12×12″

Barcelona | Endless summer | Anna Komenda

Anna Komenda 13/01/2020

Hello friends. It’s Anna here with my first post in 2020. CVS design team is having fun right now with a theme called “Holidays and vacations” and do I have to tell you how much I love creating summer and travel themed projects? Each year we travel with my family to some of the european countries and last year we visited Costa Brava in Spain. I always have tons of pictures after each trip and I try to make a big album with them each year but I also like to incorporate my fav photos into layouts. I printed few pictures from our one day in Barcelona and used them all on the layout.

I revisited some of the older CVS collection called “Endless summer”. You can still purchase some of the products from this line but, what is even better, you can buy a digital version and own it forever! You can print yourself papers and all the bits and pieces. You can easily mix the leftovers from the products you own with elements printed in needed capacity.

I kept my page very simple because I wanted to highligh pictures. I used a lot of them so they filled the page with colors and shapes. With a bunch of colorful elements I needed a simple background so I chose wooden pattern. I can never have too much of them in my stash. I just love using them.

Empty spots between photos and filled with small elements like tabs and hearts from ephemera pack. I also added some puffy stickers to get some different texture.

Title of my page is made with alpha stickers that were a part of “Endless summer” collection. I also added a smaller descriptions on some pictures with tiny letters from different type of alpha sheets. You can purchase them in a bundle right now for a very good price.

If felt so good to relive this day once again while making this page. This feeling is an amazing part of scrapbooking. For 2 hours I stare at those photos remembering all the tiny details and things that happened that day. Challenge yourself and join us in creating a vacation themed page too. It’s such a great fun.

Thank you for stopping by and see you in two weeks.

XO Anna

Happy Moments | Boys Rule & Midnight collections | Sue Plumb

Sue Plumb 10/01/2020

Hi everyone, and welcome 2020! I am so happy to be here with my first project of the new year for you. Today I am continuing on with our Holidays & Vacations theme, and sharing a layout I created using a combination of the ‘Boys Rule’ and ‘Midnight’ collections. I know what you are thinking – a bit of a strange mix of collections, right? Despite the very obvious differences between the two, they did work together surprisingly well and were a perfect compliment for the colours in my photo.

For my layout I decided to document a photo that was taken at the Cocoa Vanilla retreat that was held last May. Scrap retreats are definitely one of my favourite kinds of holidays – besides spending time with great friends, you get to enjoy a change of scenery, have a break from your everyday responsibilities, AND you get to create! What’s not to love about that?!

I started my layout with ‘Boys Rule’, with a sheet of Star Fall as my base,which I topped with piece of white cardstock, cut slightly smaller than the paper, to leave a narrow border around the edge. I then added four blocks of paper to my background using pieces of the Messed Up; Expressionist and Straight & Narrow papers. I distressed each of the blocks by scrunching and then flattening them back out; then ran them horizontally on my page to compliment the landscape orientation of my photo.

With my background complete, I then added some scrap cardboard to the back of my photo and decided on its placement on the page. I chose the beautiful floral print Bloom & Grow paper from the ‘Midnight’ collection to begin embellishing my layout, fussy cutting several pieces to tuck in around my photo to frame it.

With the flowers in place I then added the little banner that said the best from the ‘Boys Rule’ Chipboard Pieces pack, and a small black and white butterfly sticker from the ‘Midnight’ Accessory Stickers; placing both near my top floral cluster.

I created a small cluster below my photo by combining another fussy cut floral piece with a small leafy branch and heart, both from the ‘Midnight’ Die Cut Ephemera pack. In my cluster to the left of my photo, I also added the shine bright flair button from the ‘Midnight’ Flair Buttons set.

For my page title, I used the words happy and moments from the ‘Midnight’ Chipboard Pieces pack; and then I finished off my layout by typing up my journalling and applying it in strips (again tying into the horizontal theme) near the bottom of the page.

That’s all from me today. I hope you are enjoying our Holidays & Vacations focus and that you are perhaps feeling inspired to document some of your own holiday moments. Stay tuned for more inspiration from the team for this theme!

Until next time, happy scrapping!

The Best | Unforgettable collection | Tazhiana Gordon

Tazhiana Gordon 05/01/2020

Hello friends, and welcome to my first project of 2020! I am so excited to get back to making and sharing pages with you all, and I’m starting off with a layout about our Disneymoon using the super lovely Unforgettable collection.

I started off off with a cutfile that is pure Disney magic and I backed it with some 6×8 papers from the paper pad. I cheated a bit and used my Silhouette to cut out the insides of the letters so I wouldn’t have had to cut them by hand and it worked out really well. Before attaching anything to the patterned paper I chose to use as the background, I used some acrylic paints to add some color and interest to my layout, and I added swipes of pink, light teal, coral, and a pale orange. After setting that off to dry, I went to work on the rest of my layout.

