Love You | Happiness | Anita Bownds
Hi creative friends!
It’s Tarrah here with you and today I have a Back To School themed layout to share with you. I have used mostly the awesome ‘You Rock’ collection along with a few bits from ‘Made of Awesome’ and ‘Totally Rad’!
I started out by cutting the Back To School title cut file design from The Cut Shoppe using white cardstock, I then picked some papers from the You Rock, Made of Awesome, Totally Rad and Colour Me Happy collections and backed them all behind the letters in the title. I love how all the papers look behind the title. Once the letters were all backed, I adhered it to the ‘In Line’ paper from the You Rock collection. I added a photo each of my sons on their first day back to school last year. I was lucky with the design in that it was suited to 2 photos either side of the word ‘To. 
The star underneath the star flair button, I fussy cut out of one of the papers from the Made Of Awesome collection. I like how it it looks underneath the star flair which is also from the Made Of Awesome collection. I just love the rubber charms from the You Rock collection, I added the one that says ‘So Much Fun’ to the top of the ‘B’ in the word ‘Back’. To finish, I added some of the phrase stickers from the ‘You Rock’ accessory sticker sheet to the middle of the ‘A’ in the word ‘Back’ and I also stamped the date stamp at the bottom of the ‘2 Cool’ sticker.
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you are inspired by my layout in some way! Be sure to check out the Cocoa Vanilla Studio store for all the amazing collections available!
Happy creating!
Tarrah x
Hey Creative friends,
Gwen back on the blog today, I hope you are all well. With the start of the new school year in Australia happening very soon, I thought it would be a fun time to document a sweet photo of my husband taking pictures of our daughter on her first day of Grade 5.
For my page, I was drawn to the ‘Unforgettable’ collection with its stunning florals and the most divine shade of Pink. I also pulled a cut file from CUT to YOU and went about backing the design. To make my title, I’ve used the bright pink of the ‘Unscripted‘ pattern paper for the word ‘Grade’ and then the number ‘5’. The remaining numbers have been backed in the aptly named ‘Glorious‘ paper. I then mounted this entire piece and centred onto a piece of white card from my stash.
Next, it was time to work on my photo mat. I’ve gone with a double mount, the first being with the ‘Story Teller‘ pattern paper, however from the 6×8 paper pad. I’ve used the paper pad here as the print in the design is smaller. I’ve double mounted with some more of the ‘Unscripted‘ pattern paper and added a soft doily from my stash for good measure.
The position of my photo was limited by the fact that I could not cover the number 5 as it was part of my title, so I went with running the key elements of the page down the right-hand side. This way, most of the numbers in the cut file are still showing and I have some space to add some pretty floral elements from the Die Cut Ephemera pack because… well, who wouldn’t want to add some of those to their page :)
I decided on a pretty little cluster in the bottom right-hand corner of my photo as well as a small cluster in the letter ‘D’ of ‘GRADE’ at the top of the page to balance things out. I also could not resist adding some fussy cut butterflies from the ‘Lacewing‘ pattern paper. I just love the tone of the grey ones for this page, such a versatile piece of paper!
I’ve also pulled some elements from the ‘Accessory Sticker’ sheet such as the banner ‘Treasured’ and the typed sentiments which are so fun. Lastly, I’ve added a sprinkle of ‘Enamel Dots‘ in the prettiest shade of mint and called the page done.
Thanks for popping by today to see my latest project, I just love love love this collection so I hope my page inspires you in some way. As always, be sure to pop into the Cocoa Vanilla Studio and CUT to YOU facebook groups to share your pages, I really love to see what you make.
Until next time,
Gwen
xo
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!
Hi there creative friends!
It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am sharing a new layout using the stunning Cocoa Vanilla Studio More Than Words collection.
This week the design team were asked to create a project all about holidays and vacations. I have had some of my Paris holiday photos printed for some time so I choose 3 of my favourite to feature on my layout today.
I wanted to highlight the middle photo a little more so I raised it up off the page by adding a small chipboard frame underneath it and also added one of the black chipboard hearts to the photo. The other two photos I adhered flat to the paper, however I tucked in one of the tabs to the left and one of the small journal spots to the right.
