cocoa vanilla

THIS BEAUTIFUL LIFE | HEART & HOME COLLECTION | SOPHIE DELORME

Sophie Delorme 06/09/2023

Hello Cocoa Vanilla friends !

Sophie here and I am so excited to share my very first page created with the brand new Heart & Home collection !

OMG where to start ?! I guess you know the feeling when you have a new collection that you absolutely LOVE ? You want to use all the things…and hoard them at the same time ..?!!?

The first paper that caught my attention was the «Gather» paper. I cut out the little labels on it and aligned them vertically on the right side of a thick white cardstock.

I went for a beautiful black and white photo of my daughter Sabrina that I backed with tissue paper, adhesive foam and the «Fall Beauty» paper. I placed it on the left side of the layout, as she is looking towards the right, at the labels.

I used words from the «Titles with Gold Foil» pack for my title. I embellished the layout with a big floral cluster that is a mix of the Floral Ephemera pack, and flowers fussy cut out of the Floral A5 Paper Stack paper and the «Bountiful» patterned paper.

The date on one of the labels was done with the mini puffy alpha stickers.

Here are more close-ups:

Ahhh this collection is just GORGEOUS !!!

I hope you felt inspired by my page today,

Happy crafting !!

Sophie xx

Love You | Happy Days collection | Mandy Melville

Mandy Melville 02/09/2023

Hello everyone!

Mandy here today to share a new layout featuring the gorgeous Happy Days collection! This collection just makes me happy, with it’s bright colours and pretty florals I just can’t get enough of it! For the layout that I’m sharing today, I chose to document some photos of my hubby and I celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary this month.

I decided for this layout that I wanted to create a grid design so that I could easily incorporate four photos from the day onto the page. To make it a little more interesting I created a frame around the photos using a template that I traced around to create each piece. For my colour palette I chose to stick mainly to the magenta, pink and the dark blue, and so I used the blue Definitive paper and the magenta coloured Flutterby paper to create the frame. I filled the middle of the frame with the sweet pink Lush Blooms paper and added corners inside the frame using an aqua paper from the A5 Paper Stack. I adhered my photos in the middle of the frame using craft foam for added dimension.

To the right of the photos I created an embellishment cluster using a flower from the Floral Ephemera pack, another flower that I fussy cut out of the Lush Blooms paper, as well as a Die Cut flag banner. I chose embellishments that stayed within my chosen colour palette, and I adhered some overlapping the photos and tucked others underneath to create depth and interest within the cluster.

To balance out the cluster on the right, I created another cluster to the left of the photos. I again used Floral Ephemera as well as fussy cut elements to create the cluster. To finish the clusters off I added a Chipboard heart sticker to each.

Finally, I added some typed journaling above the photos and my title below. I used the beautiful Chipboard Titles and decided on the phrase ‘Love You’ as I thought that suited the photos and theme of the layout perfectly.

Thank you so much for joining me here on the blog today! I hope you found some inspiration!

Mandy x

The good times | Happy days Mini album | Anna Komenda

Anna Komenda 29/08/2023

Hello, hello! It’s Anna here and today I don’t have a layout for you! While I was waiting for the brand new “Heart & home” collection to arrive, I once again decided to make “use as much as you can” type of project with the older line. Those cabins won’t stretch any more further so I need to make some room. Truth to be told – I would probably need to make 100 of albums like this to notice some empty space… However, the result of my internal challenge is cute, colorful mini album made with wonderful “Happy days” collection. I need to warn you that I have many photos to share with you.

I made this mini album from scratch, using three pieces of cardboard for the cover and some colorful cardstock for the page bases. I arranged them in rainbow order inspired by all the rainbows in “Happy days” collection. I also went through all the pattern papers and chose few in matching colors to continue the rainbow trend. I used both 12*12 papers like “Lush blooms”, “Flutterby”, Juicy friut”, “Feel good”, “Little blossoms” , “Sunshine lollipops” along with A5 Paper Stack.

