November 2020

Christmas Family Traditions | Merry and Bright Collection | Danni Visser

Hi there scrappers! Danni here with another 12×12 layout. I am well and truly gearing up for the festive season and getting creative with the gorgeous Merry and Bright collection. I was inspired this time by the amazing Countdown 12×12 patterned paper with the gorgeous advent calendar-style squares, which I decided were perfect to document the advent calendar I made a few years ago.

To begin with I chopped straight into the paper and cut all the numbered squares apart. To add texture, I first distressed all the edges, then went through and stitched around the border of half the squares with my sewing machine and white thread. I left all the loose ends free to add even more soft textural elements to the layout. For the remaining squares, I used a heat embossing ink pen, gold embossing powder and a heating tool to add a shiny gold border. I just love gold for the festive season!

Once all my squares were ready, I laid them out on top of the Happy Holidays 12×12 patterned paper. I really love that the background is mostly white, but you can just see a sprinkling of the teeny tiny polka dots peeking out from between the squares.

Using the woodgrain and candy stripe papers from the A5 paper stack I made a square photo mat in the centre of my layout. I had originally printed a collage photo for this, but I didn’t love how it looked so I cut it apart into individual photos, keeping the main one in the centre and placing the rest randomly on top of some of the numbers.

With such a busy background, I wanted to keep embellishment minimal so as not to overwhelm the page. I took some of the stunning floral clusters that I had fussy cut from Joy to the World 12×12 patterned paper and created two clusters on opposite corners of my centre photo, layering one over the top and tucking the other underneath my photo. I made use of some of the tiny leaves and flowers to add detail.

Because I did not have much space left on the layout, I decided to simply use three of the tiny word phrases from the accessory stickers to serve as my title, framing them around my centre photo. As a finishing touch I added some gold dimensional drops to the centre of all my flowers, then added some white drops around my floral clusters.

I love how this layout turned out and I really hope you enjoyed joining me today. There is a video linked below where you can watch the whole layout come together. Thank you so much and happy scrapping!

Danni x

Shine On | Laura Alberts | Daydream Collection

Hey y’all! Laura Alberts here today to share a darling 9×12 layout with you as well as a 12×12 sketch version of the same design! I sometimes create a sketch to plan out layouts that I want to get “just right” before taping everything down to the page. With this layout, I wanted to illustrate how to get a vertical and horizontal photo on the same page without trying to collage them together (which is generally my go-to method!). By creating two separate photo clusters backed with similar elements (i.e. a doily, florals, and banner), that are still connected by the title, I could tie them together despite the different orientations.

I used fussy cut florals behind each of the photos and included other design elements, such as flair badges and rainbows to coordinate the two sections. Now, because I was working on a smaller layout size than the 12×12 I’d sketched out, I did have to compromise on space for the title. So, by keeping it short and to the point, that helped it to fit in the limited space between the photo clusters.

The butterflies, along with the Nuvo drop trails behind them, create a bit of movement on the page and guide your eye from one cluster to the other. Butterflies are my favorite icon and love that they are a consistent part of the Cocoa Vanilla Studio collections! I also love these tiny flowers that can be fussy cut from the floral patterned paper and used for sprinkling around my clusters. Those tiny details make such a big difference in the end!

By layering my photo clusters onto a beautiful mixed media style patterned paper, rather than white card stock, it gives my overall layout a very soft feel to it. The borders on either side narrow the space for my clusters while giving me a linear element to contrast all of the whimsical, soft touches.

I hope the sketch for this layout inspires you to look at your photo placement a little differently! It’s fun to see how you can change things up. If you’d like to see the Shine On layout come together, I have the entire process in the video below!

Easy advent calendar | Merry and bright collection | Anna Komenda

Hello everyone. It’s Anna here and I can finally share my first project made with new “Merry and bright” collection. You have already seen plenty of inspiration from my fellow DT girls and it won’t be easy to beat them :). December is approaching really fast and it seems like our European summer ended like a week ago. If you have kids, you may already prepared advent calendar to help them count down to Christmas Day. If not, I am here to help you. I prepared really fast and easy version, that took me about 3 hours to finish. You can spend your last two days of November preparing this project and make your kids very happy.

My calendar contains of 24 bags and boxes filled with small candy and pieces of Lego blocks. I mixed the shapes of containers to make everything more fun. Most of them are just plain crafts bags that are used to pack lunch or candies. I always keep stack of them in my house.

