April 2020

The Sweetest Boy | Legendary Collection | Danni Visser

Hi Cocoa Vanilla fans! Today I am sharing a simple layout with a big impact featuring lots of patterned papers from the stunning Legendary collection! I was inspired to make a very organic nature-themed layout because this photo of my son and I was taken in the Australian bush, and you can see the trees in the background.

I began by freehand cutting some leaf shapes from Outdoors Type and Epic Tales patterned papers, making sure to vary the size and shape. I wasn’t too careful about making these neat; people really don’t notice any flaws in the finished layout. I wanted to add some interesting details to the leaves, so I hand stitched some veins on the larger ones with white thread and used white gel pen for faux stitching on others.

I decided to use this sweet cutfile as the main part of my title, so I went ahead and backed the letters with blue and grey from Epic Tales, Offbeat and All Star papers. To finish off my title I took the word ‘BOYS’ from the Die Cut Titles and trimmed off the ‘S’ with my scissors. Remember if the words aren’t quite what you need, it is so easy to alter them slightly! I kept my photo mats simple with a plain white followed by the light blue from Total Legend paper.

I absolutely adore the woodgrain in Outdoors Type paper, so I decide to use that as a background.  Because it is a dark tone, white accents look very striking in contrast, so I added some white modelling paste thought a quilted stencil and plenty of splatters with my white and gold inks. This kind of mixed media is simple to do but makes a huge impact!

I added some dimensional foam to my photo and title then arranged my leaves in clusters around them. I made sure to vary the placement of the green and white leaves to break up the colour and add more dimension. For a finishing touch I added three clusters of light blue, grey and white Enamel Dots and three tiny words stickers from the Accessory Stickers.  I can’t help but put enamel dots and tiny word stickers on almost all my layouts; it just doesn’t feel finished without them!

I included a couple of simple lines of journaling and the date in white pen below my title.  I just adore this layout – it was really quite simple and didn’t take too long at all, but it looks so lovely all finished. I’m so happy with it! There is a process video linked below if you would like to watch it all come together. Happy scrapping!

Danni x

 

Good life | Wild at heart Layout | Anna Komenda

Hello Friends. I am always anxious to see and use new lines beautifully designed by Zoe but after making few projects with them I start missing some older goodies. I like revisiting and rediscovering them again and again. This time I decided come back to “Wild at heart” line. You can still purchase some papers and embellishments from this collection to supplement your stash. I was running out of untouched neutral papers so I reached for wooden pattern from “You rock” collection.

I started with making 6 simple pockets out of papers with 3*4 cards. I even found a piece of vellum. I used sewing machine to mount the pockets to the base. They are not glued so you can still put elements inside them, including hidden journaling.

I used a selfie of myself but the whole page is about how my life looks when I am 36 hears old and how I was imagining it will look like when I was much younger. I tried to sum up if the expectations and plans I had 15 years ago and make some sort of check list. To be honest I was thinking my life will be different now but it’s still awesome. I live good and happy life and I am gratefull for that.

I decorated each pocket with ephemera pieces and some chipboard stickers leftovers. I also added butterflies fussy cut from one of the patterned papers. Title was made with foam stickers that were included into the “Unforgettable” collection.

Grid design is so fun to work with and I love coming back to it over and over again. And you? Do you like revisiting older lines are you work with them till the last piece and then you move to newer ones? Maybe you put leftovers to one bag and use the mix of collections to supplement other lines? I bet I sould still make at least one page with the very first CVS collections :D I am a hoarder for sure. Maybe it’s time to move back in time even more :)

Thank you for stopping by and see you soon during International Scrapbooking Day.

XO Anna

Epic Legend | Legendary Collection | Melissa Vining

Hello again, it’s Melissa here and I can’t believe it’s nearly the end of April!! I hope you’re all well and finding some time to be creative.

I have another layout to share with the amazing ‘Legendary’ collection today, and its the toughest photo I’ve ever scrapped! This photo is of my brother in law Blair and our youngest daughter Ava a week after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2018.  Blair passed away in October 2019, and I’ve held off documenting any photos from his journey until now, mostly because I felt that I couldn’t do his memory justice.  But the Legendary collection speaks to me, and is perfect for documenting this special photo.

I knew that I wanted to fussy cut some of the stars from the ALL STAR paper and make a wreath to represent what a star Blair was during his nearly 1 year battle with cancer.  I used a cut file from Paige Evans, and backed the stars with several papers from the collection (including WILD ONE, TOTAL LEGEND and Brave Heart) that had small repeating patterns.  I also added some velum from my stash for some lightness. I matted my photo with ALL STAR and EPIC TALES and distressed the edges.