Album is quite small, measuring only 10*15 cm, but each page has some folded flaps or pockets so it can hold many photos. You can easily expand the album even further by adding even more flaps on the back of each page.

This is how it looks from the side, with cascade of pages, each 1cm smaller than a previous one. There is plenty of room to add more volume with photos and embellishments.

To decorate the pages, I reached for almost all of the embellishments from this collection. I used Accesory stickers, Die cuts ephemera, Floral ephemera, Chipboard titles, Puffy stickers and Puffy hearts. I only added the glue on the edges of the embellishments so you can still tuck the photo behind it!

I also added some embellishments on the back of each page, the way you can look at it without turning the album upside down. As I mentioned each page has some flap or pocket for more room for photos. It was hard to photograph them so you need to believe me they are there.

Here are all the album pages I created:

And that is all! I know it was a lot of photos but it was hard to choose only few pages to showcase. I hope you like this mini album.

That is all for today! We will see each other in September and I will for sure have a project made with brand new CVS baby! Can’t wait to dive in. Thank you so much for spending your precious time with me.

XO Anna

Awesome | Happy Days | Niki Rowland

Niki Rowland 24/08/2023

Hi everyone! This is Niki (@nikiclairecreates) with another layout and video using the Happy Days collection. I decided to make ‘medals’ out of my photos on this layout using those fabulous colourful stripes from the Sunshine Lollipops paper.

I started off by gutting the middle of the Sunshine Lollipops paper, in order to preserve the outer edge: I can use this for a different layout (I have a tendency to be a bit of a thrifty scrapper sometimes!). I then cut apart the stripes from the gutted piece. I chose 7 stripes to use as a main feature on this layout, and I distressed the edges of all of them, folded them in half and also machine stitched down the middle of each one.

I then decided that a white background just wasn’t doing it for me…and went looking for what patterned papers I could use for a background instead. I settled on the B side of the Rainbow Bright paper, I love the white with ditzy hearts and this was perfect to add some interest to my background. I trimmed it down, distressed the edges and added it to a sheet of white to give it a boarder.

I arranged my colourful stripes onto the background together with my large photo which I cut into a circle shape. I cut three more smaller photos into circle shapes too. From the offcuts of the colourful stripes, I created little ribbons to add to the bottom of each photo – making them into ‘medals’ or ‘rosettes’. I also did this with a fussy cut frame from the Specialty Paper.

I added my photos to the layout together with Die Cut Ephemera ‘Amazing’ rosette. I then added small embellishments to each one: Floral Ephemera, Chipboard Phrases, fussy cut words from the Definitive paper, Chipboard Shapes, Puffy Stickers and phrase stickers from the Accessory Stickers.

I finished off with a few splatters of white paint over the colourful stripes and also handwrote in a few lines of journaling. If you would like to watch how this layout came together, you can watch my process video below! I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you so very much for joining me today, I am really pleased with how this layout turned out!

Happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

Together | Heart and Home collection | Tarrah McLean

Tarrah McLean 23/08/2023

Hi creative friends,

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am excited to be sharing a layout with you featuring the new GORGEOUS Heart and Home collection! I love the handmade feel to this collection.

I started by choosing a cut file from CUT to YOU, I cut it out from the ‘B’ side of the gorgeous Fall Beauty paper. I was certain to place the cut file in the centre of the paper so I could use the outline as the background for my layout. I adhered the cut file to a plain sheet of white cardstock and trimmed down the cardstock to measure approximately 11′ x 11′ and adhered it the remainder of the Fall Beauty paper. I then machine stitched a border around the outside to add to that handmade feel.

I am documenting a photo of myself with my friends from one of their 50th birthdays a few years ago. Such a fun night celebrating! I placed the photo on the right hand side of the page and layered a piece of vellum and a frame from the die-cut pack underneath. I adhered the photo using craft foam to add a little dimension to my page. On top of the photo, I added a phrase banner from the die-cut pack and also placed a rectangle sticker from the accessory sticker sheet to the left of the photo.

