Tag: Created by Gwen

Cocoa Vanilla Studios, Inspiration

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES | TIS THE SEASON | GWEN WRUCK

gwenwruck

Hi Creative Friends,

I hope you are all well! I’m back on the Cocoa Vanilla Studios blog today with a share for ‘Throwback Thursday’.  I love these features because I get to dive deep into my stash and create with some of my all-time favorite collections.  I’m also playing along with the latest challenge over as CSI Scrapbook Challenge Number 297 which Cocoa Vanilla Studios is sponsoring.  So, if you fancy yourself some free CVS, be sure to play along!

The moment I saw the Scene from the challenge I immediately thought of the Tis the Season collection.  The soft peach and coral tones and the fall ‘vibe’ of the image really appeal to me.  I also pulled inspiration from the trees in the picture, with many reminding me of pine or Christmas trees so I decided on creating a Christmas themed page.

With the collection and theme of the page decided, I pulled out a ‘Christmas themed’ cut file, this one from Cut to YOU called ‘Christmas Tree Row‘.  I’ve backed the design with a selection of papers from the collection including ‘All is Bright’ and ‘Holly Jolly’.  This collection is a few years old now, so I don’t have a lot of papers left so the cut files provided a great way to use up the scraps and stretch the supplies I had.

I’ve mounted my photo with the ‘Very Merry’ pattern paper, stitched around the edge and mounted on foam for dimension.  I’ve then run the tree cut files and my photos across the center of my page to nut out the page design.

Once I had the trees and photo positions locked in, I added some gesso to my white cardstock base and added in some light watercolor in a matching tone to the collection.  I really wanted to keep the page in the Coral and Peach tones in keeping with the mood board and would add just add a few pops of the green here and there from my embellishments.  Once my watercolor was all dry, I’ve added my tree and photo elements back on top.

Next, it was time to play with the embellishments.  I’ve pulled out lots and lots of elements from the ‘Ephemera Pack’ as well as the ‘Enamel dots’, ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet‘ and a white bow from the ‘Bitty Bows’ pack.  (You can still also get the ‘Alphabet Stickers‘ from the collection here). The cream star elements are also Cocoa Vanilla however I couldn’t see them available any longer, so you’ll have to dig deep into your stash to see if you have those.

I simply auditioned all of the elements around the photo and tree cluster until I was happy, locking in larger elements first such as the floral pieces and my title and then working with the smaller pieces to fill in the gaps.  I love making layouts like this, full of lots of pretty details.  I just keep playing with pieces until I am happy and call it done.

Thanks for popping by today to see my latest project, I hope it inspires you to get creating and play along with one of the challenges over at CSI this month.  As I mentioned, you could win yourself some Cocoa Vanilla Studios just for joining in!

Until next time,

Cocoa Vanilla Studios, Inspiration

BLOOM | UNFORGETTABLE | GWEN WRUCK

gwenwruck

Hi Creative Friends,

Happy Wednesday to you all.  I’m so excited to be back on the blog today with another Cocoa Vanilla Studio share.  I’ve had some more time to play with the new ‘Unforgettable’ collection which I am absolutely loving!  I was looking through my pages recently and noticed that I hadn’t done one of myself in a while.  I can’t say I love scrapbooking about ‘me’ but I know how important it is, so pushed through the self-consciousness and got to creating.

The inspiration for the page came from all the pretty florals in the collection and the word from the Foam Titles ‘Bloom’.  I wanted to document some changes that have been happening personally for me over the past year or so and love this sentiment.  We should always be growing and developing and I thought this would be a nice page to represent that.  (I’ve put a lot of journaling on the back of this one!)

With so many pretty pattern papers in the collection, I wasn’t sure where to start so I pulled out the ‘Pretty Bits’ paper and trimmed it so that I would have some colour blocks of the patterns.  When in doubt as to which pattern to use, I went with using them all!!  I’ve positioned the strips on the left and right sides of my page.

 

Next, I’ve taken another strip, wider this time, from the same pattern paper and added that to create a wider block of colour.  I’ve also now added some machine stitching down the edges for added detail.  Now it was time to mat my photo.  For this, I’ve gone with the ‘Garland’ paper.  I can’t believe I chopped into that wreath on the other side of this paper, thank goodness the Collection pack has two sheets of each design!

I’ve added more stitching around my photo, I just love how it sets it off.  Now it was time to play with the elements from the Ephemera Pack.  To start, I pulled out the black and white wreath element.  I’ve cut that in half to stretch it out over my page.  One half went above my photo, the other on the right as the base of my element cluster.

I’ve gone through the pack adding elements running from the top left of the page, down the centre line to the bottom right-hand corner.  I find this helps draw the eye around the page.  I’ve also added in the title at this point, above my photo and across the wide blocks of colour from the pattern paper.  I just the pop of black in this collection, so striking!

I’ve also added in a flair button as well as a cute bow.  I love the dimension these elements add to the page AND you all know how much I love a bow!

Thanks for popping by today to see my latest project, I hope it inspires you to get creating. If you don’t have any of the new ‘Unforgettable’ collection yet I urge you to go and get shopping, it really is beautiful and so nice to create with.

Until next time,