SUMMER | ENDLESS SUMMER | GWEN WRUCK

Hi Creative Friends,

Back today for another Cocoa Vanilla Studios share, this time I have a fun Summer themed page featuring me!   This shot was taken at a Fun Run my sister and I did last year, as part of our “try new things” year for my 40th birthday.  I had never done anything like this so it was on our list!! AND it was so fun!  Now, we didn’t run but walked the 10-kilometre track, stopping along the way for happy snaps and this was one of them!  I’ve used the Endless Summer collection for this for its Summery soft tones.

The idea for the page began with my photo and the die cut title from the Ephemera Pack.  I find a page always comes together quickly when you have something like this to start you off.  I then went about cutting out the floral die cut file from the Colour Me Happy collection.  I went quite large with these as I knew I wanted them to be a major part of my design and to layer my photo and elements over the top of them.  I’ve left then plain white to contrast my background.

 

I went with the Sweet Treats paper for my background, because, well, who doesn’t love a wood grain!  I have rotated the paper so the grain runs up and down rather than across as I knew my design would flow more in this direction.  Next, I went about matting my photo, I’ve used both sides of the Coastal Chill paper.  I love doing this for a double matt photo.  You know the patterns will work together well and you are only cutting into one sheet.  I’ve also used a section of the This & That paper as my third paper layer, lots of fun things to fussy cut out of this one and then you can use the outside edges as a photo mat.

 

I’ve then gone ahead and fussy cut out the pink doily and striped tab from the same paper and layered them into my paper stack.  I also took this opportunity to add some foam tape to my photo to make it stand out above the background layers.  Now was also the time to add a single pink flower from the Blooms pack.

 

I then went ahead and added the smaller elements.  I adore the little wood veneer pieces in this collection, cute clouds, hearts and even a flamingo!! I’ve also added a cloud from the puffy stickers sheet, super cute!! I then went in search of elements from the Ephemera Pack.  I went with this cute banner as well as the title.  It was a nice chance to add some stitching here as well.

 

Lastly, I added the Flair and Enamel Shapes and some Woodies, all the page was done!  I love how it turned out, so warm and Summery.  With Winter now behind us in Australia, I am so looking forward to seeing all the Spring/Summer filled pages and I hope mine has inspired you today.
Thanks for popping by today
Until next time
Gwen
xo

"Donut Day" for D-lish Scraps

Hi Creative Friends,

I’m here today to share another layout for D-lish scraps. This one may have you all wondering why on earth I would scrap about doughnuts, but I say why not!! Miss C was making a huge deal about International Donut day, she had marked it in her calendar and was counting down the days so it was a big deal in our house!  She was not going to let it go until she got a doughnut on International Donut day!  AND of course, such an occasion MUST be scrapbooked!!  For those wondering, it is on the first Friday of June so go ahead and mark it in your calendar now 🙂

The idea for the design of this page started with a Crate Paper page from the Hello Love Collection from 2015.  I knew I wanted to fussy cut out a stack of the X and O elements from the sheet to make a background.  I started by staggering these in rows across my page.  Once I had these placed, I then went about punching with an edge punch some paper scraps from the same collection and layering them up on my background.  This design is in a way similar to another page I created with the same punched paper strips.  Not every page needs to be a new design or idea, sometimes it’s great to scrap lift your own page and tweak it for something different.

 

Once I was happy with the background placement, I went about stitching it all down with my sewing machine.  Next, it was time to place my photo and photo mat, for this I’ve used a sheet of pattern paper and a piece of scrap and a paper doily. I then mounted it all on foam to help separate it from the background.

 

Next, it was time to add my title, for this I have used the Puffy Alphabet Stickers.  I just love how you can stitch these down; I’ve used grey here which picks up my photo and there is also a touch of grey in the pattern papers I have used.

 

I then went about creating 2 small clusters of embellishments.  One at the top of the page and the other in the bottom right-hand side of my photo.  These are not very detailed or layered, they were really just a few buttons and a paper flower from Little Birdie.  You can find the heart buttons here and the Jewelled Cabochons here.  With the paper layers going on in my background, I did want to keep my embellishments simple, it was really just some finishing touches I was adding.