The OFFBEAT paper was perfect for my background as it helps direct the eye towards the centre of my page, and of course towards the photo.  I did some subtle machine stitching in white thread, and just drew a circle with pencil and stitched around it abut 5 times. Its always easier to machine stitch when it doesn’t have to be perfect!!

I didn’t do much embellishing on this layout, mostly because all of the stars are embellishment! But I did add a tab sticker, word sticker, die cut ephemera tab, and some of the clear stickers.  My title was easily made with two of the die cut words which I popped up on foam.

I will admit that I found this layout hard to make emotionally, but I’m so happy I finally managed to start scrapbooking Blair’s Epic Journey.  Blair was an amazing bother in law who was able to present to the New Zealand Government the largest cancer petition in history, and made significant changes to cancer care in my country before he passed away.  I’m so grateful for our wonderful memory keeping hobby, and I hope I’ve inspired you to scrapbook the photos and memories you find difficult too.

You can watch my process video for this layout here.

Much love

Melissa xx

Happy | Bohemian Dream Collection | Anna Blades

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Cocoa Vanilla Blog! Today’s topic is sewing, so for this layout, I used my sewing machine and also did some hand stitching. Today I’m featuring the wonderful and colorful Bohemian Dream collection.

I chose the B side of the Flower Child paper for my background. Then I ripped a wide strip from the Dreamer paper and a thinner one from the Gypsy Heart paper and stacked them together at the center of my page. In this layout I showcased two pictures of my younger daughter on the beach. These days I’m missing open spaces so much. Behind these two photos, I placed 4 of the 3″x4 “cards from the Beautiful Mess paper and I sewed all the edges with different types of stitches.

For my title, I used my Silhouette Cameo. I cut out the word happy from the Abundant paper and hand stitched it with white thread. I also cut a bigger outline of the word from vellum. I adhered the word to the vellum with foam dots and placed it under the photos.

I embellished the page with some flowers and a butterfly from the die cut shapes and also a flower from the vellum flowers. The rest of the embellishments are from the sicker sheet.

And finally some enamels dots… almost a must-have for me. I think they add such a nice touch to any project, don’t you agree?

I really love to add some kind of stitched to my projects, because it gives interest and texture. Do you usually do that? I hope you like this layout and inspires you to create something beautiful today!

Have a wonderful day and see you soon!

Anna xx

Beautiful Moments | Midnight | Tazhiana Gordon

Hello friends and welcome back to another focus on stitching layout! I was so ready for the challenge of finding a way to include the texture of stitching and thread on my page because it is a technique I love to see on other’s work but not one I reach for very often and I have to say, I am pleased with the result.

Before I pulled out any embellishments or paper, I started by stitching a loose 3×3 grid. I’ve recently really been enjoying using more geometric and orderly designs on my page and they are a nice change from my more messy and loose layouts that I normally reach for. I used a light pink and a light blue thread to stitch semi straight lines to create my grid and left my threads on top to add a bit of messy factor to an otherwise not very messy layout. I am pleased to report that my sewing machine relatively cooperated and only made me curse existence once so I am calling that an improvement.

After I had my stitching finished and my bobbin threads neatly tucked away on the backside of my layout, I went to work on creating my base layer of embellishments. I printed my photo at 4 inches by 4 inches, which is a bit larger than I am used to using and set it in the middle of the page so I could build my clusters around it. Using the Midnight collection, I pulled out the die cut ephemera pack, the chipboard, the flair and the clear stickers and tried to mix all the textures in each section of my grid.

Once all of my smaller clusters were finished, I created a larger cluster around my photo of my husband and I and added my title underneath it using pieces from the chipboard pack. I love using the Midnight collection to scrapbook photos of my husband and I – the colors and sentiments in this line are perfect for photos like these. Finally, I cut and distressed the top and bottom edges of my page and added a strip of pattered paper for that Tazhi vibe and a bit of messiness.

That’s the page done! I hope you enjoyed this layout and it inspired you to pull out your sewing machine and to add some thread and texture to your own pages! Till next time, friends.

So Awesome | Legendary | Kylie Kingham.

Hello sweet friends! It’s Kylie back with you today to share another new layout I have been working on, featuring the super awesome “LEGENDARY” collection. I knew I wanted to work with some mixed media for this design and to keep it fairly monochromatic.

