Thursday, May 16, 2024

HELLO THERE SUMMER/SIMPLE STORIES

Hello friends! I'm sharing a SNAP album using a few of my favorite pictures from our vacation at the Outer Banks two summers ago. We are going again this year so I wanted to leave some pages blank so I can add some more pictures after our trip! I used the newest summer collection, Summer Snapshots to create this fun album!

The embellishments in this collection is super fun and I used so many… they are super cute and I just love the color scheme! I used foam squares to pop some of the die cuts up for dimension and added a few gems to the center of the lemons just for fun.

I really wanted to make each page pop throughout this album. I LOVE scrapbooking summer pictures and I think it shows! Another thing I tried to do was create a few multi-photo spreads because they are always fun.

I used a variety of floral rub-ons and layered chipboards on this spread. I especially love the beach ball patterned paper-SO CUTE.

There are a few pocket pages, too. I like to mix it up and add a variety of spreads throughout the album! I cut a photo down to 3x4 and added a few embellishments to the center of the photo for one of the pocket pages. I used a tag from the cut-apart tag sheet with a photo and more fun embellishments for the other pocket. Next, I used the multi-square cards as a fun page at the bottom. I used part of the photo in the first pocket for the bottom. Isn’t this fun?!

Here is the other side of the pocket page. I used a variety of foam stickers and chipboard to embellish the 4x6 journaling card.

I always like to include a fun title page using a sheet from the 6x8 paper pads. I added a few Decorative Brads and chipboard at the bottom to add dimension.

I added lots of rub-on elements on the ledger paper so that I can add some journaling inside the album.

I snapped this photo of me and my hubby in the pool and Moxie wanted to join us. He’s so photogenic…me, not so much. I matted the photo using the chipboard frame and tucked a tag slightly behind the frame. I added the chipboard flowers to the frame to add dimension and scattered a few enamel dots all over the page.

For my last page, I decided to include a mixed media page using the chipboard page from the album. I used the waves stencil with polishing plaster to create the waves and waited for the mixed media to dry before embellishing the page with foam stickers, rub-ons, and gems.


I hope you found this album inspiring and hopefully, I gave you few fun ideas to use in your summer album! Thank you so much for visiting today!



Nicole


Products Used:

Simple Stories SNAP Album in Coral

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots 6X8 Paper Pad

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots 12X12 Collection Kit

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Chipboard Stickers

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Chipboard Frames

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Layered Chipboard

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Decorative Brads

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Rub-ons

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Bits and Pieces

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Big Bits

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Washi Tape

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Foam Stickers

Simple Stories Summer Snapshots Glossy Enamel Dos

Simple Stories Just Beachy 6x8 Stencil-Beach Waves

Monday, May 13, 2024

LET'S GO FLIP BOOK/A CHERRY ON TOP

Happy Monday, friends! I'm sharing a fun little flip book album I created for my sister. She just recently went on a little vacay with her hubby and I wanted to create a fun little mini for her! I felt the need to make her some albums since I made my other sister a few. :)

For this album, I am using Simple Stories' Just Beachy collection. I just love the bright colors!!! It's super colorful and perfect for beach photos. I had fun with the cover as you can see... That life saver floaty is too cute... I added a variety of foam stickers, die cuts, stickers and rub-ons all around it. I tucked in the beach houses at the sides to fill in the white space. I especially love the little froggy! 

For the inside of the cover, I kept it simple. I cut the floral die cut in half to create a straight edge and added the camera and metal decorative brad. I also added the sticker strip to the metal fastener for fun. 


I kept this page pretty simple so that the focus remains on the gorgeous photo. Sometimes, a little goes a long way.

I added a cluster of die cuts, chipboard and foam stickers to add interest to the photo without taking up too much space.

More fun clusters!! Clusters are great for photos with a lot of white space... What do you think?

Again, I kept this album super simple. I literally finished this album in two hours. 

I added the waves paper across the floral print to break up the patterns a bit and then placed the die cut flowers behind the "Tropical Paradise" chipboard sentiment. I used foam squares to pop up the chipboard to add dimension.

