Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Sand & Sea - Dunwich

Something a little different from me for August, because Papermaze is taking a break from the usual monthly kit.  I have chosen to create my design team layouts with products from The Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Sand and Sea collection. 

On Wednesday 29^th July 2026, we spent a leisurely morning on the beach at Dunwich on the east coast. Little did we know that the surrounding heathland would catch fire later the same day.

A statement by the National Trust:
“On 29 July, a wildfire started, which later spread onto Dunwich Heath and the entire landscape was engulfed in flames. A place loved for its sweeping purple heather and rare wildlife has been left scarred almost beyond recognition.

The devastation is heart breaking.

Precious habitat is damaged and vulnerable; an area estimated to be the size of 210 football pitches has been affected. As one of the UK's most important coastal heathland landscapes, it is home to nightjars, Dartford warblers, adders, common lizards and rare heathland insects.”

I started by cutting the barcode strip from the Beach Life paper. Then I laid a 2" band of burlap across the middle of the layout.

From the Tag Elements paper, I selected four tags and cut them out. I chose tags in natural colours to complement the background paper. The tags were inked with Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I punched a hole in the top of each tag, applied an eyelet and arranged them across the layout, with the plain sides up. I attached the tags with 3D Foam pads. I threaded some thick Jute twine through the tags, catching it down with some wet glue in placed between the tags.

I trimmed three small photos and placed them evenly and ventrally across the tags, leaving a gap at each end. The gap on the right was filled with journalling. On the right I added an element from the Cardstock Sticker - Icons sheet.

I trimmed the phrase 'Salty Kisses + sandy Toes' from another tag on the Tag Elements sheet. These were inked and attached with more 3D pads to the bottom right of the layout. I attached a seahorse charm under the last word. 

I cut a title and a shadow using the Cricut, I used Seaside Smiles paper for the top layer, and Great Escape paper for the shadow layer.

The 'Enjoy the moment' sentiment across the top of the photos is from the Journal Bits pack.

That's all for today, I'll be back with more from this collection soon, 
Thanks for looking
Lynn x

June Papermaze Kit - Part 1

Lynn here today, to introduce you to the colourful June Papermaze Kit.  This month's kit is packed with a beautiful colour collection of yellows, pinks, oranges and fawn. Patterned papers, Bazzill card stock and a selection of embellishments. 

Here are the first two layouts I made with this lovely kit.

Before looking at how the layouts were made, here is what you will find in the kit.

Patterned Papers - 
49 and Market - Vicki Boutin Artful Moments - Starters Paper #7
Carta Bella - Silly Goose - Best of the Best Bunches
Graphic 45 - Scenic Route - Lemon Yellow Pattern & Solid
Graphic 45 - Always & Forever - Perfect Pink Pattern & Solid & Timeless Floral
Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Lavender Fields - Almond

Photo below shows both sides of the paper sheets

Embellishments - Rosie's Studio - Heartfelt - glitter foam sentiments, Prima - Among the Wild Flowers - Flowers and Tickets, Cocoa Vanilla - Bloom & Grow - Puffy Heart, Paper Favourites - peony diecuts, Pinkfresh Studio - Gems - clear with gold dust, Ivory Ribbon. 

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Bazzill White, Yukon Gold (included in kit), Chiffon, Tutu Pink, Stream and Quick Sand (in Extras pack).

Afternoon Tea - In 2014 my Mum turned 80 and we took her to The Ritz for afternoon Tea, this photo shows me with my daughter at the famous venue.
 

For this layout I chose the sheet of Starters Paper #7 paper, and arranged it with the fawn band across the top of the page. I glued the lace from the kit across the base of this area. 
I mounted my photo onto some white card and positioned it to the right side. 

I picked three tags from a sheet of Starters Paper 8 from my own stash. I inked the edges with Distress Inks to match the colour of each tag. With a hole punched in the top I threaded some yellow twine through each hole and tied it in a bow.

I finished the tags off with a glittery brad through each hole. I trimmed one tag down, and tucked it into the top of the photo. The other two tags were applied to the side of the photo at an angle, so I could add my journalling. 

Using my Cricut and an Art Nouveau font, I cut the two layers of the title, using Bazzill card stock from the kit (Chiffon and Stream). This was placed to the top left of the layout.

I embellished the page with several Artful Moments Laser Cut Elements. Choosing a rosette, three tiny tags, two leaf fronds and several flowers. Some of these were raised with 3D foam pads to create dimension.

