These are the Days - Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Junk Drawer Collection

Hi everyone, it’s Rebecca with you today.

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have started the new year filled with scrappy plans and lots of inspiration. I really enjoyed having some time off over Christmas and was able to sit at my desk and create a few layouts, which was just lovely — such a great way to start the year!

To kick off 2026, I’m working with the beautiful Simple Vintage Junk Drawer collection by Simple Stories. You can find the full collection in the shop here.

I began by selecting one of the papers from the Simple Basics Collection Kit for my background. I loved the subtle design — it adds interest without overpowering the page. In the centre of the sheet, I started building layers using a variety of patterned papers. I mixed cut-apart elements with torn patterns to create texture and visual interest. I also selected a couple of papers to use with my metal dies. From one paper, I cut a viewfinder, and from another, a filmstrip — two of my favourite elements to add to a layout!

Once the layers were in place, I added my photos on top. I printed the same photo three times and stacked them with white borders. I really love the effect this creates and have been using this technique a lot in my recent layouts. To ensure my photo remained the main focal point, I added a layer of foam behind it to give it some height and dimension. Behind the photos, I tucked in a couple of tags from the Tag Elements patterned paper. I punched holes in both tags and added metal eyelets using my Crop-A-Dile tool.

To embellish, I added some florals from the Floral Bits & Pieces, along with the viewfinder and filmstrip pieces I’d cut earlier. I also couldn’t resist adding a few butterflies, which I fussy cut from the Beauty in the Details paper.

To add more detail to the background, I reached for my stamps and Stazon Ink Pad in the shade 'Jet Black' . I used a mix of stamps and applied them around the edges of the design. I didn’t use a stamping block, as I wanted to avoid a ‘blocky’ look. Instead, I stamped freehand, slightly folding the edges of the stamps to soften any harsh lines.

Next, I trimmed my background paper down to 10 x 10 inches and distressed all the edges before adhering it to a sheet of Premium White Cardstock. I love the distressed effect this creates and feel it really helps frame the page nicely.

I finished the layout with my title, using a fishtail banner from the Journal Bits & Pieces. I positioned it just under the photo so it stood out while remaining central to the design.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you’ve enjoyed this layout and that it gives you some inspiration to kickstart your 2026 scrappy journey.

Take care, 
Rebecca xx

@preciouspagespapercraft

Carta Bella - Christmas in the City - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Hi!

Claire here with my first post of the New Year and I'm loving scrapping all my festive photos from last month. I'm using the Carta Bella Christmas in the City collection which you can find in the shop here.

I'm using paper strips for my layout today to build a base for the design. This is such a quick and easy technique and so adaptable to any theme or collection. 

I've chosen the following papers

• Christmas Tree Cab
• Merry Snowflake Sky
• Peace on Earth Pines
• Yellow Cardstock from the Coordinating Cardstock Pack

I staggered each layer and overlapped the horizontal and vertical lines to create a shelf for my photos to sit on. 

I backed the pictures with the same papers (using both the A and B sides) and raised these on foam before adhering to the page.

Next I pulled out the Element Stickers sheet. I cut one of the house stickers in half, sticking it to either side of my photo cluster. This helps the sticker look longer than it really is.

For an extra pop of colour, I added a bold floral to the top of the photos and echoed this by adding a long floral wreath and some smaller floral stickers around the bottom on the photos. 

I used two of the longer phrase stickers for my title and finished with a scattering of smaller snowflake stickers and some gold ink splatters. 

Thank you for joining me on the blog today. I hope you're enjoying documenting your memories from the Christmas holidays.

You can check out the Christmas in the City collection here, but don't wait too long - it's proving popular! 

See you soon! 

Claire x

@scrappysoulmate

Simple Stories ~ Take Note 🖊️ #1

Happy New Year everyone! It’s great to see you here again in 2026! 

This month I’m working with Simple Stories - Take Note, which you can find in the shop here. 

I always find this style of collection great for reflecting on the past year and I like to create a ‘review the year’ style page to go at the end of my yearly scrapbook album. 

To create this layout I started with the b side of ‘Happy Days Ahead’ as my base. 

