Cards Tags & Mini Albums

Valentine’s Day sets | Happy Days Collection | Anna Komenda

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! As my posts always appear on 14’th of each month, I have this luck to be a Valentine’s Day inspiration each year too! So I always try to make something in a love theme and it became sort of mini tradition that I make little gifts for my daughters each year. It’s usually two sets containing of card and a little box for some treats. This year will be no different as I made heart shaped cards and boxes using “Happy days” collection.

This line is very versatile and has no specific theme so it’s easy to customize it. In this case by customization I mean making shaped hears and boxes. What better screams “Valentine’s Day” than hearts? So I used my digital die cutting machine and I cut two heart shaped boxes and two heart shaped card bases.

Each box can hold chocolates or other small gifts. I hose chocolates of course as my girls really like treats. Plus it is meant to be a small gift, just to appreciate them and tell them how much I love them. Valentine’s Day is not only about the other half for me. It’s about love in every shape and form, also to our children.

  I created two sets in two different colors combinations. First one is yellow and it’s filled with fruits you can find within the “Happy days” collection. I spend some time to cut out them from “Juicy fruit” paper and from similar pattern you can find in A5 Paper Stack. Box itself is made with “Feel good” and “Little blossom” papers. Inscription on the box was made with super versatile Mini Puffy Alpha Stickers.

Second set is decorated with flowers from Floral Ephemera Pack. I picked purple paper called “Flutterby” for the base along with “Rainbow bright” pattern.

Card matching the first box is also decorated with fruits. I also added few butterflies fussy cut from “Flutterby” paper. Title on the card was created with Chipboard Title Stickers. I just treated them as alpha stickers picking letters I need from different words. I knew I won’t be able to use up all of them for titles so it seems like a good idea.

This card, similarly to the box, features flowers. It also has a title made with Chipboard Title Stickers. I finished the design by adding few little dots from Puffy Heart Stickers.

That is all for today. I hope you like my Valentine’s Day gift ideas and you are already waiting for the ones I will make next year 😉

Hug your loved ones today. See you in two weeks with an inspiration made with brand new “Great escape” collection.

XO Anna

Let’s Go Explore | Great Escape | Michelle Stokes

Hooley Dooley its February already! Michelle here with you today, sharing something a little different for me using the new Great Escape Collection.

The minute I laid eyes on this awesome collection I immediately thought of all the travel inspired layouts and creations I could make, then I remembered that travel for us has well and truly been on the back burner for quite some time. So why not create a mini book ready for when we are ready to.

I created this mini album in 6×8 size using so many of the fun pattern papers from this collection, with plenty of space to add photos, write down memories and keep all the things we can collect along the way. Think maps, tickets and tags of all kinds. Theres pockets, fold outs and extra clear pages for all the extra photos I’m sure we will add. I’ll add a list of all materials used at the end of the post for those who may want to recreate for your own travel photos.

Once all the pages and pieces were complete, I bound it all together using my Cinch tool ready for our next family adventure.

Be warned, this is a very photo heavy post as it was just too hard to choose a few photos to share.

First up is a pocket with hidden tag for photos, bits n pieces or even a little journalling. Then when you flip the page you come across space for larger photos or even postcards collected along the journey

I added in pieces of notepaper scattered throughout the book to give space for journalling all about the adventures being had

I created a large pocket perfect to hold larger items like folded maps and brochures. This was super easy to create by joining 2 pieces of pattern paper together and sewing along the top and bottom. No need to sew along the edge that needed to be closed as the binding coils help to enclose that end.

I added another clear pocket over the page for another larger photo, which can be moved like all the pages in this album, by opening up the coil and rearranging.

Another funky pocket created by cutting into the paper in line with the design and sewed onto the backing paper using my sewing machine

One of my favourite ways to mix things up in these mini books is by creating different types of pages, this one is a double sided tag with ribbon, reminiscent of a luggage tag

Another fun piece is this flip out page that opens up to showcase multiple photos and journalling together, which would be perfect for extra special moments within the journey

Further into the book theres yet another pocket with some pull out pieces for hidden photos/journalling/ephemera, with the pocket sewn straight onto the pattern paper this time with an opening to the side.

Flipping through theres more places for photos, including a space for some film strip type photos and more journalling.

