Hey y’all! Laura Alberts back again with my favorite Cocoa Vanilla collection of all time, Bohemian Dream! Everything about this collection makes me so happy. The mix of my favorite colors and those watercolor florals are just divine! For this layout, I had four 2×3 photos of my daughter exploring digital drawing and I wanted to create a vertical design.
For my title, I used a cut apart piece backed with navy cardstock to help it stand out. This perfectly encapsulates the creativity in our family and especially for my daughter. She is a brilliantly talented little girl and I love encouraging her to embrace it!
Alongside the right of the photos are tags made from cut aparts in the 6×6 paper pad and along the left are a number of vellum florals backed with white cardstock to really help them pop! Love the feathers peeking out from underneath my title to soften the edge of that cut apart piece.
I hope this layout inspires you to dig into your stash and find a collection that you love too! To see how “Embrace” came together, check out the process video below:
A little bit of sad news to share today as we say farewell (again) to one of our beloved team – Lina Monaco. Lina has been a treasured member of our Cocoa Vanilla Studio family for many years, having been a team member twice now after we wooed her back to do another tour with us. Unfortunately for us however, life is just way too busy now for Lina to keep up with everything, so we have to wave goodbye.
So let’s take another look at some of Lina’s recent projects that she created for us. First up, a beautiful layout featuring a photo of the lady of the hour herself along with her husband, and using our ‘Storyteller’ collection…
Lina loves working with bright colours, so next up we are sharing a gorgeous mixed media layout featuring our ‘Sunkissed’ collection…
One of the things we love about Lina is her versatility – she can rock a boy layout just as well as she can rock a girl one. Here’s a gorgeous one she created using ‘No Limits’…
And to round things out, we couldn’t resist sharing this layout that Lina created for our Throwback Thursday featuring one of her all-time favourite collections, ‘Bohemian Dream’. (I think this collection can be found on a lot of people’s favourite list!)
Lina – thank you SO much for all the amazing inspiration you have shared with us over the years and for being such a great ambassador for Cocoa Vanilla Studio. You’ll always be part of the family. We love you and wish you all the best!
Hello crafty friends,
Lina here today on the blog and I am sharing my latest layout. This creation features the ever beautiful, Bohemian Dream with it’s rich hues of purples, blues and pinks. One of my all time favourite collections to work with because of all it’s whimsical additions such as butterflies, feathers and florals.
This layout all began with first choosing the photo and in this case I used this sweet photo of my eldest daughter holding a bouquet of wild daisies she picked herself. In this photo, she is wearing a light purple shirt and I wanted to play off of that. Bohemian Dream was the obvious choice for me. Then after knowing what photo I was going to use, I opened up my Silhouette Studio and created this cut file with some simple fonts from my computer. I welded the two fonts and then outlined them. The lining is plain white cardstock and I used the paper Dreamer, a glorious purple ombre, to cut the internal title for layering. I popped the title up on dimensional foam.
Next, I used two photos, one in black and white and one in colour, layering the colour on top. I matted both photos and tucked some patterned papers in and behind both photos using the 6×6 paper pad. Both the photos and the cut file are layered on the wonderful background paper called Abstract. It’s another purple ombre with a cool mandala-ish pattern.
For the embellishing, I used florals from the Die Cut Ephemera package and created a visual triangle, making three separate clusters. I also used a woodgrain chipboard frame from the Chipboard Stickers and tucked it in behind the florals and on top of the photos. I just love the look of the negative space of the frame. I also used some small type phrases from the Accessory Stickers to add some additional sentiments.
Lastly, I added pieces from the Vellum Accents package, both some foliage and butterflies. For the butterflies, I used the black and white ones and added a drop of glue to only the centers and folded up the wings so that they looked like they were in flight. This layout came together pretty quickly for me thanks to the use of a large cut file and double photos.
I hope you enjoyed this layout today and will join me back again soon. Have a great day!
Hello sweet friends. It’s Kylie back with you on the blog today! For todays blog post it’s all about scrap-lifting one of our fellow teamies and I have been assigned the lovely Michelle! I have had a tough time choosing a layout of Michelle’s to scrap-lift as ALL of her work is simply beautiful. You can see for yourself HERE! Such beautiful inspiration am I right??
