Halloween - Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Scary Stories

Hi everyone,

It’s Rebecca back with you today and as we edge closer to the end of October, my Halloween preparations are well underway! It’s the perfect time to be sharing another layout created with the Simple Vintage Scary Stories collection by Simple Stories. You’ll find the full collection in the shop here. 

I love the patterned papers in this collection and wanted to feature several of them on my layout. I find the best way to do this, without overloading the page, is to use small amounts of each paper. I selected 6 papers to use, and cut a 6 x 6 inch square from each. I layered the papers in the centre of a sheet of Premium White Cardstock, and staggered them slightly so that only the corners of each were visible. I purposely selected the lighter pattern for the top piece as I knew that more of this paper would be visible. 

To the right of my papers, I’ve added my photo, matted with a dark patterned paper from the collection. 

For my title, I selected one of the Foam Stickers. I opted for an orange worded sticker to help bring a bit of brightness to the page as my photo is quite dark and has a lot of black in it. I positioned the title above my photo. 

This left me a nice open space to the left of my photo for embellishing. I selected a pumpkin cluster from the Cardstock Stickers and raised it up on foam pads. I like to adhere my stickers to white cardstock first to make them a tad sturdier. 

To the right of my photo I’ve introduced some die cuts from the Bits and Pieces and some of the adhesive Decorative Brads. I love how easy these are to use - no need to pierce holes and split pins open on the back - just stick and go!  

I finished off with a few glossy Enamel Dots in two clusters to add a little more texture to the page. 

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you like my layout and it offers you some inspiration.  Don’t forget this collection is available in the store now so grab it before it’s all gone! 

Take care,

Rebecca x

@preciouspagespapercraft 

Little Moments - Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Meadow Flowers

Hi everyone, it’s Rebecca with you today and I’m really excited to be sharing my first layout for July because I’m creating with the beautiful Simple Vintage Meadow Flowers collection from Simple Stories. It’s such an elegant collection with soft, pretty colours. You can find it in the shop here.

I began by cutting out the sheet of notepaper from the Walk in Nature patterned paper. I love all the layers on this paper, but I felt like I wanted to scale it back and make it a bit simpler. Once cut, I distressed all the edges and adhered it centrally to a sheet of lilac cardstock from the 12x12 Basics Kit.

On top of this, I placed my photo, housed in one of the Chipboard Frames. I decided on the frame with more pink in it, to match my photo. 

Before adding any embellishments, I positioned some of the Rub-Ons around the page. I love how easy these transfer on to a layout, and they really elevate the page and add beautiful detailing to any background. 

With my rub-ons in place, I started to build some floral clusters around my photo using the Chipboard Clusters and Floral Bits & Pieces. By selecting larger elements, it means I didn’t actually need to add a great deal (fab for me - more for other layouts!) 

Once I have all my larger elements in place, I like to look through the smaller pieces in a collection to see what else I can add. The great thing about smaller elements is that you can add lots of them, without overcrowding the page. I selected a few stickers from the Cardstock Stickers, some Decorative Brads and some Enamel Glitter Dots.

The chipboard frame I’d selected had the phrase ‘Wild and Beautiful’ on it… which would work great as a title, but there was a phrase in the Page Pieces that had caught my eye. I selected the ‘Little Moments’ phrase for my title as it depicted the story in the photo perfectly. We’d been out for lunch for my husband’s birthday, and on the way back to the car we walked through the shopping centre. Randomly, under the escalator was this gorgeous wooden swing surrounded by a stunning display of florals. It was perfect for a few photos - capturing the ‘little moments’ in our day. I placed my new title on top of the chipboard frame, raised up on foam pads.  To extend my title further, I chose to add a Foam Stickers above my photo which reads ‘ My soul is made from’. 

To finish the layout, I made two little tears in the top and bottom of the background cardstock, and folded the edges in to create a little open triangle. I backed these spaces using a patterned paper from the 6x8 Paper Pad, just to add a little details and bring more colour to the edges of the layout. 

I hope you like this layout and it’s given you some inspiration. Meadow Flowers is such a beautiful collection so make sure you check it out in the shop before it’s all sold out!

Thanks for reading. 

Rebecca x

@preciouspagespapercraft

Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Life in Bloom - Life is a Journey

Hello,

It's Claire here today, and this month I am going to be creating with the Simple Stories Simple Vintage Life in Bloom collection. 

This gorgeous collection has been re-released and is back by popular demand. I didn't purchase any of this collection during its first release and instantly regretted it.  Having got a second chance, I couldn't wait to create with it and wow! It really is stunning!!

Upon first glance, you'd probably say this was quite a summery collection, but I really wanted to create an autumnal layout - No problem - this collection has it all!!

To start, I grabbed a sheet of Bazzill White Cardstock and applied a thin coat of clear gesso as I planned to add mixed media.

In the meantime whilst the gesso dried, I made some maple leaves following this video I found on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=All296p9kk4&t=8s

I selected two papers from the 6x8 Paper Pad. It has some really beautiful patterned papers - one pink and orange Gingham, and a newspaper print which were perfect to create the leaves.

To add definition and help them stand off the page, I inked the edges of the newspaper print in pink and orange Distress Oxide, and outlined the gingham leaves with a black Sharpie.

I lay these in a vertical cluster down the page and drew lightly around the edge so that I knew where to place my mixed media. For the pink and orange leaves, I used pink and orange watercolour, and for the newspaper print, I used black paint.

To give an extra pop of colour, I cut some smaller leaves with a die, using the turquoise paper again from the 6x8 paper pad.

I folded and curled the leaves to create a rustling leaves feel to the page. I adhered the large maple leaves with foam to create dimension and movement, and lay the blue leaves flat, adhering just the base to the page with Glossy Accents. This allowed me to bend the tops of the leaves up to give some extra interest.

Next, I took my photo which I had made into a circle so it would sit nicely amongst the leaf clusters, and backed it on a piece of the  Black Gingham paper. I love the pop of black against these brighter colours. It really helps bring my photos to life.

For my title, I reached for the Foam Stickers, using this big Bold Life piece to help tie in extra black into the layout.

Alongside this, I added an extra foam sticker saying 'is a journey'. I thought this would be appropriate as the changing leaves and arrival of a new season always chimes as a new chapter and it also seemed fitting for my photo, where my dog is zooming off into the woods, ready to start a new adventure! 

For a small extra detail, I wanted to add a pop of green, echoing the photograph, so took this small butterfly from the Sticker Book, adhering flat straight to the page.

I mirrored this with a small leaf sprig from the Floral Bits & Pieces on the right had side of the design to balance the colours.

Just above the leaves, I also added a butterfly from the Foam Stickers, nestled in amongst the leaves. 

I splashed some ink using Black Nuvo Drops and some Shimmerz Vibez around the page, and added three decorative brads sprinkled across the design to add an extra bit of interest. Really love these, the silver edges really catch the light.

To anchor the design, I felt like it needed a border, so I gutted the Make Time paper and trimmed 1/4" from around my white cardstock, mounting it onto the border piece. This paper works so well as it contains all the colours from the layout and really helps to pull it all together.

As a finishing touch, I added a black doodle border around the edge.

I hope you've enjoyed this layout and it's inspired you to check out the collections you have in your stash that may not be specific to the season. I had great fun making this one and look forward to coming back with some more projects later this month.

In the meantime, you can check out this collection in full here.

See you then!

Claire xx

@scrappysoulmate