design team

Stay Weird Stay Wonderful | Legendary Collection | Raquel Bowman

Hi everyone, it’s Raquel here today sharing a new layout featuring the amazing new Legendary collection and the freebie cut file designed by Gwen at Cut to You exclusive to CVS. This layout today features my little man, who is not so little anymore, and our gorgeous puppy Lola.

Here is the layout that I created:

 

Here is a process video for how this layout came together:

The main feature of this layout, along with the photo of course, is the banner cut file which I have cut on black textured card stock. I normally cut all my cut files on a white so choosing the black was a big change for me. I have to say though I love the masculinity that this adds to the layout and that striking pop of contrast. To back the cut file I used both sides of the ‘Total Legend‘ patterned paper. My colour palette for this layout was to stick to the woodgrain, green, blues and greys which I was able to do with the embellishments and papers within the collection. These colours really complimented the colours in the photo of Jack and Lola.

The photo was matted on the green of the ‘Outdoors Type‘ patterned paper. I then added a cute woodgrain tab and a compass ephemera piece to the top left of the photo. The green legendary embellishment that you can see is actually a clear sticker, adhered to a piece of white card stock and cut out. I tend to do this a lot with the clear stickers as that gives me the freedom to move them around. Plus adhering them on white allows them to really feature and pop as an embellishment. I used my tiny attacher to add a few staples to the embellishments – more for a design purpose than for the use of adhesion. 

Stars feature on this layout heavily and were mainly chosen from the ephemera pack. There is nothing better than a scattering of stars on a layout, wouldn’t you agree? Of course, I added them in a number of 3. I always tend to work in threes when I embellish.

The enamel dots in this collection have this beautiful shade of blue. I scattered a few on this layout too.

For the title today, it did take me a while to figure out what I wanted to add. When going through my Legendary stash I came across the phrase ‘Stay weird, stay wonderful” on the ‘Epic Tales‘ paper and I just knew this was perfect. I fussy cut the heading out and then added my typewritten journaling in strip form underneath. 

The line style stars scattered amongst the page are a fussy cut star from the ‘Epic Tales‘ paper. I love the look of these as an added embellishment. 

I framed this layout with the woodgrain from the ‘Outdoors Type‘ paper. I love the woodgrain in this collection. So so amazing. I added extra detain to the border using machine stitching and also some staples.

I hope you have been inspired by todays layout. Thanks so much for stopping by the CVS blog.

Stay safe,

Raquel xxx

HELLO BOY | LEGENDARY | GWEN WRUCK

Hey Creative friends, Gwen here today with some more scrapbook inspiration using the new ‘Legendary’ collection. This month for my shares I’ve been featuring my sister and her pooch as it’s her birthday month. I’m also sharing today as part of our feature using the recently released ‘Legendary’ cut files created by CUT to YOU which I’ll talk more about below.

For this page, I started with the ‘Off Beat’ pattern paper as I really wanted to add some colour and a mixed media/more grungy feel for this page. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not a mixed media gal so I just love that Zoe has done all of the work for me and I can still enjoy this look without getting my hands dirty! I’ve also cut out several of the star trios from the new ‘Legendary’ cut files set. These cut files are part of the set that was designed by CUT to YOU for the Legendary collection. They are available for FREE download here. If you don’t have a cutting machine, CUT to YOU offers a cutting service and ships worldwide. I’ve resized the star pieces so that they are around 14cm long and cut out seven of them.

I’ve then pulled the ‘Outdoors Type’ pattern paper and the ‘All-Star’ pattern paper to back my stars with. I’ve just alternated each set in a different colour… for my page, I’m going to be working with Blue, Green and Grey tones.

Next up, I’ve mounted my photo with a scrap piece of pattern paper (Brave Heart) I had kicking around from a previous project. This paper is blue in tone and also has a mixed media feel so fits with my design super well.

For the page design, I’ve simply lined up my star rows, alternating the colours and their start/end points across my page. I’ve then added my photo slightly to the right and slightly lower on my page to allow room for my title. My title is from the ‘Die Cut Titles’ pack, so versatile and such a bargain with so many title options to choose from.

With my background cut file, photo and title in place, it was now time to think about embellishing. In keeping with the stars in the cut file, I’ve pulled out the star shapes from the Die Cut Ephemera pack. I’ve layered these around and under my photo to help draw the eye to it. I’ve also added in here the cute bear icon from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera’ pack and the moon shape. For dimension, these have been added with foam tape.