I also added few square boxes in two sizes made of various papers from “Merry and bright” collection. I used very helpful box punch board. You can make single box in few minutes and you don’t even have to use single drop of glue.

Last group is a few triangular boxes made with 6*6 squares. I just glued two sides together creating a tube, used stapler to seal one side and filled the box. Last step was to rotate it 90 degrees and seal it again with staples.

I made a little hole in each bag and box and added piece of longer craft string. I hanged everything or artificial pine branch, that I use every year for my calendar. I bough it for few dollars. You can also use real pine branch. It will last only through this season but it will smell amazing. You can also recycle something you already have in your house or just use plain, leafless branch found during the walk. I seal the boxes and bags the way they have to be cut to be opened so they only last one year. I don’t have enough room to store them so I just prefer make new each year.

I used numbers from 1 to 24 as in Poland we only count down to Christmas Eve (the most important dat on the whole Christmas period and the day children get their presents). I cut them our from paper called “Countdown”. You can either do like me cutting our each number or cut the whole squares. I mixed the numbers with elements from ephemera pack using up almost whole pack. Preparing everything took me like 2,5 hour so it went really fast. I played my favorite christmas songs to soak into the proper mood. Last half of hour was dedicated to add things inside, string and hang it on the branch. Just remember to spread the number evenly so the kids will cut the boxes out from left and right side every second day. Otherwise, in the middle of December you will have one side empty and the branch will start tilting.

How do you like my idea? Are you making your own advent calendars or you just buy premade ones? My kids are always very excited for ours and they can’t imagine not having it, even if I am trying to be lazy and bribe them with the bought one, filled with chocolate.

That is all for today. Thank you so much for stopping by and see you in December.

XO Anna

Making Spirits Bright | Merry & Bright | Melissa Vining

Hello! Its Melissa here and I’m so excited to be sharing my first layout made with the brand new ‘MERRY & BRIGHT’ collection!! This collection is totally stunning and I was so happy to start using it.  I decided to scrap an older photo of my daughter Brielle from a couple of years ago with a Christmas cookie at one of our favourite cafes.  My challenge was to use black, and I chose to use black acrylic paint and black mist spatters.

I decided to go bold with this page, and used the ‘SEASON’S GREETING’ patterned paper as my background.  I painted on some black paint with a foam brush to create visual separation, and its only because of the paint that this page doesn’t appear too busy.  I added large white spatters on top of the back paint once it was dry.

I backed my photo with several papers from the ‘A5 PAPER STACK’, and I love that they are such a thick weight and can handle lots of distressing!  I cut a larger piece of the scripted font paper and tore the bottom edge for extra texture.

I fussy cut one of the floral clusters from ‘JOY TO THE WORLD’ for my main embellishment cluster.  I cut the pieces apart fully, and then placed them back together in a configuration I liked on top of my photo.  My journalling and title are utilising two of the ‘POCKET CARDS’. I had to use one of the cute houses from the ‘DIE CUT EPHEMERA’ pack too!

Of course I had to add one of the gorgeous gold ‘PUFFY STARS’!! I added some other ephemera pieces too.  My final touch was to add large black and gold splatters!

I’m so grateful for this challenge, as I don’t know if I would have thought to add black paint onto my layout! I also don’t think I would have used this patterned paper as a background.

You can watch my layout come together in my process video.

Have an awesome Black Friday weekend!

Melissa xx

 

 

Hello you | Daydream, Unforgettable and More than words collections | Anna Blades

Hi CVS friends! Anna here with you sharing a new layout. This week we are focusing on using black because of Black Friday. And I really love black. For today’s project, I have combined black with much softer tones. I think it turned out very beautiful.

For my background, I used a watercolor sheet to do the plastic technique with black dye ink. I created a diagonal design and then, I did a lot of black splatters with pink ones too. I covered most part of it, but you can still see part of the background peeking out behind the circles.

I used the 6×8 Paper pack from More than words and Daydream collections to cut out a bunch of circles in different sizes. I placed them across the page, raising some circles with foam dots to give more dimension.

Between the circles, I also glued some flowers from the Daydream Die Cut Ephemera pack. They match really well with the More than words collection. As the theme of the page was circles, flair buttons were perfect and also add dimension and texture to the layout.  I cut my picture with a circle die as well.

I used some phrases from the More than words Accessory Sticker and I arranged three of them all over the page. For my title, I chose the Unforgettable foam title stickers. I love its script font and the deep black and how it stands out. Black hearts are from these stickers too.

