Jeaunes

FROSTED DESIGNS MAY BLOG HOP WINNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Wow what a huge success the May Blog Hop was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait for the next two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only thing left to do is to announce the winners.....................

So without further ado, the second place winner, which wins the Graphic45 12x12 papers in their Renaissance Collection is ...................

Anne from the United States

And the grand prize winner, who wins a $30 Chipboard Pack from Molossi is ...................

Ruth from Papua New Guinea

I also have some Candy to give away....................................... and this goes to..........................

Ada from South Africa

Congratulations ladies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know you will enjoy your prizes and looking forward to seeing what you created with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anne and Ruth, you have to contact Barb at frosteddesigns@ymail.com to claim your prize. Ada, please contact me at jeaunesv@gmail.com or through Facebook to claim your candy :-)

Once again, thank you to ALL the ladies who participated and a HUGE thank you to our wonderful blog hosts!!!!!!!!!! Without you things like this would not be possible!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep an eye out for the June Blog hop, at the end of the month!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUNE 06, 2013

Life Documented with Pocket Pages

Happy Friday Simple Stories friends! It's Nichol here today and I'm excited to be sharing my first Life Documented Project here on the blog showcasing the Pocket Pages!

I, like so many of you, am addicted to the idea and concept of recording my life in a weekly format with the ease of use and functionality of Pocket Pages. I find that by recording all those little bits and pieces of daily life I am recording a clearer picture of our family's daily life and it gives me a great deal of satisfaction to flip through and see our memories, our history and our life. Documented.

With the wide range of styles of Pocket Pages available from Simple Stories, there is sure to a design that fits whatever style of page you want to create!

Now, how about a couple of my most recent two-page spreads featuring Pocket Pages?

My page design(s) are always dictated by what photos I'm going to use and when creating these weekly layouts I find it helpful to start with a list of the photos/journaling I want to include first. Then I pick the Pocket Pagesthat will best fit those photos and journaling and from there I pick out the paper, embellishments and extras that really make the pages "pop"! Sometimes my pages are simple, sometimes more detailed. For me, it's really all about how I'm feeling at that moment. I don't look at it like a chore but more like an art project or art journal. It can be a great place to try out a new technique or to use that stamp set that you've had forever and never got around to inking up. I also tend to mix all my Simple Stories product up and use them all together in my Life Documented page spreads. Okay, I mix all my product up on all my scrapbooking projects but that's just me!

Life Documented | Week Twenty-Two 2013

One of the things that helps me the most when beginning a weekly layout spread is to break down the page creation into simple steps. I print my photos first (or most of them) and lay them out on the Pocket Page where I intend for them to go. Then, I pick 1 or 2 colors to work with for that week's spread. By limiting the color choices I am able to focus on choosing coordinating product/colors to design a cohesive page that flows nicely from the left side to the right.

When working with lots of "pre-made" product, I like to add in personal touches to customize my pages to my personal style. I use lots of stamping and die-cutting (my 2 favorite techniques) to make my pages "me".

One of my favorite tips for adding dimension without bulk is to add some Glossy Accents to the Simple Stories stickers (I did this to all the heart stickers on this spread). It gives them that great glossy raised look without the bulk!

My other favorite tip is to "replace" the printed polaroid images on the papers in the Sn@P! Life Collection with your own photos or journaling. It's easy and fun to do!

Life Documented | Week Twenty-One 2013

I did something a little different for this spread in that I used a bit more color and I incorporated more custom embellishments. Those custom embellishments included lots of stamping which I layered and dressed up with Simple Stories stickers and also die cut embellishments that I created with the Silhouette Cameo and Simple Stories Patterned Papers!

I kept each of the pockets pretty monochromatic which is a really fun way to use up supplies that you may not have enough for an entire spread!

I created almost all my own 4x6, 4x4 and 3x4 inserts with Simple Stories patterned papers from the Sn@p! Life Collection, I Heart Summer Collection and 24seven Collection.

I die cut the title above from scraps of 6x6 patterned paper and printed my dates on one of the Sn@p! Life Stickers.

