LOVE THIS for THROW BACK THURSDAY | MIXED | GWEN WRUCK

Hi Creative Friends,

Here today to share my latest Cocoa Vanilla Studios project for a special feature “Throwback Thursday”.  My assignment for today’s layout was to dig deep into my stash and do a little stash busting.  I love challenges like these because if I use up my stash, I can get all the new things!

The oldest piece of Cocoa Vanilla I managed to find is this wood chevron paper from the Hello Lovely collection ‘Confetti‘.  So the design for the page started with that.  I kept digging and also found half a sheet of the Free Spirit ‘Dreamy’ paper which had very pretty soft tones that could coordinate.  Both of these collections are from 2015 and they still have a very fresh feel to them, which really says a lot about how well they are designed!  I then got to thinking about how I could stretch these limited supplies and decided on using a cut file.  I am a big fan of the look of cut files on my pages and this is one I have designed myself.  It is available at my CUT to YOU store (www.createdbygwen.com.au) from tomorrow!

 

I used the light side of the  Free Spirit ‘Dreamy’ paper for the larger flowers and the B side of this same paper for the smaller flowers. Because I had mat my photo first, I was able to use lots of little pieces here and there to back the file helping me to really stretch and use up every inch of that paper.

The main elements in the design were now locked in, so it was just a matter of finding some pretty embellishments to go with it.  I started by looking for some wood elements as I thought they would go really well with my background paper.  I went straight to the Endless Summer collection as I knew it had tones that would go with what I had already and found some cute Wood Veneers as well as some Puffy Stickers.

I also found a Die Cut Ephemera piece from this collection and teamed it with another wood element, these are Wood Veneer Words from the Colour Me Happy Collection to create my title.  There were also some other cute elements in this pack so I’ve added those as well including photo corners and a die cut that says “Enjoy the little things”.  I’ve simply made 3 small embellishment clusters that lead your eye around the page following the lines of the cut file in the background.

To finish the page off, I’ve added in some butterflies and hearts from the Sticker Sheet from the Endless Summer collection as well as a pretty pink Flair badge.

Using the cut file really helped this page come together and I love how it turned out.  I love the soft tones of my black and white photo and how the cut file stands out from the background paper and frames the photo.  It really was fun to go digging through all of my Cocoa Vanilla products and I’ll certainly be doing this again!

If you would like to hear more about CUT to YOU cut files, be sure to sign up to our newsletter.  You don’t need a Silhouette to create with my cut file designs, so jump onto the website www.createdbygwen.com.au and sign up now!

Until next time,

“Love Today” for Scrap the Girls July 2018

Hi Creative Friends,

July has arrived and I’m here to share the latest challenge for Scrap the Girls.  We have another mood board for this months inspiration and it’s a very interesting one!  Initially, I thought this was going to be a bit difficult for me… but when I looked further, it actually came together really easily and I love how the page worked out!

So… I just pulled the bits of the mood board that I loved.  For example, the background diamond shapes in the top left image, and the ballet shoes from the bottom left-hand image.  I also love the combination of pink and red with a pop of black.

My page came together really quickly, I found the background paper first and it was a perfect match to that top left-hand image… next, I printed out my photo, this one of me in my pointe shoes.  I’m sure many of you know that I go to Adult Ballet classes and love love love them!  I started over a year ago with the mission to get back en-pointe (I did a lot of pointe work when I was growing up and I can’t describe how much joy it gives me).  This photo was taken at my very first pointe class and I wanted to document that journey.  Sure, I’m standing in them in the photo, but that’s about all I could do in them at that stage!  It takes a lot of work to build up the strength required to actually dance on pointe, but I’m totally up for the challenge!

Ok… so back to the layout,

Next, I found the chipboard elements ‘love’ and ‘today’ to use for my title, I kept the word ‘love’ as it was and simply misted the ‘today’ word with some Colour Blast Shimmer Spray to make it a pretty shade of pink.  I also pulled out a few black and white elements and love the pops of black they have added to my page.  I especially love this chipboard piece that says “big plans” perfect for the photo I was documenting.  I then just went about layering up all of the elements I had pulled out to make one big central cluster around my photo using the chipboard frames to anchor the design.

