Simple Stories

Life Documented Home Decor

Hello and happy Friday! It's Emily Lanham here with a fun & new approach to create a Life Documented project. 

I have soooo many photos of my daughter and often want to display different pictures. I prefer a dimensional approach to displaying pictures rather than sticking them in a frame. I love creating albums for series of photos, but sometimes, you have that one that just stands out and needs to be on display for all to see. 

 

So I created a little mini 4x4 canvas home decor type project using the Sn@p Her products. 

I used the stickers to add some universal sayings to my project.

The cool thing about this project, if you use the Sn@p pockets, you can slip a little wallet photo in and change it out whenever you want! This is a perfect piece to display on a table or a wall.

Life documented doesn't always have to be about crating albums, you can do so much more with these great products! Thanks for stopping by today!

Products Used-
Sn@p! Her:
Sn@p! Pockets #4165
Sn@p! Stickers #4166
3x4 Sn@p! Cards #4168

Christmas Wonderland

Hello!  Shellye along with you on this Friday with a couple of projects from the new "December Documented" Collection.  I wanted to try something a little different in the home decor arena and came up with this sweet 3-D shadowbox of a winter wonderland scene.

I started with an 8 X 8 matchbook box that I painted a pretty bright green.  I cut a panel from one of the December Documented papers and placed it over the opening on front of the box.  Next, I worked on the 3-D scene on the inside of the box.  I layered a variety of papers and cut white cardstock into snowy hills that I glittered and outlined in pom-pom trim.

The chipboard snowflakes were glittered with an iridescent glitter and then applied.  To the bottom of the box, I added a cut-out title strip and then dovetailed it at each end before attaching. 

I wanted to add a little height to the top, so a wooden scroll frame was adhered to the back of the box.  Such a project can be hung (just add a ribbon hanger), added to a wreath or simply sit on a sidetable.  Change up the sentiment and the piece can be displayed throughout the winter months!

Simple Stories Products: December Documented- Fundamental Cardstock Stickers; Chipboard; Be Merry Paper; Special Delivery Paper; 4X4 Quote & 6X6 Photo Mat Elements; 2X12 Border & 4X12 Title Strip Elements; 6X6 Paper Pad

And who doesn't love a 5 minute card!?!  I have one for you...easily put together with Simple Stories' SN@P Cards

Incorporate your favorite border punch to create a one-of-a-kind, yet quick and easy card.  A few sprinkles of iridescent gems and a sticker or two and it's complete!

Simple Stories Products: December Documented- SN@P! Cards; Peace, Love & Joy Paper; Brads

 So happy to share these fun Christmas ideas with you...hope you've enjoyed!

Back To School

Hi there, Simple Stories friends!  Shellye sharing a few "Back To School" ideas with the new Smarty Pants Collection.

While perusing the 'decorate-your-locker' aisle with my daughter, she stated how much she wanted a couple of magnetic organziers to hang up...my thought immediately went to Smarty Pants and how I could adapt her ideas into things I could make at home! 

First up is a very simple steno-styled notebook.  I made this using a sheet of medium weight chipboard that I cut into two 4" X 6" strips. 

Next, I cut four pieces of patterned paper to the same size as the chipboard and attached to each side with a strong adhesive. 

For the front cover you can choose from a variety of designs and sizes of journal cards.  Layer on stickers and add a few brads or other decorative pieces to make your notebook one-of-a-kind.

The inner pages can be made up of notebook, graph or copy paper...just cut the pages down so that they measure approximately 1/4" smaller than the actual album.  Reserve the left-over cuts of paper for the project below.  Use a binding system or rings to complete the notebook.  You can also add a small magnet to the back cover so that it can be hung inside of a locker.

Slip those extra cuts of paper from the notebook project into one of the SN@P Pockets!  Decorate the front and add a magnet to the back.

I took a wide 1" ribbon and applied it to the back of the SN@P Cuts opening with fabric glue. This would make a sweet teacher gift that could hang on the side of a filing cabinet. 

