay out photos from my niece's birthday celebration. I love the variety of shapes and sizes in this sketch. It was so easy to include all of my favorite photos from this event.

To customize the page, I added a ruffle of white tissue paper  and some stitching to one of the 4x6 cards. The 3x4 typewriter card was dressed up with some stamping.

The birthday girl's age was emphasized with a countdown right in the balloon die cuts below. The ruffled tissue paper was repeated just under the card to add some birthday flair to this pocket. A white stitched circle and some stickers dimension to a plain 3x4 card. 

A play on words was used to dress up a colorful 3x4 card. I used my niece's initials "YS" and dubbed it the 6.0 version.

While I was able to fit all of my favorite photos in this pocket page, I had a special story that I wanted to highlight. There was a funny moment during her birthday celebration, when the boys (being their usual ornery selves), teased her about being cake poachers and eating her cake. This photo and story perfectly capture the stage they are in right now.

Using the left over supplies from the [email protected]! Birthday set I was able to create this clean, linear page. 

All of the dimension and pops of color can be found in the title and strips of patterned paper from the Homespun collection. With just a few simple embellishments and a 3x4 card from the Birthday set, I was able to tell one of my favorite stories.

Both the pocket scrapbooking pages and the traditional layout lay side by side in my teal [email protected]! leather album. I love how sturdy it is and how many layouts I can fit in it.

[email protected]! Birthday Set Product Used:

• Birthday Squares and Pieces
• Birthday 4x6 Cards
• Birthday 3x4 Cards

DIY Products Used:

• Enamel Dots Teal, Red & Yellow
• Enamel Dots Pink, Green & Orange
• Stickers - Words
• Burlap Stickers - Arrows
• Stickers - Letters
• Stamps - Journaling

Homespun Products Used:

• Green Dots patterned paper
• Yellow Dots patterned paper
• Teal Dots patterned paper
• Red Dots patterned paper

 

 

Life Documented with Homespun

Hi everyone! Allison Davis here with a Life Documented layout using Homespun and I have another new sketch that combines traditional scrapbooking with the [email protected]! Pocket Pages.

You can download the full sketch with measurements and placements here: Life Documented Sketch #9

The left side of the sketch is designed as just a normal/traditional style scrapbook page while the right side of the sketch uses a combination of photos and cards to fit the [email protected]! Pocket Page, Design 7.

Here's what I put together based on the sketch above:

After we finished taking our annual Christmas card photos last year I ended up with some fun "brother" shots. The boys were being goofy and just having fun since the official photo shoot was over. Homespun ended up being the perfect match for these photos. The colors, style, and theme were exactly what I was looking for to document this moment. I especially love how the wood background almost perfectly matches the wood fence in one of the pictures.

One the left page I have a big grouping of photos making up most of the design on the page. I love photo blocks (a big grouping of photos) like this on sketches. This is always a great area to adapt the sketch to fit the amount of photos and the size of the photos you have. I see these blocks as a puzzle, an opportunity to play around with different sizes and combinations. There are endless possibilities!

I thought the little jar and "filled with love" brad was so cute! Every time I looked at it I thought of this jar being so filled with love that it was bursting or overflowing so I used small hearts coming out of the top to make it look like it was.

I added a small title at the bottom of the 4 x 6" photo. The main title for the whole layout is on the right page but I wanted something on the left, more traditional side of the layout too.

On the right page I used a [email protected]! Pocket Page. I really, really enjoy how quickly my pages go together when I use a Pocket Page!

For the 6x12 pocket I went with the simplicity of the 6x12 Page Elements patterned paper in the collection combined with my own design of photo layout. 

For the title of the page I just went with the large "family" already on the 6x12 piece and just simply used the red alphabet stickers to add brothers to it.

For some extra detail I added a few heart accents around the photos.

