November 2021

Amazing Walk with You | These Days | Sophie Delorme

Sophie Delorme 19/11/2021

Hello Cocoa Vanilla friends!

It’s Sophie with you today with a new autumnal page created with the lovely These Days collection !

I used the Pretty Posies woodgrain paper as the main part of my background. I paired it with a scalloped border punched out of the Home Grown paper and created a little hand stitched line with white embroidery floss.

I printed my photo in black in white so that it wouldn’t compete with all the colors I planned to use on my page. It softens the overall look of the layout and it drives the eye easily to the photo.

I wanted to use clusters of branches and flowers all around the photo, since it was taken in the forest new our home.

I cut two cut files from the Anett Design store on white paper and backed the beautiful leaves with different patterned papers from the These Days A5 Paper Stack. I also cut strips of the Family Ties paper in different colors. I bent each strip in different length and placed them at the base of all the leaves. I added a handstitched knot to each bent paper in matching colors. Although it was a very simple little thing to do, I love the beautiful dimension it adds to the page.

I placed the two branch cutfiles on each side of the photo, adding many floral ephemeras at each base and on a few leaves.

I printed my journaling on white cardstock and cut it into strips under the photo.

My title comes from a mix of These Days Mini Puffy Alphabet stickers and letters cut with a die from my stach.

I stamped the date and added a few Nuvo Crystal drops as the finishing touch.

Here are more close-ups:

I hope you like what you see!

Thank you for stopping by,

Until next time,

Sophie xx

Oh what fun! | Joyful Collection | Raquel Bowman

Raquel Bowman 18/11/2021

Hi everyone, it’s Raquel here sharing a layout with you that I created using the new Joyful collection. This was the first time I have played with this collection and boy, it did not disappoint. I decided to look back at some of my favourite memories from our 2020 Christmas and chose to document a series of three photos of my kiddies all dressed up and ready to get their Santa photo.

Here is the layout I created:

As I mentioned above, the subject of my layout was my kiddies. These photos were my chance to snap a nice photo of the kids together and dressed up. As you can see from the pics, with these two, it can be tricky to get a photo of them both together when they’re both looking at the camera. I printed these slightly smaller than 3×4″ and in black and white. This helps with coordinating my photos to the new collection.

I added a patterned border to the photos using the paper pad. I love that the paper pads patterns are slightly smaller and also that you get some similar prints to the 12×12 but in different colours. The photo is adhered to the page with foam tape that has been doubled over. I wanted the photo to stand out a bit more than the cut file.

The ‘jingle bells’ cut file is from Cut to You and is a main focal element to this layout. I used a combination of patterned papers to back the file including some gold glitter paper that I had in my stash. I love the finished effect of the bells on this layout. It brings such a Christmas element of fun to the layout. A challenge with using feature cut files is to ensure that the file doesn’t take away from the main focus of the page: the photos. To do this I try and make sure to embellish the page in a visual triangle so your eyes move around the page from the top left, to top right, down to the journaling in the bottom right and back up again.

I created clusters of embellishments on either side of the photo. These were fussy cut from the ‘Tis the Season’ paper and layered to create interest. I finished the clusters with small puffy stickers like stars and leaves and also stars from the ephemera and chipboard packs. I just adore the colourings of this Christmas collection.

The cluster to the left of the photo, again contains more fussy cut flowers, stars and leaves from the stickers, ephemera and chipboard. I finished that little cluster with a cute little Reindeer puffy sticker and an ‘oh what fun!’ banner. The Reindeer matched my photos perfectly as the kids were wearing Reindeer hats that Santa gave them.

I journaled using my fave technique of strip journaling and adhered this to the bottom corner to balance out the top heaviness of the layout.

I finish the page I framed the entire layout in the ‘Making spirits bright’ paper, this also tied into the colour of the bow on the bell.

Thanks so much for stopping by the CVS page today, I hope that this layout has inspired you.

Raquel x

HELLO SUNSHINE | ENDLESS SUMMER | GWEN WRUCK

Gwen Wruck 17/11/2021

Hi Creative friends,

Gwen back on the blog today with a stash busting share for you featuring the ‘Endless Summer‘ collection. Whilst this collection is from a while ago now (2016), I still really love the soft tones in it and the sweet icons, they are perfect for documenting beach photos; these taken of my daughter many years ago. I have quite a few embellishments for this line in my stash so I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some of those used up as well!

The idea for the page was to create a landscape of sorts, with my photos sitting towards the bottom of the page and the top portion of the page being a pretty summer sky. I’ve used the ‘Blue Skies’ pattern paper for my background and then created a frame with the ‘Sun Bleached’ ombre pattern paper. I’ve used this paper to create photo mats for my photos as well.