Lastly I have a Smarty Pants card that I made for the CHA booth

I fell in love with the cute bus motif!  What a great card for those bus drivers who safely transport our kids to and from school :)

Products Used:

NOTEBOOK- Smarty Pants: Blue Composition/Ledger Paper; Bingo Cards/Stars Paper; 3X4 Journaling Card Elements; Brads; Expression Cardstock Stickers

POCKET- I Heart Summer: Chipboard Stickers; SN@P Pockets; SN@P Cuts; Layered Stickers

CARD- Smarty Pants: Fundamental Cardstock Stickers; Red Composition/Notebook Paper; Blue Composition/Ledger Paper; 4X6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements; Designer Brads; Expression Cardstock Stickers

Thank you for visiting Simple Stories!

A Cool Summer Treat

Hello, Simple Stories friends!  Shellye here today... I'm glad to be back with you and kick off the month of July with some I HEART SUMMER goodies!

I love all of the different shapes of chipboard that you can find these days.  While browsing my local scrapbook store I picked up several pieces, two of which were a 'flower' and 'pennant' shape...the two came together to make the cutest ice cream cone!

Putting this together was as easy as tracing the shapes onto selected I Heart Summer papers and then cutting out.  I did machine stitch around the edges after adhering, but this is definitely optional. 

I embellished the ice cream portion with a cut-out from one of the 4X6 Journaling Card Elements.  Before attaching (with foam tape) to the ice cream, I glued a trim of ric-rac around the edge of the heart...I love the softness that it adds!  A couple of embellishments from the Chipboard Stickers and Layered Stickers and the front is complete. 

For the hanger I used a thin gauged wire (a thicker gauge would work better, but I didn't have any on hand) and then knotted on different colorful ribbons...now it's ready to hang!

 

 SN@P Cuts!  Wow, these are the coolest elements to work with!  Here I used it as a mat for my card and added a background paper behind it.  Yes, photographed it looks like a diagonally striped paper, but in person it has just the slightest bit of texture.

3X4 Journaling Cards are not only great for your SN@P albums, but they're a fantastic addition to cards...because Simple Stories' Journaling Cards are ALL so cute, the work is done for you.  Here I just added the adorable Bicycle Layered Sticker and topped it with the matching Flair Icons.  All done...short and sweet :)

Here is a list of the Simple Stories supplies used for both projects:

I Heart Summer Collection- Cardstock Expression Stickers; Chipboard Stickers; Layered Stickers; Flair Icons; Smooth Sailing Paper; 3X4 Journaling Card Elements; 4X6 Journaling Card Elements; Brown Boardwalk Paper; SN@P Cuts

SN@P Life- SN@P Life Basics 6X6 Paper Pad

24/7 Collection-Yellow Honeycomb Paper

Thank you all for visiting Simple Stories today!

 

Life Documented with i "Heart" Summer

 

 

Hey there!  Vicki here with the first two videos in a Life Documented series focusing on I {Heart} Summer and the red 6" x 8" SN@P! Binder.  

As I sat planning this project I decided it would best be tackled in stages as far as the videos go.  So the first video is an overview of the I {Heart} Summer product line and the oh so delicious 6" x 8" SN@P! Binder.  Take a look...

 

 

 

I hope this little introduction helps you to fall in love with this line and the whole SN@P concept like I have.  You can use all of the elements in the I {Heart} Summer line or choose a couple of your favorites to design the perfect album for all of your summer adventures.

 

This is my stepping off point...

 

The Cover.

I thought a step by step intro would be beneficial and I hope it will help anyone who is new to Simple Stories and SN@P! better understand just how EASY this product is to work with!!!

So...the second video is focused on designing a fresh and fun binder cover with the addition of a masking technique using the I {Heart} Summer SN@P! Cuts (I LOOOOOVE these!!).  Take a look...

 

  

Does that give you an idea of how Simple Stories makes Documenting your life easy and beautiful at the same time?  I can't wait to share more!  Here is the album I used...

 

Here is a list of the I {Heart} Summer product used:

• Fundamental Cardstock Stickers
• Expressions Cardstock Stickers
• Daydream paper
• 6x6 paper pad
• SN@P! Cuts
• SN@P! Pages 

 

 I have to say that I am really enjoying this video thing and I hope you do too.  I think I can share so much more info.  Please let me know if there is anything you would like me to focus on or discuss in any of the upcoming segments. 