A Very Hungry Caterpillar Thank You - My daughter and I helped my granddaughter make thank you cards after her birthday recently. As she has several gifts and cards featuring the popular caterpillar, this was the theme we chose.

For the background of this layout, I used the Lavender Fields - Almond paper. My photos were trimmed to 6 x 6 cm. I selected two more sheets of the patterned papers (Best of the Best Bunches & Perfect Pink Pattern & Solid). With both these papers I cut 4 squares (also 6 x 6 cm). I arranged these down the left side of the layout, using both sides of both the papers, with the photos on top. 

I used a fine black marker pen to draw lines around the edges of the small squares, and the whole layout. I selected three bows from the Artful Moments Laser Cut Elements pack and added these to the photo side of the layout. 

I selected one of the caterpillars we made, and placed this to the bottom right of the photos. For the caterpillars we used some green paper to cut leaf shapes, and a hole punch to make munch holes in the leaf, Florence drew on the leaves with her pens. We added a 'Thank you' stamp, and then she had fun sticking a large and four small pom-poms onto the leaf to make the caterpillar. Adult help for adding the googly eyes, finished off the critter. 

For the title I used some glittery Thickers and some puffy alphabet stickers from my stash. 

Finally, I added my journalling to the patterned papers.

That's all for today, more from this kit soon.
Thanks for looking.
Lynn x

May Papermaze Kit - Part 1

Hello, It's Lynn here today with the May Papermaze kit (a little later than usual due to holidays). The kit this month is full of brightly coloured patterned papers and cardstock - great fun! I have used mine to make four layouts of my children's activities back in the 1990's. The photo below shows the first two of these layouts.

Before looking at how the layouts were made, here is what you will find in the kit.

Patterned Papers:
49 and Market - Vicki Boutin - Artful Moments - Starters Paper #2 & #9
Simple Stories - Colour Me Happy - Okie Dokie & The Details
Simple Stories - Say Cheese Happiest Place - Adventure
Simple Stories - Take Note - My Favourite Things

The image below, shows both sides of the patterned papers.

Embellishments:
Doodlebug doilies - cupcake & mint, Pretty Little Studio - sunkissed word titles, Pebbles - Sun & Fun puffy dots, Jen Hadfield – Reaching Out – Rainbow Clip, P13 chipboard stars, Vicki Bouton – Bold & Bright puffy stickers, Rosie's Studio – Jubilee die cut sentiments, Studio Light Essentials washi tape

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Raven, African Daisy (included in kit), Ocean Oasis, Bazzill White, Berry Sensation & Intense Kiwi (extra pack).

Crazy Cozy Coupe - The children on their 3rd birthday, with the gift of a Little Tikes Cosy Coupe. 

For this layout I chose the Starters Paper #2, and keeping the barcode strip at the bottom of the page, I trimmed the same side strip from the top of the paper instead - so I still have a 12" x 12" piece of paper.

I printed five small photos of the event, and arranged these across the base of the page - leaving room to tuck items under the photos in places. I purchased an extra sheet of paper from the same collection - Starters Paper #8, this one is made up of 24 colourful tags, I cut out nine tags in colours to match the paint strips on the background paper. I inked the edges in Black Soot Distress Ink, and added a Pebbles - Sun & Fun puffy dot to each tag (from the kit).

The tags were arranged across the layout above the photos, in the same colour order as the paper beneath. I added journalling, the Vicki Bouton Bold & Bright puffy stickers, and Rosie's Studio – Jubilee die cut sentiments (both included in the kit). 

With my much loved, Spellbinders Dies Say Cheese Classic Mouse - Classic Mouse Alphabet set, I cut the title and the #3 from Raven Bazzill, and some scraps of glossy photo paper. These were layered up to make shiny letters with black shadows. Finally, I outlined the letters, tags and stickers with a black marker pen. 

Artists at Work - The children playing with paint, paper and easels in the garden.

I built the background of this layout, using Bazzill Basics Cardstock in Raven and Bazzill White. I gutted the white so I had a 1" deep 12"x 12" frame and a piece 10" x 10", I trimmed the black to 11" x 11" and gutted it to make another 1" frame. These were then built up to create the background as seen in the photos. 

I mounted two landscape photos 4.5" x 3.5" onto a piece of white card, trimmed to make a very narrow border. This was then mounted onto the Ocean Oasis Bazzill, and then again onto a piece of  The Details paper. This was placed to the left side of the layout.

