Simple Stories

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
• SN@P 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.

Life Documented | with Homespun

 

Hello Everyone! It's Kristine Davidson here today with a Life Documented post using  the NEW Homespun Collection. I have to admit that I LOVE this collection. I will be using it until I have little scraps of paper left and then I'll create something using those scraps! I love the colors, the elements of spring, the hearts, and oh so much more! If you haven't had a chance to purchase this collection yet I'm sure you LSS will be adding it to their list of must haves shortly! 

Alright, here is my story for this Life Documented post. In early 2013 I decided it was time to reformat my computer.  I have fast fingers when it comes to typing and I love DELETING! I love a clean screen and well ... see where this is going ? I sadly DELETED ALL MY PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!! ya ya i know backup ... well i was going to backup my hard drive but instead i guess i just deleted all MY PICTURES folder. So with that said I thank Instagram for allowing me to download ALL my photos from when I first opened my account with them. So, i downloaded all my pictures and right after my February post here on the blog I decided to document 2012! After losing all my photos I decided to document what I had and atleast I would have some stories to tell. 

So, here I am documenting 2012. I decided to do this on a Monthly basis and not weekly. Here is my spread for the month of APRIL 2012 and perhaps this will inspire you to create your Life Documented album. Regardless of size or format - documenting your stories is what matters. 

 

For this page, i created a layout from one of my photos, and on the other side I used a pocket page with 2x2" inserts. This allowed me to add more photos and also decorate and journal. I really love the idea of having a layout on the left side, it seems to showcase a bit of what my month was like. I met up with friends at a scrapbook event and it was excitement all month long. So a big part of April 2012!   

 

 In my pocket pages, i added photos, and also didn't put dates on any of them. Like I mentioned previously this is more about documenting the month/ year than remembering what day something happened.  You'll see in my next picture why ! ;-) 

 This is the other side of the pocket page featuring the 2x2 card inserts. Again I added photos, and decorated the cards to add some character to my spread. On the right side of the spread you see a photo with tons of little mini pics?  

This picture of tons of mini pics is done using an APP called Project 365. This reminds me on a daily basis to upload a pic I took of that day. It can be anything and sometimes it's just my face, the weather, what i ate and other fun stuff. It keeps me on track by reminding me and at the end of the month I can upload my picture or email it to family members. I Love it! SO since i lost all my picture I had this as a back up. This helps me remember what happened on that day and allows me to remember something I might have forgotten! That happens often ;-) 

 This is the last page of my month. It is a photo taken at a scrapbook event and it was saved from my facebook page!  This was a special day laughing with friends and I wanted to save that in my spread for 2012. 

As you can see Scrapbook products even in a 12x12 collection kit can be used for Documenting life spreads. The elements in this kit were perfect in helping me document my lost photos and a month that was specially shared with friends at a crop. 

I'll be back next month to showcase another one month in the year 2012!

I will be using the 6x8 Sn@p! Leather Album in black for all of my Life Documented pages for 2012. It's sturdiness, metal corner accents, and stitch details are fantastic and durable. The album will be handled often so durability is a must - this Sn@p! album is the best!!

 

I used a variety of inserts for this monthly spread - a 6x8" size featuring 2x2" to 4x6 and also a full 6x8. The Sn@p pocket pages come in a variety that you can add to your album. PERFECTO!

 

Homespun Products Used :

Fundamental Cardstock Stickers 
Expression Cardstock Stickers
6x6 Paper Pad
Bits & Pieces 
Brads 
12x12 Simple Basics Kit
Insta-Squares
Sn@p Cards

The DIY Products Used:
Enamel Dots - Teal Red & Yellow
Burlap Stickers - Icons

Hope you enjoyed my Life Documented pages and will be inspired to create your own using our new collections ;-) 

 

Pocket Page Scrapbooking with SN@P! Birthday Set

 

Hi there Simple Stories fans, Nancy here with a SN@P! 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 SN@P! 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 SN@P! leather album. I love how sturdy it is and how many layouts I can fit in it.