In the top 4x6 pocket I used a 4x6 card and paired one of the 3x3 Insta-Squares with a 2x3 photo. These Insta-Squares are one of my absolute favorite things right now. I love working with squares and tend to use a lot of 2x2, 3x3, and 4x4 photos. So having these cute little squares to go with those photos is awesome!

I finished the design on the 4x6 card with a double stitched border.

I will be using the 12x12 [email protected]! Leather Album in black for all my Life Documented pages. I love the quality of the faux leather and the stitching accent!

I used the 12x12 [email protected]! Pocket Pages, Design 7 from the Variety Pack. You get so many great options and designs with the Variety Pack!

The Homespun products I used were:

• Fundamental Cardstock Stickers

• Expression Cardstock Stickers

• Chipboard

• Brads

• Grateful Patterned Paper

• Stitched Together Patterned Paper

• Homemade Patterned Paper

• Beautiful Life Patterned Paper

• Heart & Home Patterned Paper

• 6x12 Page Elements Patterned Paper

• Grey Wood/Grid Patterned Paper

• Green Dots Patterned Paper

• Red Dots Patterned Paper

• Yellow Dots Patterned Paper

• Teal Dots Patterned Paper

• Insta-Squares

• [email protected]! Cards

I hope you enjoy using the new Life Documented sketch!

Focus on Homespun and DIY Boutique

Hi everyone! Lisa here with you today to share some layouts I made with the new Homespun and DIY Boutique collections.

First up is a sweet page about my daughter and her fur baby. I worked in pieces from the [email protected] Cat collection since we all know cats think the world revolves around them. :) I used some of the decorative brads like flair (house, heart and flowers) by cutting the prongs off the back and adding dimensional foam to the back to make the pieces pop off the page.

 

Here's a detail shot of the layered embellishments to the right of the photo:  

Here's a closer look at the embellishments in the top left corner of the page:

This second page is based on a wonderful sketch by Becky Fleck. The Simple Stories team partnered with PageMaps this month. Be sure to pop over to the PageMaps web site to see all of the fabulous sketch-inspired projects.

Are any of you So You Think You Can Dance fans? My daughter is, so imagine her excitement when she had the chance to dance with tWitch at a recent dance convention. Every time I see this photo of the two of them together, it brings a smile to my face.

The fun and happy colors of the DIY Boutique collection totally captured my daughter's excitement and worked perfectly with the photo. I pretty much followed Becky's sketch, adding in my own touches and style, with a lot of layering and embellishments.

Here's a look at the sprinkling of embellishments on the right side of the page. It's a fun mix of chipboard pieces and word and icon stickers. I don't know about you, but I have a "thing" for ampersands right now and I used them quite a bit on the two pages I've shared today. :) 

This is a detail shot of the top right corner.

I hope you've enjoyed getting a look at Homespun and DIY Boutique in action and you're inspired to add these collections to your own stash. Have a great day!

Purrfection Supply List:

Homespun Collection:

Green Dots 12x12 Paper
Heart & Home from 6x6 Paper Pad 
Bits & Pieces
Expression Cardstock Stickers
Fundamental Cardstock Stickers
Chipboard Stickers
[email protected] Pockets
[email protected] Cuts
Decorative Brads

DIY Collection:

Photo Overlays
Icon Stickers
Stickers - Letters
Enamel Dots (Teal, Red, Yellow)
Enamel Dots (Pink, Green, Orange)

[email protected] Collection:

[email protected] Stickers - Letters
[email protected] Stickers - Cat
[email protected] Insta Squares & Pieces - Cat

24/7 Supply List:

DIY Boutique Collection:

No Worries 12x12 Paper
Who's to Say 12x12 Paper
Boutique Polka/Red 12x12 Paper
Boutique Chevron/Teal 12x12 Paper
Chipboard Stickers
Insta-Frames

DIY Collection:

Stickers - Icons
Stickers - Labels
Stickers - Words
Stickers - Letters
Clear Stickers - Messages
Enamel Dots - Pink, Green, Orange
Enamel Dots - Teal, Red, Yellow