 

 

Here you can see that I hand stitched the buttons on (after adding a very small amount of glue to hold them in place and the page was done!  I really love how it turned out and I hope next year, you celebrate International Donut Day, I’m pretty sure we will be!
Products used:
Puffy Alphabet Stickers
Paper Doiley
Little Birdie Flowers
Shaped wooden buttons
Jewelled Cabochons
Bows
thanks for popping by today
Gwen

 

 

xo

Pink Paislee Summer Lights – Guest DT for Sassy Scrappers – Hello Weekend

Hi Creative Friends,

I’m back on the blog today with another share as this months Guest Designer for Sassy Scrappers!  This month I’m creating with the latest collection from Pink Paislee – Summer Lights and today I’m sharing my third page.  If you missed the first or second one, you can check them out on the Sassy Scrappers blog here.

 

For this page, I really wanted to pull out the stunning turquoise and yellow in this collection, I was really inspired by the No 10 pattern paper which I have used as my background.
I had this sweet action shot of Miss 10 and my hubby at the beach and went about creating a little beach scene starting with a sun shape which I have cut using my Silhouette and a piece of 6×6 paper from the paper pad.

 

For the bottom part of the page, I wanted to create some waves, I didn’t really having any cut files that would work, but then had an idea to use a border punch. There are a few in store here, and many would give you a similar effect.  I simply punched out a stack and trimmed them very thinly and layered on my page and then stitched down.  I chose different shades of the turquoise paper to simulate the waves.

 

Once I had the Sun and the waves in position, it was time to add my photo. I’ve mounted it with a scrap from my previous pages and a bright yellow sheet from the 6×6 paper pad.

 

It was then time to add my title, I went with a chipboard piece that says “The ocean is calling” and two more thicker stickers “Hello Weekend”.  The Thicker pack is full of text that you could use as a simple and quick title to a page and they are really great value.  The page was now really coming together and just needed some finishing touches.  I chose a cute little camera, some glasses and star fish as well as some foil elements which are so fun!  I also added some clouds to the top of the page which have been fussy cut from one of the papers in the 6×6 paper pad.  I really love how this has come together.
Thanks for checking out the blog today, I’ve had an absolute blast creating these pages for you as part of the Guest DT and I hope you will check out the collection in store and get creating with your Summer filled photos.

 

You can find the entire range in the Sassy Scrappers store here.
Until next time,
Gwen
xo

THE SLEEPY KITTY | ENDLESS SUMMER | GWEN WRUCK

Hi Creative Friends,

Back today for another Cocoa Vanilla Studios share and this week on the blog our focus in on multiple photos.  Generally, I prefer to scrap one photo per page so it was fun to mix things up a bit and include more than one.  I had these 2 cute pics of my kitty Ferris and thought they would be perfect.  I seriously think this cat sleeps all day, it’s quite the life don’t you think!

The design for this page started with the photos which I knew I wanted to print smaller than usual.  These are 3 inches x 3 inches.  I would definitely recommend working with smaller prints if you are used to only using one photo at a time.  I also knew I wanted to create a bold title, another reason for printing smaller than usual as I knew my title would fill up quite a bit of space on the page.  I have used my Silhouette to cut the title from a plain piece of card stock, then I went about mounting it with the Sunbleached paper, I just love the ombre on this one, I didn’t want a pattern in my background here, I wanted something very simple and this paper was perfect.

Next, it was time to get about hand stitching.  I punched small holes around the edge of the letters and then hand stitched using embroidery thread.  I like to leave a small white space between the edge of the letters and my stitching so that it looks more like an outline rather than sitting directly on the edge.
I then also mounted this piece of white cardstock onto the Sweet Treats paper – just so that a small strip was showing at the top and a slightly larger one down the bottom.  I also added stitching with my machine around the edge at this point.

 

Now was the time to place my photos and add my embellishment clusters.  I wanted the design to be somewhat symmetrical, so I placed one photo under the title on the left and the other above the title on the right.  I have mounted these using the striped side of the Coastal Chill paper and the lightest part of the Sunbleached paper.  Next, I added the cute floral pieces from the accessory stickers sheet.  I know it’s extravagant to use the 2 floral pieces from 2 separate sheets, but I had them there and I really wanted that part of the design to balance.

