Hi Everyone!
It's Claire here and today I'm sharing a layout with you using the Simple Stories Simple Vintage Great Escape collection. This is an older collection that was released last year, but somehow I completely missed it when it came out! I am thrilled I get the opportunity to play with it now because I think it has to be one of my all time favourites!
The entire collection is just beautiful - and very fitting for all the walks we're all taking now we are back in lockdown again.
My first layout captures a walk in some woods by our house a few years back. The walk was quite hilly so we stopped to sit on a fallen tree for a break and my dog looked as if she was smiling with a huge grin on her face - perfect scrapbooking photo!!
This collection has taken me on a real 'journey' - no pun intended! It's really made me think a lot about the type of layouts I want to make and i've found i'm really enjoying white space. So - it won't surprise you to see I started the layout with a piece of White Premium Cardstock. I like the crisp fresh feel it gives and seems to really suit this collection.
Next, I cut a large circle from the B side of the Lets Explore paper. It has a lovely, almost mixed media effect about it, with a golden coloured pattern that fades to white, and some stamped effect ferns in a grey colour towards the top.
I positioned it centrally and poked holes all the way around it, adding hand stitching in white.
Within this collection are some fabulous chipboard frames from the Layered Frames Pack - of all different shapes, sizes and clusters - giving you lots of options for framing photos, journaling or layering. I used one of the smaller frame clusters to mount my photograph and I added a 'Stay Wild' sentiment which I cut from the 2x2 Elements Paper.
Just above and to the left of my photos, I decided to add a woodland mushroom cutfile from Peartree Cutfiles and backed it with the Nature Lover paper, using both the A and B sides - Now I must confess, i'm a little bit obsessed with this paper! Those different varieties of mushrooms on the A side are just gorgeous and they capture the feel of the woods brilliantly!
To help them stand out, I drew an outline with black pen around the cutfile and added some Nuvo Drops in Moroccan Red to the spots - it's the perfect colour match to the red of the mushrooms.
One of the things I love most about this collection are the papers - and the unbelievable amount of fussy cutting opportunities they provide! I've had a field day with these and they've added real interest to the page. First, of course, I cut some extra mushrooms from the Nature Lover paper and positioned these at the bottom of my cutfile. Then, I added three clusters of fussy cut fern leaves and cut a few different mushrooms from the 100% Natural paper.
From this paper I also cut a butterfly and some insects which I absolutely love! They look so at home on the page!
To balance the layout and give an anchor to the bottom of the page, I used a sticker from the Banner Sticker sheet. These are AWESOME! I've never seen a sticker sheet like this before but they have so many different elements, all built up into a single sticker which is super easy to use.
I lay it across the bottom of the page so that it looks like my frame is resting on it. It helps draw the eye across the page a bit more too. I also added an 'Adventure' sticker to the top of the smaller frame for a bit of extra interest.
Finally, I added a title, following the curve of the base layer and that was it!
I hope you've enjoyed this layout - I think it is one of my favourites and i'm really looking to sharing another layout with you using this collection later this month.
Until then, take care.
Claire xx