Join me next time when I alter the three chipboard dividers!!!

 

  

 

Summer Gift Packaging Ideas

Summer is around the corner and it is time to get ready for birthdays, barbecues and summer bashes.  Instead of spending money on a lot of expensive gift packaging, why not use the three R's of Conservation: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?  Reduce the amount of packaging in your life and the world by reusing bags and giving them a facelift with materials you have lying around the house.  I still had some of the gorgeous Summer Fresh collection that I wanted to use up before I break into the Brand New I Heart Summer collection.

I thought is would be really fun to create this large star that would frame the fun tag.  I created the two sized stars with a clip art image in Microsoft Word, printed them onto plain cardstock and then cut them out to be traced onto the patterned paper.  I know, very old school right?  Then I added some hand stitching around the red star.

The tails of the tag were really easy to create and then trace onto the back sides of the patterned paper for easy cutting.  I then layered and glued them together with my Xyron Mega Runner.

These tags were so much fun to make.  All of the elements in the Summer Fresh collection are so bright and bold and look wonderful against the beautiful burlap patterned paper.  I got out my old Fiskars Apron Lace punch to make the red border on the bottom of the tags.

Foam tape is a great way to add dimension to the cardstock stickers in the Summer Fresh collection and to give the fun window box effect on this tag.

 

Summer Fresh Collection:

12 x 12 Fundamental Carstock Stickers

12 x 12 Expressions Cardstock Stickers

Sunshine/Happiness

Easy/Breazy

Burlap

6 x 6 Patterned Paper Pad

 

Stay tuned for the gorgeous Simple Stories I Heart Summer collection which was just received by our design team....

 

Happy Monday!

Pagemaps 7 Year Anniversary and Simple Stories

Happy 7th Anniversary, PageMaps! The design team  here at Simple Stories is so excited to join PageMaps in its month-long celebration, and all the party details can be found HERE. Simple Stories participated in the "On The Border" challenge with Lynn Ghahary, where we had to use three border designs on our project, along with this PageMaps sketch for inspiration.

It's Kellie here today and this was a really fun challenge! I love sketches they make doing layouts a snap!  For this layout I used Simple Stories newest collection"I Heart Summer".   It is an awesome collection, I am in love with the fun bright colors perfect for all those summer layouts!

Instead of using 3"x3.5" photos I used two wallet sized photos.  I love the SN@P! Cuts they are so cute! I used the heart one as part of my title. 

To finish the layout I added some stickers and brads.  This was a fast and easy layout to do and we'd love to see what you create with this same challenge and there is a great  prize package of our newest release, "I Heart Summer!" You can join the challenge HERE.

Products used:

Simple Stories I (Heart) Summer

Sn@p! Cuts #3225

Fundamental Cardstock Stickers #3202

Decorative Brads #3226

Layered Stickers #3228

 

 

Simple Stories & Therm O Web Product Swap-- Day 6

Welcome to Day 6 of the Simple Stories & Thermo Web Product Swap! We’re so excited to team up with Thermo Web and use their amazing line of adhesives to share some inspiring projects with you this week.

Thermo Web is also posting projects using Simple Stories products this week, so be sure to head over to their blog and check it out!

Shellye along with you this Saturday!  I love Therm O Web's products and use some sort of their adhesives almost daily! I'm a dimensional girl, so I especially love the Foam Squares and Thick Zots...but recently I've found myself using more and more of the thin Zots for things like buttons and heavier objects such a resin pieces. 

Today I have a couple of things to share!  In our packs we received the iCraft Dots, which include 1.5 and 2" round double-sided adhesive circles.  The examples on the front of the package show them used with rolled paper flowers...that led me to wonder how well they would work with fabric flowers?

I made this card several days ago and it's still holding beautifully!  I used a 1.5" ribbon by May Arts to create the posey-style flowers.  Start out with a tail in your dominant hand and begin turning the ribbon while you wrap it around the center.  Once you have the size you need, simply adhere to the iCraft Dot of choice.  I did use a bit of fabric glue between some of the layers so that it wouldn't raise up.

