More Than Words

HELLO LOVE | MORE THAN WORDS | GWEN WRUCK

Gwen Wruck 03/08/2020

Hi Creative friends, Gwen back on the blog today with a new share. I’m really having a bit of a stash bust at the moment with my CVS products, while I wait for the latest collection to arrive and I’m really enjoying seeing these older products on pages. This project features the ‘More Than Words‘ collection and a sweet photo of my daughter and I, taken a few years back.

For this page, I actually started with the idea to use up some of my stash in this collection and noticed that I had quite a few orange/yellow elements left. I’ve made a stack of layouts with this collection and most of those featured the pretty pinks and greens… so I thought it would be fun to use up some of the darker prints and that pretty peach/orange tone.

Some of you will also know that I’m on a bit of a coloured background kick at the moment so thought I’d start with the ‘Sketch Book’ pattern paper as my background. I’ve then framed it with the ‘Gossamer‘ pattern paper to create a solid border around the edge. I’ve also used this pattern paper to mount my photo along with a small piece of the ‘Effervescent’ pattern paper I had left in my stash. I’m going for a design that runs across the centre of the page so was sure to keep the lines of my background paper running left to right (not top to bottom).

Next, I wanted to build the photo mat and base elements of my page. To break up the peach in the background, I’ve pulled out a cut file, this one from CUT to YOU and cut two out in white Card Stock. I’ve layered these across the middle section of my page to act as a base for my photo and embellishments.

I’ve then positioned my photo on the left-hand side of the page and began thinking about my title and other design elements. I’ve gone with the title ‘Hello Love’ from the ‘Chipboard Titles‘ in the collection. These are super sticky and great quality and really add a lovely touch to your page. I’ve positioned it to the lower right of my photo.

With the largest elements of my design locked it, it’s time to embellish! I’ve started with some floral and leaf die cuts from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera‘ pack. I’ve just made sure to keep to my warm soft Apricot/Peach tones and Black and White.

I’ve also fussy cut out some butterflies, some from the ‘Collage‘ pattern paper and some from the ‘Gossamer‘ paper I have used earlier. I’ve also filled in the design with some Die Cut title elements and stickers from the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’.

Lastly, I’ve rounded out the page with some Enamel dots and a deep dive into my stash to find some ‘Endless Summer’ Woodies. I love the warmth of the wood grain here, perfect for this page.

Thanks for popping by the blog today, I hope you enjoyed seeing this page come together and that it might inspire you to do a little stash busting yourself! If you do, be sure to share it with me in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Facebook group :)

Until next time,

Gwen

Bright Eyes | Mixed Collections | Danni Visser

Danni Visser 14/06/2020

Hi there! Danni here with a scraplift of Michelle Robertson’s gorgeous black and white layout for the International Scrapbooking Day monochromatic challenge. As soon as I saw this stunning layout, I knew I had to have a go at creating my own version!

I first went through all my Cocoa Vanilla collections and pulled out all the black and white elements I thought could work for this. I decided to flip Michelle’s layout horizontally to work better with my photo, and I reversed the order of the light/dark elements on the page by choosing a lighter background (Sophisticated floral 12×12 paper from Midnight collection) and a darker main photo mat (Happy Go Lucky paper from Boys Rule collection). I added some soft layers with various monochrome papers from More Than Words collection as well.

I watered down some black acrylic paint and made lots of black paint splatters on my background paper before adding down my main photo mat. To echo the tissue paper strip on Michelle’s layout, I cut a strip of vellum, ruffled it up, added a strip of lace trim and ran it through my sewing machine with white thread. I kept the thread tails long for added texture.

Next I took some fussy cut butterflies from More Than Words and added a layer of darker paper beneath with some foam squares to create layered butterfly embellishments. I also included some leaf die cuts, fussy cut elements, vellum ephemera and stickers from More Than Words and Unforgettable to create a cluster either side of my photo and at the top left of the page. I included a doily and some messy thread for more soft textural elements.

To help some of the elements stand out I used a white gel pen and a grey felt tip pen to outline and ink the edges of the paper layers. For a title I used the die cut titles from Midnight and some dark grey alpha stickers from my stash. To finish off I added a sprinkling of enamel dots from More Than Words and Unforgettable, choosing the grey and white tones.