After much deliberation, I decided to scrap-lift the following, beautiful page from Michelle. I loved the clever placement of all those paper strips and the opportunity to use lots of different paper prints. I had a very small amount of my ‘BOHEMIAN DREAM’ collection left and felt this design would be perfect for using up those last few bits and pieces.
Here is Michelle’s design, followed by my take on her design…
As you can see I have rotated my layout so the strips sit vertically on the background. Each strip of paper measures between 1cm up to 3cm wide and the lengths were cut randomly as I was placing them. For balance I also layered some strips over the top of others to create a layered, dimensional effect similar to Michelle’s page.
The frame from the die cut pack was perfect for adhering over the top of my photo. Once in place I cut off the excess of the photo for a snug looking fit. I then backed it with some white tissue paper from my craft stash, just to soften the look of the edges once adhered to the background. Next, I layered more die cuts to surround the frame for balance.
To complete my page I added a large title below my photo. The gold alpha stickers were from my craft stash but gave a nice pop of colour against the background and fitted well with the chipboard sticker ‘Happy’ title.
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! I hope you have enjoyed seeing my latest project.
Hey everyone. Happy Thursday! It’s Throwback Thursday here on the Cocoa Vanilla blog. I decided to throw it all the way back to ‘Bohemian Dreams’ one of my fave collections ever. Purple is one of my fave colours lately so this collection was certainly calling my name.
Here is the layout that I created:
This subject of this layout is myself and my bridesmaids at my Wedding. The image was taken by our photographer and one I just adore. The photo being black and white allowed me to bring in a lot of colours into the designing of the page. Normally I love to feature cut files on my layout but for this layout I wanted to focus more heavily on the papers and patterns within the collection.
I decided to make the ‘Beautiful Mess’ patterned paper a feature of this layout by cutting the individual 4×6″ and 3×4″ pieces. I layered these pieces below my matted photo in a somewhat vertical design, trying to distribute colours as best as I could. These were adhered together to form one piece and then adhered to my layout with a foam adhesive.
To the right of the photo I added a large photo cluster comprising of many pieces of ephemera and other embellishments. The title ‘so happy’ was also used from one of the accessory stickers.To achieve dimension on the clusters – elements are adhered to the page in varying depths using a combination of glue dots, double sided tape and foam adhesives.
Instead of journaling on this page I used the tiny word sticker sentiments from the accessory sticker sheet. These were able to tell my story, just in fewer words.
I think my favourite part of this collection, well actually most CVS collections are the florals. I have to hold myself back from adding more when I am embellishing.
One of my favourite staples in the ephemera packs is the small file tabs. They are one piece that I will add to most pages – usually to the top left corner of my photos.
As you can see from the image below the layout features a lot of dimension, particularly from the embellishments.
I hope that you have been inspired by my layout today for this Throwback Thursday. Thank you so much for stopping by the CVS blog to check it out.
Happy InterNational Scrapbook Day everyone! We love this special day each year when people from all over the world come together to celebrate their shared love of this craft. Today we are hosting a celebration in our Facebook Cocoa Vanilla Studio Community group and (of course) we have some challenges for you! We have a mix of challenges that include a variety of styles, so there is sure to be something that suits you.
Challenge Rules
Entries must be loaded into the correct challenge album in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Facebook Community group prior to midnight (AEST) Sunday 9th May to be eligible for the prize. (If you aren’t already a member, make sure you click the link to join.)
Some Cocoa Vanilla Studio products must be used. Yes, you can include other supplies as well, but there must be some CVS products clearly used. (If you don’t have any CVS products, you can always download and print some of our digital products HERE.)
Entries must be created solely for each challenge and not combined with other challenges or design team work.
You may enter each challenge as many times as you wish and entry is open to participants worldwide.
One randomly selected winner from each challenge will receive a $25 store voucher to spend in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio online store.
By entering the challenge you automatically give permission for your work to be shared by Cocoa Vanilla Studio via any of our social media channels.
So without further ado, here are our first two challenges…
Challenge 1 – Sketch Challenge with Laura Alberts
For this challenge you are required to use Laura’s sketch as inspiration for your own project.