To create my framed background, I layered OFFBEAT, ONE WAY and BRAVE HEART papers. (I had carefully removed the centres of the papers first, just leaving a frame, to avoid wastage.) Each piece had been trimmed down slightly smaller than the previous to achieve a stacked appearance. I added a white card stock to the top layer, ready for some mixed media. Using a black fine tip marker, I drew a free-hand border around the edges.

Some Aqua toned watercolour was added to my large acrylic stamp block and I proceeded to stamp colour in the centre of my background. I kept adding until I was happy with the result.By using a ‘stamping’ technique allows me to control where I want the colour to be more effectively.Once dry, I took some stamps from my stash which I thought matched well with the Legendary collection and added them throughout my background. One in navy ink, the other in black.

I had three photos of my son I wanted to use in sequence. The ‘sure take my photo, hey whats over there?’ shot, the ‘here’s your nice one Mum’ shot and the  ‘OK, I’m so done now’ shot. When you keep clicking your camera, I love the photos you end up with! I printed them in black and white, the larger measuring 4″ x 4″ and the two smaller are 2″x 2″. I adhered them in place with foam tape and was then able to add some die cuts and a title surrounding my cluster.

To finish my layout, I added a very large date stamp to the lower left corner.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and seeing my layout. I hope it gives you a little inspiration for your own scrapbooking.

Kylie. xx

The Good Stories | Unforgettable Collection | Rachel Lowe

Hey scrappy friends, I hope you are doing well in these challenging times. Here is a layout to brighten your day! I have used the beautiful Unforgettable collection.

I have gone a little old school with this layout using lots of different shaped and coloured border strips. So get those those border punches out! If you have a cutting machine then you will be able to do the same. Mine measure 6 inches horizontally, so the 6×8 inch paper stack is perfect to use. I added a row of machine stitching on the border strips to add texture.

I added my 3.5×3.5 inch photo slightly off centre and with foam tape, I chose not to mat or frame my photo because I didn’t want to look too ‘busy’.

I then added my title using the Foam Title Stickers which really stands out against the colours chosen for the border strips.

I added a floral bunch to the top of my photo, I fussy cut some of the floral bunches from the Garland paper and also adding some smaller Die Cut Ephemera pack .

I did the same to the bottom of my photo creating another floral bunch.

I used two sentiment phrases from the Accessory Sheet and over the top I added a paint brush stroke from the Clear Stickers sheet. I added two hearts from the Foam Title Stickers under my sub to draw your eye.

To finish off I fussy cut butterflies from the Lacewing paper and placed them in a way on my layout so they looked like they were fluttering around (I also added with foam tape). A light splattering of black paint optional!

Well that’s it from me today but I hope this layout inspired you in some way. Thank you for stopping by and see you all again soon. Happy scrapping!

Rachel X

Unbelievable, RANDOM, Legendary | Legendary Collection | Michelle Stokes

Hello Hello! It’s Michelle back today with a new layout to share with you all. I’ve chosen to feature the wonderful Legendary Collection for this layout and share how it can be used to document the moments in our girls lives that don’t necessarily need all the pretty feminine florals or hearts. I’ve based this layout on a running theme I have for Leila that documents all her favourite things each year. I started this back in 2016 and have created a layout each year focusing on the same topic and keeping to the same basic grid design.

This year I changed up the type of collection and used the fun Legendary collection rather than the feminine styles from the past, the layout on the right covered in florals is last years creation. I find that keeping a similar design for this theme had helped to get the topic documented quickly, but also will be easy to find each individual layout to reminisce in years to come.

I started the layout by writing out the list of favourites and adhering the notepaper to the dark woodgrain paper OUTDOORS TYPE . I chose to use a photo of Leila in her finest PJ attire playing the switch and adhered this to the map paper which is the reverse of the OUTDOORS TYPE paper . Next I chose an assortment of complimentary patterns to create the grid design in the background. A mix of WILD ONE, OFF BEAT, BRAVE HEART, TOTAL LEGEND, EXPLORER and EPIC TALES which are all adhered with double sided tape and machine stitched for a little extra detail.

Once the grid of pattern papers were adhered and stitched I added the photo and list to the centre of the layout. These are raised slightly off the background using foam sheeting for that slight pop of dimension.

I added a cardstock title piece and stickers to the top of the notepaper list to create the title, with the addition of some ephemera stars and flair button to fill the blank space.

I added some random banner and tab stickers to the top and right of the photo.

