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Home | These Days collection | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone, it’s Sue Plumb here today to share my latest design team project with you.

This week we are doing a scraplift theme with a twist, as the team have been tasked with scraplifting ourselves! I have to admit, it was a great excuse to look back over some of my Cocoa Vanilla projects from years gone by, but the task of choosing one was a bit like choosing a favourite child. In the end I decided on a layout from back in November 2018. It was created for the “Throwback Thursday” feature and I used the ‘Life is Beautiful’ collection, which was actually released back in Cocoa Vanilla’s first year back in 2015. This collection remains one of my all-time faves, and I still have some of it lovingly hoarded in my stash.

Here is my original layout…

For once, I actually scraplifted a layout and stuck pretty much to the original design. This was partly because I wanted to see if it would hold up to the test of time, but it was also because I was sick with COVID and was lacking in mojo and energy. So this scraplift couldn’t have come at a better time for me.

Here is my new layout using the gorgeous ‘These Days’ collection…

As you can see, I stuck very closely to my original design. I chose to document a photo of myself and my family in front of our new house that we recently purchased, and I knew this collection would be perfect for it. In particular, it was the Neighbourhood paper with all the sweet little houses that I had in mind. I combined this with the spotty print of the Take Flight paper and some strips of the pretty orange leafy pattern of the Wall of Fame paper as the base of my design. To add texture, I lightly distressed the outer edges of my papers.

With papers in place, it was time to start working on the other components. I decided to add two elements that I include on most of my current layouts that were missing from the original page – frayed gauze and a paper doily. I opted for a dark charcoal doily to tie in with the black of my photo, and I layered them on the background before sticking my photo on top.

Alongside my photo, I added the no place like home 3×4″ card from the Pocket Cards pack; whilst the oh happy day quote along the bottom edge of the photo was from the cut apart The Good Life paper.

I used pieces from the Floral Ephemera pack as the basis for my embellishment and title clusters. I added foam tape behind some of the flowers as I layered them, and I also bent the petals up away from the page to add dimension. In the cluster around the bottom left corner of my photo I added one of the Wood Epoxy Buttons to mimic the flair button from the original layout.

For the title cluster above my photo, I used the word home from the Foam Title Stickers, flowers from the Floral Ephemera pack and the small sweet flag from the Die Cut Ephemera pack. Being the butterfly lover I am, and also as a nod to all the butterflies on my original page, I couldn’t resist adding one of the butterflies (also from the ephemera pack).

A few finishing touches included a label from the Accessory Sticker sheet for my journalling and the date; small hearts from the Puffy Stickers pack added to my photo; and some small splatters of black ink around the page.

If you would like to see exactly how this page came together, you can watch my process video here:

I would highly recommend scraplifting one of your own layouts if you are ever stuck for inspiration – just pick one you love and go for it! Stay tuned over the coming days for more scraplift inspiration from the team.

Until next time, happy scrapping!

MY BEAUTIFUL | DAYDREAM COLLECTION | SOPHIE DELORME

Hello Cocoa Vanilla friends!

It’s Sophie on the blog today and I am sharing a soft wintery layout created with the lovely DayDream collection. It’s my favorite collection for Winter pages!

 

I used the Sweet Serenity paper for my background.

I created two little mountains out of white cardstock, distressed the edges and added a simple backstitch on them with white embroidery floss.

 

 

I had this beautiful photo of Sabrina playing outside with our dog. Since she is looking to the right, I placed the photo, with tissue paper behind it, on the left side of the page.

I selected numerous beautiful floral embellishments from the Die Cut Ephemera pack, and also fussy cut a few from the Garden Variety patterned paper, and tuck most of them behind each mountain. They match the background patterned paper beautifully!

 

My title comes from the Die Cut Titles pack. I added foam adhesive behind it.

 

I created a little cluster on the top of the page with a piece of teared paper, die cuts and a few stickers from the Accessory Stickers sheet (first sticked to velum paper, fussy cut and mounted on foam dots).

