Explore | Hello Sunshine | Laura Alberts

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.