The photo I printed is of the two of us on the teacup ride at the Magic Kingdom wearing our bride and groom Mickey and MInnie Mouse ears, and I chose to print it out in black and white since it was faded and kind of grainy. First, I matted my photo on a bunch of matching patterned papers and added a torn edge because it’s not a Tazhiana layout without a ripped edge somewhere. Then I added some foam tape to the back of the photo so that I could slide a tag with some journaling behind it. I grabbed a bunch of ephemera from the die cut pack and created a sort of floral wreath behind where my photo was going to sit. I even added some foam dots and a piece of flair to add some more texture and dimension to the layout. It all worked out really well and was incredibly easy after all the hard work of picking what I want to use.

After attaching my photo and the LOVE die cut piece to the background, I went ahead and added my title using the foam title sticker pack and I added some enamel dots to add a bit more color and called this layout good. I love how it came out so, so much and it was a blast to play with color and paint.

There’s a process video for the page linked underneath this blog post if you want to watch it all come together! I hope you enjoyed my project and you give this technique a try. Seriously, pick it and stick it. That freedom to create is life changing. Till next time, keep it crafty friends.

Living the Dream | Unforgettable | Mandy Melville

Mandy Melville 02/01/2020

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas and are looking forward to a fabulous 2020! Today I have a new layout to share with you using the gorgeous Unforgettable collection. I chose to scrapbook a couple of photos of my beautiful Abi, taken when we were on holidays recently. I think that the colours in the photo work perfectly with the Unforgettable collection!

I started off with the Garland patterned paper as my background, however I turned it upside down as I wanted the cluster of flowers on the garland to be at the top of the page rather than the bottom. I love that this paper provides a gorgeous, ready-made background, which makes the design process so much quicker!

I printed my photos about 3×4 inches, and then matted them using two of the patterned papers from the 6×8 paper stack. I then positioned them overlapping the larger floral cluster at the top of the page. I also added a couple more floral die cuts into the garland to give it some more dimension and interest.

I added a few embellishments around the photos including a flair button to the left, and a tab sticker and butterfly die cut to the right.

To balance out the large floral cluster in the top left hand corner of the page, I added another smaller one in the bottom right hand corner. I fussy cut this one from the beautiful Glorious patterned paper. I also added a butterfly to the cluster, which I cut out of the Pretty Bits paper. I adhered it just in the middle section so that the wings would lift nicely off the page, once again adding some lovely dimension to the layout.

For my title, I chose the die cut piece that says ‘Living the Dream’, which I think was appropriate for these holiday snaps! I added this over on the right hand side of the page above the floral cluster. To finish the layout off I scattered a few little die cut flowers and some enamel dots around the page.

Thanks so much for joining me here on the blog today and taking a look at my layout! I’ll be back later in the month with another project to share with you.

Mandy x

2019 Favourites | Sue Plumb

Sue Plumb 20/12/2019

Hi everyone! It’s hard to believe we are mere days away from Christmas isn’t it? I hope your preparations are going well and that you don’t have too much left to do.

Today is my turn to share some of my favourite projects that I created during 2019. I am starting off with a layout that features the stunning ‘Happiness’ collection that was released earlier this year. I adore this range, with all its bright colours and beautiful florals. This page also features a photo of myself and a few of my crafty peeps that was taken at a retreat, bringing back some fun memories too.

This layout was actually inspired by a page from my fellow team member Gwen, as part of a “scraplift” theme that we did earlier in the year, and I love how it turned out! I even got my scissors out for some fussy cutting for this page, because those flowers were just begging to be cut out! One of my other favourite things from this collection is definitely the Clear Stickers – especially all the “painty” style ones!

You probably already know that as a mum of twin boys that I am partial to a good boy page; so for my next favourite, I couldn’t go past this mixed media layout of my dynamic duo using an old favourite – the ‘Totally Rad’ collection from 2016. I actually created this one whilst I was at the Cocoa Vanilla retreat, and besides the end result, I think I also love it because I created it whilst I was so relaxed and in such good company. (Seriously, if you have never been to a retreat before, make sure you put it on your bucket list!)

Despite the fact that this collection is no longer available, there is good news for fans of this range that may have missed getting their hands on it. This collection was recently released as a digital range, which you can purchase to print and cut at home! It includes all the papers (which are easy to print A4 size on a normal home printer); all the cool elements, and Zoe has even included three A4 sized ready to print PDFs, so you just have to print them off and cut them out. You can find the bundle in store HERE

My final favourite layout from this year also featured one of our older collections – ‘Life is Beautiful’ and a photo of my daughter and one of her best friends. This range was released waaay back in 2015, and to date it still remains a firm favourite of mine. The colour palette is just SO fresh and pretty, with the navy, aqua and apricot colour combination.