 

Finally, I added a few crystal gems from my stash, printed my journaling in light blue on white cardstock, created paper strips with it and stamped the date.

Here are more close-ups:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This page has come together in no time at all. I am so happy with the result! The beautiful floral die cuts helped quite a lot!

I hope that I could inspire you with this page today! If you have snow in your country, try to use this beautiful collection with your winter photos. I am sure that you will love the result!

Thank you, and have a great crafty day!

Sophie xx

Always Happy | These Days Collection | Mandy Melville

Hi friends!

Mandy here today to share a new layout featuring the beautiful These Days collection. I love the soft colours and the pretty florals in this collection and I knew that it would perfectly complement these recent photos of Eleanor playing on the swings.

I started my layout off with The Good Life patterned paper as the base for the page. I then adhered a 9 1/2 inch square of the Pretty Posies paper to the centre of the layout, and I added 1/2 inch wide strips of the woodgrain paper (the reverse side of the Pretty Posies paper) around that piece. I love the way that the woodgrain strips help to frame the page and keep the focus on the photos. Next I added a banner, made from the light green Family Ties paper, to provide a base for my photos to sit on. I matted the middle photo with a paper from the A5 Paper Stack, and then I staggered my three 3×4″ photos across the banner, adhering them with craft foam for added dimension.

For my title I used the lovely Foam Title Stickers, and I positioned it underneath the middle photo. I chose the phrase ‘Always Happy’, which perfectly sums up my beautiful girl’s personality! I love how the black scripty font really pops on the page!

Once my photos and title were in place, I then created three embellishments clusters around the layout to create a visual triangle. The first one, in the top left, includes various floral die cuts and leaves from both the Floral Ephemera pack as well as the Die Cut Ephemera pack.

I then created another embellishment cluster underneath the photo on the right. Again I used florals from both the Floral Ephemera pack and the Die Cut Ephemera pack. You can see how I layered some over the photo, and tucked others underneath, using foam tape to give the cluster lots of nice dimension.

The final cluster is in the bottom left hand corner of the page, and once again I’ve repeated the same elements and colours that I used in the first two clusters. I also added a sticker from the Accessory Sticker sheet, as well as a butterfly that I fussy cut out of one of the A5 papers.

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

Mandy x

Christmas Morning | Joyful Collection | Danni Visser

Hello Cocoa Vanilla Studio friends! Danni here with my final Christmas layout for the year (until the festive season rolls around again of course!) and naturally I had to use the amazing Joyful collection to round out my festive scrapping.

I still had a bunch of the gorgeous Christmas trees from this collection left, both die cut ephemera and chipboard stickers, so I decided to make a little tree scene using these along with some patterned papers. I started with Deck the Halls 12×12 patterned paper as a base for my layout, because I knew all those tiny trees would be a great backdrop for my embellishment trees. I laid down a layer of white acrylic paint in the centre of the page to soften the pattern and allow my elements to stand out better.

To finish off the background I added a bunch of ink splatters in forest green, a soft red and lots of bright metallic gold. While my paint and ink mediums were drying, I went ahead and hand-cut three tree shapes from the A5 paper stack papers in different shades of green. I did this by folding rectangles of paper in half lengthways, drawing a tree outline on the outside fold in pencil, then cutting out the shape. Super easy!

Next I arranged my trees on the background where I liked them, then sewed a line of machine stitching straight down the middle of each, along the fold line, to anchor them to the page securely and add some texture. I tucked my die cut ephemera and chipboard sticker trees in amongst the paper trees, then arranged my three 3×2’ photos of Christmas morning along the bottom of the cluster with dimensional foam to lift them up.

For my title I took the beautiful gold foiled ‘Christmas’ title piece from the chipboard stickers and added it along the bottom of my photos. I finished it off with some kraft stickers from my stash and a tiny word phrase from the accessory stickers. I also added two more tiny words from the accessory stickers around my photos.

