Lina Monaco

About Lina Monaco

Hey crafty friends! I’m Lina, a city girl, trying to live life to it’s fullest, one Iced Chai Latte at a time. I’m a working, foodie mom to two beautiful girls, whose passions including everything from crystals, the moon and open face sandwiches. Creating with paper is therapeutic and I’ve been scrapbooking for about 20 years now and I would describe my style as eclectic and easy going. My layouts are always colorful and for the most part, heavily embellished. I love everything having to do with paper and love to add texture and dimension to every layout. ?

Posts by Lina Monaco:

Hey There Kid | No Limits | Lina Monaco

Hey Friends,
It’s Lina here today on the blog!
I am so happy that I am crossing all my boy layouts off my list! I was really concerned I wouldn’t find a collection I could work with I would totally love and be content with. But here we are! We’re killing it with the No Limits collection, it’s bright and colourful papers and all it’s yummy accessories

If you’d like to watch the process video of how I created this layout, you can find it HERE.


I began this layout with choosing some of my favourite papers because I knew I wanted to incorporate some diagonally cut and adhered strips to the bottom. From the papers in the collection I used Nebula (stars and green +), Nebula, and of course Latitude which is the yellow background sheet that I used to anchor and ground the entire layout.


The layout I created is full and heavy on the chipboard frames… Actually I used all the chipboard frames I had from this collection. I just couldn’t help myself! I used a ton of thread to tuck behind the photo of my eldest nephew and to create little “nests” for the Wood Buttons to sit in.


To embellish my layout, I used plenty of stars from the Die Cut Ephemera packet. I wanted to carry the star theme throughout and I thought that was a perfect way to tie it all together. Lastly, I added some gold splatters and drops with ink spray and called my layout complete.

I hope you enjoyed my layout (and process video) today!
Thanks a bunch for stopping by!
xoLina

Happy Together | These Days | Lina Monaco

Hello Beautiful Friends,
Lina here today on the blog and YouTube channel featuring a layout I created using the These Days collection and the very colourful and inspirational mood board for the month.
You’ll be able to click HERE to be taken to YouTube to watch the process video for this layout.


The mood board this month is filled with lots of brightly coloured and fun Spring and Easter goodness. I drew my inspiration from all the colour and florals. I just could not resist! And using the These Days collection to create was just perfect in my opinion.


I started with a white sheet of cardstock and used my Silhouette Cameo to cut a circle in the middle that roughly measured 8×8 inches. Then I adhered my white cardstock to the lovely butter yellow gingham paper called Home Grown. The combination of the yellow gingham and the white cardstock made this background feel so light and airy. I then cut a circle frame with the patterned paper, Family Ties, to anchor the circle and give it more weight.


Next, I went to town and used alllll the florals, foliage, and butterflies. Using the Floral Ephemera, I created a (semi) frame around the circle to create somewhat of a wreath effect.


I (carefully) arranged my florals around my frame being extra generous on both the right and left sides. I finished off the layering with lots of foliage and butterflies that just add extra dimension. I also took this opportunity to add metallic gold thread behind my popped up photograph for a different type of texture.

For my title, I used the Foam Title Stickers and chose the words happy and together… voila`! My title easily came together, easy peasy! I also added some Wood Buttons and adorned the frame with teeny tiny hearts from the Puffy Stickers.


I had lots of fun creating this layout because of how bright and colourful the mood board is. It really out me in the mood for Spring and beautiful weather. I hope you’ll use the inspiration yourself and show us what you create with it.

Thanks for stopping by!
xoLina

The Best Ever | No Limits Collection | Lina Monaco

Happy Friday friends! Boy, am I happy and relieved it’s the weekend! The sun is out and spring is close!
Today, I have a layout to share using the No Limits collection featuring my husband, a.k.a.. the best ever!

There is a video HERE if you’d like to watch my process.


I had the idea floating around in my head, something that I’ve done for past layouts and that was to slightly skew a layered background. I took a white sheet of cardstock and matted it with Big Bang from the collection, a luscious woodgrain, and then layered both pieces on an angle on top of this regal and inky blue background sheet called, Eclipse. I just adore the overall and unexpected look of it.


For the title, I used a combination of the Chipboard Stickers using Best and paired them with Die Cut Titles. I used the word “adventure” and cut it up to create the word “ever”. I love the versatility of the Die Cut Titles as I was able to create a word I really wanted with the already existing title.


Next, I played around and had fun embellishing my page with pieces from the Chipboard Stickers, Accessory Stickers, Pocket Cards, and the Dir Cut Ephemera. To add the final touches I added the yellow stars from the Puffy Stickers and two of the Wood Buttons. To complete my page, I sprinkled some love with gold ink spray and called it complete.

I hope you enjoyed my layout (and process video) today!
Thanks a bunch for stopping by today!
xoLina

My Boy | No Limits Collection | Lina Monaco

A big hello to all of you!
It’s Lina here and today I am sharing my first post and layout with Cocoa Vanilla Studio! I am so happy to be back designing for them, it’s (almost) like I never left! I had the pleasure of working with the brand new No Limits collection to document a set of photos of my adorable nephew.
You can find the entire process video HERE

I thought it would be fun to get inky and add some watercolour in the background. I used the Universal patterned paper as my base and worked from there adding bright blue paint and then muted it in certain places with white paint to add dimension and movement. I felt like the page needed to be grounded a bit after the watercolour so I added the Latitude patterned paper to add balance. I really enjoyed the combination of the two patterned papers layered together and feel they worked well with each other.

As my title, I used a cut file and backed it with papers from the A5 Paper Stack. The A5 Paper Stack is absolutely perfect for paper piecing in this case as I did not have to cut into entire 12×12 sheets of patterned paper and could continue to hoard the pretties ;)
Next, I played to my hearts content with all the fun and fresh embellishments. I used a combination of the Chipboard Stickers, Accessory Stickers, and the Die Cut Ephemera. And, for good measure, the Wood Buttons. I always love to make a little nest of thread and in this case gold metallic thread, for the wood button to sit in.

 

https://youtu.be/QD8VP8HBlog

Lastly, a loving sprinkling of metallic gold paint for good measure and the layout is complete!
I hope you enjoyed my layout (and process video) today! I’m happy to be back on the Design Team and am excited to get started on the next layouts with this new No Limits collection. It’s surely a fantastic collection to have in a papercrafter’s repetoire.
Thanks a bunch for stopping by today!
xoLina

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