I was able to create my own faux chipboard slide frames by die cutting the frames from Simple Stories patterned paper first, then an additional 4 frames from kraft cardstock and layering them all together. The result is a dimensional perfectly coordinating frame! Adding additional stamping gives it that finished look.

I even used the "notebook paper" from one of the Sn@p! Life 6x6 Paper Pads to print my journaling on and inlcude on some of the inserts. I love combining custom embellishments with pre-made ones. :)

I'm using the Green Sn@p! Leather 12x12 Album for my 2013 Life Documented Layouts. I love the rich, vibrant colors of the Sn@p! Albums , the beautiful stitching, bookplates on the spines and reinforced corners. These are truly gorgeous albums to showcase and protect your precious memories.

6a0120a6a1e222970c017c356a5f38970b-500wi

I used the Sn@p! 12x12 Pocket Pages Design 3 (4x6 | 3x4) and Design 10 (4x4 | 3x4) for my pages.

6a0120a6a1e222970c017d3f9a66b7970c-500wi

6a0120a6a1e222970c017ee70ee2c4970d-500wi

That Design 10 Pocket Page with the 4x4 and 3x4 pockets is a new favorite. I am a sucker for smaller pockets. The more the better and that square size just speaks to this 12x12 scrapper's heart! ;)

Additional Life Documented Products Used:

Sn@p! Snapshots Stamps
Sn@p! Icons Stickers
Sn@p! Labels Stickers
Sn@p! Typeset Stickers
Sn@p! Cards 3x4 Life
Sn@p! Cards 3x4 Fill in the Blanks
Sn@p! Cards 4x6 Fill in the Blanks
Sn@p! Life Collection Kit
Sn@p! Life Basics 6x6 Paper Pad
Sn@p! Color Vive 6x6 Paper Pad
I Heart Summer Collection Kit
I Heart Summer 6x6 Paper Pad
I Heart Summer Sn@p! Cuts
24seven Collection Kit
24seven 6x6 Paper Pad

I hope that this has inspired you to document your life using the wide array of Simple Stories Pocket Pages!

Thanks for hanging out with me today. We'll catch you next time!

JUNE 05, 2013

Life Documented with I {Heart} Summer

Hello all you Simple Stories fans!!

It's Kelly here today to share with you my very first Life Documented project using the new SN@P! Pocket Pages and gorgeous I {Heart} Summer line!

First, thank you so much for having me! I'm so thrilled to be a new part of the Simple Stories team and am beyond excited to be working with these stunning products. When Layle first approached me about working on the Life Documented team, I only had one concern - would I be able to incorporate the Life Documented approach and philosophy into MY personal scrapbooking style.

And very quickly I arrived at the one word answer: YES!!

I already knew I'd loved the Simple Stories concept and the products! That was a no-brainer! Then I saw the new designs for the Pocket Pages and I was sold! I loved the idea that I could incorporate some of these new divided pages with my traditional scrapbooking pages for a whole new look that was still "me" but gave me so much more versatility! I've always been a fan of all scrapbooking sizes so now I just have tons more to play with!

Now before I share with you what I created, I have to first put out a disclaimer and tell you that for Mother's Day I got a brand new iPhone5. Can you see where this is going? I have been wanting an iPhone for forever, mainly because of the quality of pictures it took...not to mention ease of Instagram-ming! (It's the little things, people!) To say I went on a photo taking spree with my new phone would be an understatement! I loved being able to take photos of things I might normally miss if I didn't have my big camera around.

And guess what? Simple Stories had just what I needed to share my Instagram photos with ease!

Check out my right side using the SN@P! 12x12 Pocket Pages Design 10 #4057! Oh yeah! Those 4"x4" slots were perfect! All I had to do is print my photos, slide them in and my page was almost done for me! Using the I {Heart} Summer line made me completely happy! I adore the colors and um, hello - the CAMERAS and HEARTS on all the embellishments? I die!

One of my favorite product elements I used for the above pages (and yes, I know I used MANY!) were these awesome SN@P! Pages!! They are traditionally designed for the SN@P! Binders, but I couldn't help myself! The cutout pages were screaming to get on my page! I simply trimmed the edges of the punched holes, added patterned paper behind the cut-outs and instantly I had a new layered element that really made my photos stand out. Whats more is you can even draw attention to specific details simply by changing the color of paper that you choose just like I did with the hearts and clouds above. It's so fun using product in non-conventional ways and I really encourage you to try it! You'll be thrilled with the results!