1 last pocket for the book with a top opening and plenty of space for extra photos/tickets or even receipts from along the journey

Lastly a space on the final page for last thoughts, future trip ideas, extra photos you name it

And a cute little something on the back of the book ready to fill out once its filled up with memories.

Well thats all from me today, thanks so much for stopping by and persevering through the enormous amount of photos I had to share of this fun mini book. If you happen to make your own version, please be sure to share it with us in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Facebook Community Group as I’d love to see it. Hopefully yours might contain the memories its made for and not sitting patiently waiting for that trip to be booked lol

Until next time, Happy crafting!
Michelle x

PS. Heres whats left of the products I used, with a few extra paper scraps not shown.

Materials & Tools
Great Escape Collection
– 12×12 papers – 1 of each pattern
– A5 paper stack – 4 patterns, 1 of each
– Die Cut Ephemera Pack
– Accessory Sticker sheet
– Foam Title Stickers
– Puffy Stickers

Cinch Machine with Blue binding coil
Sewing Machine with white thread
6×8 clear pocket pages cut in half
White ribbon
Tiny Attacher
Glue Dots
Double sided foam adhesive

Christmas Gift | Heart & Home Collection | Michelle Stokes

Hey Everyone, it’s Michelle back here today. I hope that you’ve all had a super fun, relaxing and loving time over the past few weeks and are ready to get back into crafting, just like I am. Todays crafty share is a super quick way to pretty up a printed gift voucher, ready for passing on to loved ones for any occasion. I’ve made a few in the last couple of years as I like adding a personal touch to our gifts, with this one made from the Heart & Home collection.

I started by printing the voucher on some A4 paper, then trimmed it down to fit onto a 12x9inch piece of pattern paper. For this I chose the rainbow stripe paper (HARVEST) as it gave a festive feel.  I adhered the voucher lightly to the pattern paper and added machine stitching to keep it in place. This meant that the voucher can be torn off the backing paper when its needed.

I folded the pieces together to create an ‘envelope’ and wrapped a second smaller piece of pattern paper (GOLDEN FIELDS) around this to hold it all closed. This smaller piece was perfect to layer up embellishments to make it look pretty.

I wrapped some plain twine around once and attached some Christmas tags that I had on the table from wrapping presents, and combined these with a large floral piece cut from the BOUNTIFUL paper, a sticker from the Accessory sticker sheet, mini alphas from many many years back and a sweet little puffy green heart.

Here’s a closer look

And that my friends, is how you make a boring printed voucher look a little less boring lol

It was a very well received gift, and I can’t wait to hear what the venue says to the recipients about this one.

Thanks so much for stopping by for my short and sweet creation today. Be sure to keep an eye on the blog over the following weeks for all kinds of NEW inspiration with our brand new Collection – Great Escape. I know I cant wait to dive into the box and create something magical.

Until next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x

 

The good times | Happy days Mini album | Anna Komenda

Hello, hello! It’s Anna here and today I don’t have a layout for you! While I was waiting for the brand new “Heart & home” collection to arrive, I once again decided to make “use as much as you can” type of project with the older line. Those cabins won’t stretch any more further so I need to make some room. Truth to be told – I would probably need to make 100 of albums like this to notice some empty space… However, the result of my internal challenge is cute, colorful mini album made with wonderful “Happy days” collection. I need to warn you that I have many photos to share with you.

I made this mini album from scratch, using three pieces of cardboard for the cover and some colorful cardstock for the page bases. I arranged them in rainbow order inspired by all the rainbows in “Happy days” collection. I also went through all the pattern papers and chose few in matching colors to continue the rainbow trend. I used both 12*12 papers like “Lush blooms”, “Flutterby”, Juicy friut”, “Feel good”, “Little blossoms” , “Sunshine lollipops”  along with A5 Paper Stack.

Album is quite small, measuring only 10*15 cm, but each page has some folded flaps or pockets so it can hold many photos. You can easily expand the album even further by adding even more flaps on the back of each page.

This is how it looks from the side, with cascade of pages, each 1cm smaller than a previous one. There is plenty of room to add more volume with photos and embellishments.

To decorate the pages, I reached for almost all of the embellishments from this collection. I used Accesory stickers, Die cuts ephemera, Floral ephemera, Chipboard titles, Puffy stickers and Puffy hearts. I only added the glue on the edges of the embellishments so you can still tuck the photo behind it!