Laura created a beautiful sample layout and used one of our older collections, ‘Bohemian Dream’. (Unfortunately this collection is now sold out and no longer available.)
Challenge 2 – Cut File Challenge with Tarrah McLean
For this challenge you are required to include at least one cut file from either of the two sets shown above in your project.
Tarrah chose two cut files from our ‘Summer’ set and paired them with our most recent release collection, ‘Sunkissed’ for her layout. This cut file set, along with our ‘Legendary’ cut file set designed by Cut to You, are both available to download via our community group for this challenge.
We hope these challenges have given your mojo a kickstart and you will come over and join us to play along. We’ll be back with more challenges to share later. Time to get scrapping!
Happy InterNational Scrapbook Day everyone! We love this special day each year when people from all over the world come together to celebrate their shared love of this craft. Today we are hosting a celebration in our Facebook Cocoa Vanilla Studio Community group and (of course) we have some challenges for you! We have a mix of challenges that include a variety of styles, so there is sure to be something that suits you.
Challenge Rules
Entries must be loaded into the correct challenge album in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Facebook Community group prior to midnight (AEST) Sunday 9th May to be eligible for the prize. (If you aren’t already a member, make sure you click the link to join.)
Some Cocoa Vanilla Studio products must be used. Yes, you can include other supplies as well, but there must be some CVS products clearly used. (If you don’t have any CVS products, you can always download and print some of our digital products HERE.)
Entries must be created solely for each challenge and not combined with other challenges or design team work.
You may enter each challenge as many times as you wish and entry is open to participants worldwide.
One randomly selected winner from each challenge will receive a $25 store voucher to spend in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio online store.
By entering the challenge you automatically give permission for your work to be shared by Cocoa Vanilla Studio via any of our social media channels.
So without further ado, here are our first two challenges…
Challenge 1 – Sketch Challenge with Laura Alberts
For this challenge you are required to use Laura’s sketch as inspiration for your own project.
Laura created a beautiful sample layout and used one of our older collections, ‘Bohemian Dream’. (Unfortunately this collection is now sold out and no longer available.)
Challenge 2 – Cut File Challenge with Tarrah McLean
For this challenge you are required to include at least one cut file from either of the two sets shown above in your project.
Tarrah chose two cut files from our ‘Summer’ set and paired them with our most recent release collection, ‘Sunkissed’ for her layout. This cut file set, along with our ‘Legendary’ cut file set designed by Cut to You, are both available to download via our community group for this challenge.
We hope these challenges have given your mojo a kickstart and you will come over and join us to play along. We’ll be back with more challenges to share later. Time to get scrapping!
Hey Hey! It’s Michelle here today with another instalment of what I like to call ‘Scraplift a follower’. The past few days members of the Design Team have been set a scraplifting challenge here on the blog and I’ve chosen one of our friendly CVS Community Group members to inspire my creation. I used the Bohemian Dream collection and even got a little messy with some mixed media on the background, which was kind of fun for this “clean” scrapper.
I love how this came together combining all the elements of the original, created by Petra de Vroege, with some slight changes to make it my own. I’ve scrapped a photo of Leila from 4 years ago when she was going through a hilarious dorky dress up phase. A time when she kept us constantly entertained, oh how I miss those days. Now its all Youtube, Roblox and Nintendo nonsense and hardly any dressing up at all. The colours in the photo worked so well with the patterns and colours from the Bohemian Dream Collection, which I must note its sadly no longer available as you all LOVED it so much it sold out! There are plenty of other gorgeous collections to choose form though
Heres a look at the layout Petra created..
Super cute! Those scattered stars down the page were what originally caught my eye, and I’m a sucker for cute photos and mixed font titles too!
What a character! This photo was around the time that Leila could finally wear this costume without tripping over the mermaid tail, which was about the same time that posing for photos was no longer fun.
