Hi Creative friends,

Here today for my latest Cocoa Vanilla Studios share and a special birthday shout out to my sister!  This year she is turning 40!! Happy birthday, sis!  To celebrate, I thought why not create a special page for her and whilst I knew I wasn’t going to make a ‘boys page’ as such, I really was inspired by this paper called Line Up from the Totally Rad collection.  I also managed to get a hold of a really lovely photo of her and her dog “Boof” which she had posted on Instagram recently.

I then had the thought to use a cut file (this one from Just Nick Studio) which I’ve set really large as I wanted it to be the main feature on my page.  I’ve backed the cut file with the Say What paper for the larger flowers and the Stellar paper for the smaller flowers.  I’ve also taken a small piece from the Mix Tape paper for the flower on the left of my photo.

It was now time to mat my photo, for this, I’ve used more of the Say What paper as well as some of the Stellar paper, just layered up for interest. I then positioned them on to my page with the cut file.

It was now time to add in the smaller details.  I took some thread in the same colour as my background paper and stitched around some of the flower centres for added detail.  I wanted to fill in the other flowers on the cut file, so I went digging through my stash and found some old buttons which I’ve also sewn on.  I then pulled out some wood veneer, these pieces are from the Life is Beautiful Wood Veneer pack.  This may be a 2015 collection, but it is still one of my all-time favourites.

It was now time to think about my title.  I’ve used the Wood Veneer Words from the Colour Me Happy collection for this as well as the Totally Rad Alphabet Stickers I love the soft combination of the wood veneer and the wood grain that’s printed on the stickers.

At this point, the layout was almost complete.  I did add a Limited Edition flair badge as well as a couple of typed sentiments from the Snip its sheet in the Colour Me Happy collection and then called it done.

I hope you like it, it sure was fun to make and use up some of my older stash of supplies.  It’s not too long now until the new collection arrives, so get busy using up your stash while you are waiting for it!  I know I can’t wait to get my hands on some new product!

Until next time,

Hi Creative Friends,

It’s that time of the year when the DT at Cocoa Vanilla Studios get to feature the wonderful boys and men in our lives with the release of the latest ‘boys’ collection.  Whilst “Boys Rule” has not quite hit my desk yet, I’m using the chance to dig deep into my stash and combine the last two CVS previous boy collections Totally Rad and You Rock to scrap a pic of my hubby.

Does it ever happen to you that one product inspires an entire layout?  It happens to me quite a lot!  This layout is certainly one of those.  Whilst my assignment was to create a boys layout, it was completely inspired by the Snip-its sheet from the Colour Me Happy collection.  I not only took on the sentiment as the title for my page, it inspired the giant sun which is the main element for its design.

These are available in store, they are printed on really lovely thick cardstock and using your paper trimmer are really simple to cut up.

I began my page by cutting out a giant sun with my silhouette using the You Rock ‘In Line’ paper.  For the background, I’ve also used this paper, but the B side.  I’ve mounted the sun shape onto foam tape for added dimension.

Next, I went to work on my photo, I simply mat the 4×4 photo with Totally Rad ‘Say What’ paper and then lined it up next to the sentiment piece and mounted on a plain white piece of card from my stash.

 

I placed this piece towards the top half of my sun shape and centred.  This now finished the large key elements of my design so it was time to work on a few embellishments.

 

 

I wanted to add a subtitle of sorts underneath my photo and love the shade of these Alphabet Stickers from the Hello Sunshine collection to spell out the word ‘Handsome’ and then a typed sticker that said ‘hello’ from the You Rock Accessory Stickers.

Next, I fussy cut out some stars from You Rock ‘Random’ paper and added them to the page.

I felt like the top of the page now needed some clusters, so I’ve added the You Rock Chipboard Accent Stickers (orange star) and ‘Hey’ circular chipboard piece, I’ve added a die cut sticker over the top of it as I wanted the dimension of a chipboard piece but preferred the sentiment from the sticker.  I’ve also added some elements from the You Rock Die Cut Ephemera pack.

To finish out the layout, I found a couple of pieces of wood veneer (I believe these came from cute little packs that were CVS exclusives I scored at the Brisbane Scrapbook Expo 2017)  and some Enamel Shapes from the Hello Sunshine collection as a finishing touch.

I hope this page inspires you to use up your stash as well, that way we can all feel better about ordering up big on the new one!  Stay tuned to the Facebook Group for details of the release date.

Until next time,

 

Hi Creative Friends,

I’m up on the Cocoa Vanilla blog today sharing my latest page using the divine “More than Words” collection.  I have been itching to scrap this sweet little selfie with Miss 11 on a recent holiday and knew this sweet collection would be perfect.  This is my 5th layout using this collection and I love it more and more, it’s so fresh and fun and all things pretty!

The design for this page began with the cut file, I knew I wanted something bold that would be a large part of my layout design, I often start pages in this way, especially when I’m not sure of the direction I want to take with the page.  It’s a great way to get started on a project when you are not sure where to start.  Once I had decided on this flower cut file, I went about backing each of the flowers with some of the bolder patterns in the line starting with papers Darling Buds, Collage and Radiant.  I’ve also left some of the flowers so that the background paper will show through them.

I decided on the Darling Buds paper for my background, it has a stunning watercolour effect; mixed media look without any mess, love that!  Next, I used the B side of the Radiant paper to mount my photo, it features these divine paint stripes and pulled in all of the colours I had used to back my cut file perfectly.  I then used the A side of this same paper as a second photo mat.  I wanted a white edge around my photo to help it lift off of the busy cut file background.

The rest of the page I kept pretty simple, adding some Die Cut Ephemera pieces around my photo, I love how many elements you get in these packs, lots of different shapes and sizes too.  I’ve then added a tile from the Chipboard Accent Stickers, these are a really great way to quickly add a title to your page, the chipboard is nice and thick and the adhesive on the back is really secure.

Now that my photo cluster and title were sorted I wanted a few other elements to balance out the page, nothing too large to distract from the flowers, something to set them off!  I decided on some fussy cut butterflies from the Collage pattern paper and these super cute grey hearts from the Chipboard Title Stickers pack.  Hearts and butterflies, how can you possibly go wrong with that!  I’ve also thrown in a button from the Woodies pack from the Free Spirit collection it was a nice balance for the dark grey hearts and my black and white photo.  I’ve challenged myself to try and use up some of the small bits & pieces I have left of some older collections so it was nice to get one onto this page… even one here and there helps get through that stash!

and that was the layout complete.  This one was easy to put together with backing the cut file taking the longest part.  Once that was done it was super fun to add the other smaller elements to round out the design.

Thanks for popping by today, I hope you are all enjoying using this collection as much as I am.

Until next time,

Gwen

xo