SN@P! 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

 

 

March Guest Designer Ashley Horton

Hello Simple Stories fans, Layle here with you today :)

I'm excited to introduce you to our March guest designer, Ashley Horton -

Here's a little bit about Ashley -

Hi!  My name is Ashley Horton and I live in the Southern US with my husband Tyler and our three children.  I started scrapbooking about 8 years ago, and have been in love with it ever since.  Scrapbooking has always been a fun creative outlet for me and I also set goals that I wanted to achieve, and have been very fortunate in recent years to be published in several paper and online magazines and have designed for a variety of Blogs and Manufacturers.  I am currently designing for American Crafts, Silhouette, Echo Park, Creative Scrappers, and Get It Scrapped!  I like to have fun when I am creating and enjoy telling the stories of our family on my layouts.  Even though Scrapbooking takes up the majority of my free time, I also enjoy cooking, reading, and watching movies!

Ashley created a few gorgeous projects for us this month using our new A Charmed Life collection!

According to Ashley -

Most of the time, I like to create a title on my layout as the focal point of my page.  But I couldn't resist using the wood grain paper in the collection, that came pre-printed with the phrase "A Charmed Life".  Having a built in title really makes it quick and easy to put your pages together.  I placed my photos above the title and matted them with two different patterned papers from the collection.  I also thought it would be fun to layer one of the transparent overlays included with the collection kit, over my smaller photo, for added detail.  I finished my page design by adding some of the chipboard pieces, stickers, and brads.

The 8 Sn@p! Cuts jumped out at me, when I looked through the collection.  I thought the Navy polka dot cut would make a great large mat, to place behind the photo.  Once I had my mat and photo in place, I layered a piece of paper cut from the heart pattern.  I loved the look of hearts "floating" against the wood grain background.  And the Sn@p! Insta Squares were perfect for completing my design.

It's always fun to create a card and add a pocket to the front.  You can tuck in a gift card, note, or just a fun patterned paper design.  I used one of the Sn@p! Pockets for the front of my card, and placed the clover cut from the Sn@p! Cuts package inside the pocket.  I added the star brad to the center of the cut card, to hold it in place.  The mix of the word "Lucky" from the chipboard package and the sticker "like a four leaf clover" paired perfectly, to complete the sentiment for my card.  I also used some of the left over hearts, from my A Charmed Life layout.  Those left overs can always come in handy, when you are a creating a card!

I really loved working with A Charmed Life!  The mix of Green, Yellow and Navy in this collection work so well together.  I also love the fact, that this collection can be used for masculine or feminine layouts, since we have two daughters and a son.  The chipboard pieces are great for adding dimension to your projects and the cute 8 Sn@p! Cuts are really on trend with the die cut look that is appearing on so many projects.

Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us this month, Ashley!  We loved working with you :)

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

Daily Grind Planner/Album

Hey everyone...Andrea here with a cool project I made using the Daily Grind collection.  It's a mini book/album that doubles as a planner for 2014!  The Daily Grind line is in my top five of favorite lines from Simple Stories, and it was PERFECT to use for a planner.  This is kind of a "perpetual" project, as I will get to add to it throughout the year.

I can't wait for you to see this!

 

 

The base of the book is a SN@P! Binder from My Mind's Eye - it's virtually the same SN@P! binder you've come to love from Simple Stories, but with a little My Mind's Eye 'twist' :)  The binder cover is already decorated because it's embossed, so I didn't want to do too much to it.  Rather than putting a photo in the opening, I used an overlay from the Collection Kit over a 4 x 6 Journaling Card Element from the collection, and framed it with strips of patterned paper.  The inside covers of the book were covered with patterned paper.

 

This book is THICK!

 

The inner pages are a mix of papers from the Daily Grind 12 x 12 Collection Kit, 12 x 12 Simple Basics Kit, SN@P! Pockets, 4 x 6 Journaling Card Elements, SN@P! 6 x 8 Pocket Pages, and sheets I printed off of the computer.  They contain space for me to keep track of and document everything I need for this year.

 

I printed out monthly calenders on cardstock, and used the month stickers from the Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers as tabs.  I used sticker numbers for the days of the month.

 

I printed weekly calender pages on plain computer paper, punched holes, and reinforced those pages with paper reinforcements.  These pages will make it easy for me to keep track of appointments and schedules. I placed month cards from the 4 x 6 Journaling Card Elements at the beginning of each month of weekly pages.

 

Here's some of the inner pages of the book:

 

SN@P! Journal Pages and Pocket Pages are added throughout the book.  I've already embellished some of the Pocket Pages with items from the collection, but there are empty pockets as well to be filled with photos, journaling and memorabilia throughout the year. The photos will be of every day happenings (my "Daily Grind"!) that I wouldn't necessarily do a layout of, or duplicate photos from my stash.