I’ve finished the page off by adding a couple of banner pieces also from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera’ pack, a Flair button from the ‘Flairs pack’, a couple of sentiments from the ‘Accessory Stickers Sheet’ and some Enamel dots and called it done. I think this is a super fun page and love that ‘messy’ look I achieved without the need to do any mixed media myself! I hope you enjoyed seeing my process for this one, it was really fun to make.

Until next time,

Gwen

xo

 

 

 

Thankful for You | Happiness Collection | Laura Alberts

Hey y’all! Laura Alberts back again with a sweet layout of my grandmother using the stunning Happiness Collection. I started with a cut file from Hip Kit and filled it with papers from the Happiness 6×8 paper pad, then added it to this gorgeous teal background on the Good Vibes patterned paper. Using floral swags from the ephemera pack on the left and bottom of the photo and adding a cut-a-part piece from the Little Things patterned paper to add my journaling.

The larger butterflies are fussy cut from a cut-a-part sheet and the smaller butterflies are all fussy cut from the Bright & Beautiful patterned paper. I love the simple elegance trenbolone these add to this layout, it’s amazing the mileage you can get from patterned paper if you’re willing to fussy cut out the beautiful icons! I thought these lovely butterflies were perfect for a memorial page honoring my grandmother’s amazing life.

To finish this layout off, I added clear heart stickers around the clusters and the arrows by the die-cut title. Then, a little flourish with Nuvo drops in gold and white, as well as gold splatter! I love the way the tiny details like butterfly trails give this layout such movement and interest.

I hope this layout inspires you to try adding some extra tiny details to your layouts! If you’d like to see this layout created, I have a process video below! Have a wonderful and creative day!

The Best Adventure | Legendary Collection | Danni Visser

Hi everyone!  Danni here, back again playing with the beautiful Legendary collection. Once again, I am scrapping an outdoors photo and I chose this adorable photo of my son playing at a local park.  This week we were challenged to feature the incredible Legendary free cutfiles that are available for download, and I decided to use the Adventure word as my title.  I cut it once from the yellow side of Wild One patterned paper, then used the offset tool in Silhouette studio to cut a slightly larger backing piece from Offbeat patterned paper.  I then went ahead and hand-stitched a single line of chain stitch following each of the letters.  I am on a big hand-stitching kick lately, I just love the texture it provides, and I find the process very relaxing! Once I finished the stitching, I adhered the title to the backing piece using tacky glue.

Next I got to work on creating my background by using Offbeat and Epic Tales patterned papers to frame a piece of white mixed equipoise.online media cardstock and machine stitching around the edge using a combination of straight and zig zag stitch for added interest. I went through and distressed all the edges with my fingers to really emphasise the layers. Too jazz up the white background I added some colour in blue and yellow using watered-down artist acrylics and the packaging technique, followed by lots of splatters. I added some of the paint splatters from the Clear Stickers too, these are perfect for adding that mixed media effect.

I matted my photo in white followed by the orange One Way patterned paper to really draw the eye to the photo. I flipped One Way over and used the reverse side as a larger layering piece behind my photo, creating a space for embellishments to sit. I added some torn strips of Wild One paper as well for some extra colour.

To complete my title, I fussy-cut the ‘The Best’ banner from Epic Tales cut-apart patterned paper and layered it behind my main ‘Adventure’ title.  I embellished either side of my photo using a combination of Accessory Stickers and Die Cut Ephemera, using several circular elements to tie in with the ‘The Best’ banner. The green ‘Let’s Go’ Flair Button was the perfect addition to this theme.

My few lines of journaling I added in strips of typeface font in that perfect little space below my title. I added in one of the tiny word stickers from the Accessory Stickers at the top of my photo to help frame it and finished the layout with a sprinkling of the Enamel Dots in all the colours. I’m really pleased with this one!  It wasn’t planned out and definitely came together during the creative process, and those are definitely some of my favourite layouts.

 

There is a process video linked below if you would like to watch this one come together.

Happy scrapping!

Danni x

 

Hello Adventure | Legendary Collection | Melissa Vining

Hello!! Its Melissa here and I’m so happy to be back with you sharing another layout that I made with the amazing Legendary collection. For this layout I decided to work with the stunning Explorer paper (shown below), specifically the B side with the stunning circular pattern.