I also added some embellishments on the back of each page, the way you can look at it without turning the album upside down. As I mentioned each page has some flap or pocket for more room for photos. It was hard to photograph them so you need to believe me they are there.

Here are all the album pages I created:

And that is all! I know it was a lot of photos but it was hard to choose only few pages to showcase. I hope you like this mini album.

That is all for today! We will see each other in September and I will for sure have a project made with brand new CVS baby! Can’t wait to dive in. Thank you so much for spending your precious time with me.

XO Anna

Puffy Alpha Cards! | Happy Days Collection | Laura Alberts

Hey y’all! Laura Alberts back again with some bright and colorful handmade cards featuring the Happy Days collection. I absolutely adore the puffy alphas in this collection and find it super easy to pair them with ephemera pieces for fun mix-and-match designs and sentiments. For the first two cards, I used papers from the A5 paper stack and frames from the ephemera pack as the base for the design, then built up from there.

For this first card, I started with a purple background and added a frame backed with striped patterned paper. The butterflies were fussy cut from the Happy Days specialty paper and one of the patterned papers in the A5 paper stack. My sentiment is simple and makes this card a versatile option for a number of events. The tiny Nuvo drops behind the butterflies creates a whimsical trail.

On the second card, I layered the frame from the ephemera pack directly onto the background and created a wreath of florals around the edge. The ephemera ribbon banner that says “the best” was a great option for my focal image on this card. I used the puffy alphas to add to the sentiment so it says “You are the best.” A clever option for a card that could be used for multiple occasions!

For the last card, I fussy cut out the banner of ribbons from the ephemera pack and layered tiny florals on top. Above the banner, I added an ephemera sentiment “happy” as well as a puffy alphas to create a simple, but effective birthday card! I especially liked dotting tiny fussy cut florals all around the sentiment on this one.

I hope these sweet cards inspire you to have a go with the puffy alphas in the Happy Days collection!

Cards for teachers | Happy days Collection | Anna Komenda

Hello everyone. It’s Anna here with another project made with new “Happy days” collection. June is a busy period in our family’s life as it’s the last month of school year. Final exams are already over and now it’s time for a lot of good bye’s as my older daughter is finishing the elementary school and is moving to the highschool and my younger daughter is finishing the first step of elementary school and will be changing teachers. I will need a big bunch of cards to thank all of the teachers for taking such a great care of my kids. That’s why I decided to combine my DT duties and my mom duties and make a THANK YOU cards for teachers.

This week we are also focusing on PUFFY ALPHAS so I decided to show you how easily you can customize your cards with them! All four cards I made are the same size, but each looks a little bit different. I used variety of pattern papers from A5 PAPER STACK for my backgrounds. This way I didn’t have to cut into whole 12*12 sheets to only get a small piece.

Two of my cards have little shakers made with frames from EPHEMERA PACK. This is the fastest way to make a shaker! Just add a piece of acetate behind the frame, then pieces of foam adhesive to create a shaker, fill it with sequins and glue to the background.

Those two cards are more personal, with the names of teachers added. It was so easy to do with those tiny PUFFY ALPHA STICKERS! I decorated the frames with some flowers from FLORAL EPHEMERA PACK and some cut out from LUSH BLOOMS 12*12 PAPER. I also added colorful butterflies fussy cut from FLUTTERBY 12*12 PAPER. They create such a lovely, colorful mix. As you can see I didn’t add any school related items to my cards. Who said teacher’s appreciation cards need to have them? Mine are simply cheerful and colorful.

This card utilise another elements from EPHEMERA PACK – little oval frame, that became a focal point of my composition. I added a title on top of it, this time it’s simple THANK YOU, and surrounded it with some florals and butteflies. My final step was to add few cute PUFFY HEARTS.

Last card features fruits instead of flowers. Once again I reached for my scissors and fussy cut some lemons, peaches and oranges from one of the A5 PAPER STACK patterns. I arranged them in a frame around the background and added title in the middle. Another cute card was ready in just few minutes!

Here are few close-ups for the titles, showcasing PUFFY ALPHAS.

Four cards are done. I just need like ten more. But it’s good to have a good start. That is all for today. I hope you like my ideas for colorful and easy to make cards showcasing all the colors of beautiful “Happy days” collection!

Thank you so much for spending your time with me and see you at the end of June!

