HERE AND NOW | GWEN WRUCK

Hey Creatives! I hope you are all keeping well. I’m back on the CUT to YOU blog today with a new share and for today’s page, I was inspired to use the 2020 Craftathon mood board. This inspiration board is the current challenge running in the CUT to YOU HQ Facebook group. If you are into free cut files and creative inspiration and not yet a member, you’ll want to check it out.

I’ve used the ‘Here and Now’ title cut file. Which you can find in store here.

This is the inspiration board.

Here is the inspiration board; I was inspired mostly by the colours, I love the mix of the cool blue/grey with the warm apricot tones. The flowers inspired me to do some fussy cutting and I had this fun pattern paper by Kaisercraft to use. It’s from the ‘Paisley Days’ collection. I’ve also got to tell you I tried really hard to get a bow onto my page, but it just didn’t need it… so I left it. I know, who even am I??? 🙂

To start the page, I backed my title cut file. I kept this simple as I knew I’d have a lot of interest coming from my fussy cut flowers. I’ve used a dark apricot for the words ‘Here’ and ‘Now’ and then a yellow pattern for the ‘And’ and a softer apricot colour for the heart shapes. This design is quite easy to back so this didn’t take long.

I then added a mat to my photo and adding my signature stitching. Next, it was a matter of seeing how the title and photo could fit together on my page. I decided on running them along the centre working horizontally which would allow space for my flowers towards the top and bottom of the page.

I decided on a pretty blue ombre background inspired by the ocean image in the Inspiration board. It also reflects the water in my photograph. I do love the pop of the white cut file and the darker florals off of this background colour and it’s fun to work with something that is not a plain white background for a change.

Next, I went about fussy cutting out a stack of the floral elements. I just cut a whole bunch and then worked on arranging them around my photo and title. I kept a small black edge on some of the flowers to help match in my photo. I went with a cluster at the top and another at the bottom of the page to balance everything out. I’ve added 3D foam in between layers for dimension.

It was now just a matter of adding in some embellishments. I’ve kept this pretty simple, adding some die-cut pieces, including the banner above my photo and the cute ‘hello’ banner positioned over my title. I’ve also added two of the coordinating Curios.

I love how this one came together and enjoyed being inspired by the Moodboard. Sometimes I need a starting point and these are really fun! As I mentioned above, if you haven’t joined the Facebook group it’s worth taking a look, there are random prizes of free designs and everyone there is super supportive!

Until next time,

OH HAPPY SNAP | LEGENDARY | GWEN WRUCK

Hey Creative friends, here today with some more scrapbook inspiration using the new ‘Legendary’ collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. For this layout, I was challenged to feature some stitching, which, if you know me, really isn’t a challenge at all because I like to add stitching to every layout I do! I’ve got another photo of my hubby for this one, taken last year when we were out enjoying a refreshment after a bushwalk.

With my photos chosen, I got to thinking about my challenge and the stitched elements. I decided on adding some stitched details to a large cut file element. This one is from CUT to YOU and is called ‘Camera Oh Snap‘ and I’ve cut it out super large with the idea to place it centred on my page.

This photo was taken at an Irish pub; you can see the bright green walls in the background. I thought this might be a hard colour to work with, but the ‘Legendary’ collection works perfectly. I began with the ‘Outdoors Type’ paper, because of the bright green. I used it to back the largest areas of my cut file. For the smaller parts of the file, I’ve used the ‘OffBeat’, ‘One Way’, and ‘Total Legend’ papers. If you get one pattern paper from this collection it needs to be ‘Total Legend’, it has so many bold colours and the prints are in a smaller format to the other 12 x 12 sheets, this makes them so good for backing files like this.

With my cut file now backed and looking good it was time to add some stitched details. I’ve added stitching along the out edges of the file, including the camera buttons and then more along the main horizontal elements of the camera as well. I’ve done this to help draw the eye across the page, this design is going to run horizontally, left to right.

Next, I’ve mounted my photos on some leftover of the ‘Offbeat’ pattern paper and stitched around the edges of those as well. I’ve used this same pattern paper as my layout border and added stitching here too. I’ve added foam to the photos and then positioned them in the bottom left side of the page. I’m going to balance them out with my title and embellishments towards the top right-hand side.