Although this is a scraplift, I think they ended up looking quite different! I’m really pleased with the result and so happy I gave this a try. Have you had a go at scraplifting someone recently? It’s a great way to get outside your comfort zone. There is a process video for this layout linked below if you would like to see how I added all the little details.

Happy scrapping!

Danni x

INSD Challenge Inspiration | Anna K, Raquel, Melissa, Tarrah, Laura and Sue

Sue Plumb 29/05/2020

Hi everyone! Today we are once more turning the spotlight on some of the layouts our design team created during our International Scrapbook Day celebration a few weeks ago.

The first layout we are sharing belongs to Anna, who created a fabulous sketch challenge for us, and this stunning sample layout using our ‘Happiness’ collection to go along with it…

If you would like to see how Anna put this beauty together, she has a process video available on our YouTube channel. You can watch it here:

Anna’s sketch challenge proved to be very popular, with many gorgeous layouts being shared as a result, including from our own team members. Raquel decided to play along using Anna’s sketch to create this layout of her and her son using our ‘Unforgettable’ collection which we absolutely love!

Raquel also created a process video for this layout, and you can watch it on our YouTube channel here:

The final layout we have to share using Anna’s sketch was from Melissa, who created this one LIVE in our INSD group from her home in New Zealand. She used our ‘Legendary’ collection and we are crushing on that big yellow heart and those die cut patterned paper leaves.

The next challenge we had on offer was Tarrah’s multi photo and mixed font challenge. Tarrah used our ‘Wild at Heart’ collection and was inspired by the work of fellow DT member Raquel to create an 8.5×11″ layout.

The next layout we have to share was also created for Tarrah’s challenge, but this time from Laura using our ‘More Than Words’ collection. She went all-out on the multi photo criteria, and managed to add FIVE photos on her page whilst still maintaining a clean, uncluttered look.

The final layout we have to share today comes from Sue, who created this mixed media layout during her LIVE scrap stream in the INSD group. She used our ‘Legendary’ collection which was a perfect match for the fun photos of her kids.

That’s all for today, but stay tuned because we have another serve of inspirational layouts from our team to come tomorrow. Until then, happy scrapping!

Wonderful Moments | More Than Words | Kylie Kingham

Kylie Kingham 23/05/2020

Hello friends. Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today.It’s Kylie with you, sharing a new layout I completed recently. I’ve taken a step back in time and have used one of my favourite past collections, ‘More Than Words’ . I’ve also used a very pretty cut file which has been designed by my DT friend Gwen, from Cut To You. Together, both elements created a very soft and girly layout.

For my background I trimmed 2 cm off each side of the ‘TREASURE’ paper and backed it with a slightly larger piece of white card stock from my stash, making sure I distressed all edges a little for texture. I then adhered them centred to a piece of the ‘GOSSAMER’ paper.For effect I added a free hand drawn border with a fine tip black marker as well as a small cluster of embellishments to the top left corner.As I had a page design in mind I knew this small cluster would give a nice balance to my finished design.

Once I had cut my cut file, I backed just the Butterfly’s and adhered it to the lower right corner of my page. I wanted the cut file to be more of a background element for my page which is why I didn’t back the flowers of the design. Once in place, my photo was added and I began layering some pretty floral die cuts over the top.I used some foam tape for some so that they would sit higher than others, creating dimension.

To finish my page I chose some of the chipboard stickers as a title. Nothing beats a large title for a page don’t you think? I love the effect of having the non backed cut file underneath.It kind of looks like paper lace work.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my layout today. Sometimes it is nice to pull out your stash of past kits when they have been in storage for a while to create something brand new! I hope my page today has given you a little inspiration.

Until next time,

Kylie.

CHERISH PRECIOUS MOMENTS | MORE THAN WORDS | LAURA ALBERTS

Laura Alberts 02/05/2020

Hey y’all! I’m back with a fun and page-filling take on Tarrah’s awesome challenge in the International Scrapbook Day Event happening RIGHT NOW on Facebook! I hope you will join us for some fantastic inspiration and a few freebies too! In Tarrah’s challenge, we are encouraged to use multiple photos and a multiple font title, so I decided to push this challenge to the max! Using 5 photos and a 6 word title, then filling the whole rest of the page, collage-style. It was so much fun to fill every nook and cranny of this page, let me tell you! Seriously, satisfying!