I used the Starters Paper #9 in several different ways, first of all I cut eight banners from the rays of colours. These were roughly 3.5" long and as wide as printed. I inked the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink and arranged them in rainbow colour order to the right side of the photos. 

The other way I used the paper, was to stamp on, to make the colour palates and brushes etc. 
I used Clear Stamps by Eileen Hull Swatch Cards and stamped the images on the white grid part of the paper. I cut these out and then stamped onto the coloured part of the paper to produce the paint colours. These were cut out and placed over the corresponding areas on the swatch cards. I also stamped the brush tips onto the coloured areas, and added them to the brushes. 

I used some of the washi tape from the kit and chose the word ' Creativity' and ran this between the photos and the coloured banners. Then I arranged all the stamped images I made. 

Finally, I used scraps of  Raven Bazzill, and die cut letters and numbers for the date and title. These were positioned over the coloured banners.

That's all for today, back with more from this kit soon.
Thanks for looking.
Lynn x

April Papermaze Kit - Part 1

Lynn here today, sharing the layouts I have created using the beautiful April Papermaze Kit.  The kit is full of pretty purple, lilac and grey papers. There is also a selection of embellishments and Bazzill cardstock to compliment the papers.

Here are the first two of my layouts, but first let's see what you will find in the kit:

Uniquely Creative - Floral Archives collection - Pretty Pollinators
Uniquely Creative - Ultra Violet Delight collection - Layers in Lilac
Uniquely Creative - Bohemian Escape collection - Lazy Afternoon
49 and Market - Plume & Petal collection - Joy & Bliss
Mintay Papers - Man Cave collection - #5

The photo below shows both sides of the papers:

Embellishments: Laser Cut Wildflowers, Foam Stickers Dreamer, Little Birdie Butterfly, Little Birdie Flowers, Simple & Basic Dots, P13 Word Stickers & Ribbon

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Whirlpool, Touch of Pink (included in Kit), Stonewash, Velvet, Date Swirl & Heidi.

The Ritz - My sister and her husband on a family trip to The Ritz to celebrate Mum's 80th Birthday.

To make this layout work, I used a sheet of scrap 12" x 12" paper, on which to build my background. I trimmed the Lazy Afternoon paper to 12" x 8" and placed this across the centre of the scrap paper. Then I tore two pieces from the Layers in Lilac paper, (12" x 3" across the top and 12" x 4"vfor the bottom). I inked the edges and curled back the torn edges. 

I placed the photo in the centre without sticking the very edges, so I could tuck embellishments under later. 

I decorated the layout, using some of the 49 and Market - Plume and Petal Laser Cut Wildflowers from the kit, and more from my own Elements from the same collection. This included the grand piano, and trellis. 

For the title I used an Art Deco font and cut the three layers using the Cricut. I chose some metallic gold card together with the Velvet & Heidi Bazzill from the kit. 

I also used some gold letter stickers from my stash, and some of the P13 Word Stickers from the kit.

The Wedding of Douglas and Dorothy - This time I made a heritage layout using a photo found on ancestry of a 1930s wedding. The couple are ancestors of my mother and details will be on my blog).

The base for this layout is the Heidi Bazzill from the kit. I added distressed strips of Joy paper.
I cut the paper to 11.5" x 1.75", distressed the edges and arranged them across the Bazzill. 

I arranged the photo and all the embellishments, before gluing anything in place.

I made a few tags, cutting them with the Tim Holtz - Sizzix Framelits - Tag Collection die set. I tied a selection of purple and lilac DMC embroidery threads and some gold metallic thread, through the holes in the tags. The papers were scraps from the first layout, featured above.

I used several pieces from the 49 and Market - Plume and Petal Laser Cut Elements pack, including the large open circle. I backed the circle with some white card and added part of my title. The title was cut from Velvet Bazzill and three sets of dies from Tonic Studios - Windsor Simple Type - Upper case, Lower case and Numbers. The names were placed on the circle and it was further embellished with more of the laser cut elements. This was then attached to two of the tags and a heart shaped doily. 

I placed the photo with two small tags peeping from the top, adding the die-cut date, another heart shaped doily and some laser cut feathers.

I stuck all the elements into place, and added the first part of the title to the top left of the page. 

I found some purple and lilac gems and pearls in my stash and scattered these about on the tags. Finally, I used a few P13 Word Stickers from the kit.

That's all for today, I will be back with two more layouts from this kit soon. 
Thanks for looking.
Lynn x