At the bottom of the photo, I placed the paper strip with the cross hearts on it from the ‘Gather’ paper. I also tucked in some florals from the floral die-cut pack and placed a banner die-cut and a round die-cut both from the ephemera pack. To the right side of my photo, I tucked in some more florals here and also placed a word sticker from the Accessory Sticker sheet. My title is the ‘Together’ word from the gold title die-cut pack. I just love the gold foil on these! So pretty!

To balance out the heavy right side of the page that features my photo and title, I created a small cluster of embellishments that features mostly florals and a Love die-cut. I used different levels of adhesive here to show different levels of dimension. I also placed some more word and phrase stickers here from the Accessory sticker sheet. Lastly I placed some enamel puffy shapes and I stamped the date stamp to document the date of when the photo was taken.

Thanks so much for stopping by the Cocoa Vanilla blog! I hope you enjoyed reading about how I created my layout as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

HAPPY DAYS | HAPPY DAYS COLLECTION | SOPHIE DELORME

Sophie Delorme 20/08/2023

Hello friends!

It’s Sophie with you today and I have a colorful layout to share!

I used the Happy Days collection and decided to go bold on colors!!

I used a 11×12 inches thick white cardstock that I placed on the Sunshine Lollipops paper.

I played with three Distress Oxide inks and water to create a mixed media background, in a heart-liked shape.

I centered two sweet photos of my daughter, mounted on tissue paper and foam adhesive and on the Juicy Fruit paper, and placed everything on my colorful background.

I decorated around my photo with beautiful florals from the Happy Das floral Ephemera pack in a rainbow manner, starting with the purples on the left, and pinks, oranges and yellows towards the right.

I also added a few butterflies and puffy stickers.

My title is a mix of a die cut (word “Happy”) and letters from the Chipboard Titles pack that I painted with the same inks as my background.

Here are more close-ups:

How I like the end-result!! I hope you do too and that it can give you new ideas to try!

Thank you for stopping by!

Sophie xx

Special to Me | Storyteller Collection | Laura Alberts

Laura Alberts 17/08/2023

Hey y’all! Laura Alberts back again with a fun grid layout using the Storyteller collection for my graduation photos! If there was ever a set of pictures that had a story to tell, it’s these ones! I love how perfectly the colors in this collection matched my robes and stadium.

For this grid, I used four 4 x 4 1/2 inch bases for my 3×4 inch photos. By pairing journaling cards with the two profile photos and frames or flags with the landscape style photos, I created continuity across the grid that allowed me to go wild with the embellishing! Chipboard butterflies gave these layered squares a 3D effect that really made them pop.

By choosing colors for my bases that either contrast or compliment the photos, I can make specific photos more of a focal point on the page. The yellow squares give two of the photos a little bit more prominence and catch your eye first thing. Using a mix of puffy stickers, chipboard, and ephemera to embellish these squares makes each of them unique and interesting.

But, my favorite detail on this page is the Nuvo drop border between the grids. It’s a small addition that gives this page so much character!

I hope this layout inspires you to freshen up your grid layouts with a variety of embellishments! To see how “Special to Me” came together, check out the process video below:

Super Awesome | Happy Days | Niki Rowland

Niki Rowland 10/08/2023

Hi everyone! This is Niki (@nikiclairecreates) and I’m so happy to be back with another layout and process video using Happy Days. After my Guest Designs over the past two months, I was delighted to be invited to join the team on a permanent basis! Thank you so much to Zoe & Cocoa Vanilla Studio for having me!

For today’s layout I decided to use THAT rainbow paper – you know the one, it’s called Rainbow Bright and has a big beautiful rainbow on it!