These photos are of my oldest daughter’s experience homeschooling and I really wanted to include as many as possible for this layout. The best way that I know how to make photos like these pop on the page is to let the bold colors shine in the photos and focus on softer colors in the background. That meant the stunning More Than Words collection would be perfect for this one! These sweet florals and soft pastels made a lovely backdrop and accent.

My favorite part of piecing together this fabulous layout was the title. Using a mix of chipboard, ephemera, and stickers to make an elaborate title was a technique that’s new to me, but that I really enjoyed! My sweet girl is an over-the-top, exuberant personality, so it just seemed fitting that the title of this layout be dramatic and divine, just like her. I often try to incorporate the feeling of the moment or the personality of the photo’s subjects into the design of my layouts. It’s a fun way to make each layout feel like an experience, rather than just a documentation of memories!

I hope you find some inspiration in this design and join us for even more challenges in the International Scrapbook Day event on Facebook! If you’d like to see the process of how this layout came together, be sure to watch the video below. Enjoy your lovely scrappy weekend, my friends!

Sweet | More Than Words collection | Anna Blades

Anna Blades 11/04/2020

Hi friends! Anna here today with a new layout! One of the things I like the most about spring are the cherry blossoms. I love all these tiny pink flowers. And I was inspired by them to make this page featuring the pretty More than words collection.

I chose the B side from the Effervescent paper for my background. This gray chevron is just perfect. I trimmed half an inch from each side of the paper and backed the layout with a gray card-stock. Then I stitched all around the page with my sewing machine.

To make the layered flowers I cut the Darling Buds paper with my Silhouette Cameo. They’re a Paige Evan’s design. Once I had all the layers, I raised the tips of the petals to give them more dimension, glued all the layers and put a white enamel in the middle of each flower.

All around the flowers, I placed some leaves that I diecut out of white card stock and vellum. I love how they look peeking from behind the flowers.

Behind the photo I put tissue paper with white polka dots. You can hardly see it, but I think it’s a nice delicate touch. I also added a doily and a label behind the photo.

On the right side of the picture I stacked two stickers from the sticker sheet, because the colors and the sentiment were perfect for the page.

Like I did on my previous layout, I used one of the chipboard words for my title, but this time I chose it in black with the black outlined heart. Instead of journaling, I added two typewritten phrases from the sticker sheet with two heart shaped enamel dots on each side, and stitched them with my sewing machine.

The final touch was an adorable chipboard heart with tiny polka dots and a soft pink enamel dot on the upper left side of the photo.

I really hope you like it and inspires you to create a floral layout, which is always a winner.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Take care and stay safe!

See you,

Anna

Sweet Moments | More Than Words Collection | Tarrah McLean

Tarrah McLean 08/04/2020

Hi friends,

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am sharing a layout for Throwback Thursday. I decided to go back and pull out the gorgeous More Than Words collection for my Throwback Thursday project. I decided to cut a scallop design cut file that is from Cut To You first and backed some of the open spaces with some of the gorgeous papers from the collection.

I chose the Noteworthy paper as my background paper and arranged all the scallop pieces on the background how I liked them. I chose to document a lovely photo of my Mum and my son together at my Nan’s 90th birthday at the end of last year. I added one of the cardstock frames behind my photo and popped it up with foam tape to raise it up off the page. I placed some embellishments around the photo, including the flair button, a few die-cut phrases, a chipboard heart and some enamel dots and shapes.

My title is made up of the chipboard ‘Moments’ word from the chipboard elements pack and also the word ‘Sweet’ from the black chipboard titles pack. I placed both of these on the left of my photo, I like how they look overlapping the scalloped papers underneath. I added some of the floral cluster die-cuts around the page also, I like how they add some more colour and another element to the page.