Additional I {Heart} Summer Products Used:

Expressions Cardstock Stickers
Chipboard Stickers
SN@P! Cards
6x6 Paper Pad
Flair Badges
SN@P! Cuts
12x12 Collection Kit

I hope this post and these pages encourages and inspires those of you that also were unsure if Life Documented was for you! I can assure you it most certainly is! It's your life, you just need to document it!

JUNE 05, 2013

Life Documented - Behind the Scenes Part 1

Howdy friends - Layle here with you again today!

Before I jump in, I have to ask - are you a winner?! There's still time to participate in our album giveaway, but you can't win if you don't enter :) If you haven't entered, head over to this post and leave a comment telling us what you like the most about our new albums to be entered to win!

All righty! With that out of the way, we thought it would be fun to share some behind the scenes photos with you today about how our new albums are produced.

The first step of the process is to cut the front and back covers and the spine. The leather is then adhered to the covers. After this step, the inside lining is cut, glued and attached.

Incidentally, if you didn't know, rather than lined with paper or some other non-sturdy material, the inside of our albums are lined with the same faux leather material as the outsides, as you can see here in one of the photos from Melissa's post earlier this week.

Once the album is covered inside and out, the next step is attaching the fun metal label on the spine. By the way, we've heard from quite a few of you that this fun little label is one of your favorite things about our new albums!

Long metal strips are run through a machine where they're embossed and then die cut

Then the label is attached to the spine

Once the metal label is attached, it's time for stitching. One of my favorite things about our albums is the contrasting white stitching -

After stitching, the album is run through a machine that debosses the Simple Stories logo to the back cover

The metal corners are attached and finally, the 2 D ring insert is attached to the spine for the 6x8 albums or the 3 D ring insert for the 12x12 albums -

So, there you have it - a behind the scenes review of how our albums are produced. Later this month I'll be back with a behind the scenes review of how our Pocket Pages are produced - stay tuned!

JUNE 03, 2013

Life Documented wtih 24/Seven

Hello friends! It's Layle back again to show you how I've incorporated the Life Documented philosophy in a super fun "Snapshots of Life"project/class I designed to teach at an event in Puerto Rico later this week.

I started with some products from our 24/Seven collection (seriously, one of my all time favorites!!!), including these awesome SN@P! Pages. Guess what?!! These babies not only fit in the SN@P! Binders, and the new 6x8 leather albums, but they're ALSO designed to fit in our 12x12 albums as well!

I combined the SN@P! Pages and several other 24/Seven products with one of these -

And came up with this -

This Snapshots of Life class is essentially a peek into my life the week of May 1st through the 7th of this year. It has more than 32 pages of photos, receipts, maps, newspaper clippings, journaling - you name it.

The nice thing I like about designing a project to teach for a class is that I'm limited to a specific number of products to use - that makes it simple! I started with the products and put the binder together prior to the start of the week. During the week of May 1st through the 7th, I took as many random photos as I could every day with my iPhone and at the end of the day I chose which photos I wanted to incorporate and journal about - and did just that. Because I'd spent some time prior to the week putting the bones of the project together, it literally only took me a few minutes at the end of each day to add my photos and journaling - that makes it quick!

You can take the exact same approach when you sit down to put a project like this together. Rather than making ALL of the scrapbook products that you own at your disposal, pick a few patterned papers, stickers, and a few embellishments, LEAVE IT AT THAT and then get to work!

Here are some closer pics of the project -

The cover came together really easy with the help of the Fundamental stickers and some pop dots - I love using pop dots behind stickers to add a little extra dimension!

Talk about routine - every Monday through Friday I take my younger Sam to school. Not very exciting, right? But I chose to document it because it's part of our life. And how CUTE is his teddy bear "Chocolate" that joins us most of the days?!