I found a few elements that had the tones from pink to red in them and I feel they really pull the page together.  Most of these are from a Crate Paper Valentines day collection.  I made sure to add lots of different sizes of elements and mixed up the texture of things as well for interest.  I just love how this one came together and can’t wait to document the next part of this story.

I hope this months mood board inspires you and be sure to upload to the Facebook group for your chance to win a fab prize from our sponsors – I would love to see what you create!

This months sponsor:  The Resin Rainbow

Until next time,

AWESOME | BOYS RULE | GWEN WRUCK

Hi Creative Friends,

Here today to share my latest Cocoa Vanilla Studios project and it’s another using the latest collection “Boys Rule” AND my very first using my new CUT to YOU cut files, which I have to say I’m pretty excited about!  I thought for this project I’d scrap a page about my darling hubby.  He is a pro-photographer and rarely in front of the camera so we had to do a little photo shoot just for him, and this shot is one of my favourites.

The inspiration for this page definitely started with the photo and I also knew I wanted to use one of my new CUT to YOU cut files. Whilst I had a stack of floral designs on my desk, this page called for something bolder and more gender neutral and I just love how it worked out.  The idea I had was to use up some of the scraps of paper I had in the collection (as this one is my third layout now) to create a block style background for my photo to layer onto.  Step one was to decide on colours and start backing the cut file.

Remeber that old saying “Blue and Green should never be seen”? Pretty sure they look fab together here!  I went with the green in the ‘Straight & Narrow’ paper and both sides of the ‘Expressionist’ paper, pulling the dark blue, light blue and green out.  Once backed, I set them all out onto my background to get an idea of the layout I wanted for my page and once happy noted their position.  Next, it was time for some mixed media, not too much, just a little to break up the white background and the white parts of the cut files.

I’ve used Colour Blast Shimmer sprays in ‘Apple of my Eye’ and ‘Singin the Blues’ and yes it’s subtle but that’s how I like it.  Once dry I added my backed squares back on top.  At this point the bones of my page were set, it was now time to mat my photo.  I’ve used a pop of the green from the ‘Straight & Narrow’ paper as well as the dark blue from the ‘Expressionist’ paper to do this.

Next, I went to the ‘Clear Sticker sheet’ and pulled off the painted elements, I love how you can add these to your page for a mixed media look without the mess, just position and go!  I’ve layered them on top of each other and they work together really well.  Next, I went through the Die Cut Ephemera pack and found the sentiments ‘You’re the best” and “Awesome” to use as my title and positioned under my photo.   I also found the die cut stars and the funky arrow.  I’ve just run these elements top to bottom of my page some to the top left of the photo and others to bottom right for balance.  I’ve also mounted some on foam tape for added interest.

I’ve also added in some of the text elements from the ‘Accessory Sticker sheet’ that work with my title including ‘mister fantastic’, ‘seriously’ and ‘the best’.

To finish off the page I’ve added in the criss-cross elements from the ‘Clear Sticker sheet’, with the clear backgrounds, it looks like they have been painted on and work really well with the mixed media background showing through – I so love these!

I just love how this page came together, and it is so great to get a page of my Mister scrapped!  It has reminded me that I really do need to get him out from behind that camera and in front of it from time to time.

Also, if you like the look of the cut file, be sure to sign up to the CUT to YOU newsletter. I’ll be sending these ladies first opportunity to get their hands on them and special bonuses, including a free cut file!! If you aren’t on the list, you will miss out on the freebie file and special offers.  You don’t need a Silhouette to create with my cut file designs, so jump onto the website www.createdbygwen.com.au and sign up now!

Until next time,

ADVENTURE |BOYS RULE | GWEN WRUCK

Hi Creative Friends,

Here today to share my latest Cocoa Vanilla Studios project and it’s another using the latest collection “Boys Rule”.  I thought for this project I’d scrap a page about our family cat doing the one thing he does best, sleep.