I wanted to decorate my little trees, so I took the puffy stickers and added some tiny gifts beneath the ephemera trees, some candy canes and leaves to the paper trees and added some gold stars from the puffy gold title stickers. Finally, I topped my trees with a gold chipboard sticker star and some tiny wood epoxy buttons.

I hope you like this layout today – I am thrilled to bits with how it turned out. There is a process video on the Cocoa Vanilla Studio YouTube channel linked below if you would like to watch it come together. Happy scrapping!

Danni x

Jolly | Joyful Collection | Laura Alberts

Hi y’all! Laura Alberts back again with a Christmas layout with the gorgeous new Joyful collection. This layout features a large 5×7 inch photo of my youngest daughter, so I opted for a simple L-shaped design to keep the focus on that lovely smile of hers! I cut two large strips of the Holly Days patterned paper and then two smaller strips of the Feeling Festive paper. Running these strips both vertically and horizontally creates a perfect place to tuck my photo where they meet.

I fussy cut an entire 12×12 of Tis the Season patterned paper for these stunning florals, even the florals that run off the edge. I use these half pieces for layouts just like this one to tuck behind the photo! This helps me get the most from my fussy cut florals without having to hide half of a floral behind the photo. On two of the florals, I added wood buttons for added texture and dimension on the page. I filled in most of the large florals’ centers with gold Nuvo Drops for a little extra shine!

For my title, I layered the ephemera ‘Jolly’ over my largest floral cluster. Underneath of the floral, I tucked a ephemera frame for added detailing. My favorite part was adding these tiny little stars from the gold puffy word phrases. They gave the perfect scattering detail to the clusters!

If you want to see how ‘Jolly’ came together, be sure to check out the process video below! I hope this layout inspires you to try scrapping a large photo too!

 

My biggest treasure | These days Layout | Anna Komenda

Welcome crafty friends! It’s Anna here with my newest page. I decided to let the christmas go (even though I stil have plenty of “Joyful” collection on hand) and created a generic type of page, where I could play with colors. I was missing it so much! It’s not a vivid, summer rainbow as I used a bit muted and dreamy “These days” collection, but it still warms my heart. I am total sucker for colors. Inspiration for this page was very simple – pie chart! It’s not the first one I created in this style and for sure not last. This composition is great if you like mixing pattern papers. You can even use up some paper scraps!

This page is based on “These days” collection mostly but I also mixed in few other pattern papers, as I needed some green and navy to finish the rainbow order. I reached for some “Merry and bright” paper scraps with red and white stripes and green chequered pattern. I also added “Up in the clouds“, “Sun shower” and “Happy place” patterns from “Daydream” collection. Orange “Wall of fame” and mint “Family ties” along with some patterns from Paper Stack come from “These days” line.

The easiest way to make a pie chart type of layout is to take some unused 12*12 paper or a failed background, mark the point you want your triangles to meet and think of a number of triangles you want to include. Then, simply start drawing lines starting at the chosen point to the edges of the page using ruler. After you are happy with how it looks, cut out triangles (don’t forget to number them first so you won’t  be lost later) and use them as a stencils on pattern paper. This is exactly what I did here. You can save those triangles for any future pie chart layout!

After parts of my pie chart were ready, I glued them down over the white sheet of paper. I also added stitching along each side for more texture. Best spot for the photo is in the middle of the pie chart as the eye is naturally drawned to this point by all the lines. My paper pieces are arranged in rainbow order but you can create anything you want! Use only shades of one color or mix two colors. There are many possibilities. Next step was to decorate everything with lovely flowers from Floral Ephemera Pack. They come in many colors, shapes and sizes, along with some leaves and twigs, that you will be able to make many amazing projects with just one pack of them. I placed my flowers color on color enchancing the rainbow order. I also fussy cut few butterflies from “Take flight” paper and added thm to composition.

Few more transparent stickers and puffy stickers here and there and a title made with super cute puffy alpha stickers and the page was done. I don’t think I will ever get tired of making projects like this one – full of colors and flowers, with a girly vibe.