I always knew that I wanted to hand stitch this paper, but I wasn’t sure exactly how.  When I looked at the paper I could see a snowflake, which was perfect for scrapbooking two chairlift selfies that I took on Coronet Peak Ski Field (here in Queenstown, New Zealand) last Winter of my daughter Azaria and I.

I started making this layout by piercing holes along the lines of the snowflake, back stitching in white embroidery thread (full 6 strands), and then fussy cutting it out.  To be honest I wasn’t sure how it was going to look, because the entire pattern with only some of it stitched didn’t look like a snowflake until I cut it away from the rest of the paper.  I was pleasantly surprised that it worked, and Azaria was very excited, as she had helped me find the lines of the snowflake!

I’ve been very inspired by the other Design Team ladies that use mixed media, specifically Sue, Tazhiana and Danni, all of whom I watched create live during our International Scrapbook Day Celebration.  For my layout I applied clear gesso to white card stock, and then used the packing technique with blue media, and then added some splatters in gold and white.  I love how this media brings the wintry feel of my layout to life! The photo below also shows a peek of my torn border that I placed on the bottom of my layout to look like mountains.  The paper is one of my favourite cut apart patterns from the B side of Total Legend!

The Legendary collection has Die Cut Titles, and I went through the pack to find the perfect title for my layout.  “Hello Adventure” was perfect to describe the many afternoons my daughter and I spent skiing (her) and snowboarding (I) together.  Even though Legendary is a guy collection, it works so well for documenting outdoor memories.   I also had to add some whimsy with several of the adorable Clear Stickers.

I kept my embellishment to a minimum because I wanted the focus to be on the snowflake, but I did find the perfect phrase sticker and “Lets Go” sticker from the Accessory Stickers. The two papers that I used to back my photos are Epic Tales and Total Legend (the A side).  I added texture to these papers by tearing the bottom edge and distressing the other three edges.

You can watch my process video here.

I hope I’ve inspired you to create an outdoors layout with Legendary, its truly such a versatile collection!

I’ll be back again soon!

Melissa xx

 

 

 

 

You Are Special | Midnight Collection | Tarrah McLean

Hi friends,

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am sharing a new layout for our Mother’s Day theme we have going on this week on the blog! I decided to document a special photo of my beautiful Mum and myself on Sydney Harbour when we went to the ballet a year ago. I pulled out the gorgeous Midnight collection to help me document this special memory.

I found a really lovely cut file designed by fellow team member Gwen from Cut To You, I cut it out from white cardstock and then backed the hearts at the top of the cut file with the pink side of the Shine Bright paper the Special word in the cut file, I backed with the ‘B’ side of the Inky Depths paper, I love that small soft floral side. Once it was all backed, I placed craft foam underneath both the hearts and the ‘Special’ word.

I chose the ‘B’ side of the Mixed Blessing paper for my background and also matted that piece with another sheet of the Inky Depths paper. I machine stitched around the entire edge to add some texture and interest. I placed the cut file title in the centre of the page and I cut a strip of the Bloom and Grow paper and placed it underneath the bottom of the cut file before I adhered it all down. I matted my photo in the orange part of the Shine Bright paper and added craft foam underneath the photo and mat, it fit perfectly just above the word ‘Special’ with one of the hearts from the cut file overlapping onto the photo also.

I tucked in one of the cute die-cut frames from the die-cut ephemera pack into the top of my photo, I then took one of the paint strip clear stickers and added it to white cardstock, I then fussy cut it out and tucked it into the right side of my photo. I also added one of the cute flair buttons here. The jar and flower chipboard piece fit perfectly there just above the ‘You’ in the cut file, I love how this looks here. I also tucked in one of the floral die-cuts to the left of the jar to bring in some more of the florals to the page. I also added a few chipboard hearts and also a clear sticker heart too. Lastly I added some of the accessory word and phrase stickers and the date stamp to finish off!

Thank you so much for stopping by the Cocoa Vanilla blog today! I hope you have plenty of Mother’s Day memories you can document!

Happy Mother’s Day for Sunday, happy creating!

Tarrah x

The Great Outdoors | Legendary Collection | Rachel Lowe

Hey CVS friend, today I have some boy love to share! I have used the fab new Legendary collection.I have used a fun cut file from Silhouette Design store, I chose it so I could use more of the designs on one layout.