As always, I’ve looked at adding the larger embellishments first. I’ve started with my title, adding the word ‘Happy’ from the ‘Die Cut Titles’ pack and then the large element that says ‘Hey Good Lookin’ from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera’ pack. The cute little bear element in the top right-hand corner is also from this embellishment pack. I’m adding 3D foam tape to some of the elements for added dimension.

Next, I’ve added in the medium-sized elements such as the ‘Limited Edition’ tag piece (also from the Ephemera pack) and the flair button from the ‘Flairs’ pack. The stars were also added here, all of these are from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera’ pack.

The smallest elements I’ve added last, these being the cute typed sentiments from the ‘Accessory Stickers’ Sheet and the ‘Enamel Dots’, always a must-have for me from any collection.

I’m super happy with how this one turned out, I love the bold colours and the large feature title and that I have another fun layout created of my husband. If you haven’t seen the new ‘Legendary’ collection, I hope this page has inspired you to go and check it out!

Until next time,

EASTER FUN | GWEN WRUCK

Hi Creative Friends,

I’m back on the CUT to YOU blog today with a fun Easter themed share. Here in Australia, it is Easter Sunday and for my family, that means an Easter Egg Hunt! This photo was taken of my daughter when she was much littler and I just love how it captures the feel of our Easter mornings. Her running around in her pyjamas on the hunt for eggs; so much fun!

For my page, I’ve used the ‘Lily of the Valley‘ cut file. I’ve had this one on my list to use for some time now and I just love how the page turned out and how fitting it is for an Easter themed layout.

To start my page, I began by cutting out two of the cut files in the same size. I then went about backing the flowers in each. I’ve gone with a soft pattern paper from the new Paige Evans ‘Bloom Street’ collection. I’ve then gone ahead and backed the leaves in both of the files with a bold green print from the same collection. I’ve also used this as a border around my page edge for contrast.

Next, as the files are quite large, I wanted to lock in their position and that of the photo. I have backed the photo in a baby pink paper from the collection and then some white card stock from my stash. I’ve overlapped the two files slightly and trimmed off one of the large leaves and then re-positioned that hiding the cut piece underneath my photo.

I’ve popped everything on foam tape and locked into position so it was now time to embellish.

I have really stuck with the collection on this one, adding in some floral elements and the pretty butterflies. I also found some Epoxy Flairs from Scrappin Happy Studio (Etsy) in my stash that were perfect, so I’ve added those as well.

It was at this point that I thought the layout might be finished, but it was missing something. I felt that it really needed a title. I pulled some ‘Thickers’ from my stash and add in my title ‘Easter Fun’. I wouldn’t normally add a title so late in the design, but I’m so glad I did as it really did round out the page perfectly. I was lucky my photo had some white space for it to fit!

I’ve added in some enamel dots and puffy gold hearts at this point and then called the page complete. I hope this has inspired you to make an Easter inspired page or use our ‘Lily of the Valley’ cut file, it really is a pretty one! As always, whatever you make, please be sure to share it with me on social, I get a real kick out of seeing your projects you can tag me at #cuttoyou @cut_to_you.

Until next time,

LOVE THIS DUDE SO | LEGENDARY | GWEN WRUCK

Hey Creative friends, here today with some more scrapbook inspiration using the new ‘Legendary’ collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. I’ve scrapped another pic of my husband for this layout; this one was taken at one of our favourite local restaurants. For this one, I really just wanted to make a page that documents our relationship, I’m so lucky to have him!

The idea for this page actually started with my photo! I know right, that rarely happens for me! I’ve been wanting to scrap this one for a long time as it really captures my husband’s personality. I just love the colour tones in it and I knew it would be perfect for the ‘Legendary’ collection. I pulled out all of the blue and grey tones and found a stack of options, all that would go perfectly.

To start my page, I’ve created a base with some white cardstock from my stash and the ‘Brave Heart’ pattern paper. I’ve used it to create a border around my page as well as a photo mat for my picture. I’ve then gone about finding a cut file that would fit in with my ‘love’ theme. This one is called ‘TN Geo Heart‘, from CUT to YOU. They are actually for Travelers Notebooks, but as you can see, they work really well on layouts too!

