Winter Wishes - Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Fresh Snow Collection

Hi everyone,

It’s Rebecca here, and I’m excited to share my first layout of 2025 with you today! This month, I’m working with the beautiful Simple Vintage Fresh Snow collection from Simple Stories. From the rich colours to the delicate patterns, I’m absolutely in love with everything about it. You can find the full collection in the shop here.

I’m a huge fan of woodgrain papers, and this collection includes a stunning grey woodgrain design with soft foliage accents in the corners. Naturally, it was the first paper I reached for. I cut a 6-inch wide strip, making sure to include some of the foliage at both the top and bottom. I wanted the paper to be centred on the layout but didn’t want it to extend from top to bottom. Trimming either end would have meant losing the beautiful foliage, so I decided to cut out a section from the middle and then reassemble the two pieces with tape on the back. I knew I could hide the seam with careful embellishment placement. With this done, I distressed all the edges to introduce some texture.

To complement the dark navy in my photo, I chose a darker patterned paper and tore a section to add some contrast to the lighter woodgrain. The mix of darker and lighter tones really made the page pop.

Next, I placed my 3x4-inch photo in the centre of the layout, but something about the sharp edges didn’t feel quite right. I wondered if a circular photo would balance the design better. Noticing a lot of brown tones in the embellishments, I decided to create a frame for the photo using a brown patterned paper.

Using a set of metal nesting dies, I die-cut three circles from a strip of patterned paper, making sure they were perfectly aligned. Rather than using the circles themselves, I opted to keep the negative space, which would typically be discarded. This leftover piece became the perfect frame for my photo. I adhered the photo behind the middle circle and trimmed the edge circles to leave them open. Then, I angled this strip across the layout for added interest.

With my papers and photo in place, it was time to embellish. I selected a few of my favourite pieces, including florals from the Floral Bits and Pieces and a sweet birdhouse from the Cardstock Stickers. I raised everything on foam pads to add dimension and arranged them in two clusters around the photo.

To finish, I added some Rub-Ons peeking out from behind the floral clusters. The Simple Stories rub-ons are so easy to apply and give a lovely texture to the page. I completed the layout with a couple of small hearts from the cardstock stickers.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope this layout inspires you. The Simple Vintage Fresh Snow collection is truly gorgeous, and I can’t wait to see the beautiful creations you make with it.

Take care,
Rebecca x 
@preciouspagespapercraft