The inspiration for this page definitely started with the photo.  Like most cats, ours is an avid sleeper and I had this shot of him sprawled out enjoying some sun.  I found the text “Eat, Sleep, Be Rad, Repeat” on the “Boys Stuff” pattern paper and thought I’d use that to make up my title.  The “Be Rad” text didn’t suit 100% so I’ve placed a chipboard arrow from the Chipboard pieces pack over that text to make my title “Eat, Sleep, Repeat, Adventure”.  Because that really is HIS life… just eat, sleep, adventure repeat. The word “Adventure” has been fussy cut out of the “Entitled” pattern paper.  I’ve placed these all on the “Messed Up” pattern paper, I just love that mixed media messy look, with no work and no mess!

With the title being such a large element it really did dictate the design.  I’ve kept it simple and run everything from top to bottom of the page along the centre line.  I’ve mounted my photo using the dark blue from the “Happy Go Lucky” pattern paper and sewn around the edge for added detail.  This blue is a perfect match to the blue in my title.

Next, I wanted to pick up some of the warmth in the photo and the yellow of the text “Eat”.  I have done this with the timber look die cut frame from the Die Cut Ephemera pack.  To balance out the colours I found the text from the “Boys Stuff” pattern paper “#SRSLY” which was also in this colour and made sure to add that towards the bottom of the page.  If you follow me on Facebook, you will know I’m a huge fan of the HASHTAG and love using them on my layouts too!

At this point, I could see that I didn’t have enough to fill my page top to bottom so I went about finding some more elements to add.  I love this piece with the blue stars on it from the “Boys Stuff” pattern paper and added that into my stack of embellishments.  It was great to have the added pop of the darker blue and grey and it wasn’t too heavy to add directly underneath my title.  I also decided on the grey element of arches to add as it was fun and interesting and finished off the bottom stack nicely.

The bones of the page were certainly locked in now, it was time to add some smaller embellishments.  I’ve gone with stars to match the stars under my title with a selection of the chipboard pieces, Accessory Stickers and Die Cut Ephemera pack.  I’ve also added a couple of the Clear Sticker stars on top of these for added detail.  I just love these clear stickers, they are the perfect finishing touch.  I also added another arrow to fit with the one I had placed over the “Be Rad” text.

To finish off the page I’ve added one little paper sticker at the very bottom and another 2 die cut pieces at the very top of the page.  I also took this time to add some more stitching around the edge as well as between and across some of the central elements.

I just love how this page came together, and it is so great to get a page of our beloved family cat scrapped.  This really is a fun collection to do that with!

Until next time,

“My Sister & My Best Friend” for Scrap the Girls June 2018

Hi Creative Friends,

June has arrived and I’m here to share the latest challenge for Scrap the Girls.  This month we are focussing on friendship and I thought I’d draw inspiration from one main image of the mood board and I’ve chosen the top left-hand one with the quote.

I had a couple of fun shots of my sister and I that I’ve been wanting to scrap for ages so I printed them out in black and white.  I was also inspired by the text “She’s my best friend” and that became the starting point for my title.

Now that the photo and my title ideas were locked in, I went about thinking about the design of the page.  I knew my title was going to be very long and needed to make sure it not only fit nicely on the page but featured in the layout design.  I saw this cute cut file from Paige Evans and thought I’d run the title along the banners.  I simply backed them with some pattern paper and stitched them into position.

Next, I placed my photo in the centre of the page along the edge of the top banner.  I have mounted with the same pattern paper as I’ve used in the banners, there is quite a lot happening already on this page so I thought a simple single photo mat in the same paper would be best.  It was also at this point that I locked in the position of each word in my title.

The layout was looking almost complete at this stage but I did want to add a few more embellishments.  I went with the 2 larger kites on the right-hand side of my photo and a smaller cluster to the left.  One more paper flower on the right-hand side of the lowest banner helped balance the design out.

Below you can see a close up of the cute chipboard kites – they fit into that spot just so perfectly.

And that is the page complete.  Super cute, quite simple and quick to make and I do love the end result.

Be sure to upload to the Facebook group for your chance to win a fab prize from our sponsors – I would love to see what you create!

This months sponsor:  Flutterby Designs

Until next time,

 

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