XO Anna

Easter Gift Tags | These Days Collection | Michelle Stokes

Hello Hello, it’s Michelle here today with a fun gift tag project to share with you all. After a few years of minor easter celebrations due to Covid (and another thats about to be spent in ISO again) I was lacking in photos to scrap so I made these cute little gift tags to add to our family Easter presents.

I’ve used the These Days collection, some cute bunny cut files from the silhouette store and a couple of mini paper treat bags that I made and now they’re ready for gifting to our loved ones when were well enough to see them.

I used papers from the A5 paper stack to create the Bunnies and the strips layered behind. I mixed up the patterns to create some really pretty bundles then tied string bows around the necks. I couldn’t not add some fussy cut flowers which I adhered using glue dots, then stapled on the pom pom trim and the Hip Hop Happy Easter tags into place.

Here’s a close up of each

So cute! I might have to make some more so that I can keep one for myself.

Once these were made I worked on creating some mini treat bags. I searched the inter webs high and low, but I couldn’t find a pattern or tutorial anywhere for the type of bag I wanted to use so I just winged it with some rough measurements and so far they’ve not fallen apart. They came together really well once I tied the tags onto them

I made 4 of these little bags using pieces of 12×12 cardstock that I cut down to an 8x12inch piece. I used my scoring blade in my paper trimmer to score lines to assist in folding and gluing together then added the bunny tags using some white ribbon that I had in my stash. I’ll work on making a tutorial for how I made them if anyone is interested, just leave me a comment below.

The other 2 tags I added to some larger white paper bags for the smaller kids in the family

You can find bags like these in Art n Craft stores, or even discount stores in packs of different colours. They’re the perfect size for small gifts

Well friends thats all from me today, thanks so much for stopping by.
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this quick little gift tag idea, it really was a lot of fun to create.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!
Michelle x

Love cards | Midnight Collection | Anna Komenda

Hello crafty Friends! Almost each year I have a pleasure to inspire you on Valentine’s Day and this year is no different! I thought that instead of another layout, I will share with you three simple cards I made for my Valentines at home – hubby and two daughters. Each year I keep making cards for them adding few love words inside to show them my appreciation for each of them. I also add something sweet as a little bonus 🙂 This year I decided to dive into older stash and found some papers and embellishments from “Midnight” collection. This line was an amazing combination of soft pink and coral with very dark and deep navy and purple. And those florals… They were so pretty and unique.

Each card has a similar composition with a little shaker in the middle, filled with sequins and some wood veneers from very ancient CVS collections (I still have a box full af them and I keep adding them here and there to many projects).

One of the cards is for my hubby and I made it darker than two others. It also doesn’t have any florals. I added little jars filled with hearts instead. One of them is from Ephemera Pack and one is taken from the 6*12 Stickers Sheet (yes, I still have those too 🙂 – I am a hoarder). “Midnight” collection came with a set of Words Die Cuts but I already used up most of the love related words so I reached out to similar set from “Happiness” collection. It has similar font and similar color so it was a perfect match!

Second card is for my younger daughter and it also has shaker in the middle. If you look closely, you will notice that for my card bases I used a pattern paper. I am using my A5 Paper Pads for this purpose. Each card is sized 10*14 cm and it helps me use up some of the older papers! The good thing about those Paper Pads from CVS is that they are white on the back! Perfect for adding personal message inside the card. This time I added some flowers from Ephemera Pack trimming the whote outline first. This made them a little bit smaller and a better fit for the card. My card title is the only one made with “Midnight” Words Die Cuts. It was the only full phrase in love theme that I was able to create with it.

Last card is for my older daughter. I tried to keep it a little bit less “sweet” as she is teenager now, who prefers black over pink :). I couldn’t help myself and added few flowers, but they are a bit smaller than in the previous card. I made my shakers using a frame die with a cute scallop border. After die cutting the frame, I backed it with a piece of acetate and used foam strips to build volume. All I needed to do is to add some sequins inside and job was done!

Do you make your own Valentine’s Day cards? Or you do not like giving them? I know we need to show our love and appreciation each day, but it never hurts to highlight it even more on the Love Day!

Thank you so much for stopping by and see you in two weeks! Sending you all tons of love!

XO Anna

Very merry christmas cards | Joyful collection | Anna Komenda

Hello CVS Friends! Can you believe it’s December already? I hate winter but having December in it makes this season a bit sweeter! Especially that today is my birthday so I am showered with love and affections from my family and friends! What not to like here, right? It’s also a perfect time to send out those christmas cards to share this joyful time with others. That’s why my inspiration for today is a set of two cards made with the cutest christmas line ever called “Joyful”.

