Wonder - Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Believe Collection

 Hi everyone, it’s Rebecca here, sharing my final layout and blog post of 2025!

As we gear up for Christmas in our house, one of our favourite traditions is taking part in the school PTA photoshoot. That means I have some lovely family photos to scrapbook this month — and none of them are selfies, which is always a bonus!

For this layout, I’ve been working with the Simple Vintage Believe collection from Simple Stories. You can find the full collection in the shop here.

For the page design, I selected two landscape photos. This immediately reminded me of a layout I created some time ago that I absolutely loved. Once that idea popped into my head, I couldn’t let it go, so I decided to scraplift my own work. I do this often when I’m in the mood to create but unsure where to start — revisiting past layouts is a great way to spark inspiration.

I began by cutting a couple of strips from patterned papers to act as an anchor for the page. These were adhered vertically down the centre of a sheet of Premium White Cardstock, with the photos positioned centrally on either side of the strips. From there, I added cascading die-cut stars in varying sizes from top to bottom. Using metal dies to create shapes is a great way to showcase some of the busier papers in a collection. I mixed both patterned and more solid designs to keep the stars visually balanced.

Next came the embellishing — the fun part! (Although, let’s be honest, it’s all fun.) I especially love this stage, as adding those tiny details really brings the page together. I reached for the Floral Bits and Pieces and Element Stickers, arranging them into two main clusters in the centre of the page. A sweet little fawn takes pride of place in the centre, surrounded by florals and leaves that fill the natural gaps left by the photos.

For the title, I used another Element Sticker, placing it over the leafy sprigs and popping it up on foam pads to add a little dimension.

To finish the layout, I added some simple stamping. I used the Pine Holidays Stamps and Die set by 49 and Market, choosing one of the pine leaf designs and my favourite Jet Black StazOn Ink Pad. This helped subtly extend the floral and leafy clusters and added just a touch more detail.

Thank you so much for reading — this is me signing off for 2025.

Thank you for following along and supporting my creative journey for another year. I hope you all have a wonderful and restful Christmas, and I’ll see you for more scrappy adventures in 2026!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Rebecca xx
@preciouspagespapercraft

Fabulous Fall Vibes - Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Autumn Breeze Collection

Hi everyone,

It’s Rebecca here on the blog today! I’m feeling a bit torn about September… On one hand, I’m excited for autumn and all its beautiful colours. But on the other, I’m really sad to see summer go! One thing that always helps ease the transition is seeing the gorgeous new autumn collections arriving in the shop—and this month, I’ve been working with Simple Stories “Simple Vintage Autumn Breeze.” You can find the full collection in the shop here. I always look forward to the Simple Vintage lines as we head into autumn, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint!

 

To start my layout, I tore strips from two different patterned papers. I chose a subtle, neutral paper for the top layer, backed with a more colourful one for contrast. Down the left-hand side of the page, I arranged a cascade of Polaroid-style frames, which I fussy-cut from the Crisp Days patterned paper.

I hollowed out the centre of one frame and backed it with my photo, adding foam behind it for dimension. Placing it centrally among the other frames helped it stand out. I also tucked a larger piece of ephemera from the Ephemera pack behind the framed photo to add some extra detail.

 

For my title, I chose the word ‘Fabulous’ from the Foam Stickers, and placed it to the right of my photo—raised up on foam pads for added depth. Underneath, I added a smaller foam sticker to extend the title. I love combining fonts like this—it adds visual interest and a playful feel to the page.

With the larger elements in place, I started embellishing. I fussy-cut some tags from the Tag Elements paper, punched metal eyelets through each, and arranged them around the layout for extra texture and charm.

 

Next, I turned to the Floral Bits & Pieces. I selected a few floral clusters and layered them around the layout, including a sticker from the Elements Stickers to complete the cluster in the top-right corner.

At this point, I needed to decide on a background. I’d been building everything on Premium White Cardstock, but it felt a bit too stark—it just wasn’t making the elements pop. The great thing about adhering your layout pieces together first is that you can lift them off and try different backgrounds underneath!

After testing several patterned papers, I fell in love with the bold orange Journal Elements paper (B side). It really brought out all the other colours on the page. It was a bit of a daring choice for me, but I’m so glad I went for it!

To finish off the layout, I added a couple of tabs from the Bits & Pieces and some mini heart foam stickers. I love how these tiny, last-minute touches pull everything together without overwhelming the page.

Thanks so much for reading—I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing how this layout came together. I’ll be back later this month to share my second layout using this stunning collection.