For a fun element to add to my sky background, I’ve cut two paper kites using a cut file from CUT to YOU. I’ve backed these in the ‘Sun Bleached’ pattern paper as well as the ‘Aloha’ pattern paper, a fun tropical floral print. I’ve added some stitching detail to really make them a feature of the design.

My photos also have a stitched border added for extra detail and they run along the bottom of the edge of the layout. I wanted them to feel grounded against my background.

With the photo and large cut file elements in place, now I get to audition the embellishments in the collection. I noticed at this point that I had a lot of little sentiments to work with from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera’ pack as well as the ‘Accessory Stickers’. I even had some that had been fussy cut from the ‘This and That’ pattern paper. I also had some of the ‘Flair Buttons’ in my stash and am happy to have included two on this layout.

Thinking about the way the eye will flow from the top of the page down to my photos and across to the left, I have nestled in elements along the left hand edge of my paper kites. I’ve also added a longer sentiment at the bottom of the page to balance things out and help that bottom section feel more grounded. Here you can see how the cloud icons in the background pattern paper are matched to the flair button. I love this layered look.

I’ve then added in a floral sticker from the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’ (which I cut in half) as well as some other round elements to soften the look of the page and add more interest. The different sized round elements really add to the dimension of the page as well. Lastly, I’ve added in two of the die cut butterflies from the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’ as well as a couple of ‘Enamel Shapes’ as a last finishing detail.

I have made a YouTube process video for this one which you can watch here:
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I hope this layout inspires you to dive into your stash and get creating!

Until next time,

Gwen

Holiday Cards | Joyful Collection | Laura Alberts

Laura Alberts 16/11/2021

Hey y’all! Laura back again with three holiday card from the stunning new Cocoa Vanilla Studio Joyful collection! I really adore the sweet icons and beautiful patterns in this one. It was so much fun to experiment with a variety of papers, fussy cutting everything, and adding the sparkly finishing touches! For the first card, I layered fussy cut florals in the background with a tree from the ephemera pack and a chipboard piece that says “Falalalala” for my central focal point. The title is simply “Jolly” wrapped over the top from the ephemera pack. Those tiny details really are what makes this one pop! With one of the gold fabric stars for the top of the tree and gold Nuvo Drops dotted in the center of the florals and around the backyard, this card really shines!

On the second card, I layered two patterned papers from the A5 paper stack as a base for my large title. The “Christmas Joy” is from the chipboard stickers and is a stunning gold foil! I layered a large fussy cut swag behind the “Joy” and then added dimension with a second layer of fussy cut florals on top of it. My favorite part of this particular card are the little floral bits that look like they are flitting around the outside of both the swag and the title. With more Nuvo Drops for a sparkly detail, this card came together rather quickly after all of that fussy cutting!

For the third card, I decided to create a scene with these adorable animal icons! A little white card stock for snow along the bottom was a quick and easy base for this sweet deer and squirrel. I created the appearance of depth to this one by layering the tree and sign behind the deer, which gives the allusion they are further back. I added chipboard stars across the top of the card with Nuvo Drop trails leading down to them, so that they appear to be hanging from the sky! The “Jingle All the Way” sentiment is from the chipboard stickers and just like before, gold Nuvo Drops were the final details this one needed!

I hope you enjoyed my take on holiday cards using the gorgeous new Joyful collection! They were so much fun to make and I can’t wait to share them with family and friends! Don’t be afraid to use some of the dimensional embellishments on your cards! Once I removed several layers of chipboard behind the titles, they laid quite flat!

Winner Announcement – ‘Joyful’ collection

Zoe Pearn 15/11/2021

Hi everyone!

I am back with another winner announcement today. This time I am super excited to announce the winners of our ‘Joyful’ collection giveway!

I was so touched with all the lovely comments you left on the giveaway post (and yes, I do read every one of them!) and am thrilled you love this collection as much as I do. Thank you everyone for your support and to all of our retailers who have already ordered. (If you are looking for somewhere to buy this range, start by checking our stockist list HERE.) This collection will not be re-stocked by us, so make sure you grab it while you can!

Now onto our winners! Our lucky first winner who will receive the ENTIRE ‘Joyful’ collection is…

Congratulations Alexandra Skifton!

And our runner-up who will receive a collection kit is…

Congratulations Joy Coxsell!

Congratulations to both our lucky winners. (Please keep an eye on your Inbox and Sue will be in touch to organise your prizes.)

To everyone else – thank you again for your support for this collection, I am looking forward to seeing all those Christmas craft projects!

Zoe XX

Christmas Joy | Joyful Collection | Mandy Melville

Mandy Melville 15/11/2021

Hello everyone!