I had downloaded a cutfile titled ‘2025 documented’ with 12 Polaroid frames, so I cut this out on white bazzill cardstock. 

I created collage pictures on my phone, with 4 pictures from each month of 2025 and printed them out to fit inside each of the frames.

I backed ‘2025’ with sections from the b side of ‘Focus on the Day’ and adhered the cutfile and the photos to my page. 

I had some old month stickers from Simple Stories which I used to place on each of the frames. 

Finally, I finished my layout by adding some floral bits and pieces as well as some stickers from the element stickers. 

I tucked some of the florals around the frames and created clusters on opposite sides of the page. 

Thanks so much for looking! See you later in the month with another layout using this collection! 

Anna 

@acraftylifewithanna

Photoplay - Christmas Junque - Oh Christmas Tree

Hello, Karen here. Today is the eve of Epiphany, which means the Christmas decorations are coming down tomorrow! 🎄 To say a proper goodbye to the season, I’m sharing a new layout featuring my Christmas tree. I used the gorgeous Christmas Junque collection by Photoplay, which I think was the perfect match for the photo.

I started with a sheet of  Mrs. Claus Bakery paper. While I originally saved this for a festive food-themed layout, I realised that by layering embelishments to hide the 'Bakery' reference, I could use the entire sheet for this tree layout instead.

After printing my photo slightly smaller than A4, I double-matted it using Christmas Time paper and gold mirror card. I then stuck it to the right-hand side of my layout.

From the Collage Cut Out Sheets I fussy cut several images, matted them with gold card and used them to embellish the photo. Stars from more gold card were also included.

A fussy cut arrow was used to pinpoint a favourite ornament in the photo.

To cover the 'Mrs. Claus’ Bakery' text, I used a cut-out piece as a pocket. I secured it to the layout using gold brads, which added a touch more gold to the layout and also hid the original paper's theme.

I printed my journalling onto a tag, created a red tag top, threaded it with some red and white twine and tucked it into the pocket.

Tucking a few additional cut-outs into the pocket created a layered, cluster effect that gave more interest to the layout.

At the top of the layout I added a die cut title and finished it off with a scattering of gold sequins and punched cardstock stars which carry the gold theme across the whole layout.

Thank you for dropping by today. I will be back again soon with another project.

Take Care, Karen x x

December Papermaze Kit - Part 2

Happy New Year! 
Lynn here today, back with the second post sharing Christmas layouts for this year. The December kit is available in the shop, it has a traditional red, green and white colour pallet. The papers are beautiful and include Mintay, Simple Stories and Graphic 45.  

Before we look at how the layouts were made, here is what you will find in the kit:

Patterned Papers:
Mintay Papers - Holly Jolly collection - #02 & #04
Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Believe collection - Holiday Traditions & Tag Elements
Simple Stories - All Wrapped Up collection - Magical Season
Graphic 45 - Deck the Halls collection - A Little Sparkle

The photo below shows both sides of the papers:

 

Embellishments:
Simple Stories - Vintage Believe - Foam Stickers & Floral Bits and Pieces

Mintay Chippies - Xmas Wreath
Rosie's Studio - Oh Joyful Day - Button
Pretty Little Studio - Comfort and Joy - Holly Jolly Word Titles 
Divine Twine - Green Apple
Doodlebug Designs - Doilies Ladybug
Gold enamel dots

Bazzill Basics - Aspen, Grenadine (included in kit), Cinnamon Stick, Coconut Swirl, Cinder and Parakeet.

Merry & Bright - My nephew and his family took a trip to Lapland UK last December, this layout shows a group photo from this exciting day out. 

My first task for this layout was to gut the A Little Sparkle paper, giving me a frame of 12" x 12" and 1" deep. I trimmed a sheet of Bazzill White cardstock to 11" x 11". 

With two colours of Distress Ink (Barn Door and Rustic Wilderness, slightly watered down, I lightly splattered over the cardstock, to take away from the starkness of the white.

I divided the Tag Elements sheet to separate the 15 tags. The I selected 8 of them to use on my layout. I printed out the large photo with a white border, and arranged this with the tags and one of the Doilies Ladybug on the cardstock, without sticking anything down. 

