Hi Scrappy friends! Danni here, super excited to be sharing my first project as a member of the Design Team! And what an incredible collection to get started with – the adventure-packed new LEGENDARY! Of course, I had to start with a scrapbook layout featuring my gorgeous little man and those big beautiful eyes.
I was very inspired by the mandala-like pattern on the EXPLORER paper the second I saw it, so I decided to fussy-cut the design out and add some texture by hand-stitching with a chain-link stitch and white embroidery thread. Stitching is one of my absolute favourite techniques to add yummy texture to a page!
I made sure to keep the rest of the EXPLORER paper to use as a border for my layout. I layered plain white cardstock on top with lots of messy blue ink splatters – I just love the contrast between the white and dark navy blue. I popped up the fussy-cut mandala on adhesive foam for dimension before adhering it to the layout.
I used WILD ONE and EPIC TALES papers to mat my photo, then used a mixture of ephemera and accessory stickers to create a couple of small clusters around my photo. I made sure to include a label from the accessory stickers for the date!
My title was easy with the amazing die cut titles included in the collection – ‘Love This Kid’ was just perfect for this special little person. For finishing touches I added some stars from the die cut ephemera and clear stickers, then sprinkled some of the gorgeous enamel dots around the layout.
I simply adore this new collection! Cocoa Vanilla have really knocked it out of the park with this one, don’t you agree? If you would like to watch me put this page together, there is a process video below. Thank you for joining me today!
I’m so excited to reveal our much anticipated first collection of 2020, and I am so excited about this one… I hope all you boy scrappers will be too!
This collection is one you won’t want to miss if you have a guy, big or small, in your life! Neutral, earthy tones, combined with splashes of bright colour and masculine elements, make this a versatile and super fun collection!
This collection will start shipping to our awesome retailers late January 2020
There’s a chance for you to WIN the full collection, so read on to find out how!
Amanda here, & today I am sharing a super cool scrapbook page of my boy, the future pilot! As soon as I saw this photo I knew that I had the perfect Cocoa Vanilla Studio collection to document it with – none other than the awesome BOYS RULE line! This collection is seriously cool & just rocks when it comes to scrapping the boys! But enough chatter, here’s my scrapbook layout,
“Future Pilot”
Whoa!!! How awesome is this?! RAD, indeed!
I have featured the stunning CV-BR007 STAR FALL paper as my layout background, distressed & folded the right edge of this paper and stapled a trim of CV-BR009 GOOD TIMES behind it. This created a really raw, and edgy look which enhanced the masculinity of the overall design. The use of metal hardware (staples) not only attached the two papers, but also emphasized the rawness. Simple, but so effective!
I backed my sweet boy’s photograph with a few cool layers of the MISCELLANY frames and die cuts, as well as some fussy cut labels from CV-BR006 BOY STUFF paper. To these layers, I inserted in a few ACCESSORY STICKER stars and words/phrases, and then attached this photo cluster to my page. With my focal point in place, I then tucked my CHIPBOARD PIECES title ‘RAD’ into the top of the photo layers.
Over my treasured photograph, I foam mounted a couple more ACCESSORY STICKERS that featured stars, plus added I that awesome ‘king of the world’ FLAIR BUTTON.So cool!!!
To the right side of the photo cluster, I tucked in the ‘reach for the stars’ ACCESSORY STICKER – both the print and the sentiment coordinated perfectly with my page design.
More ACCESSORY STICKERS are used to adorn the bottom left of my photo cluster, as well as a few die cuts. To complete the photo cluster I foam mounted & overlapped that fabulous ‘adventure’ CHIPBOARD PIECE. Awesome!
For my title to be noticed on such a dark paper, I dove into my COCOA VANILLA STUDIO: COLOUR ME HAPPY stash and used the plain white ALPHABET STICKERS. I embellished around my title with more of the ACCESSORY STICKERS as well as two of the brush stroke CLEAR STICKERS. A few dots of white paint completed the page.
Simple, and yet so epic!!!
Scrapping the boys is made super easy (& totally awesome) with our fabulous BOYS RULE collection!
Thanks so much for visiting – I hope I have inspired you to get creating today!
Hi everyone! It’s Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you and it’s one that is pretty special to me.
Today is World Prematurity Day – a globally recognised day that is aimed at increasing awareness of preterm births, as well as highlighting some of the challenges that are often faced by these babies and their families. Each year approximately 1 in 10 babies are born prematurely, including all three of my children. My post today is for all those babies born too soon.
For my project I decided to create the first in a series of mini albums for my children to document the time following their births. (It has taken me over 7 years to get around to tackling the photos of my boys and all the memories that come with them, so please bear with me for the long post today.)
I began my mini album with the fabulous ‘Boys Rule’ collection and a small 6 ring planner that I purchased from Kmart. (These make perfect mini album covers once everything is removed from the inside.) After choosing the patterned papers I was going to work with, I cut them into a variety of sizes to form the pages of my album.
I used an adjustable 6 hole punch (purchased via eBay) to punch holes on each of the pages, and then used white hole reinforcement stickers (from my local newsagency) to help protect the holes from becoming damaged through handling.
On some of the pages I added extra interest by using border punches to create decorative edges. This, combined with the variety of different page sizes, placements and patterns throughout, is what gives the album so much character.
If you are planning on giving something like this a go, be sure to mix things up as much as you can! Don’t feel like all your pages have to run vertically – a horizontal page thrown in here and there not only adds extra interest but makes the album more interactive as it is turned to be read.
Depending on the theme of your album, you will find that some pages require no more than a photo and some simple embellishments; whilst others may have lots of journaling and very little room for embellishments.
For the sake of continuity across my album, I printed most of my photos in black and white with a few colour feature shots added in. I printed them in a variety of sizes and orientations as well.