 

I added some ribbon and gems just to finish it off.

I love this project, and I don't mind saying that i might just have the coolest planner around :)

I do have just ONE complaint...and that is that I definitely needed a bigger binder!  It already won't close, and I have a lot of months left in the year to document!

I hope this project inspires you to use your scrapbooking supplies in an entirely "out of the box" type of way;  even a planner can document your memories.

Thanks for letting me share with you!

Daily Grind products I used in this project:

• 12 x 12 Collection Kit #3600
• 12 x 12 Simple Basics Kit #3601
• Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers #3602
• Expressions Cardstock Stickers #3603
• SN@P! Pages #3624
• SN@P! Cuts #3626
• SN@P! Cards #3623
• SN@P! Pockets #3625
• Chipboard Stickers #3628
• Decorative Brads #3627

 

 

 

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 Sn@p! 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 Sn@p! 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 Sn@p! 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 Sn@p! 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 Sn@p! 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

• Sn@p! 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 Sn@p 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
Sn@p Pockets
Sn@p Cuts
Decorative Brads

DIY Collection:

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

Sn@p Collection:

Sn@p Stickers - Letters
Sn@p Stickers - Cat
Sn@p 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

Pick a Card, Any Card

Hi there, Layle with you today for another round of Pick a Card, Any Card!

Each month, 5 of our design team members and I will be picking one of our favorite Simple Stories or SN@P! 3x4 or 4x6 cards and sharing them with you - in more ways than one!  We've introduced so many GREAT cards over the last few years that I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite cards each month, tell you why they're our favorites and then give you a chance to win not only the specific cards that we picked, but the other cards they're paired up with as part of the set (more on that fun giveaway at the end of this post)!

If you missed last month's picks, you can see them here.

To kick off this month's version of Pick a Card, Any Card, here's one of my favorites -

This 3x4 card is from our Daily Grind 3x4 Journaling Card Elements.  I love the versatility of this card; it can really be used for anything!  Between the kraft colored background, the light colored months and then the brightly colored months mixed in for random pops of color, it just makes me happy :)

Next up is Donna Jannuzzi with this 3x4 card from our new Travel SN@P! Set (shipping in March!) -

When I asked Donna why she chose this card, she said -

"I love this card because I happen to be drawn to travel lines. I thought the combination of the map background with the pretty script font was interesting. Plus, this card could be used for a few different themes, not just travel, which makes it both cute and versatile"!

 Emily Lanham chose this 4x6 card from our A Charmed Life collection - 

When I asked Emily why she chose this card, she said -

"This is one of my favorite cards because the saying is SO true. I treasure all of my friends, though they have thinned out over the years, the ones that have stuck around through thick and thin are TRUE friends and I feel very lucky & blessed to have them in my life". 

Heather Leopard selected this 3x4 card, also from the A Charmed Life collection -

According to Heather -

"I love it because it's a new twist on making a list for your journaling.  Pie charts are still oh so trendy and I love that you can add elements of your day, your trip, or whatever moments or events you are documenting in or around each section of the pie chart and journal about that part of the moment in the color coordinated lines below.   How cool is that?!?!  I love it and am using it the next time I sit down at my craft table"!

Next up is Kim Kesti with this 3x4 card from our Baby Girl SN@P! Set -

When I asked Kim why she selected this particular card, she said -

"As a cardmaker, anything that makes my life easier is a big plus.  I just love all the cards in the SN@P! Baby Girl pack, but this "Love You to the Moon and Back" card is extra special.  It has a cute graphic design and a great sentiment all rolled into one.  I know that I can add a card stock mat, a few stickers and some ribbon and end up with a really special card in no time flat".

Last up this month is Kristine Davidson with this 3x4 card from our new Cat SN@P! Set (also shipping in March!) -

Kristine loves this card because -

"As a cat lover I laughed when I saw this and remembered a trip my husband and I took last summer. This older gentleman was on a motorized bicycle and his cat was sitting on his lap. As he crossed the busy street he said " Hold On Mr. Whiskers" and of course hubby and I thought it was the cutest and funniest thing ever.  We could just imagine the chaos our cat Eddie would cause if we tried this with him!  This card makes me smile ;-) ".

