Hello Sunshine

Water bike cruising | Storyteller + Hello Sunshine | Anna Komenda

Anna Komenda 13/11/2022

Hello crafty Friends. For the couple of days we will be focusing on combining old and new CVS collections as an inspiration for you and here is what I have come up witth. The newest Cocoa Vanilla line is beautiful “Storyteller”, which I am sure you are already familiar with. It’s saturated colors and very versatile theme are perfect for all sorts of projects. I was thinking of other collection that has similar color palette and “Hello sunshine” was the first one that came in my mind. It’s probably because I am a big fun of all summer themed lines :). They are always so colorful and fun. Combining “Storyteller” and “Hello sunshine” is the perfect idea as I am running really low on papers from the old line and as they are no longer in stock, I am stuck with leftovers only. Every new collection that shares similar vibe is a chance for me use up those leftovers and let this well loved line shine once again.

As I mentioned before, I am running low on pattern papers from “Hello sunshine” collection. But who can blame me? They were fantastic. That’s why I am more than happy to use this pattern “Brighter days” with colorful stripes from “Storyteller” line as a base of my project. It’s quite bold but with a cluster of four pictures it was toned down a bit. With blue nad navy on the bottom it kind of looks like landscape during the sunset. This page is about enjoying the lake so I decided to use this pattern this way exactly.

Next step was to add my photos. They are all the same size and they take a lot of background space. I glued them down in the middle of my background leaving a little bit of space on the left and right for some embellishing and on the top and the bottom for my title. We had so much fun renting water bike during our last vacation in French Jura and swimming around the lake. Kids were jumping to the crystal clear water, we were taking turns with pedaling – it was such a fantastic, family time, worth a whole page.

After using “Storyteller” paper as a layout base, it was time to embellish it with some bits and pieces from “Hello sunshine”. I have a digital version of this line but I was too lazy to print anything so I focused of whatever I have left in the ephemera pack. I also fussy cut some flowers from one of the papers. I arranged those bits and pieces on both sides of the photos adding few stickers from 6*12 sticker sheet.

With all the embellishing done, I was ready to add a title. Once again I reached for my everlasting pile of alpha stickers, that once were part of CVS collections. I used two different colors – yellow on the bottom as it contrasted well with navy and navy on the top as it contrasted orange better. I am running out of some letters so I needed to make E from an F. It’s totally possible and I do that a lot. If you need more tips or missing alpha latters here they are. Use V turned upside down as an A (just add a piece of other unsed letter in the middle), turn F into E with an estra strip of other sticker. Cut a piece of T, turn it upside down and make L of it. If you need Y, take X and cut out on the the bottom “arms”. Turn G into C by trimming part of it. Use W instead of M or the other way around.

After adding the title, I circled back to my “Storyteller” embellishments and added few puffy hearts here and there and three epoxy buttons. They look like taken from the same line! I just love those lucky coincidences!

That it all for today my Friends. Thank you so much for staying with me through the whole post. Don’t forget to come back to see what collections other DT girls will me “marrying together”. See you in two weeks.

XO Anna

Explore | Hello Sunshine | Laura Alberts

Laura Alberts 15/12/2021

Hi y’all! Laura Alberts here with a patterned paper background for Throwback Thursday! I dug deep into my stash for the oldest Cocoa Vanilla Studio collection I own. Using the last scraps of Hello Sunshine for this one including my last full 12×12 piece of paper. My favourite parts of this collection are the denim patterns and florals, so I used them on nearly every layout. It’s such a cool mix of designs! I used a set of cut files from Liz Longest Designs and filled them with the scraps.

I fussy cut these florals from one of the patterned papers and layered them in large clusters behind either side of my photos to keep the focus in the center. Adding Nuvo drops in the centers gives them a more 3-D appearance and a little sparkle! I tucked in some of the Endless Summer enamel shapes amidst the florals for more texture and then two layered butterflies from the Endless Summer ephemera pack at the corners of my photo. Mixing these collections together has helped me finish both off this year!

The details on these alphas are brilliant and I have stretched these so far with this collection! Loving the denim-like texture and stitching, so I popped them up with foam strips to give them added depth. Instead of journaling, I used the word strips that I fussy cut from a patterned paper to create a staggered list of the phrases that fit this moment. It reads like a stream of consciousness perspective and I love that!

I hope this layout inspires you to use up some scraps too! If you’d like to see how Explore came together, check out the process video below.

Sweet Summer Days | Hello Sunshine | Laura Alberts

Laura Alberts 28/09/2021

Hey y’all! Laura Alberts here with a blast from the past! This layout features Hello Sunshine and a bit of Endless Summer, some of the oldest Cocoa Vanilla collections in my stash! To start this layout, I backed the stunning denim style patterned paper with this Happy Days pattern paper to give it a bright, cheerful border. Then, I used Vicki Boutin’s Iridescent Glaze to add some lovely hearts around the perimeter of my photo clusters. These little hearts help to define the shape of the center clusters.