Take care, 
Rebecca xx

@preciouspagespapercraft

Big Moments - Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Flower Shoppe Collection

Hi everyone,

It’s Rebecca here, and today I’m excited to share my second layout of the month using the gorgeous Simple Vintage Flower Shoppe collection from Simple Stories. With the first signs of Spring finally upon us, it feels like the perfect time to showcase this beautiful collection. You can find it in the shop here.

For this layout, I was drawn to the Polaroid frames from the ‘Captured’ patterned paper. I decided to fussy cut a few in a variety of colours and arranged them in a vertical design, slightly overlapping, on a sheet of Premium White Cardstock. To extend the design horizontally, I added the scalloped border sticker from the Cardstock Stickers and a similar one from the Ephemera pack, positioning them across the Polaroid frames.

The space in the centre of the frames was the perfect spot for my photo, so I mounted it using a patterned paper from the 6x8 Paper Pad. To add extra detail, I tucked a few elements from the Ephemera pack behind the photo for more texture and dimension.

As someone who absolutely loves viewfinders, I was thrilled to find a few on the papers in this collection. I fussy cut one from the corner of the ‘Treasure’ paper and placed it to the left of my photo, which helped add visual interest to that side of the layout. Since I planned to position my title on the right, the viewfinder was the perfect touch to balance the overall design.

For the title, I chose an element from the Bits & Pieces pack. After raising it up with foam pads for dimension, I placed it beneath my photo.

To further enhance the page, I added a few clusters of florals from the Floral Bits & Pieces and fussy cut some butterflies from the ‘Dreamer’ patterned paper. Fussy cutting is such a fantastic way to stretch a collection and create additional embellishments!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my layouts this month. I have a couple more to share, so be sure to keep an eye out for those! This collection is selling quickly, so don’t miss your chance to grab it in the shop before it's gone!

Take care,

Rebecca xx
@preciouspagespapercraft

Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Yuletide - Seasons Greetings Tag Book

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Papermaze blog.

It's Claire here with you today, and for this blog post, I have something slightly different.

In every Simple Stories collection, there's usually a sheet of tags, and the Simple Vintage Yuletide collection is no exception.  They are exquisite!! 

I was so taken with them, that this month I wanted to make a feature of them and so decided to make a tag book.

I typically have lots of photos over the festive season, but not all of them warrant a full 12x12 scrapbook page. So, I decided to make this tag book to capture some of the smaller, more intimate moments that all help to build that wonderful Christmas spirit during the holiday season.

Selecting several tags from the Tag Elements paper, I made sure to include some blank space for journaling, and some more graphical tags, as well as some that I could add extra embellishments to. As it's a festive project, I've added gold and red eyelets from my stash to each tag.

For my front cover, I kept it fairly simple. opting for one of the sentiments from the Bits & Pieces pack, offset against some small gold Nuvo Drops to add that extra touch of festive magic and sparkle. 

On the reverse, I added a small photo and a sentiment from the Foam Stickers and a small star from the Sentiment Bits & Pieces.

Next, I added pockets to two tags, using a small piece of the 2x2/4x4 Elements Paper.

This was really easy to do, adhering each piece in place with strong red line tape along each outer edge. These pockets are great for holding little journaling notes, photos or gift messages from the big day. Again I embellished with some Foam Stickers and Bits & Pieces, adding red Nuvo Drops around the edge of each pocket to bring in an extra pop of colour.

The Joy and Ticket inserts are from the Bits & Pieces and Sentiments Bits & Pieces packs.

I was enjoying the interactive elements of these tags, so after making the pockets, I added a small flap to the next, enabling it to open like a book by adhering in place with red line tape. I created the flap with a strip of paper from the 4x6 Elements paper, embellishing with a fussy cut Santa from the 2x2/4x4 Elements paper and Yuletide Bits & Pieces.

Inside, you can slot extra photographs, held in place by the edge of the striped paper that folds around the tag.

To make sure I had space for journaling, I chose two plain tags, adding just a few Nuvo Drops to create a framed border and banners from the Bits & Pieces and Sentiment Bits & Pieces packs.

On the back of the 25 tag, I created a feature photo from the big day itself - tracing around the tag and adhering my photo to it - trimming the edge to make sure it fit exactly to the tag.

A few Foam Stickers was all that was needed to finish this tag as I wanted the photo to shine.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog post and it's given you some extra inspiration for how you may document those precious little moments and smaller stories that make up the joy of the season.

I'll be back later this month with some more projects with this stunning collection. In the meantime you can check it out in full here.

Until then, happy scrapping!

Claire x

@scrappysoulmate

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