I kept the embellishment clusters pretty simple in the top left and bottom right of the layout. The pieces used can be found in the ephemera pack.

and lastly some accessory word stickers to the top right and bottom left pattern papers and a good splattering of gold colour shine to the entire layout.

Well friends thats all from me today. Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check in with us regularly over in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio facebook group to talk and share all things CVS!

Until next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle xx

Super Silly Fun | Legendary collection | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone! It’s Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you. For this layout I was tasked with incorporating the theme of “sewing”, which gave me a great excuse to dust off my sewing machine and put it to good use. I decided to use the ‘Legendary’ collection for my page and pair it with a series of photos of my boys and hubby having some fun with a swing at the park.

I started with a sheet of white cardstock that I cut down to measure 11×11″, and then mounted it against the fabulous rainbow stripe of the Wild One paper. I chose this paper as my base as I really wanted to coordinate with all the colours that were present in my photos. It also opened up a broad colour scheme for the papers I was going to use on my page.

For my design I knew I wanted something fun with lots of colour and a feeling of movement to echo the action in the photos, so I decided to create a large banner. Once I had decided where my photos were going to sit on the page, it was simply a matter of cutting an assortment of different sized paper pieces for the sections of the banner. (The papers I used included All Star; Total Legend; Wild One; Offbeat; and Explorer.) I then used a small amount of glue to tack the pieces lightly in place before I used my sewing machine to stitch down the middle of a few of them.

I then tacked the photos lightly in place before adding several lines of stitching back and forth across the top to represent the string of the banner and hold them firmly in place. (I deliberately left all the loose threads hanging intact, as they added to the texture of the page.) I then went back and bent up the tails of the banner pieces, as well as the bottom edges of my photos so they would look as though they were blowing in the breeze. Now it was time for some embellishments!

I started by tucking the large circular frame / mandala piece from the Die Cut Ephemera pack in underneath the middle photo, then added a large star over the top (which I also bent up from the page). I chose the words super and silly from the Die Cut Titles pack and tacked them along the top of my photos. I then took to it with my sewing machine again, and added some lines of stitching over the top, before I added the word fun from the Clear Stickers pack underneath.

In amongst the banner pieces, I tucked in a couple of tickets and a small flag from the Die Cut Ephemera pack; then I added a couple of phrases stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet along the bottom of the left photo. From the Clear Sticker set, I added two chevrons on either side of my photos to indicate a “swinging” motion and to help draw the viewer’s eye through.

At the top of my page I added some crazy, silly stitching in each of the top corners, then added a date label from the Accessory Sticker sheet to the right hand side. I finished off by adding a few paint splat Clear Stickers, and then a few splatters of black ink and I was done!

This was a really fun page to put together, (especially doing all that random wild sewing!) and I am really happy with the result. If you have a sewing machine but you aren’t confident sewing on a layout, then this type of project might be right for you because perfection is not necessary.

Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you. Until next time, happy scrapping!

My Boys | Legendary Collection | Tarrah McLean

Hi friends,

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am sharing a  new layout for the stitching theme we are featuring here on the CVS blog this week using the awesome new Legendary collection. The photo I am documenting is a recent one of myself and my boys getting out for some exercise and fresh air during Covid-19 isolation!

I have wanted to try doing an 8.5′ x 11′ sized layout for some time now, I have created a few in my time but not many that I have shared before. I loved the smaller space to work with! I decided to incorporate machine stitching right around the entire perimeter of the blue star background  paper, bending up the edges to create some texture.

I decided to cut out an arrow design cut file (free from Paper Issues) from white cardstock and backed all the arrows with different patterned papers. I love how it looks with all the colours. I added craft foam underneath to give it dimension and placed it to the centre of the page.

Once the cut file was adhered, I placed my photo towards the top right corner, adding craft foam and 2 of the stickers from the accessory sticker sheet underneath the photo. My title is made up of the cardstock titles, I added craft foam underneath the title also and placed that opposite the photo at the top.

Some of the embellishments I included on my page are all from the Legendary collection, including the clear stickers, die-cuts, enamel dots, a flair button and some of the small phrase and word stickers from the accessory sheet. Lastly I added the date stamp to the ‘Best Ever’ sticker at the bottom.

The Legendary collection is perfect for documenting both the boys and girls in your life! Make sure you get your hands on some!

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by the Cocoa Vanilla blog during these uncertain and crazy times. I hope you all stay safe and healthy.

Tarrah x

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