That is all for today friends. Thank you so much for stopping by and see you in two weeks!

XO Anna

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | JOSEFINE VD HOEVEN | LEGENDARY COLLECTION

Hello Paperlovers,

Welcome to the Cocoa Vanilla blog! It’s Josefine here today with a new scrapbook layout for you. I absolutely love the new No Limits collection! and can’t wait to play with it. I was so inspired by the colors that I wanted to create a cool boys layout for this blog. So I took Legendary out of my stash to create a mixed media layout with a winter touch.

I draw a circle in the center of the layout and with Distress Oxide I created a mixed media background. I used a background stamp that looks like a splatter and stamp several times with the distress oxide in a circle on the background.I mixed the ink with water to create a watercolor look. With a. thin round brush I splatter with the ink on the mixed media background. I really love the effect of splatters on my layout. The color I used is “faded Jeans”

I used two cut files on this layout. The deer in the background I cut out twice and glued half on top of each other. The cut file is from the Cricut design studio. The “Outdoor Adventure” title is a cut file from Cut to You. I cut a circle from the design paper and stitch the edges with brown sewing thread. I place the circle in the center of the mixed media background. I placed the deer on top and cut some design paper to size and glued it behind my son’s photo. I placed the design papers with the photo on top of the cutfile. I use 3D foam to create more dimension.

I make a cluster of die-cuts and word strips on both sides of the photo. I stitched the words “So Epic” in the middle. I colored the cutfile title with a green Distress Oxide color. The color I used for that is “Peeled paint” I cut out several stars from the design paper and placed them in different places on my layout.

 

I attached the stars with 3D tape. I like the way the stars. stand out a little from the background. I mix the white gesso with water and with a thin brush I make white gesso splatters on my layout. I like the effect. I think Legendary is a great collection with pretty cool colors. I am so happy that No Limits will be the next wonderful boys collection from Cocoa Vanilla Studio!

I hope I was able to inspire you with this boys layout and am curious if you are also looking forward to the new collection “No Limits” I want to thank you for visiting for the blog today and hope to see you again next time with a new project.
Wishing you a crafty day friends!
XoXo, Jo

 

Hello Sunshine | Sunkissed collection | Tarrah McLean

Hi creative friends!

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am sharing a new Summer themed layout featuring the gorgeous Sunkissed collection! I have had this awesome photo of my Mum in the pool printed for ages and I took it especially to use with this collection! I am finally getting around to documenting it!

Free Cocoa Vanilla Summer cut files

I started by choosing some background patterned papers – I chose the sunset ombre paper for my main background and trimmed down the ‘B’ side of the Sunny Days paper. I adhered this piece to the centre of the sunset ombre paper and bent up the edges to create some texture. Next I chose one of the really colourful 3′ x 4′ cards from the journaling cards pack to add lots of colour and layered it under my photo. I placed my photo and arranged them it how I liked it, making sure to leave enough room for the cut file title at the bottom.

Next I cut out the Best Ever card from the Fun in the Sun paper (again I love the different colours in it) and placed it to the left of my photo. From plain white cardstock, I cut out the ‘Hello Sunshine’ title from the Free Summer cut files. I added foam tape underneath the cut file once it was cut out and adhered it to the bottom half of the Sunny Days paper. I overlapped some of the cut file on the photo and also on the Best Ever card. I love the shadows that are created on the page by adding foam tape under the cut file title.

Tip: If you want to break up the plain look of a cut file without getting messy with paint, add some small repetitive embellishments like the cute heart puffy stickers to add some small detail and colour without taking away from the cut file itself.

I couldnt go past adding some gorgeous florals from the Floral Ephemera pack I mean look at all those gorgeous colours! I tucked some into both the left and the right of the cut file title. I further embellished my page with clear stickers, more ephemera, accessory stickers, wood epoxy buttons and puffy stickers. Lastly I sprinkled some white mist on my layout and stamped the date stamp.