I matted the picture on patterned paper and adhered it to the 4x6 page at an angle to allow some space for the tag and flower.
Not going to lie... I love this little van and had to find a way to use it... I added the palm trees in the back and then mounted it down using foam squares. The yellow flower is a rub-on and the sentiment is from the chipboard package. Isn't this cute? 

As you can see, I don't use photos on every page. I live to decorate a few pages with all the gorgeous die cuts! This is a great way to create a mini with under 10 photos.

That palm tree patterned paper is so cute. I decided to use all of the green/blue embellishments I could find for this spread to create a fun monochromatic spread.

I'm hoping to create a process video of how I put these little albums together for those who want to make one but aren't sure where to start! Hopefully, in June I'll have one to share. Click here to start shopping through my affiliate link. The price you pay will not be higher...I may receive compensation for the referral.  Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope you have a great week!

-Nicole


Sunday, May 12, 2024

LET'S GO AWAY/SIMPLE STORIES

It feels good to have my mojo back... For the past six months, I have been in a funk... feeling un-motivated and not very creative. I was burnt out from work and just tired... I took time to do some reflection on what I wanted personally in March and decided that I needed to find a new position at work...something new. I worked in the branches for almost 16 years... I started my new position in April...honestly, it all happened so fast once I submitted my application and it is going well! And my favorite part... I can work from home!! I'm not going to lie, I was worried I wouldn't be able to work remote... I'm used to being around people all day, but I tell you what...I FREAKING LOVE IT. LOL
Anyway, that's a short update on me personally. Now, I would like to share my little flip book with you. I grabbed a few of my favorite pictures from our cruise back in 2019 to create this adorable book. I used Simple Stories' latest collection-Pack Your Bags. This book came together in a snap! I'm hoping to create a YouTube video on my process on how I put these together soon! I just need to find the time...but it's coming for those of you who want to make one of your own!

I backed the back of the cover of the album with patterned paper to make it more fun and added the foam sticker. I love Simple Stories' foam stickers... they are super fun and they look so cute in my album.

One thing I like to do is mount chipboard frames directly on the front of the clear protective page so that I can use the sleeve as a hidden pocket for my journaling cards and tags.

I cut two 4x6 journaling cards out keeping them together so I could create a flip page. I love using pictures with a lot of white space....they are perfect for adding die cuts and rub-ons and any other embellishments you may want to use.

Another one of my favorites is the little square journaling cards... I like to cut them down to use as a page and then I add a few decorative brads and stickers etc for fun.

I love this double page with us in the pool/hot tub. I mounted the chipboard frame directly over the clear sleeve and then added the chipboard camera at the bottom of the frame and a few sticker words and the enamel dots to the photo.

For this spread, I cut two of the 3x4 journaling cards out so they were still attached and then I cut the picture down to fit within the frame. I kept it simple-adding just a few word strips and the flower sticker. I added the arrow decorative brad to the center of the camera's lens for fun.

I absolutely love playing with rub-ons and I love that Simple Stories' has them in almost every collection. They are super fun and I like to add them directly on the photos!

I cut the journaling card out and folded it in half to create a flap over the picture and then added the journaling and embellishments. I added some chipboard on the picture too.
This may drive a few crazy... but I like to cover parts of the photos with embellishments... sometimes, I just want to share a little piece of the picture...such as the perfume factory... so that I could add some journaling.

I had to include these photos of Edward... he was determined to find a few coconuts and he did not stop looking until he found one...he was super excited!! Normally, I do not like cutting people out of photos... but for this spread, it totally worked! I added the "let's go explore" rub-on over the picture and added the sticker using foam squares.

LOVE how Chucky this little album is...full of hidden treasures... it's absolutely fun. What do you think? Have you made one of these albums? Simple Stories' flip books are super fun and easy to work with. I literally created this little book in two nights.

I hope you found my little album inspiring. A Cherry on Top has this collection in the shop. Click here to see the full collection. Click here to start shopping through my affiliate link. The price you pay will not be higher...I may receive compensation for the referral. you for visiting and I hope you have a fantastic week!

-Nic