The most time consuming part of the layout was backing all the scallop pieces and getting them arranged. Once that was all done and I had them glued down, the rest of the layout came together quite quickly. I find backing cut files very therapeutic, a bit like fussy cutting….however I know its not everyone’s cup of tea lol! A few of the last bits I added were the small phrase stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed my Throwback Thursday project and that you are inspired in some way to create with your More Than Words goodies.

Happy creating and stay well everyone!

Tarrah x

Life is Good | More Than Words collection | Anna Blades

Anna Blades 28/03/2020

Hi CVS friends! This Is Anna and I’m so thrilled to be here today sharing my first layout with you! It’s awesome to be part of the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Design Team!

I’ve made this scrapbook page using the beautiful More than words collection and the Unforgettable freebie cut file.

I decided to use this photo that I took of my friend Monica with her daughter because the colors were perfect for these papers.

For the base of my layout I used the B side of the pretty Collage paper. It makes contrast with the bright floral paper.

Then I ripped two strips from the Darling Buds paper and I placed them up and down of the page. I also put a ripped strip vellum between both patterned papers.

I filled both sides of this “central path” with the flowers that I cut with my Silhouette Cameo.

For my main title I used the white chipboard titles, and I inked it by making a pink ombre. It was so easy because of the smooth texture of the chipboard.

On both edges of the page I sewed two thin strips from the 6×6 pad Treasure paper.

The page is pretty busy, so I didn’t use a lot of embellishments. Just two chipboard butterflies, a banner die cut, a sticker phrase and a heart-shaped enamel dot.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I’m looking forward to share with you my next creations ! Take care!

See you soon,

Anna

You HEART Me | More than Words | Michelle Stokes

Michelle Stokes 24/02/2020

Hello Friends it’s Michelle back today with my final share for this wonderful month of LOVE. I stepped back in time and used the beautiful More than Words for this lovey dovey share along with a family photo from a few years back. Love the sweet pastel colours within this collection that give a soft feminine feel to the layout.

I chose a fun cut file from CUT to YOU (designed by DT Member Gwen) to use as the main focal point on the layout and backed it with multiple pattern papers from the 6×6 paper pad within this collection. I used a loose rule of 3’s for this to ensure I had a good balance of colours and patterns = 3 of each pattern or colour tone spaced out amongst the letters, words and hearts. I backed the entire layout on a 12×12 piece of the COLLAGE paper (reverse side) plus a little pop of the same pattern used as a layer within the photo stack.

I used foam tape to adhere the entire file to the backing cardstock – this gave it a slight pop of dimension off the page.

I adore this photo of us, Leila was so little compared to how giant she feels now. I layered some scrap pieces from previous layouts under the photo stack – nothing goes to waste here! Theres a cluster of sorts formed to the right of the photo using pieces from the ephemera pack. Love the tiny floral bits in this collection.

Another little cluster using similar elements over on the left of the page, incorporating a couple of stickers – one of which was fussy cut from a larger sticker.

Another mini cluster at the top of the layout to finish off the visual triangle I was hoping to achieve with such a ‘large and in charge’ type of cut file in the background. I really love how it all turned out, and felt it was complete after a sprinkling of my trusty gold colour shine.

Well thats all from me today, short and sweet but straight to the point! I hope you’ve enjoyed taking a look at my step back in time. I cant wait to see what next month brings – we’ll all be creating with the newly released collection – LEGENDARY. Be sure to keep an eye here on the blog and on our other socials – Instagram and Facebook for more creative goodness!

Until next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x

Precious Moments | More Than Words collection | Kylie Kingham.

Kylie Kingham 23/01/2020

Hello! It’s Kylie back with you today on the blog, sharing a new layout with one of my favourite past collections, ‘MORE THAN WORDS’. I really only had several bits and pieces left in my stash so I thought it would be good to share my ‘go-to’ layout design for when you wanted to use up all your scraps.

It’s a really easy layout to bring together. I started with a white cardstock background and set about cutting down strips of papers at varying widths and heights. I like to distress the edges of them a little before I start adhering them into place. Each strip is then layered over each other being careful not to have everything too symmetrical. I think the background works so well because no two pieces of paper are the same size. Once I was happy with the positioning of them, my photo was added over the top.For balance I have added some gorgeous die cuts to support my photo with foam tape, so that they sat up from the background, adding dimension.