Thanks so much for stopping by the Cocoa Vanilla blog today! I hope you enjoyed my layout as much as I enjoyed creating it!? 

Make sure to get yourself the AMAZING Sunkissed collection and get creating with it!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

 

My Joy | Joyful Collection | Rachel Lowe

Hello CVS friends! I set myself the challenge of using Joyful for a non Christmas layout. And here is what I created a baby themed layout.

I firstly used a cut file to create my background of pop up flowers (Silhouette Design store). I cut my white card stock down to 11x 11 inches and then backed the pop up flowers and created a border by using the Feeling Festive paper.

Once I had my background created I set about choosing embellishments from the collection that could be used for my baby theme. I also fussy cut flowers from the Tis the Season paper

My photo is 6×4 inches portrait and I used papers from the  6×8 inch paper pad which keeps those 12×12 inch papers for larger projects. I chose very typical baby colours of a gingham pink and baby green. My photo was added with foam tape to add height. I created a flower cluster embellishment to the left of my photo, adding some die cut leaves finishing off with the adorable bunny die cut.

 

I used one of the die cut frames to create another embellishment cluster on the opposite side. I fussy cut the two deers from one of the Pocket Cards and added with foam tape on top of the due cut frame. I also added a heart wood epoxy button

I created my title My Joy using the Puffy Gold Title Stickers and adding a subtitle using one of the phrase sentiments from the Die Cut Ephemera pack. I added a glitter heart and die cut bird to finish off.

I added some finishing touches to my layout, tucking another fussy cut flowers under the deer embellishment cluster and some stars from the Chipboard Stickers 

And there you have it a non Christmas layout using a Christmas collection!

Thank you for stopping by today and see you agin soon!

Rachel X

 

 

 

 

 

Disco Day | These Days collection | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone, Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you.

For this one I decided to pull out my supplies of the beautiful ‘These Days’ collection as I still have plenty in my stash left to play with and was dying to use it again. I also had a sweet photo of my boys together that I took last year when they were heading off to their first school disco. Although they might be twins, you can see that they are very different and both have their own individual styles, which I thought was summed up quite well in this shot.

Despite the fact this range has quite a broad palette of soft colours, I decided to focus on predominantly the blue and green tones combined with the wood grain for my background. Before I moved onto my papery layers however, I really wanted to add some depth to the background by adding some paint and stamping. I used a white paint applied with a brayer, which also helped me to define the focal area of my page. Over the top of the paint, I used a brick pattern stamp with a grey ink.

For the papery layers over my background, I used a few papers from the A5 Paper Stack which I cut and tore to size. I also added a grey paper doily from my stash, a strip from the cut apart paper, and some frayed gauze for texture. My photo also had some scrap cardboard adhered to the back of it to help pop it up from the page.

For my embellishments, I started with the Die Cut Ephemera pack. I chose a doodled frame first, which I cut in half and tucked half in under the right edge of my photo. I often use frames in this way (cut into pieces and tucked into layers) as opposed to the way they were designed to be used. I also chose the stack of books from the ephemera pack as I thought this worked well with the fact it was a school disco the boys attended.

I used the gorgeous Mini Puffy Alpha stickers for my title, as I didn’t want to detract from all the delicate elements I had on the page. I love these alphas sooo much, they are a perfect size and such a pretty mix of colours. Along with the puffy alphas, I also added some of the Puffy Stickers to my page – a heart, a flower and a butterfly (because you can never have too many butterflies!)

There were plenty of regular Accessory Stickers on this page too – you can see how I used the tab and flag amongst the cascade of embellishments alongside my photo, and there were several phrase stickers used as well. From the Clear Stickers sheet I used three small clusters of crosses and a green brush stroke. This coordinated beautifully with the green Epoxy Wood Button that I also included.

I finished off my layout with handwritten journalling; stamped phrases and date; and some black stamped doodled circles and dots.

I have a process video available for this layout. If you would like to see how it came together you can watch it here:

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I hope you are feeling inspired to get creative too. Until next time, happy scrapping!

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