Mandy here today, and I’m so excited to be sharing my first layout using the brand new Joyful collection! Let me tell you, this collection is absolutely STUNNING!! From the yummy colours, to the cute woodland animals, and the gorgeous gold foiling – everything about this collection is just perfect! I had so much fun playing with all of the beautiful papers and embellishments, and documenting this sweet photo of my hubby and youngest daughter from Christmas Eve last year.

To start my layout off, I fussy cut the gorgeous wreath out of the Holly Days patterned paper. I’ll admit that it did take some time and patience to carefully cut it out, but I enjoy fussy cutting and I absolutely love how pretty the wreath looks on the Making Spirits Bright paper as the background.

By cutting the wreath out like this, it allowed me to tuck elements under and around it, making it feel more a part of the page, rather than just being in the background. I love the way my photo looks tucked into the left hand side of the wreath, with a few leaves and flowers overhanging the edge of it. You’ll notice that I adhered my photo using craft foam, and I also added a Wood Epoxy Button to the centre of the flower next to the photo. Both of these give the layout some nice dimension.

The Chipboard Stickers in this collection are just divine, and I couldn’t go past using the ‘Christmas Joy’ chipboard words as the title for my page. The gold foiling on these add the perfect touch to a Christmas themed project. I positioned them at the bottom of the wreath, filling in the space underneath the photo. I also created a little cluster of Die Cut pieces to the right of the photo. How sweet are those little woodland creatures?!

I created another cluster over on the top right hand section of the wreath, to balance out the photo on the left. Here I used a couple more Chipboard Stickers and a label Sticker, which I added the date to. To finish the layout off I sprinkled around some Chipboard and Die Cut stars, as well as some cute holly Puffy Stickers.

Thanks so much for joining me here on the blog today! I can’t wait to share some projects with you using this gorgeous collection soon!

Mandy x

Fall day | These Days Layout | Anna Komenda

Anna Komenda 13/11/2021

Hello, hello! Welcome Cocoa Vanilla friends. It’s Anna here with my newest page made with “These days” collection. I am still waiting for a brand new christmas line to come to my other side of Earth so I have more time to scrapbook fall photos. Although this collection isn’t exactly fall themed, warm colors make it very easy to combine them with red, yellow and dark green of Polish autumn. Versatility is always the great feature of all CVS lines! Zoe knows hot to design them the way they match many themes and many photos.

This time I had a picture of my older daughter Gabrysia feeding the squirell. In one of the parks we like to visit those cute little creatures are tame enough to take nuts directly from the palm of the hand. My girls love it so much and mamarazzi also like it :) I created very simple and easy to make page.

I picked papers in warm colors like this “Home grown” pattern with flowers on one side and whimsy squares on the other. I love both sides so I decided to fold the corner of the paper to showcase two of them. Lacking triangle was filled with piece of “Daybreak” paper. Next step was to add chosen photo with a layer of cardboard for more dimension.

I gathered few flowers from Floral ephemera pack and some small elements from Ephemera pack and added them around the photo. I would say it’s my signature style thing – I don’t like empty space around photos so I always try to tuck some tabs or flowers behind them. I also found few trees and added them to the mix too.

Bottom part of the page felt empty and needed little something to be added to maintain the balance of the layout. It was a good spot for title, that I made combining Alpha stickers and Foam phrases. I removed the letter “s” from word DAYS to better fit my needs. Don’t be shy with altering stickers or other premade elements. Even though they seem “ready” they are only a starting point and you can change the colors, cut them into smaller pieces – whatever suits you. I like to fussy cut smaller elements from bigger ephemeras or stickers!

My last step was to add super cute wooden buttons and splash everything with yellow and orange mist. Little mess always adds this unique touch to the page.

Do you like making simple pages? I am more of “sweat and blood” scrapbooker but sometimes I just need to sit down and relax with quick layout like this one. That is all for today my fellow scrapbookers. Thank you for stopping by and see you in two weeks.

XO Anna

Picture Perfect Moments | These Days Collection | Melissa Vining

Melissa Vining 12/11/2021

Hi everyone, It’s Melissa here and I’m so excited to be back sharing a new layout that I created with the gorgeous ‘These Days’ collection! Lately I’ve seen a trend of layouts created with a central cascading of elements. I decided to create my take on this trend with a photo of my oldest and youngest kids during our latest lockdown in August 2021.

I absolutely love the patterned paper “Neighbourhood”, the side that is white with black drawn flowers. I knew that I had to use it as my background.

For my paper layers I used a border strip from “The Good Life”, and torn strips of “Home Grown” and “Wall of Fame”. I machine stitched them to add extra texture. Next I adhered my photo on some craft foam for dimension.

I added lots of “Clear Stickers” to build mixed media type layers. I love how they are translucent.