Don’t be afraid to add embellishments such as stickers or journaling directly over part of your photos, or to include pages that have no photo at all and are simply decorative. You can even punch directly through photos and use them as a page in your album.
One of the other benefits of making your pages different sizes is being able to get a “sneak peek” at what is coming on the next page. This adds to to the anticipation as you leaf through the album.
To further enhance the cohesion across the album, I typed all my journaling on my computer. When putting each page together I began with photo/s and journaling placement first before deciding on embellishments.
For an extra bit of fun, add some interactive elements such as tip-ins, pockets, or pull out tags. You can see how I used one of the small cards from the Die Cut Ephemera pack with a couple of pieces of washi tape to form a tip-in (fold out flap) to include my journaling underneath.
One of my tips for putting together each page in an album is that whilst I approach each page individually, I am also mindful of what is on the facing page. You can see how I carried across the same colours in the spread below. (Working with the same collection throughout the album helps enormously.)
The only other embellishment I included in my album were a few stickers from the ‘Love Always’ Accessory Sticker sheet, as it had a few more love-filled and generic phrases that suited some of my photos.
Another way to mix things up with your photos is to create a collage or include a series of shots taken close together. (And let’s face it, who doesn’t take 20 shots when you are trying to get the perfect one?!)
I know I have included a LOT of photos in this post, but sometimes the best way to explain things is to show them, right?
My final tip if you are going to create something similar in a planner cover or album, is to not forget about the extra pockets that are built into the cover. I made some small tags to tuck into the front of my album and added some extra photos, and in the larger pocket I included a letter to my son with some of the details about his birth story.
If you are interested in seeing a few more details of my album I have filmed a flip through of the entire thing so you can see how it all looks together:
Thanks so much for sticking with me through my long post today. I do hope I have inspired you to try creating something like this yourself. It could make an ideal Christmas gift for a loved one, or just something for yourself to treasure.
Sue Plumb here today to share a project I created for our regular “Throwback Thursday” theme. I had some super cute photos of one of my boys dressed in his Batman suit that I wanted to document, so I dug into my stash and pulled out the ‘You Rock’ collection, which I thought would be a perfect match.
I started with the star print of the Night Sky paper as my page base, adding a smaller piece of the wood grain print of the Plus One paper over the top.
Next, I used plain black cardstock to cut the Super Hero cut file set from Cut to You. I sorted through the pieces, choosing the ones I wanted for my page design. I chose the large kaboom piece and backed it with the yellow spotted print from the In Line paper. I then backed the smaller pow and boom pieces with the black and white cross print from the Random paper.
Before adding any of the cut file pieces to my page, I decided to create a little more depth on my background using some subtle stamping and some small torn pieces of the Washi Tape Stickers.
I then arranged the three cut file pieces that I had backed on my page; before placing my photos on top. Before sticking them down, I tucked some messy white cotton thread underneath, and added some scrap cardboard to the back to pop them up from the page.
With all the main pieces of my page in place, it was simply a matter of adding my embellishments to tie it all together and finish it off.
I used some of the black cardstock stars I had left from the Super Hero cut file set, and placed three of them around my page to create a “visual triangle” around my photos. On top of the largest star I added a wood veneer star from the Wood Veneer pack; which I then offset with three wood veneer lightning bolts – keeping two of them relatively close together to again form a visual triangle.
I decided to draw some extra attention to the kaboom piece as I was using it for my page title. I added anextra small wood veneer star over the top of the word, then the black you’re awesome banner from the Rubber Charms pack. From the same pack, I added the small yellow epic arrow alongside my photo.
To finish off my layout I used a few yellow crosses from the Enamel Shapes pack and I was done!
Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you.
Sue Plumb here today, and it’s my turn to share my layout for the PageMaps sketch theme that our team have been challenged with this week. It has been amazing to see how all my fellow designers have interpreted the sketch so far, and the range of pages that a single sketch can inspire.
Here is the sketch we have all been working with…
This sketch is one from the PageMaps archives from October 2018; and if you would like more sketch inspiration (including card sketches) you can find them on the PageMaps website.
Despite the floral theme of the sketch, I decided to twist it up and create a boy page instead. I used a combination of elements from two different CVS boy collections – ‘Boys Rule’ and ‘You Rock’.
I began with the ‘Boys Rule’ collection – using the Star Fall paper as my page base to form a border, which I layered with a smaller square of the Entitled paper over the top.
To represent the circular element of the sketch, I cut several different sized wreaths from the free ‘Happiness’ cut files using a combination of white cardstock and the Happy Go Lucky paper for my feature circle. I then arranged them so they were overlapping each other.
Just like the sketch, I used two photos for my page (although I did use a different size and orientation). These photos of my son were taken the day after his birthday while he was testing out his new punchbag and boxing gloves.
I added the die cut what the? speech bubble from the Die Cut Ephemera pack onto my main photo.
Due to the busy pattern on the paper, and the fact that I already had the overlapping wreaths on my background, I wanted to keep the embellishments fairly simple. I dug through my stash and chose the wood veneer pack from the ‘You Rock’ collection. I liked the fact that this was an easy way to add dimension and some natural texture to the page.
I added the large You Rock title piece just to the left of the photos – just like the title was positioned in the sketch. I then adhered a selection of wood veneer stars around the page, placing them at points where the wreaths intersected and forming a “visual triangle” around my photos. I also added a small wood veneer lightning bolt directly onto my second photo.
To finish off, I added the that’s my boy rubber charm along the bottom edge of my photo; then added a small label from the Miscellany die cut pack to the bottom corner of my page and wrote my journalling with a felt pen.
Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you are enjoying our sketch feature this week. Pop in tomorrow to see another layout from our team inspired by the same PageMaps sketch. Until next time, happy scrapping!