I’ve backed the hearts with the dark blue and light blue blocks of the ‘Total Legend’ paper and the grey heart is the ‘All-Star’ pattern paper. Working with the darkest blue for the top heart and then the light grey for the bottom hearts.

At this point, I haven’t stuck anything down or decided on a page design. I knew I wanted to make a longer title element so I needed to sort that first. Going through the ‘Die Cut Title’ elements, I’ve decided on the title “Love this Dude So”… yep, it’s long, so I will need to be clever about how I position it on the page.

For the design of the layout, I decided on keeping everything vertical mainly because my title needed to be stacked in some way and I had the vertical style cut files. It is far easier to work with the elements you have than to try and work around them. Go with the flow I say! I simply played with the layout of the cut file, photo and title elements until I was happy focusing on things running top to bottom on the page.

With my four main elements locked in, it was now just a matter of adding in the embellishment details. For these, I like to work largest to smallest as I audition things. If you leave larger elements too late in the design process they just won’t fit, so it’s a great idea to work with them early on. The large circle piece that says ‘Authentic’ and the ticket element are both from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera’ pack.

I found this very sweet sentiment “to the moon and back” on the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’ which was perfect for my photo as well as the banner that says “You’re pretty Rad”. I like to add foam behind the stickers for added dimension on my page. I’ve also pulled the tab that says ‘Noteworthy’ even though it is orange. To make this work, I’ve added in some orange and blue stars from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera’ pack, I really like the small pop of orange, I think it gives the layout a bit more depth.

The page was now almost complete. I’ve added a flair from the ‘Flair Buttons’ pack and some Typed Sentiments from the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’. I’ve added some enamel dots in the centre of each of the star die cuts to finish off the page.

Thanks for popping by today to see my latest project. Do you have your hands on this collection yet? As always, be sure to pop into the Cocoa Vanilla Studio and CUT to YOU Facebook groups to share your pages, I love seeing what you make.

Until next time,

SO CRAFTY | GWEN WRUCK

Hey Creatives! I’m back on the CUT to YOU blog today with a new share. For today’s page, I’m working with one of the exclusive cut files from the KIT to YOU scrapbook kits. I wanted to show you a fresh idea with the kit still following along with the design and step x step instructions but also mixing things up a bit to create a fresh new looking page. These really are kits you can use over and over; they are made to help inspire you to use up that stash!

I’ve started the page by backing the cut file, this one is called ‘Mason Jar Bouquet‘. For this, I’ve used the Simple Stories ‘Hey Crafty Girl’ collection. I love the fresh colours in this line and I really liked the ombre stripe paper and thought it was perfect for the Jar part of the cut file. For the floral parts of the file I’ve used a selection of their spotty patterns, and some bright green for the leaves.

Below you can see the details in the cut file design. I made sure to choose a pattern paper that was bright and quite a saturated tone as I didn’t want to lose any of these pretty details. I’ve simply glued the file to the pattern paper and then fussy cut around the edge.

Next, I have mounted my photo in the same pretty orange/pink tone and stitched around the edge. I’ve positioned the cut file and my photo onto my background so it is now time to add in the embellishments.

This collection is for documenting all things crafty and I’ve really run with that. Keeping with the original design of the page from the kit, I’ve created a cluster near the bottom right-hand corner of my photo. To do this, I’ve really just auditioned various elements until I was happy with how it all looked. I decided to add in my title here, it worked really well layered across my photo.

I’ve also added details around the neck of the jar (similar to the kit) and some above my photo. You might notice that the placement of the title is different, I’ve just switched a few elements to suit. It really does give a totally different look to your page with very little changes from the kit instructions.

This page came together super fast with the help of a plan from the kit. As I mentioned, all I really changed up was the colours of the pattern papers and the embellishment types to suit the theme of my page. I’ve switched out a few of the elements and created a fresh new design. You really do not need to re-invent the wheel every time you create a page.

I hope this inspires you to get working with the KIT to YOU kits, and your cut files… they really are so fun to work with.

Until next time,