I also added “Die Cut Ephemera” for extra embellishment on either sides of the photo, and I used the beautiful banner for my title. Of course I had to add a gold glitter “Puffy Heart”.

I hope you enjoyed my layout created with this gorgeous collection.

Take care

Melissa xx

Little Moments of Joy | These days collection | Josefine vd Hoeven

Josefine van der Hoeven 11/11/2021

Hello Paperllovers,
Welcome to the Cocoa Vanilla studio blog! It’s Josefine here and I’m sharing a new layout with you today. I really wanted to use this spring photo of my kids and with the beautiful “These days” collection you can definitely use this to scrap your spring photos as well. I used a lot of embellishments from the These Days collection. Like the photo frames, wooden buttons, butterflies, flowers and stickers.

I start by cutting the photo frames and with gold sewing thread I stitched the edges. I cut the photo into a circle and also cut two circles from the design paper as well. I placed these circles behind the photo and with gold sewing thread I stitched the edges.

I die-cut twigs and leaves with various metal dies. Of course, you can also cut twigs and leaves with your electronic cutting machine. I colored the twigs and leaves with different colors of Distress Oxide. The colors I used are, worn lipstick, peeled paint, mowed lawn and spiced marmalade. I placed the photo in the center of my layout and slide the photo frames underneath on both sides of the photo. The third photo frame I place on top and using 3d foam so I can easily slide the colored branches around the photo.

I cut some butterflies and flowers from the gorgeous design papers and used the beautiful flower die-cuts, stickers and the wooden buttons from this awesome collection. I placed them I around the photo. I love creating layers with these amazing embellishments. For the title, I use a pocket page card titled ” Little Moments of Joy” I cut out the text and use it as a die-cut on my layout.

Now it’s time to make some splatters. First I started with white acrylic paint and mix it with water and used my brush to splatter with. I do this with the green Distress Oxide “mowed lawn” as well. I absolutely love the effect of ink splatters on my layout. I cut a label sticker in half and placed it under the clusters I made. I am very surprised and happy how my layout turned out when I mix these cheerful and bright colors of the distress oxide with this amazing collection. This way you can create a whole different atmosphere and I love it! This beautiful collection is so easy to use for different themes and seasons. Definitely a must have for any scrapbooker.

I hope I was able to inspire you today with this scrapbook layout and show you how easy it is to
use this collection for different seasons as well. I want to thank you all for visiting the Cocoa Vanilla blog today and of course hope to see you again next time with new inspiration. Wish you all a beautiful and crafty day friends! XoXo, Jo

Christmas Spirit | Joyful Collection | Michelle Stokes

Michelle Stokes 10/11/2021

Hey Hey! It’s Michelle back here today with a new layout share featuring our BRAND NEW Collection – Joyful. Absolutely ecstatic to receive this collection with plenty of time to get the Christmas photos scrapped, cards made and December Memories albums started. This layout features a couple of nighttime photos from last year along our local ‘Waterfront’ thats always decorated ready to play around in the Christmas Spirit.

I started the layout by cutting out a star cluster cut file from CUT to YOU, designed by our fellow DT Member Gwen. My love for star shapes is just as big as it is for florals, so I love adding more than needed on layouts like this. The cut file has been cut out on white cardstock and backed using a variety of pretty pattern stars from the Making Spirits Bright paper I also added some vellum and a piece of the pretty star pattern paper Deck the Halls. The entire piece was the backed using the Very Merry paper using some foam tape to give a shadowing effect to the outline.

I added the photos to a red pattern paper in the A5 paper stack and adhered them to the right of the star cutfile using foam for a little more lift off the page.

I got a little adventurous with this layout by adding a subtle hint of mixed media to the background by mixing 2 different colours together and smooshing them onto the background cardstock to create a watercolour effect. I also added splatters of the individual colours and some gold to compliment the hints of other gold elements on the page.

The title was a little tricky to create with all the different layers of dimension to work around, however the new super cool gold puffy title stickers adhere perfectly on top of the layers and was finished off with some old school white alphas. In this ‘cluster’ of sorts I also added a chipboard piece and star from the ephemera pack.

In the top left corner I created a mini cluster of stars using pieces from the chipboard sticker pack , gold puffy and ephemera stars and a cute wood button with a heart design.

The twine thats lopped along the top from left to right was actually a last minute addition, something to add when I felt it was missing something.

Bottom right cluster is made up of more pretty stars and a label sticker from the accessory sticker sheet to document the year and place

Well Scrappy friends, that is all from me today. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my first layout using the BRAND NEW Joyful Collection. I cant wait to dive back into my DT Box and create more fun layouts with this collection. The animals are super duper cute and absolutely need to feature on a creation some day soon.

Until then, thank you so much for stopping by and Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x