The Simplest Mini Album in the World

Thinking about a mini album and worried about the amount of time it will take to create???  Simple Stories is definitely the solution.  I used the pre-designed 4 x 6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements from their Take a Hike collection to make this fun mini album.

I just punched holes in the top left corner, added a binder ring and some ribbon and twine.  Voila, instant album ready to add pictures to and because the journal elements are already "decorated," this project only requires minimal embellishment.
It's a good idea to add some pop dots to the 12 x 12 Fundamental Cardstock stickers for a little more dimension on the cover of the album.
This was such a great 4 x 6 journal element, because I was able to use the cardstock sticker sentiments and tiny type to fill in the blanks for the message.  This is my son and I enjoying the apsen grove we stopped at for lunch.

Here you can see how easy it was to add the tiny type and journaling elements.
I think I mixed in some of the Awesome Collection sentiments along with Take a Hike to make the list on this page.  The pre-designed journaling cards make it possible to literally add a wallet-sized photo and a sticker or two and call it a day.
Something else that is really easy to do is run the journal cards through your typewriter.  I was able to type up this longer journal section in no time at all and the beautiful journal card frames it perfectly.
The journal cards even come with lists of their own, so I just took a marker and checked off what applied to this event.  Then again added a cropped 4 x6 photo and a sticker and called it a day.
I think the best part about this album is that this 4 x 6 Vertical Journaling Card was the back of my album and did not need any embellishment...done!
This project took less than an hour to create and will make a great gift for someone or just a memory to keep around the house.

Thank you for stopping by!

Getting Ready for the First Day of School

I wanted to send something special to school with my daughter for her first day and I loved how Little Yellow Bicycle included this journal tag the Tear Out Ticket book from the Makin' the Grade collection.

 I took this simple composition book and turned it into this...

The tip to making this cover last for the entire school year is to make sure all of the paper and embellishments are flat, so I focused on the Little Yellow Bicycle Favorite Pieces and Fresh Verse Cardstock Stickers as my main embellishments.

Then I will use strips of clear packing tape to "laminate" the design to the book.  Trust me as a teacher of many year, the packing tape is the bomb and will preserve this project pretty much forever.

It wouldn't be complete without a matching bookmark.


Makin' the Grade Products:

MG-304 6" x 6" Paper Pad (24 pages)

MG-111 Multi Fun Dot/Green Stripe

MG-107 Pennants/Blue Solid

MG-135 Cardstock Stickers - Favorite Pieces - with foil and embossing (30 pieces)

MG- 140 Cardstock Stickers - Fresh Verse - with foil and debossing (67 pieces)

 

Thank you for stopping by,

A Few Tips from Front Porch Kits

I really loved all of the elements of the Front Porch Just Add Water Kit.  It was a non-traditional summer kit as you can see from my page below, but still had enough fun elements to make a great vacation page.  There are still kits available, just click on the link HERE.

Tip - try to use as many photos as you can to convey a moment or feeling.  I choose to use a simple patterned paper background, but framed it with another piece of blue patterned paper that picked up the colors in my photos so they would really stand out on the page. 

I used the same layering effect on my journal card and framed it with blue patterned paper that would pick up the blue in the photos and the title letters.  I added some foam tape to the back of the journal card to make it a little more dimensional so the page is not so flat.

Contrast is also a good idea, so I added these rust colored cardstock stickers to make the sentiment stand out on the page as well as pop dots for added dimension.

New Simple Stories SN@P!

 Check out the video below sharing Simple Stories new SN@P products.  They are so fun and unique and so is the awesome video.
 
You can also drop by the Simple Stories BLOG today for more details and information on SN@P!

Little Yellow Bicycle Meets Epiphany Crafts

Last week Little Yellow Bicycle and Epiphany Crafts had a blog swap and I had a great time using some of their newest Shape Studios along with Little Yellow Bicycle's Splash Collection.  It was fun to use the Splash Collection to make a little beach scene for the cover of my album. The Fresh Verse Stickers made a great title attached to the chipboard sun, "Summer Livin' is Easy."

This Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio reminded me of starfish, so I used the Bubble Cap Flower Accessories to make some starfish with the 6 x 6 starfish patterned paper from LYB.

The Bubble Caps have great dimension and make the little starfish pop off the page.

LYB makes great Chipboard Shapes and this palm tree is a fun element included in the Splash collection, not to mention the super cute Fabric Favorite flip flops.

We had a great time at the beach and like the sentiment says, "Life is Better at the beach."


The starfish Bubble Caps make a great theme for all of the pages in the album and even a little flower center on this blue Chipboard Shape flower.

You can't have a beach day without a proper sand castle.  I love how the Fresh Verse stickers capture the sentiment of the moment perfect along with the dimensional stickers.

Now head on over to Epiphany Crafts' blog for a fun project from their team and a chance to grab some swag.


Have a wonderful day!

Front Porch Kits Reveal!

Front Porch Kits has done it again! The New Just Add Water Kit is full of wonderful elements to create just about any project you can think of to celebrate summer.

Tracy has put together a kit that is aimed to please with enough elements to keep you busy with summer projects for this summer and beyond.  Please check out the website for kit buying options HERE.  And check out the Little Blue House Blog for inspiration and project ideas.

Pinwheels are one of my favorite motifs of summer.  They are so cheery and fun that I thought it would be a good ideea to make a vase of them for some home décor to add to the theme of "Just Add Water."  

Tracy has included some really beautiful buttons in the kit that were perfect pinwheel centers to add to the effect.

I loved the idea of a simple page from a vacation we took a few years ago to show how much fun we had "in the water"  The colors of the patterned papers in the kit were a great compliment to my photos.

There were plenty of journaling sentiments in the kit, which is my favorite, so I was able to easily add the stickers with some chalk ink and pop dots.

This was a quick, fun card that I used some cut outs from a Websters Pages patterned paper in the kit.  I was really easy to cut them out and I used pop dots and ink to make them stand out from the journal card.

I will have a couple more projects to share later this week!  Thank you for stopping by.