This layout is also a favourite of mine because it features butterflies. (And anyone who has seen my tattoo will already know how much I love butterflies.) I created these large layered butterflies using cut files from Cut to You, which I coloured with Distress Oxides, backed with some of my precious patterned paper scraps, then topped with butterfly stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet. Combined with fussy cut florals and just enough ink splatters, it makes my creative heart happy. (This range is also now available as a digital collection and you can find it HERE)

Finally, I have to give a mention my other favourite project from this year that wasn’t a layout at all. It was the mini album that I created recently using the ‘Boys Rule’ collection for one of my sons to document the time following his premature birth. This one invoked all kinds of memories as I put it together (both good and bad) and truly was a labour of love.

You find my post with all the details of the album HERE or watch my flip through of the album below.

That’s all from me today, wishing you & your families a very merry Christmas! I hope you get a chance to spend quality time with the people you love most, and make plenty of happy memories to document later. XX

FAVORITES | MIXED | TAZHIANA

Tazhiana Gordon 19/12/2019

Hello friends and welcome to my roundup for 2019. It has been an honor and a privilege and great, great fun designing with Cocoa Vanilla’s beautiful products and I have a few that are close to my heart to share with you all!

This is the most recent project I’ve made while on the team but it’s probably the one I love the most. I love the Midnight collection so much, and if I had to pick a favorite from Zoe’s designs, this one would be it. The colors are so soft and beautiful and this color palette is my favorite.

I especially loved this layout because of the easy design. I love any layout where I can stashbust, use all the embellishments, and repeat things in threes. This layout hits all of those high places for me and it’s so easy to reproduce that this is one of my favorites.

This next layout is a close second! It was a page I made for Cut File week and I used one of Gwen’s files from the Cut To You shop as well as the Happiness collection. This layout features another one of my favorite things: RAINBOWS! I’ve long said that rainbow is my favorite color and that is still true.

In addition to rainbows, we have vellum and watercolor and all the flowers we can handle? With all of this fun and bright elements, what’s not to love?

For my last favorite, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about one more thing that had my heart: traveler’s notebooks. Traveler’s notebooks were my first foray into scrapbooking and making and memory keeping, and I will always have a soft spot for this size and how accessible they are to so many people.

Traveler’s notebooks have that fun square shape without the intimidation factor of a 12×12 piece of cardstock. I love how this spread is lovely enough to be expanded to a traditional layout but small enough to fit into a book. This spread was fun and easily, one of my favorite traveler’s notebook layouts I’ve made all year!

So that’s it, friends! Thank you for a fun year, filled with memories, color and so many beautiful projects, and I cannot wait to see what happens next year.

We Remember Moments | Unforgettable Collection | Sue Plumb

Sue Plumb 06/12/2019

Hi everyone!

Sue Plumb here to share a recent mixed media layout I created using the gorgeous ‘Unforgettable’ collection and a photo of my children that I took while I was shopping with them a few years ago.

I started this page by creating a mixed media background on some white cardstock. I used pink ink to create a watercolour style background, before adding some stamping and coloured texture paste through a stencil in a few spots on my page. I also added some blue watercolour splatters over the top for some extra interest.

Next, I fussy cut the wreath from the beautiful Garland paper, adding foam tape underneath the floral section to pop it up from the page, before sticking it down on top of my background. (You can see how I bent the edges up from the page to add extra dimension.)

I then added some pieces of paper cut from the B sides of the Glorious and Sprightly papers as a mat for my photo, which I stuck down on top.

Alongside my photo, I added the quote “we don’t remember the days, we remember moments” from the scaled down version of the Story Teller paper from the 6×8″ Paper Stack to act as my page title. I was especially drawn to use this quote for this layout, as in the early days of having twins life seemed to pass by in such a blur. Going shopping with the kids and having two sitting in the trolley and one perched on the end like in the photo is something I will always remember though.

On top of the quote card I added the cute camera Flair Button and popped a couple of Enamel Dots nearby.

Now it was time to embellish my wreath. I used a variety of flowers from the Die Cut Ephemera pack, which I stuck down on top of the wreath using foam tape to provide further dimension. I also added 3 bows from the Tassels and Bows pack; and a few small phrase stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet.

I finished off my layout by adding more Enamel Dots; a die cut butterfly; and then a few hand-stitched crosses using embroidery thread.

That’s all from me today, I hope I have inspired you to create something pretty too. Until next time, happy scrapping!