 

To the backs of the butterfly stickers I applied a ZOTS Singles.  The design was then attached to the cardfront using the Sticky Dot Runner.

Simple Stories Products:Vintage Bliss- 6X6 Paper Pad; Bingo Cards/Stripe Paper; Chipboard Stickers; Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers

Therm O Web Products: iCraft Dots; Sticky Dot Runner; ZOTS Singles

 My next project was created with my scrap room in mind.  It's a functional magnet board where I can post notes and reminders.

To the back of the calendar sheet (Cocoa Daisy paper by Simple Stories) I adhered the 1.5" iCraft Dots and then attached to the magnet sheets.

Next, I removed the foam tape from the back of the SN@P Flair button and attached a magnet to the back with a ZOT. 

I layered on the fun embellishments with either Thick or Thin ZOTS.  The beauty of ZOTS is that they have a super hold!  And instead of punching holes at the top for the ribbon hanger, I used several Thin ZOTS to attach the ribbon to the back of the chipboard. 

Simple Stories Products: SN@P-Flair Icons; Decorative Brads; Chipboard Stickers; Typeset Stickers; Teal/Calendar Paper; ColorVibe Yellow Chevron/Mini Dot Paper

Therm O Web Products: iCraft Dots; Sticky Dot Runner; ZOTS and ZOTS Singles

That's all from me today, please head on over to the Thermo Web blog  and check out what their Design Team has created using their adhesives and our Simple Stories products!

A Quick Gift Bag with Vintage Bliss!

Do you ever find yourself searching for the perfect gift bag when giving a gift? I know I do, sometimes they are too small, sometimes too large, and often, I just don't like the theme of the bag. Why not solve the problem by picking up a few blank gift bags and creating your own! 

I picked up a few blank colored gift bags and decorated one up with some Vintage Bliss. This gift bag was a little smaller so the 6x6 pad worked out perfectly! 

Add some ribbons & embellishments and you are ready to give the perfect gift in the perfect bag! 

 

Products Used:

#3001 Vintage Bliss 6x6 Paper Pad

Simple Stories & Petaloo Blog Hop - Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 of the Simple Stories & Petaloo - Blog Hop!  We’re so excited to team up with Petaloo to share some inspiring projects with you this week.

We’ll be giving away a great Simple Stories prize package at the end of the week, so be sure to play along and check back on Sunday to see if you’re the lucky winner!

Here are the different ways you can play along –

1. Like Simple Stories on Facebook
2. Share this blog post on your Facebook wall and tell us you did on our Facebook wall
3. Follow Simple Stories on Pinterest
4. Comment here on our blog or on Facebook

Petaloo is also posting projects and giving away prizes, so be sure to check out their blog and Facebook  page, too!

The project I did for today was a cute little watering can and cupcakes for Mothers day.   I loved working with the flowers and ribbon from Petaloo.  The colors are awesome and the quality is great!  I used Vintage Bliss for the cupcake liners and embellishments on the watering can.  The watering can was made out of  The Take a Hike paper line.  I cut the cupcake liners and watering can out with my cutting machine.  I ran the cupcake liners through my paper crimper.  Then I took two new white socks and rolled them to get the swirled look and pinned them together.  I then pinned the flower on top.  I glued the cute little ribbon around the top of the cupcake liners. I decorated the watering can with a bouquet of flowers and the adorable embellishments from the Vintage Bliss collection.

 

Now go create something fun with Simple Stories and Petaloo!  Enjoy the rest of the Blog hop.

Head on over to the Petaloo blog and check out what their Design Team has created using their embellishments and our Simple Stories products! They’re also hosting giveaways as well, so what
are you waiting for – head on over! 

Check in again with us tomorrow for more inspiring projects from Simple Stories & Petaloo! 

Simple Stories Products used:

Vintage Bliss: Decorative Brads #3026

Layered Stickers #3028

Teal Chevron #3018

Yellow Grid #3019

Pink Floral #3020

Take a Hike: Brown Wood #2516

Petaloo Supplies:

Frosted Roses- Blue/Greens

Dahlias- Teal/Aqua

Fancy Trims Shades of Teal

Mini Daisies Red/Fuchsias