I cut my white card stock down to 10×10 inches and adhered it to the Wild One paper. Keeping to the rule of thirds, I chose three papers to paper piece the cut file, Wild One – yellow side, All Star paper and One Way paper. I used foam tape to adhere the finished cut file to create a 3D effect.I then added my photo and again with foam to create more height. I chose to create an embellishment cluster around my photo, using the die cut ephemera and accessory stickers. How gorgeous is the geometric bear I tucked behind my photo!I used the accessory stickers to add my subtitle/journalling.

I have used more foam tape to add die cuts to create more height and added some enamel dots under some of the die cuts.I love all these colours together but because I didn’t want my layout to look ‘too’ busy I was careful when it came to my embellishing.

And there you have it one super colourful and super fun boy layout! Thank you for stopping by today and have a wonderful week!

Rachel X

Life is a Beautiful Mess | Bohemian Dream collection | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone! It’s Sue Plumb here to share my latest project with you. Today I am sharing a layout I created last weekend as part of the Cocoa Vanilla International Scrapbook Day celebration event. It was such an amazing weekend – full of fun, friendship, and of course, inspiration! I am so proud of our team and all the work they put into the event, and to hear how much everyone who took part enjoyed it, really made it all worthwhile.

So the layout I am sharing here was designed for Gwen’s “Grab 5” challenge where we had to include – a chipboard element; a die cut title; a flair button; enamel dots; and something fussy cut. I decided to document this fabulous photo of my daughter being hit with holi powder that was taken by a friend of mine who is a photographer. And what better to pair a splash of colour with, than the beautiful ‘Bohemian Dream’ collection?

Given the “arty” theme of this photograph, I decided the best approach would be to have some arty fun whilst I created it. I started with a sheet of white cardstock that I cut down to measure 11×11″ with the intention of mounting it on patterned paper later on. I pulled out my gelatos (if you don’t have gelatos you can substitute any sort of water soluble pastel or art crayon). I chose some colours that would match with the palette of the collection, and used them to create a very simple “scribbled” background in a rough square shape. I then used my fingertip and a baby wipe to blend the colours out.

With my background work complete, I then turned my attention to creating some layers for behind my photo. I gathered some scraps of the Gypsy Heart and Dreamer papers and added them behind my photo, tucking in a yellow paper doily from my stash as well. I also added a tag that I cut and the you brighten my world tag sticker from the Accessory Sticker sheet, both tied with twine.

For the fussy cut element of my page, I couldn’t go past using the stunning floral print from the collection – Abundant. I cut three pieces from the paper, tucking each of them under the edges of my photo to form a triangle around it. I also added the live a colourful life sticker along the bottom edge of the photo.

By now I needed to tick off a few other items from my criteria list, as I only had one in place so far. I grabbed a flair button from the Flair Button pack, adding it on top of the floral cluster to the left of photo. The next element I wanted to add was the chipboard element, so I chose a few pieces from the coordinating Chipboard Accent Sticker sheet – a couple of small hearts and the beautiful pink moth.

For my title, I knew exactly what I wanted it to say, so I grabbed the ‘Happiness’ Die Cut Titles pack and chose the words life is beautiful. To complete my title I fussy cut a mess from one of the cards on the cut apart Boho Bits paper, then mounted all the words down along the right side of my photo.

I finished off my page with a scattering of sweet enamel shapes (hearts) and a splattering of some navy mist. I was so happy with how this pretty page turned out!

If you haven’t joined the INSD group yet, you can find it on Facebook HERE. There are still a few days left to enter the challenges, plus there is also a free online class from Zoe you can access (including a printable digital kit); process, live scrap and instructional videos from different members of the team; and plenty of inspiration as well, of course.

Thanks so much for stopping by today so I cold share this with you. Until next time, happy scrapping!

Sweet Things | Unforgettable | Tazhiana Gordon

Hello Cocoa Vaniila friends and family! During INSD weekend, I shared a peek at this system that I was currently making in and so many of the ladies tuning in seemed really interested so here’s a spread in the book that I am using to document quarantine life using the Unforgettable collection!