My title is actually made up of the black letter stickers from the Made of Awesome collection and the ‘Love’ is one of the black chipboard titles from the More Than Words collection. I absolutely LOVE the vellum flowers in this collection and almost used a whole pack of them just on this layout! They were perfect tucked in either end of my photo cluster. I did add a few of the die-cut ones too for some pops of colour.
The XOXO flair was perfect to go with the ‘City of Love’ theme of my layout, I added it to the end of the ‘Love’ word. The ‘Remember This’ banner I popped up and placed above the ‘Love’ word. I added lots of words and phrases suited to our trip to Paris. I used accessory stickers, die-cuts and cut apart paper for this. To finish off, I added some of the super cute heart enamel shapes.
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope this gets you inspired to create a holiday themed layout using one of the Cocoa Vanilla Studio pretty girly collections!
Happy creating!
Tarrah x
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
Hello Friends. Counting down to christmas is starting to look serious. Only 10 days!!! If you didn’t have time to mail your christmas cards, it’s the last call. I prepared some isnpirations for you for quick and easy cards. Cocoa Vanilla had a christmas collection – “Tis the season” – few years ago and I still got some bits and pieces left, mostly papers. When Zoe recently released the digital versions of older lines, including the christmas one, I thought it’s the perfect moment to revisit “Tis the season”. I printed myself three sheets of embellishments included into this line. They are already prepared as a PDF versions, so all I needed to do is to pust the “print” button.
Making those three cards took me about an hour, including some fussy cutting of printed elements. It’s a combination of paper scraps, few stickers, ephemera leftovers, wooden elements and digital pieces.
I usually make 10*14 cm cards but I wanted to use up some longer stickers from the sticker sheet so I decided to use 10*20 cm size for the first card. I arranged longer strips, combining them with a piece of paper and glued them over a dotty background.
Something I like to include into all of my projects is dimension. I knew that the cards have to survive being mailed so I used solid cardboard instead of foam squares under the bigger surfaces. I finished my card adding few flowers cut out from printable sheets and wooden elements.
Second card is smaller. Once again I reached for papers scraps. I had few 3*4 elements from one of the papers and I decided to use them on cards. I started with a green background, then I added 3*4 card and finished it with a title from sticker sheet. Winter flowers are from digital version. Even if you don’t have papers, you can print them too!!! If you have a regular printer, you will get A4 size paper – perfect for any cardmaking.
Last card I made has a cute, retro Santa as a main element and it was also taken from cut apart paper.

I am so, so happy that Zoe decided to release those printable versions of older lines. I can come back to my favorite lines and use up the leftovers. And using up the leftovers always makes me happy and I know I am not waisting anything.
Thank you for stopping by and see you in two weeks.
XO Anna
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!
Hi Cocoa Vanilla Studio Friends!
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!
til next time,
Hi y’all!
Guest Designer Laura Alberts back again with a layout focused on the story aspect of the Unforgettable collection. I really loved this cut-apart piece with the phrase, “Every photo has a story” and made it the title of my project. This photo definitely has a story to tell, so it was perfect for this 9×12 sized layout. This photo of my impish daughter covered in paint is a pretty wild story, for sure! I include as many of these stories as possible in my albums because my kids love to read them. Imagine having such a wonderful collection of your childhood memories to enjoy as an adult!
The second cut-apart saying, “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful” was such a fitting addition to this picture, I had to use it too! The top of the layout features the Natural Beauty paper that adds movement to the background, while the floral cluster softens the linear look.
My goal was to use flair, so two do appear on this layout, but I saw an opportunity to add tassels and took it! I absolutely love these tassels, such a lovely way to finish off a floral cluster.
I have greatly enjoyed my time as a guest designer for Cocoa Vanilla Studio and hope I have inspired you to create! If you would like to see how I created this layout, you can watch my process video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/CZ-wV8oIfaQ
Thank you, Cocoa Vanilla Studio for the amazing opportunity to design for you!
Laura Alberts