I reached for kraft paper for my card bases as I feel it matches this collection better than a white cardstock. Both cards have the same size and shape but I decided to make one horizontal and one vertical. I also used A5 paper stack to choose my backgrounds. Patterns are a bit smaller than in 12*12 papers which worked better for me this time.

First card is vertical and it’s decorated with little stars fussy cut from pne of 12*12 papers, that can be found in this set. I added simple stitching throught the middle and only added a bittle drop of glue. Thanks to that, I could bend the sides of each star for more dimension. My title was created with wonderful golden puffy word phrases that were a part of this line. They are so quick and easu to use not only on cards but also on layouts and in albums. I finished my project with cute Santa’s hat taken from Chipboard stickers set (my favorite item in this line!!!).

Second card has a bit more cute vibe thanks to the lovely creatures, that are part of “Joyful” collection. They are all fussy cut from 12*12 paper sheet (there are still plenty of them in this sheet for further projects!). I arranged them in a row, creating sort of the gallery wall.

I again reached for golden phrases for my card title, adding smaller words from 6*12 sticker sheet. They have gold foiling on them, which makes this set even more special. To finish my card I reached once again for my beloved Chipboard stickers and added candy lanes and holly leaves. I also found almost unused set of super cute puffy stickers and tossed little gifts to the mix.

Cards like this doesn’t take much time and effort to make and they will be a perfect addition to the little gifts I am sending to my Friends. If you have an eye for this pretty collection, check Cocoa Vanilla store. There is super crazy sale happening right now and you can purchase “Joyful” collection more than 50% off! Grab it before it goes. And when it’s gone it’s gone forever!

That is all for today. I will be back once more this month with another “Joyful” project as I still have plenty of it to play with. Sending you hugs and warm christmas wishes!

xo Anna

Gatefold cards | Storyteller Collection | Anna Komenda

Hello everyone! It’s Anna here and today I will surprise you with my project, as I didn’t make another layout! I know! How unusual of me 🙂 I recently watched live where fellow scrapbooker was showing how to make gatefold cards and I wanted to try making one or two. Even after so many years in crafty world I still have so many things to learn. Cards are my weak point for sure as I do not make them often. However, they are great little projects to try out new products or just play when the mojo is low. I reached for my well loved “Storyteller” collection to make my cards.

At first they look like a normal, rectangular cards but magic happens when you remove the belly band. Sides of the card unfold, revealing the inner part. You can make classical version with two rectangles on the front, or use your shape dies to make a window! This is exactly what I did here. Each card has a different shape used for the front panel – circle and heart. It’s important that the shape you use for the opening is symmetrical when you fold it in half.

I used colorful cardstock for my card bases in red and dusty pink colors. “Storyteller” collection is so colorful that you can easily match some cardstock to it. With the pink card, I left the cardstock visible adding only a small, navy circle around the opening cut out with A5 Paper Stack patter paper. Red card has a cute hearts patter paper in the front called “Oh my heart“. I matches the “i love you” phrase perfectly.

Gatefold cards like to open up themselves so it’s good to add some sort of belly band to keep them closed and flat. My red card has a band made with pattern paper and embellished with bits and pieces from Ephemera Pack. Pink one is closed with just a piece of acetate as I didn’t want to cover the composition. Inside of the card, visible in the window, is decorated with Foam Title Stickers. Each card got a different inscription. You can also use stamps inside or replace words with flowers or some other graphic.

Front covers of my cards are decorated with flowers from Floral Ephemera pack – one of my most belowed products in every CVS collection! They are so versatile and easy to use! I also added few butterflies from Ephemera Pack (I trimmed the white outline with my scissors) and super cute Puffy Stickers – hearts and dots. The best feature of gatefold cards is that you can showcase them on the shelf easily as they stand alone.

They are so easy to make when you learn the process and they look stunning. You can easily make a christmas version and I will probably try to create few. And how do you like them? Have you tried this card form before? You can find plenty of tutorials on YouTube for them. Just tyle gatefold card tutorial and many variations will show up.

That is all for today! Thank you so much for stopping by and see in in December! Can you believe it’s only month until christmas?

Sending you lots of hugs,

Anna

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