These inserts measure 7.5×9 so there is plenty of space to make and explore new techniques in which is why it is one of my favorite mediums to play in right now. To start with this page, I quickly blended some flowers on the right side using some Distress Oxide ink pads and a stencil. Of course, most of this got covered up but I really like the pop of color behind the photo.

I printed my photo at 4×6, and it is a picture of some peonies some friends of mine sent me and I loved how lush and beautiful they were. After matting my photo on some scraps of paper – I love this particular project for stash busting – I went to work on picking out embellishments.

Because this is a closed book, I was wary about adding things that would be too dimensional so I stuck to the cardstock ephemera, accessory stickers and the clear stickers. I first chose a piece of paper to cover the entire left side since I had some ink showing through and added a strip of that same paper to the right side to repeat that pattern. Next, I created a loose grid on the left side using some cutaparts from the 6×8 paper pack as well as some stickers and die cuts. My title is from the Midnight collection title pack and I added a lot of clear stickers to fill in the empty space and add interest to my page.

On the left side, I stuck down my photo and then began embellishing it with the same elements that I used on the right – clear stickers, cardstock ephemera and the accessory sticker pack. There is a clear sticker that says “the story” so I used that to be a journaling spark and added my story about the flowers and what they meant to me and finished off this spread with a few more clear stickers around the page!

I hope you enjoyed this project and a peek at a fun new size. Having new materials like this one help to keep the hobby fresh and fun and I hope it inspired you to try something new!

Home Memories | INSD Free Printable Kit | Raquel Bowman

Hey everyone, its Raquel here with you today sharing a layout that I created using the free printable INSD kit and free live online class that Zoe did last Friday night. Zoe’s class was created in a 12×12 size and inspired by these home days in isolation. I was so motivated to create a page using the page design and kit as a base for an 8.5×11″ size layout.

Here is the layout that I created:

I created a process video to show how this layout came together, you can see it here:

The layout features two photos of my kiddies taken recently during our home learning. We are going onto our 7th week of isolation here in our household and are currently home learning. Our school has an amazingly supportive program for these two kiddies, but being 5 and 7 they of course need constant support to complete set tasks. Getting used to this new normal and Mummy as the teacher has been new for us all. While supporting my kiddies to learn, I am also a Foundation school teacher so as well as supporting my own kiddies I have a class of 19 to work with as well. To say its been a juggle is speaking lightly. I am very much looking forward to life resuming to normal and everyone being safe and healthy as I am sure we all are.

The photos are printed on my home printer (an Epson picture mate) and in black and white. Printing in black and white allows any colour palette to use. I will often print my photos in black and white if my photo is very busy with a lot of competing colours. The page kit itself had four approx 3×4″ cards in the printables. These cards were designed to act as photo mats. I used them for the same reason and was able to double mat my photos with what was included.

What I loved about the page kit was the paper strips were already designed to a length and width. Being a smaller layout, I was able to trim these narrower and shorter and still get the desired effect. I machine stitched the strips to the page and was able to curve the ends inwards to create dimension.

The page kit also came with a page of ephemera pieces. I am sure if you are tech savvy there would be a way of print and cutting these with a die cut machine. However, I simply took mine to the couch while I was with my family and fussy cut them out with some precision tip scissors.

I adhered the clusters with a combination of clear glue dots, liquid adhesive and adhesive foam squares. I love the multidimensional look the varying adhesives brings to a page.

I did add a couple of products from my stash to this page, but they were minimal. One thing I added was a piece of pink patterned paper from the ‘Make a wish’ collection to frame the whole layout in. I felt that the layout needed a border to ground it. I also machine stitched around the border. The other thing I added from my stash apart from white cardstock was the wood veneer pieces, they were from both the older collection Free Spirit and Colour me Happy. I had forgotten that I had them in my stash and were a surprising and welcomed addition to help complete this page. They added that finishing touch that I was after.

The digital kits intended title was ‘home life’ however because I work in a smaller size I felt like it was too overpowering. I was happy to find the memories wood veneer piece to finish my title area. I used the tag in the kit to layer my typewritten journaling onto. I didn’t go into too much detail of the whole home learning experience but plan to on future layouts to document this unprecedented time in our lives. The little bow with the crochet thread added that nice finishing touch to the tag and element of journaling.

I hope that you got to join us, the CVS team in the INSD weekend celebrations. It was so much fun with lots of challenges and inspiration shared.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today, stay safe

Raquel xxx

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