So, what do you think?  How about those picks - pretty fun, right?!

OK, now to more good stuff.  At the beginning of this post I mentioned something about a giveaway!  Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below by end of day Thursday, March 6th telling me which of our 6 cards is your favorite and why.  On Friday I'll draw one random lucky winner to win not only the cards we selected, but the rest of the cards that are included with each package the cards are from - that's all of these  fabulous Simple Stories cards that you see below, people!

 WOW!  That's a lot of card goodness if I do say so myself.  Good luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SN@P! Baby Girl Cards

Kim here coming back at you with a few more cards. This time, I am working with the 4 X 6 SN@P! Baby Cards. At the risk of sounding really cliche, using this amazing product makes card making a...snap! (Hee, hee, couldn't resist that one).

Here's my first one:

I literally used the entire SN@P! Baby Girl Card for the body of my Love You a Ton Card. I added an additional sticker, one brad from the DIY Boutique Collection and a bit of pink twine. The rounded edges on the bottom of the card add some extra softness.

My Sweet Baby Love Card features a SN@P! Card trimmed down about an inch. The hearts on the top edge are Side B of this card. Love that the "B" sides automatically coordinate with the front, it sure makes life easy. I also added a few stickers grounded with a label from the DIY Boutique Collection.

And, lastly (my favorite) the Oh Baby! Card. This card features a sweet little cluster of accents in the upper left corner that add just the right amount of polish to this already adorable SN@P! Baby Card. I really enjoy adding bits and pieces to my cards, so it's pretty clear that the DIY Boutique Collection will be one of my favorites.

Thanks for taking a peek at my baby cards! Now that you see just how easy they are, why not create a few for your stash? 

Products Used:

SN@P! Sets

4 X 6 SN@P! Cards - Baby Girl
SN@P! Stickers - Baby Boy

DIY Boutique 

Brads

 

Life Documented with Homespun

Hello, Simple Stories fans! Melissa here to share another week in my Life Documented album as I continue on with catching up some weeks from previous years that are still left to scrap. This week finds the Homespun collection being used to document some Independence Day fun!

Last time I hosted the blog, you may recall that I talked about using non-seasonal collections to scrap seasonal events, and I'm doing the same thing with this layout. Homespun isn't a 4th of July themed collection, but the family motifs and home-y accents definitely work for all of the bold colors in my photos of hanging out with my family and watching fireworks. I tweaked a few of the products here and there to make it all come together, and I'll share a few of those techniques with you below. 

 If you haven't tried the new DIY (Design It Yourself) collection yet, you really need to check these pieces out! I used a DIY speech bubble die-cut as a layer under a chipboard camera from Homespun, and there are lots of great neutral layers in DIY that will coordinate with any of Simple Stories' collections!

This red-bordered journaling card was actually pre-printed for Thursday, but since I needed a Tuesday card (and the Tuesday card in the collection didn't jive with my layout's color balance), I found a die-cut in the Bits & Pieces pack and layered it with a sticker to help the card fit my layout. 

 A pre-printed 4x6 card can help build the fastest embellishment cluster ever! The doilies and banners were already printed on this card, and I simply added a tiny chipboard heart and a word sticker to both help tie the photo to the design as well as create a dimensional cluser in no time flat.

 Simple Stories' Insta-Squares make fabulous embellishents on Life Documented pages, even if you don't use the square Pocket Pages. Here I tucked a 2x2 heart card from the Homespun Insta-squares behind a small photo and layered on a die cut from the Bits & Pieces pack to finish it off. Quick, easy, and cute!

As I close out my 2011 and 2013 Life Documented albums, I'm using the 12x12 faux leather Sn@p in teal to hold my layouts. These albums are simply gorgeous and have such a luxurious feel to them!

 

All of my weekly Life Documented pages for 2011, 2012, and 2013 use Design 3 Pocket Pages- I'm so used to using this design that I totally get into a zone when choosing photo sizes to print, and it goes super fast! Editing and printing photos is my biggest hangup when it comes to any variety of scrapbooking, so I'm all for anything that simplifies the process.

Homespun Products Used:

• 12x12 Collection Kit
• Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers
• Expression Cardstock Stickers
• 6x6 Paper Pad
• Bits & Pieces
• Chipboard
• Brads
• Insta-Squares
• Sn@p Cards