Once I was happy with the arrangement, I inked the edges of the tags, punched a hole in the tops and applied a large red eyelet each one. Then everything was glued into place. The Divine Twine - Green Apple from the kit was threaded through the eyelets, and caught into place with a few spots of glue. 

I embellished the layout using the Button and Gold enamel dots from the kit. The title is a foam Sticker Holly Jolly Word Titles, also supplied in the kit. 

From my own Christmas embellishments, I added Simple Stories Vintage Christmas Lodge Farm Foam Stickers, and a little clay gingerbread man. I used some old Basic Grey Alphabet Stickers for the date. As I had already used the gold enamel dots from the kit, I found some more from my own stash to add to this page.

Our Dear Reindeer - Our granddaughter last Christmas sporting a set of reindeer antlers, and enjoying a spear of asparagus.

I selected a sheet of Kraft Bazzill from my own stash for the background, and stencilled some stars over it. I used Picket Fence Distress Ink and a Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Sparkle.

I painted the Mintay Chippies - Xmas Wreath, with Distress Paints - Lumberjack Plaid for the berries and Peeled Paint with Shabby Shutters over the leaves. Then I coated the whole wreath with Glossy Accents for some shine. I set this aside to dry.

Meanwhile, I built up the layers on the layout. I used my Cricut to create the shapes, and cut them from the remains of A Little Sparkle paper. I cut the same shapes a little larger from Cinnamon Stick Bazzill to frame the paper. I cut a 6.5" x 7" piece from Holiday Traditions, and a 3" x 9" piece of Magical Season. Both these pieces were mounted on more of the Cinnamon Bazzill, I gutted some bazzill from the largest piece, to use as a mount for the photo.  

All these mounted papers and the photo were arranged on the Kraft Bazzill witout sticking down. I arranged two pieces of burlap in place on the layout. I backed the dry wreath with another piece of Holiday Traditions paper. These were all glued down. 

I had some old alpha stickers that were the wrong colour for this layout, but I stuck the numbers '2024' into the centre of the wreath and drew around them with marker pen. I removed the stickers, and painted some watered down Barn Door Distress Ink between the pen lines. I added a December sticker from my stash.

From the remains of the Tag Elements sheet, I selected a tag and mounted it onto the layout with 3D foam pads. I tucked two decorative pins through the hole. I cut the top of another tag, and tucked this under the photo, I added two more pins as before. 

My title was cut using the Cricut, using Cinnamon Stick and Grenadine Bazzill, I layered these up to create a shadow. 

Finally, I embellished the layout with Simple Stories Vintage Christmas Lodge Farm Foam Stickers. 

That's all from the December kit. I'll be back with a new wintery kit for January in a few weeks' time.
Thanks for looking,
Lynn x

Spreading Joy

 

Hi It's Lisa here to spread JOY to you today.

Merry Christmas. I hope you are enjoying all the festivities right now. 

I recently took a break from December journaling to just create a regular page in my journal.

I needed a break from all the Christmassy stuff, but I still had so much of this fun Simple Stories collection - Say Cheese Classic Mouse Christmas here.

So I decided to use it on a non Christmassy page.

If you'd like to see a video of me creating this, the video is here.

I ended up creating a layered pocket page in my Disney journal.

There were a few Christmas bits bit I was able to cover them up with some of the stickers from this sheet here. 

And I just loved the JOY sticker so much so added that too.

It was sticking behind on the photo so I dusted the back of the sticker off that was above the page with a little flour and that did the trick.

I was so happy with how this turned out : )

I also created 2 large bowed paper page clips by tying fabric and tying into bows on a large paper clip and using a hot glue gun to stick in place.

I also glued the 'merriest' stick to one of the clips. So fun!

Next I took this sheet here with all the tags.

I cut some out and stuck them back to back so only the non Christmassy designs could be seen.

 

I added a little pocket and popped in a couple of the tags.

They work so well. I also added a little fabric to those.

I also added some of these little word flags from Pretty Little Studio.

I'm so happy with this page. It really did give me so much joy creating it.

Happy New Year to you all.

love

Lisa xx