To finish off, I cut half an inch from each side of the paper, framed it with black cardstock, and I did a machine stitching all around the page.

And that’s it! I hope you like it and gives you some inspiration to use black in your projects. Thank you so much for stopping by today! See you soon!

You Are My Sun, My Moon and All of My Stars | Boys Rule collection | Tarrah McLean

Hi everyone!

It’s Tarrah back with you on the Cocoa Vanilla blog and today I am sharing a new layout for an ‘Add Something Black’ feature this week!

I decided to add a black cut file design from CUT to YOU for my black feature and I dug into my big Boys Rule collection!!

I cut the design out from black cardstock and then backed all the different words in the cut file with the papers from the Boys Rule 6′ x 8′ paper pad. I then added foam adhesive underneath the entire cut file and adhered it to gorgeous blue background paper. I trimmed down this paper and matted the entire layout with black cardstock also.

I adhered the photo of my eldest son in the top right corner of the page, lifting up the cut file slightly to have the file sitting over the photo. I layered a tag, a tab and some paper under the photo and added one of the awesome chipboard stars over the top of the photo. Some of the other chipboard elements I added were the pennant that says, ‘The Best’ at the top, the arrow on the left of the page and the lightning bolt at the bottom.

Some star die-cuts were also added to help fill in other spaces, you can never go wrong with stars on a boy page right?! I also added the piece that says, ‘100% Boy’ under the word moon.

Some phrase stickers from the accessory sticker sheet were added as a final touch and I also stamped the date stamp of when the photo was taken. I really enjoyed working with a black cut file instead of my go to white for this layout. I love how the black makes the colours in the Boys Rule collection really pop!

Thanks so much for stopping by the Cocoa Vanilla blog today! I hope you enjoyed my layout and that you were inspired in some way!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

 

Holly Jolly memory keeping | Merry and Bright | Kylie Kingham.

Hello friends! It’s Kylie back with you today and I’m SO excited to be sharing my very first project with the brand new ‘Merry & Bright’ collection. This fab new range is perfect for any festive scrapbooking or crafty project you have in mind. For something different, I wanted to create some smaller scale, memory keeping pages in my traveller’s notebook.

I like to add a paper background to the pages of my TN and always make sure I trim them slightly smaller than the page. Not only does this create a lovely paper border but it is practical in the sense that as I fill my TN I wont have trouble with pressure on the spine and pages getting crumpled or coming apart.

For interest, I have layered some papers together to create a border. I’ve used a craft border punch and scalloped edged scissors to give a nice decorative finish to each layered paper. The gingerbread houses from the die cut pack were so cute! I’ve layered several over the top of my paper edge borders to support my image.

For the opposite page I have layered several of the gorgeous Christmas blooms, again from the die cut pack. Whilst each double page ‘blends’ design concept wise, I don’t necessarily create a mirror image design to the opposite page.

For this next double page design. I used the fun spotted side of the ‘Happy Holidays’ paper with a decorative border edge using the ‘Jingle All The Way’ paper. So that my photos are framed, I have backed them with some of the ‘Count Down’ paper.

You can add some journaling to your pages but I have kept it fairly simple and create some short phrases to suit using the sticker sheet.

Did someone say ‘gold metallic fabric stars?’ Umm yes please!! These were perfect for embellishing the photo of my son and I love that they aren’t too thick and bulky for my TN pages.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my latest memory keeping project and it may inspire you a little to try smaller scale scrapbooking in a TN too!

Until next time,

Kylie.

Joy to the World | Merry & Bright collection | Rachel Lowe

Hi CVS friends today I am sharing my first layout using the gorgeous new Christmas collection Merry & Bright.

As most of you know I LOVE cut files and what’s better when one is already cut for you with a beautiful water colour mixed  media effect! (large die cut and backing kit)  All I did before starting my layout is splattering the page with gold paint.

I love the Christmas Krispy Kreme doughnuts and so I have used this photo to Create a fun layout. My photo size is 4×4 inches. Using the 6×8 inch paper pack I used Star Bright and Oh Christmas Tree papers and cut at 4.2 inches. I angled each mat behind the photo but attached the photo straight with foam tape over the right of the tree.

I tucked under my photo the double heart flair buttons and finished off using two die cut tabs from the ephemera pack.

I created a floral cluster on the left side of the tree, using foam tape of some of the florals to add dimension. I tucked a die cut ticket slightly under the larger flower.