In the top left corner, I layered an ephemera frame and florals from Endless Summer with a sticker banner from Hello Sunshine. I love the way some pieces are tucked underneath, while others are on top. The mix of the two makes this area of the layout feel more dimensional even though it’s quite flat.

On the top right side of the layout, I repeated that process, layering Endless Summer florals underneath of the photo and stickers from Hello Sunshine on top. To give these hearts a bit more interest, I added Endless Summer enamel shaped hearts and tiny punched gold foil hearts into the background. I love the mix of colors and textures in these clusters as a result!

The photos featured in this layout are of my husband and I’s favorite treat restaurant for date nights. It’s a special place for the two of us and makes special occasions feel even more special! Adding the ‘Just Perfect’ banner underneath the restaurant’s sign seemed fitting!

This title is actually a cut apart, but it blends in really well with the background, giving it the appearance of a stamp! After I finished the embellishing, I added gold Nuvo drops and splatter around the clusters for a bit of sparkle. My journaling is written around the entire perimeter of the layout, giving it a handwritten border, and talking about how much we enjoy this restaurant and why we we love it!

I hope this layout inspires you to reach deep into your stash and pull out some old Cocoa Vanilla Studio favourites! I love finding new ways to use older product!

Hello Sunshine | Hello Sunshine Collection | Laura Alberts

Laura Alberts 28/08/2021

Hey y’all! Laura here again with a deep dive into my Cocoa Vanilla Studio stash for the oldest collection I own, Hello Sunshine! For this silly layout featuring selfies of my darling son and I being exceptionally silly, I decided to create a split-level layout design, with a simple photo display on the right and a grid layout on the left. By creating this split, I can use plenty of embellishments without overwhelming my photos.

Each of these 2×2 inch squares has a large embellishment, small embellishment and a dot of Nuvo in gold for accent. I then took my navy pen and outlined each of them in a messy faux-stitching style to reflect the stitched design on the denim-styled Chill Out pattern paper under my photos. The mix of patterns on the left side really add a pop to the overall layout and give those puffy stickers the time to shine!

By layering stickers and ephemera pieces together into clusters onto these squares, each piece of the grid feels unique, but the coordination of the colors helps them feel cohesive. The outline of each square really gives the appearance of depth on the left side of the layout, giving each a shadow that helps them pop off the page!

I was so excited by how this layout turned out, that I created a sketch based on it to share with all of you! I hope you enjoy using this sketch to inspire you to try a split-level layout too!

I hope this inspires you to look at your older Cocoa Vanilla Studio stash a little differently and incorporate them in a big way on your projects too! To see how “Hello Sunshine” came together, check out the process video below!

Hydra | Hello Summer Layout | Anna Komenda

Anna Komenda 13/07/2020

Hello Cocoa Vanilla fans. It’s Anna here with my brand new, colorful page. I am sure I already mentioned it in my previous posts, that one of my favorite CVS collections so far is “Hello sunshine”. It’s an old line from few years back, but it has all the major factors I love in scrapbooking collection – colorful patters, summer themed motifs, pretty flowers and great variety of embellishments. It’s no longer available in paper version, but you can purchase a digital bundle and enjoy this line for forever :) The bundle contains of 12*12 papers and 164 elements, that are also grouped in three A4 sized PDF printable sheets – very easy to print and fussy cut. I still have some bits and pieces left from the paper version and I used them to make this page.

I started with a white paper with little, colorful triangles as my background. Next step was to cut paper with little word strips into pieces. If you have time, you can do this with whole sheet and put the rest of the strips into the ephemera pack for the further use.

I arranged those strips into a vertical column, that became the anchor of my composition. I placed two photos between them. They were taken during our one day trip to three, lovely greek islands near Athens – Hydra, Poros and Egina. Hydra was the first one, with amazing greek vibe, scenic harbour and little, old town surrounding the bay. We had only two hours to walk around but I enjoyed every second of it. Clear, blue sky and navy water are a perfect match for the colors of “Hello sunshine”.

Paper is and always will be my favorite scrappy item. Having only papers on hand you can still create very bold and detailed project. That’s why I love digital products so much. Fussy cutting is my friend and I always look for elements that I can cut out from paper to make my project even more unique.

I can’t wait to scrapbook more of my greek adventure on some other pages and albums. Summer projects are always my favorite to make. Thank you for stopping by and see you in two weeks. I have really fun page to share with you then.

XO Anna

The BEST Summer Memories | Hello Sunshine | Michelle Stokes

Michelle Stokes 11/01/2020

Hey Scrappy Friends! It’s Michelle here today sharing my first layout for 2020. I cant believe were already pretty much 2 weeks in to this new year and what better way to celebrate than to share a new layout for our ‘Holiday’ theme this month. For this layout I dipped into my Hello Sunshine collection, perfect for documenting summer memories like this one. Beach days are one of our favourite things to do during summer around the great region we live in, even more so towards the end of the season when its a little cooler and you can explore the coastline without frying/melting.

