Simple Stories - True Colors - All About Me

Hi everyone,

Claire with you today, sharing my second layout with the True Colors collection from Simple Stories. You can find it in the shop here. 

I really love the bold colours in this collection, and today have quite a simple but striking layout to share with you.

To start, I wanted to create a subtle background to my smooth white cardstock that came in the Matchmaker Pack. I pulled out the Little Getaways Stencil from Vicki Boutin's Where to Next collection - I had treated myself to these for Christmas. Using a dry brush I added some Distress Oxide in Black Soot.  I brushed very lightly, slowly building the colour.  Most of this will be covered, but you see a small hint of the stencilling as the base layer which helps create depth on the page.

I really love the Chipboard Frames in this collection - they're so fun and have great designs that make creating easy. I opted for this square frame, and cut two squares of the Can't Get Enough patterned paper into 4" squares - the same size as the frame.

I layered these on top of each other, slightly offset and raised on foam to give extra separation. To help the patterned papers stand out, I added faux stitching with black pen around the edges.

Cutting a thin strip of pink cardstock from the Matchmaker pack, I used a punch to create a scalloped edge and ran this under the photo frame. I used this to house my title, created using the Foam Stickers.

On opposite corners of the frame, I created floral clusters, using the Floral Bits & Pieces. 

I curled the edges of the florals to create movement, and adhered some on foam and some flat for layered dimension.

To the bottom cluster, I also added a small phrase sticker from the Cardstock Sticker sheet.

To the right of the frame, I added a tag from the Tag Elements paper, attaching a eyelet and twine from my stash.

As a final fun touch, I stuck a clip from the cardstock stickers to the edge of the frame. I really like the extra pop of yellow this brings and think it finishes the page really nicely.

I can't recommend this collection highly enough. It's been so much fun to create with and I'm sure it won't be in stock for too long, so get your hands on it here.

See you next month.

Claire xx

@scrappysoulmate

Simple Stories - True Colors - Smile!

Hi everyone,

Happy February! This month, I'm lucky enough to be creating with the stunning True Colors collection from Simple Stories, and its a goodie!! 

With a beautiful range of bright and cheerful colours, it really lifts your spirits after a cold, wet winter.

As scrapbookers, we take a lot of photos, right? Well this collection is for you! It has lots of camera and film elements which I was immediately drawn to, and it totally inspired me to create this layout.

I started, as usual, with a piece of Premium White Cardstock. Using a selection of the patterned papers:

• Take the Photo
• Life in Color
• Can't Get Enough
• Happy to Report

I cut 1" strips, and rolled the ends around a pencil so that it resembled an old style film strip that you used to use in a camera.

I staggered these down the page at different lengths, distressed the edges and adhered to the page with foam.

Next, I took that absolutely fabulous Chipboard Frame - isn't it awesome! Because the collection is so colourful, I printed my photo in black and white. I mounted it into the frame and worked out where it was going to sit on my page.

Before adhering it, I took a polka dot stencil from my stash and added some black stencilling diagonally on either side of the paper strips. The black helps to ground the colours and echos my black and white photograph.

Once the stencilling was done and the frame had been adhered to the page with foam, it was time to embellish.

I created three floral clusters using flowers from the Floral Bits & Pieces. I layered some under the frame and some on top to create dimension.

Alongside the florals, I added some more camera elements to fit the theme of my photo using the Cardstock Stickers. 

For my title, I used the Smile! Foam Stickers. The extra black element helps the page to pop. 

I nestled this amongst the floral ephemera and added an extra film roll sticker from the Cardstock Stickers. I really love these little extra details. They're so fun to create with.

As a final touch, I added a few phrase stickers - I couldn't resist these as they matched my photo perfectly and, as a scrapbooker, they're definitely phrases you'll hear in my house often!! lol!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this layout come together. It really was an absolute joy to create. You can check out the entire collection in the shop here. Happy Shopping! 

See you soon with another layout.

Claire xx

@scrappysoulmate