This is one of my favorite Pocket Pages included in the SN@P! Binders - on the left is a 2x8 pocket, then 2 4x4 pockets on the right. The 2x8 pocket is perfect for a bit of journaling. I included a photo of a map from my house to the Simple Stories office in the top 4x4 spot and a photo of the wall in our office in the bottom spot.

Have you seen our SN@P! Pockets? So cool! They come in 3x4, 4x6, and 6x8 sizes and are a staple in all of our collections. The can be used on cards, layouts, Pocket Poges, and in the SN@P! Binders, like I used here with the 6x8 Pocket to include receipts from the day.

At the beginning of the week it snowed - yes, it SNOWED and it was May 1st. Crazy! You better believe I documented that. I chose to wrap up the week with the exact same shot I took on May 1st, but the weather was quite a bit different on the 7th - thank goodness!

Here's another style of the Pocket Pages included in the SN@P! Binders - this one has 2 vertical 3x4 pockets and a horizontal 4x6 pocket. I even snapped a photo of the Sunday newspaper and included it in one of the pockets.

24/Seven Products Used:

SN@P! Pages
SN@P! Pockets
Fundamental Cardstock Stickers
Expressions Cardstock Sticker
3x4 Journaling Card Elements Paper
4x6 Journaling Card Elements Paper
4x4 Quote & 6x8 Photo Mat Elements Paper

When you approach a project like this - documenting your LIFE - it doesn't have to be fancy or filled with exciting information :) I often hear people say 'my life is boring, what in the world would I document/talk about'? My response to that is always 'there's more to talk about than you think'! Just because it's routine to you, think about 10-20 years later - that routine will be forgotten unless you document it - that makes it meaningful!

Life Documented with Vintage Bliss

Hi, Simple Stories fans! Melissa here today to share a Life Documented project with you using our Vintage Bliss line! I'm excited to be kicking off the project portion of Simple Stories' month-long Life Documented celebration, and I wanted to get things started with a page from my weekly album.

Some people like to sit down with a journal for 10 or 15 minutes each night to write about their day. I've never been great at keeping up with something like that on a daily basis, but I do love carving out an hour or so all at once each week to document the highlights of a seven day stretch.

And when I say an hour, I mean it! I love working on these pages and adding little creative touches here and there along with my photos and journaling, but I don't like to spend more than 60 minutes on any given layout. Simple Stories products are an amazing resource for helping me stay within that time period. The wide variety of perfectly coordinated journaling cards, embellishments, and Pocket Pages perfectly sized to house them all make it a Sn@p to put together a weekly page!

You'll find me using the 12x12 Sn@p Leather Album in teal for many of my Life Documented projects. I love everything about these albums from the rich color of the leather binding to the details like the stitched edges and metal corner protectors.

6a0120a6a1e222970c017ee70da9a6970d-500wi

And if you're like me (and many, many other scrappers) and store your 12x12 albums in an Expedit shelf, I have great news for you- the 12x12 Sn@p Leather Albums do indeed fit in those little cubbies!

For the longest time all of my weekly layouts have been scrapped in Design 3-style pages (4x6/3x4), but with the huge variety of Pocket Pages that will be shipping to stores at the beginning of July, I think I'm going to have to branch out and try some new designs soon!

Simple Stories' Pocket Pages are hands down my new favorites to work with. The 3x4 pockets are true to size and not slightly smaller like many other brands, so all of those 3x4 cards that come with the collections will fit perfectly on the first try, no trimming required! A few of the 3x4 pockets (depending on location) are also large enough to hold a 3x4 Sn@p Pocket!

Vintage Bliss Products Used:

12x12 Collection Kit
Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers
Expressions Cardstock Stickers
6x6 Paper Pad
Decorative Brads
Layered Stickers
3x4 Journaling Card Elements Paper
4x6 Journaling Card Elements Paper
Sn@p Cards

I'm so excited to share more Life Documented projects with you over the coming months, including two different travel albums put together both after the trip and while on the road! And I'm also so very excited to see what the other talented ladies on the Life Documented team share- these women have inspired me for years with their projects, and I can't wait to see what their amazing creative minds come up with for these new products.

Happy Monday, everyone, and have a wonderful time documentingyour life!