On this day we were out near a popular lighthouse along the coast where we live, but the beach was pretty quiet. Theres tonnes of rock pools in this area and it was so much fun exploring and seeing all the different creatures living amongst them. This was also during a time in Leilas life where Mario and Luigi had to come everywhere that she did. She had so much fun setting them up in little spots while she went off to explore.

There are a rare few Hello Sunshine product bundles available in the store, but once they are sold out they are gone for good. I’ve used the ‘Solar Flare’ paper as my pattern background, then layered the anchor paper and tiny triangles under the photos.

To the right of the photos I’ve added a couple of accessory stickers, ephemera, puffy sticker and woodie button to create a small cluster. (You can find the Puffy Stickers on clearance in the store for under half price here.)

And over to the left of the photos I’ve grouped together lots of different cut apart pieces from the main cut apart paper to create a title of sorts, but also to describe my thoughts of that day. ‘Fun in the sun’ , ‘The Best Summer Memories by the seaside’ , ‘So happy together’. I also added a few more ephemera pieces, puffy stickers and a woodie button to complete the group of bits.

All up this layout came together pretty quickly, some would call it a hot mess of bits and bobs, but one that I’m loving the look of. Definitely a different style of layout to my usual feminine floral designs.

Well thats all from me today, Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out the DIGITAL section of the shop where you can find this range, and many other of our past collections ready and waiting for you to print, cut and create with. Don’t forget to share with us in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio group on Facebook as we all LOVE to see what you create.

Until Next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x

Favorities | Mixed | Anna Komenda

Anna Komenda 27/12/2019

Hello Friends. It’s Anna here. I am the last one, closing this amazing year of isnpiration over Cocoa Vanilla Blog. All of my super talented DT mates already shared their favorite 2019 Cocoa Vanilla projects and now it’s my turn. To be honest, I had a hard time choosing them because I love CVS products and I love all of my layouts and albums made with them.

You all know I love colors so I decided to pick a rainbow page as a first fav page of 2019. I created it as a sample for my classes, that I was lucky to teach in Australia this year. I used papers and embellishments from amazing “Happiness” collection. This name truly reflects the line itself. If you want to make this page, along with a second colorful layout, you can purchase the Double Page Kit in CVS store.

My second favorite page it much less colorful but I had so much fun making it. It’s a scraplift of my fellow DT member gal – Amanda and I used pretty “Midnight” collection. Simple heart made of fussy cut flowers is a perfect example that less is more.

One of my resolutions for 2019 was to reach for older collections much often to use up a little bit more of a growing pile of scrappy supplies. This birthday page was made with “Make a wish” line, which was one of my favorite collections in CVS history. I honestly used almost all of it.

I am a big fan of summer themed line so this “Hello sunshine” line is also on the top of my favorite CVS collections (who am I kidding – they all are on the top of my list…). This one was created during amazing event – CVS Creative Escape retreat. Zoe is making another one in 2020 and you really don’t want to miss that. Check the details here.

Last page is the most recent one. Once again I revisited an old line – the very first CVS collection called “Sugar and spice“. I do not have much of it left but I had a great help from Zoe, who released digital versions of older lines!!! How great is that. Now you can print your own papers and embellishments. We can call this layout a hybrid page, because I combined both older stuff and the newly printed elements.

That is all for today and for this year. We will meet again in 2020! I can’t believe how fast this year went by. I am sure 2020 will bring many more amazing products from CVS.

Happy New Year Friends!

Anna

Summer Days | Hello Sunshine Collection | Tarrah McLean

Tarrah McLean 08/08/2019

Hi Cocoa Vanilla friends,

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am sharing a new layout using the Hello Sunshine collection. I decided to challenge myself by not using much patterned paper on this layout, the only piece I added was the piece underneath my photo. If you want to grab some Hello Sunshine, be quick as there are only a few pieces left from this awesome collection in the online store!To begin my layout, I chose a fun cut file design from The Cut Shoppe and cut it out from yellow cardstock. I then adhered the cut file to plain white cardstock. I love the contrast of the bright yellow against the white cardstock, reminds me so much of summer! For the very centre of the design of layout, I picked the ‘In the Summer Time’ sticker from the accessory sheet and popped it up on foam dots and placed it in the centre of my page.Like I said earlier, I matted my photo using just the one piece of patterned paper, this photo is a very recent one of my sister and her eldest daughter in the waters of the Jurassic Coast in England! How gorgeous is that archway and water?! So inviting! I popped my photo up to create some dimension and shadows and then the next step was to embellish. I chose some of the die-cuts from the ephemera pack including the coloured star strip, the iceblock rectangle piece and the journal tab. These 3 pieces I tucked it below the photo and to the right side of the photo. I created a focal point towards the centre of the page by adding a cute flair button, a wood veneer heart and another sticker. I also had to add that Sunshine puffy sticker, I just love the puffy stickers from this collection!Lastly I added some of the super cute enamel shape stars around the edges of the sun to add some colour and interest. I also splattered a few splats of black mist and added the date stamp to finish off my Summer page!