Collection Disconnection | Little by Little #5 - Hello Joy

Hello friends! After a long absence (sorry about that!), I'm back with another layout in my Collection Disconnection series. This is a series where I take a single collection (this time it's the Shimelle Little by Little line) and create 10 different layouts, pointing out my tips and tricks along the way.

Today I wanted to share one of the ways I like to use up the extra bits and pieces from the sticker sheets and die cut packs that always seem to sit around in my stash. You know the ones I mean - the pieces that are cute but you have a hard time using them. They are different for each of us.

I created what I'm calling an "exploding photo mat" with all of those cute little bits that I'm at a loss for. And I love it!

I think the key here is to stick to a color palette - greens, blues, and yellow for me - and to let the interesting parts of the stickers and die cuts peek out from behind the photo. It doesn't matter what it actually is. It doesn't matter what it actually says. Just layer it in! Sometimes you have a few words that actually go with your story or theme...great! Put them on show!

After I layered all of that goodness, I added some journaling, a title, and a few intentional embellishments. I kept most of the focus right around the photo and didn't think too hard about it at all. In fact, this layout only took me about 30 minutes to complete. And that's fast for me! I also just noticed that this layout uses no patterned paper. What?! Yes. True. Wow.

You can watch it come together in the process video here:

I hope that you'll try adding an exploding photo mat to your next layout. Pull out all those glorious little die cuts and stickers that you've been holding onto and put them to good use!

I've linked to all available products below. Thanks so much for stopping by!

SUPPLIES
(affiliate links)

American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Wooden Buttons Stickers	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Sticker Book	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Ephemera with Embossed Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Stickers with Foil Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Puffy Stickers
American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Enamel Dots with Glitter Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Thickers - Hello Joy	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Thickers - Magic	Heidi Swapp - Color Shine Iridescent Spritz - 2 Ounce Bottle - Gold Lame	American Crafts - DIY Shop 3 Collection - Mini Stapler - Gold
American Crafts 1600-Staple DIY Shop Stapler Refills, Mini, Colored

LinkDeli.com

Collection Disconnection | Little by Little #4 - Smile Beautiful

Hey there! Today I wanted to share a fun layout that I created for my Collection Disconnection series on YouTube. I'm still loving the Shimelle Little by Little collection and have a cool way to use a 12 x 12 cut apart sheet today.

I love the paper full of floral wreaths and decided that instead of using them all separately, I would use a whole strip together to document how cute my daughter looks in my husband's sunglasses and how I can't believe she's so grown up... *sniff*

I placed my photos behind the wreaths and put the whole strip on some watercolor paper that I painted to match each color block. Since I was already going matchy-matchy, I decided I would embellish that way too!

I really love the way it turned out and I would encourage you to try using a whole strip of a cut apart sheet on your next layout! And embellish in coordinating colors!

If you want to see how it all came together, you can watch the process video below.

I've linked to all available products at the end of the post. Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to check out my Collection Disconnection playlist on YouTube to see all of the videos in this series!

SUPPLIES
(affiliate links)

American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - Clever Little Fox	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - 6 x 6 Paper Pad	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Sticker Book	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Ephemera with Embossed Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Thickers - Hello Joy
American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Wooden Buttons Stickers	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Puffy Stickers	Pro-Art Canson Extra Long Watercolor Paper Pad, 30-Sheet	Tonic Studios - Tim Holtz - Non-Stick Micro Serrated Scissors - 7 Inches	Sharpie Pen, Fine Point, Black, 12-Count

LinkDeli.com

Collection Disconnection | Little by Little #3 - Sweet Friendship

Hello again! After a few weeks of pure craziness, I'm back with a new layout using the American Crafts Little by Little collection designed by Shimelle Laine. Today's layout needed to be simple and quick for me to create because I had less than an hour! In times like these, I sometimes like to let the products help me make quick decisions and guide my design choices.

I chose a background paper with a pre-printed design on one edge. It serves wonderfully as an anchor point for my photo and I decided to create a centered layout design. After I trimmed the branding strip, I just added it back onto my background and I love the way it mimics the lines at the top.

I added a title and kept it simple by telling myself I had to choose something from the words available on the patterned paper. "Sweet Friendship" ended up being perfect and hand-cutting these letters is the thing that took me the longest on this layout!

I added my journaling with a white pen and then embellished very simply around the title and at the top and bottom of the page.

A bit of gold color shine splatters completed this quick and easy layout! You can see it all come together in the process video here:

I've linked to all available supplies below and don't forget to check out the other layouts/videos in this series over on my YouTube channel. Thanks, as always, for stopping by!!

SUPPLIES
(affiliate links)

American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - Encourage Wonder	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - Delightful Journey	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Puffy Stickers	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Stickers with Foil Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Sticker Book
Heidi Swapp - Color Shine Iridescent Spritz - 2 Ounce Bottle - Gold Lame	Sakura 37488 3-Piece Gelly Roll Blister Card Medium Point Gel Ink Pen Set, White	Sakura WHITE GELLY ROLL Medium Point Pens Set 37488	Muji Gel Ink Ball Point Pen, 0.38-mm, Black, 10 Pcs

LinkDeli.com

Collection Disconnection | Little by Little #2 - Magic Adventure

Hey friends! Welcome back for the second installment of my Collection Disconnection series where I take one paper line (Shimelle Little by Little) and create several layouts with different themes and color schemes and techniques.

Today, my intention was to be inspired by the inspiration behind the collection - children's books. And I was inspired to tell a story about reading, but I also decided to show you how I tackle the idea of using a bold and bright patterned paper for the background of your layout.

I find that the best way to make sure your photos stand out while still letting your bold pattern shine is to break it up with a solid color. I tend to gravitate toward white and in this case, I used notebook paper.

I combined a few words from the Thickers set to create my title, "Magic Adventure". I like that the title is white and I think if it were a different color it would compete with the background paper.

I pulled elements from the die cuts and sticker sheets to lend to magical, fairytale, getting-lost-in-a- good-book, feel and finished with a little bit of gold mist because, gold=magic.

You can see how it all came together in the process video!

I've linked to all available products below and don't forget to check out the other videos in this series on my YouTube playlist!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

SUPPLIES

(affiliate links)

American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - A to Z	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Wooden Buttons Stickers	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Sticker Book	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Ephemera with Embossed Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Puffy Stickers
American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Cardstock Stickers with Foil Accents	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Thickers - Hello Joy	American Crafts - Little By Little Collection - Enamel Dots with Glitter Accents	Heidi Swapp - Color Shine Iridescent Spritz - 2 Ounce Bottle - Gold Lame	Moma Muji Gel Ink Ball Point Pen, 0.38-mm, Black, 10 Pcs

LinkDeli.com