Of course I had to add the happy Father Christmas die cut and created a small embellishment cluster in the lower left corner of my layout, again using foam tape on some of the die cut ephemera.

Lastly I added one of the gold puffy hearts to the top of the tree. I had considered adding some machine stitching but to be honest this cut file kit is just perfect the way it is.

Super quick and super easy layout that still looks fabulous!

Thank you for stopping by today and I will see you again soon with an off the page creation all about Christmas.

Rachel X

Merry and Bright | Merry & Bright collection | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone! Sue Plumb here to share my very first layout using the brand new ‘Merry & Bright’ collection. For this Christmas page, I couldn’t go past documenting one of my kids Santa photos from last year. Each year we try to do something a little out of the ordinary, as it not only makes it easier to get my kids to do it, but it also gives us something fun to look back on. (Not to mention giving Santa a good giggle as well.) Last year we decided to go with a Queen theme, as Bohemian Rhapsody is one of our favourite car sing-along songs.

Here is my layout…

As soon as I opened this collection, I was immediately drawn to the gorgeous wood grain print on the Season’s Greetings paper. (Zoe always has the best wood grains!) I decided to use it as the basis for my page, so I cut it down to measure 10×10″ and then mounted it onto the script pattern of the Oh What Fun paper to add a border.

I really wanted to make the background bit more “me” so I decided to add some mixed media as well. I brushed on some dark grey acrylic paint, then used a loose script stencil (which tied in beautifully with the script print paper) and some gold glaze to add texture.

Now it was time for some papery layers! I used pieces of some of the scaled down prints from the A5 Paper Stack to use as layers under my photo, adding in a dark grey paper doily (to tie in with the paint) and some frayed gauze for texture. I also added some cardboard to the back of my photo to help pop it up from the page.

For my embellishments, I began with the gorgeous floral pattern of the Joy to the World paper because I couldn’t wait to fussy cut those flowers! I cut two large pieces which I tucked in under the bottom left and top right corners of the photo, to create a diagonal flow to help draw the viewer’s eye through the photo. I also added an extra flower from the Die Cut Ephemera pack.

Then it was time for some pretty little bits and pieces. I used three of the Puffy Gold Stars, which I attached using my stapler; and some small pieces of twisted gold wire, which I also stapled to the page.

For my title, I fussy cut the words merry and bright from one of the 3×4″ Pocket Cards and then adhered it below my photo using foam tape to pop it up from the page. I also tucked in the sweet little Santa Flair Button alongside my title.

To finish off, I stamped the date and a few phrases using a roller stamp from my stash; then added a touch more festive sparkle with some splatters of gold mist and a sprinkling of gold sequins.

I’ve already been busy creating more layouts with this collection and I can’t wait to share them with you soon. If you don’t have this collection yet, make sure you contact your favourite retailer to ask if they have it in stock.

Until next time, happy scrapping!

The Most Wonderful Time | Merry & Bright | Raquel Bowman

Hi everyone, it’s Raquel here and today I am sharing my first layout with you using the new Christmas collection ‘Merry & Bright’. I don’t know if I feel quite ready personally for Christmas or Christmas documenting however I must say that I really loved creating this layout. 

The focus of this layout was to document the arrival of our Elves Chippy and Snowflake each year. This time is highly anticipated in my household and spoken about in incidental moments all throughout the year ‘Remember the time Chippy did….’ ‘I love when Snowflake did ….’. I used a photo taken during the first year that Chippy arrived and a cut file from Cut to You store. 

Here is the layout that I created:

The cut file stocking was backed using 6×8″ papers from the paper pad. I love that the paper pads come with the same patterns and designs as the 12×12″ sheets but on a much smaller scale. I just adore a diagonal stripe so I had to use that as the feature of the cut file backing. I used the text script paper under the gift tag, but also added an ephemera tag to the top of the stocking to replicate a tag on the stocking too.

To embellish the top of the stocking I used a ‘be jolly’ sticker and one of the gorgeous gold fabric stars.

The title is a sticker ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ and is a small feature off the layout.I used a mixture of foam adhesive on both the photo and the stocking die cut to add extra dimension to the page. 

The journaling for this layout was typed on my typewriting and cut into strip form.

I cannot wait to document the 2021 Christmas adventures with the elves and my little family using this absolutely beautiful collection. I hope you have been inspired by todays layout. 

 

Raquel x

 

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