To begin the layout I started with the stars, cutting out a range of different sizes on my silhouette using a free star cut file I found via Pinterest. I chose a few different pattern papers from the 6×6 paper pad that all complimented each other and the photo then popped them to the side once cut to continue with the background
I got a little messy and tried out the plastic packaging technique using the flat side of some bubble wrap and smooshed different coloured inks that were watered down on some white cardstock. The texture of the bubble wrap left a pretty cool pattern, although most of it was covered by the stars and photo and also my hands lol. I splattered a few extra colours that coordinated with the Bohemian Dream collection over the top then left it to dry. At this point I may or may not have freaked out a little when I saw how warped the paper was so I pilled a pack of cardstock on top overnight once it was dry to help it flatten out a little
To create the title I used a mix of Chipboard words (raised off the layout using foam tape and glue dots) older alphabet stickers (sewn through to keep them adhered for years to come) handwritten words and a banner sticker from the Legendary Collection sticker sheet.
Next I’ve added strips of pattern paper to the top and bottom of the layout, which is different to the way Petra has added hers to the sides. I tucked the half labels underneath and added word banners on top along with some chipboard hearts
Lastly I added the stars, scattered randomly at the top and bottom of the photo to recreate the vertical line Petra has used. I adhered the stars with foam tape, glue dots and tacky glue to give different heights of slight dimension. I added in a couple of enamel dots too
Here’s a final look at the entire layout inspired by Petra’s super cute creation
I love how it all came together and can happily say I will definitely be trying some more messy backgrounds in the future.
Well thats all from me today, thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to keep sharing your own creations using Cocoa Vanilla Studio products with us in the CVS Community Group on Facebook. We love to see what you make using these amazing products, and you just never know when we might pick your creations to be inspired by.
Hello everyone!! It’s Melissa here and I’m so happy to be here for Throwback Thursday. The first thing I always do for Throwback Thursday is pull out all of my Cocoa Vanilla collections and decide which one I’m going to use. I decided that for this layout, I’d let the members of our Facebook Group decide, so I made a poll with the following collection options: Happiness, More Than Words, Bohemian Dream and Midnight. Happiness won by a landslide, but a couple of people asked for a mashup, and several other others likes this suggestion. So I decided to make Happiness my main collection, and incorporate something from each of the other three collections!! Such a fun challenge to set myself!!
I chose a photo of oldest and youngest daughters, and my main reason for choosing it was for the pink and purple colours in it! It goes perfectly with Happiness.
I created a mixed media background focussing on pink, purple, blue and gold. I also added subtle white splatters to tie it all in together. I mostly used the packaging technique, and also splattering. I used a manual die cut machine to cut two different sizes of triangles from the paper scraps I had leftover from Happiness. After I had adhered all of my triangles I machine stitched through them in bright pink thread for texture and interest.
I heat embossed the large floral stamp from More Than Words with gold metallic embossing powder. I love how elegant it turned out!
The large chipboard “beautiful” is from Bohemian Dream, and I kept it white so it would pop against all of the other colours on my page. The “together” die cut title is from Midnight.
I also used Accessory Stickers and from Happiness and Midnight over the top of the triangles and stitching, and I love the whimsy that it adds!! I wrote my journalling on a cut apart piece that I fussy cut.
I made a process video, which you can watch below.
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I hope I inspired you to pull out your older Cocoa Vanilla Studio collections, and to even mix them up a little!
Hi y’all! Laura back again with a burst of color in this joyful layout of my darling girls playing together. I just adore their sweet friendship and have to celebrate it at every opportunity! Today’s theme is Throwback Thursday, so I reached into my stash for the very first Cocoa Vanilla collection I ever purchased, the stunning Bohemian Dream! This bold mix of pink, purple, and navy captured my heart from the very first time I saw it.
To start this layout, I backed a cut file from Redefined Kreative with the Abstract patterned paper, then layered it onto the Wild & Free Paper to make a big, bold patterned paper background. Building up from there, I used the remaining purple B-side of Abstract to mat my photos and then added lots of beautiful florals and word phrases around them.
To finish it off, I added some enamel shapes, gold Nuvo drops, gold ink splatter, and sequins from Spiegelmom Scraps that coordinated perfectly! These little details make such a huge difference on a layout and can take a simple page to superb in a flash! I had plenty to share about these two peas in a pod, so I wrote my journaling all around the outside of the mandala. This gave it a bit of an outline as well to distinguish the cut file from the background.
I hope this pattern paper filled layout inspires you to look at your papers a little differently! It’s fun to see how you can use up every little scrap. If you’d like to see the Play layout come together, I have the entire process in the video below!