Captured Memories | Unforgettable Collection | Guest Designer – Laura Alberts

Zoe Pearn 02/12/2019

Hi y’all! Guest Designer Laura Alberts back again! I was honored to be asked if I could create a couple more layouts with Unforgettable, so of course I agreed with enthusiasm! This layout is a mixed media floral explosion, one of my favorite styles. These photos of my darling girls swinging at our local park is a vision of happiness because the swings are their favorite! I wanted to capture some of that happiness with this layout.

I began with Dylusions paint in Rose Quartz and swatched a large area to frame my photos. This bold pink is a leap for joy! It exudes the happiness these girls have when swinging, but also I love how perfectly it coordinates with the Unforgettable collection too! I added florals cut from the Garland paper and Unforgettable cut file leaves from the back of that paper underneath of the photos. Then, I sprinkled butterflies all around to add a bit of whimsy and fun!

I hope you find this layout inspiring! It was so much fun to dive back into this stunning collection and find new ways to use it. One of the many reasons I love Cocoa Vanilla Studio’s collections is that they are so versatile. I can scrap photos of any theme and type with these collections, how easy it all comes together when you love the products you’re playing with, am I right?

Laura Alberts, Guest Designer

Beautiful Girl | Sugar & Spice Collection | Anna Komenda

Anna Komenda 27/11/2019

Hello Friends! Have you seen the newest products in CVS store? You should run there quickly because Zoe released digital versions of older Cocoa Vanilla collections! I am over the moon happy about it, because I really loved them and I was missing my favorite stuff. You can purchase both papers and elements and they are already prepared to be printed in A4 size PDF files! You will also get each element separately if you want to use them your way. I am an embellishment person so I use up my embellies faster than the papers. Being able to print more elements to work with my paper leftovers is so amazing. What is ever more amazing is that if you purchase those digital versions of CVS lines, you will help support victims of current Australia bushfires.

I am in CVS team from the very first DT call so I own every collection that was released. We started with two lines: “Sugar and Spice” and “Flying High”. Those two collections were the reason I fell in love with Cocoa Vanilla and I cherish them so much. Especially the girly “Sugar and Spice”. I am almost run out of embellishments but I still have some paper scraps left. That’s why I decided to purchase elements and print them in bunches. Flowers are always my favorite, that’s why I printed a whole sheet filled with them. You can make yourself some print and cut file in Silhouette software or, if you are OK with fussy cutting, just cut them by hand.

I used paper scraps to make several fishtail tags and arranged them over the pink cardstock. Second step was adding a picture of my daughter above them and fill the space with a lot of flowers.

“Sugar and and spice” line came with 12×12 sticker sheet, wood veneers pack and some cork hearts. I still got some of them left and I was so happy to be able to use them up. I mixed in them between the flowers creating colorful and very cheerful page.

I already purchased few more element packs from other collections and I can’t wait to use them in my projects. If you run out of papers, you can also print them at A4 size! Or, if you are lucky and have A3 printer, you can get full 12×12 papers. The best thing is that you will never run out of your favorite papers and embellishments!

Thank you for stopping by and see you in December.

XO Anna

Happy Christmas | Tis The Season Collection | Tarrah McLean

Tarrah McLean 20/11/2019

Hi creative friends!

It’s Tarrah McLean back with you on this Thursday! I hope all my fellow Aussie friends are all safe from these horrendous bush fires we are experiencing in our country at present?

Today I am sharing a layout for the Cut Files theme we have on all this week and being that its Thursday I was also given ‘Throwback Thursday’ where we create with an older collection. I decided to create a Christmas layout since it is fast approaching!I started my page by taking a sheet of white cardstock and adding a piece of vellum over the top to mute the white a little bit, as I had lots of the sequins left from the Tis The Season collection, I decided to add lots of them under the vellum to create a shaker pocket. Once I had added the sequins, I then machine stitched all the edges so that they wouldn’t fall out. I love how this turned out! I like that it adds another feature to my layout.

I took two of the 12 x 12 papers and cut some vertical strips from them and placed them down each side of the layout. then chose a gorgeous cut file title design by Cut To You and added some of the patterned papers behind each of the words. I added craft foam to the underneath and placed it in the centre of my page. I also popped up the photo of my sons on Christmas Day with craft foam so that it was at the same level as the title on my page. I love the shadows and dimension this creates on my page.

I then began to embellish my page using some of the accessory stickers (that are still available in the store) some of the die-cuts, wood veneers and of course a bitty bow and the tiny metal key! I only had 1 of the poinsettia flowers in the die-cut pack left so I added just the one to the very bottom of the title and layered the bow over the top. Lastly I added some of the enamel dots from the Tis The Season collection. Have you got any of the Tis The Season collection left? Pull it out and get creating with it! Its such a soft and gorgeous collection for Christmas photos.