I cut all the arcs apart, distressed the edges of all, then stuck them back together, overlapping a little, onto a piece of white card. They overlapped the right edge of the cardstock background quite a bit so I just chopped off the excess. I then added machine stitching around each of the arcs.

I added my photo to the left side of the page. I wanted to mount it on yellow paper but didn’t have any left! So I used a piece of the A5 Paper Stack that I had a small piece of and just about managed to mount two sides of the photo!

I added some clusters to the top and bottom of the layout. I included two fussy cut clouds, that I had leftover from when I made a mini album. I also added Die Cut Ephemera, and Floral Ephemera to these clusters and Accessory Stickers too.

For my title I used ‘super’ fussy cut from the Definitive paper and the word Awesome from the Chipboard Phrases. I also added a sub-title ‘best ever’ also fussy cut from the Definitive paper.

I finished off by handwriting my journaling around the yellow arc, and adding a few chipboard hearts and puffy hearts to the layout! I have created a process video for this layout, which can be watched below, I hope you enjoy it.

I absolutely love how this one turned out and I hope you do too! Thanks so much for joining me today and happy scrapping!

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

Cool Kid | No Limits collection | Tarrah McLean

Tarrah McLean 09/08/2023

Hi creative friends!

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am sharing a new boy-themed layout using the awesome No Limits collection! The No Limits collection is a bit of a throwback to one of the older Cocoa Vanilla collections but I love revisiting older collections! I don’t know about you but if I have heaps of a collection left, I like to challenge myself to use it up!

I started out with a white cardstock background as I mostly always do, trimming it down to measure 11′ x 11′ and adhering it to a sheet of black cardstock. I took the Nebula paper and tore rough edges down each side. I then took some of the Latitude paper and tore a piece vertically, I adhered the Nebula paper down and the yellow side of the Latitude paper on the right side. I trimmed the colourful border strip from the Universal paper and adhered this piece to left of the Nebula paper. I bent the edges of the papers using my fingers to add some texture and to add to the grunge/boy theme feel of the page. On the right of the papers, I added some black twine also for some added texture.

The photo is of my youngest son just after a haircut, he was loving his haircut and I just loved the look on his face so I snapped a few photos of him! I placed the photo in the centre of the papers, I layered one of the 3′ x 4′ pocket cards under the photo for an extra layer. I added some phrase stickers from the Accessory Sticker Sheet here to help tell the story of my layout. Although Certified Wild and Beast Mode may not be quite true lol! The One of a Kind chipboard certainly is true though and I placed this piece at the very top of the page.

To the right of my photo, I placed my title which is made up of the Die-cut Titles, I used craft foam underneath these to pop them off the page. I don’t know about you but I love the font of these titles! I added some phrases below the title here and then began to add some of the smaller embellishments. I added lots of star embellishments, including die-cuts, chipboard stars and puffy stars. I also added wood epoxy buttons and some tab stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet.

I love the dimension, detail and texture that all the different papers and embellishments add to a page. The last thing I did was I stamped the date of when my photo was taken, I sprinkled some black mist and freehand drew a black border around the edge using my journal pen. I love how my boy themed layout turned out and hope you enjoyed reading about how I created it.

Thanks so much for stopping by the Cocoa Vanilla blog today!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

MY SUNSHINE | HAPPY DAYS COLLECTION | SOPHIE DELORME

Sophie Delorme 06/08/2023

Hello friends!

It’s Sophie on the blog today with a new layout to share!

I used the Happy Days collection for this page. I had a photo of my daughter on the lake and had the idea to cut a few wave shaped borders out of patterned papers and arranged them at the bottom of a 11×11 inches white frame to create movement and fun waves.

I placed the frame on a 12×12 white cardstock.

I mounted my photo on tissue paper and adhesive foam, and embellished around it with beautiful flowers from the Happy Days Floral Ephemera pack.

I used the Happy Days Chipboard Titles for my title and added a subtitle cut out of a patterned paper.