 

It was now time to finish off my title, I’ve done this with the Alphabet stickers.  I pulled out the green letters on the sheet to help balance out the small green details from the flower clusters.  There was already a lot of the warm peach tones, so I didn’t want to add to them, I wanted something to break them up a little.  With such a big title, I wanted to keep the other elements on the page quite simple so I have just added a few wood veneer elements, these ones are from the Life is Beautiful collection and some sticker hearts also from the Accessory Sticker sheet.

 

Lastly, I added some cute enamel elements from the Enamel Shapes pack and the layout was done.
Thanks for popping by today, I hope you have enjoyed seeing how this one came together and I’d love to see your pages using more than one photo; so be sure to share them in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Community, we do really love seeing your creations!
Until next time,
Gwen
xo

"Follow your heart & Dance" for Colour Blast

Hi, Creative friends!!

Back with you today as part of the Colour Blast team sharing with you another “clean mixed media” project, this time featuring a beautiful rose cut file.

The idea for this project came from this divine Roses cut file I have used to fill my entire background.  I love cut files like this one as it is a great start to a page, add some sparkles and the page pretty much makes itself.

To create my page, I started with a few small splatters in the top left-hand corner and bottom right-hand corner of the page using the Colour Shimmer Cubes in Blush and the Shimmer Spray in Blush as well.  I find the colour in the Colour Shimmer Spray to be quite light compared to that of the colour in the Shimmer cubes (especially if you don’t water it down very much) so it’s nice to use the same colour in a couple of different products for a colour on colour affect.  The dark splatters here are the Shimmer cube and the light ones are the Shimmer spray.

 

Next, using a combination of Blush in the Colour Shimmer Cube and Lipstick in the Colour Shimmer Cube as well as more of the Blush Colour Shimmer Spray, I have painted the cut file.  I have not been too particular with the painting as I really wanted a variety in the depth of colour – I was really hoping to see the variation in the colours here, whilst they are all in the same colour family, the Lipstick is a bit darker so I tried hard not to blend it all too much.

 

Once I was happy with the colour on my cut file, I dried it off with a heat gun. I then layered it over the splatters I created in Step one and glued it down to onto my background.  I didn’t use very much glue, just enough to keep it in place for the next step.

 

Now was the time to add some stitching.  I have created loose circles with my sewing machine creating a few circles around each of the flowers.  This took some time but was worth it considering it was the main feature of the design.  You can see a close up of the stitching below as well as the different shades of pink on the cut files; I love that the colour is not perfectly blended and in some sections, you can see quite a bit of the white cardstock showing through.
Next, it was time to add my photo and embellishments.  Whilst I had the 9 Roses in the background sorted, I wanted to add two main focal points for the actual design, a smaller one in the top left-hand corner which features a chipboard piece that says “Follow Your Heart” and the larger one including my photo in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

 

I’ve mounted my photo keeping the photo mat pretty simple as I already had quite a bit going on with the rose background.  I’ve added a few embellishments on the left with the main cluster on the right including some pretty flowers and a geometric heart embellishment.

 

Finishing up the page, I added the word “Dance” to round out my title – Follow Your Heart & Dance as well as some pretty yellow butterflies for contrast.  I like how these ones look painted without the mess and hard work 🙂

 

and there you have it.. my second Colour Blast project – I really hope you like it and it inspires you to work with the new Colour Shimmer cubes, and your Shimmer Sprays they really are beautiful!
But, before I go, I just wanted to share one last image… this one of my swatch book.  I have swatched out my collection of Colour Blast onto plain white cardstock, punched a hole in the top left-hand corner and placed onto a jump ring.  I love how I can quickly and easily see what a product will look like once dry and compare to other products in the same colour family.  If I have a colour in more than one product, I have placed them side by side on the jump ring for easy comparison.  This also shows me at a glance the colours I am missing and what I need to add to my collection next!
I give this project a “mess level” of Low
 (A quite wipe of the messy mat with a baby wipe after painting the cut file, 1 paint brush and 1 cup of water)
Hands, nails and workspace remain totally colour free!
Thanks for popping by
Gwen
xox

 

 

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