INSD 2020

Live in the Moment | Bohemian Dream collection | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

It’s Sue Plumb here to share my take on the current scraplift theme that the entire team have been working on. For this theme we were all challenged to choose a layout that inspired us from the International Scrapbook Day challenge entries and create our own version. There were so many amazing layouts I found it really hard to choose, but I kept coming back to this super cool page by Rachel Dutko…

There were so many elements I just loved about this page – the textures of the torn, layered papers; the eclectic mix of embellishments; the use of white space; and the touch of mixed media – it just drew me in. For my scraplift, I really wanted to capture some of Rachel’s main design features, whilst still creating a layout that was my own style. I even decided to re-visit one of my all-time favourite collections, ‘Bohemian Dream’.

Here is my layout (I hope you think I did yours justice Rachel!)…

I decided to create my page with a similar theme to Rachel’s, by documenting a selfie and focusing on the message of being yourself and unique. (This pic probably accurately represents me…haha) I then grabbed some white cardstock and added a splash of colour, just as Rachel had on hers. I used blue and purple inks, which I mixed with a little water and then applied to my cardstock to achieve an abstract watercolour background.

Next, I chose three patterned papers, which I tore and layered across my page. The papers I used were Dreamer; Gypsy Heart; and Abstract. I also added a few torn pieces of a washi tape sticker from the ‘You Rock’ collection and an extra paper strip cut from the reverse of the Dreamer paper.

Just as Rachel did, I used two layers of paper to mat my photo (these were from the ‘Bohemian Dream’ 6×6″ paper pad); along with a small yellow paper doily and some frayed gauze for texture. I then began working on the embellishments to cluster around my photo.

I had a sheet of the gorgeous floral print Abundant paper that I had already cut into previously, so I fussy cut three floral pieces to tuck into the layers around my photo, adding a couple of extra little leafy branches from the Die Cut Ephemera pack.

Then it was time for a little stash-busting treasure hunt as I looked through my stash of Cocoa Vanilla embellishments for some extra bits and pieces. I found a couple of gorgeous blue paper flowers I had left over from the ‘Hello Sunshine’ collection that matched with my blue ink perfectly, so I added those to my clusters, tucking the edges under my photo. I also found some cute little blue puffy stickers from the same collection, so onto the page they went too.

The one of a kind Flair Button that I added to the corner of my photo was from the ‘Bohemian Dream’ pack, and was perfect for my page theme! The small mint acrylic heart was left-over from the ‘Free Spirit’ collection; and I also used some blue enamel dots from ‘Life is Beautiful’.

Rachel had some pretty little butterflies on her page, so I had to include some on mine too. (I know, since when do I need an excuse for butterflies, right?!) I added a blue one from the ‘Bohemian Dream’ chipboard near the top of the page; then a smaller pink one from the Die Cut Ephemera pack near to the bottom.

To finish off, I added the live in the moment sticker for my page title (popped up on a little foam tape), and a few small phrases from the Accessory Sticker sheet. A little splatter of some navy mist and I was done.

A big thanks to Rachel for inspiring me with her fabulous layout, I am really happy with how mine came out. (Even though I am clearly incapable of showing the same level of restraint that I so admired about Rachel’s page…haha)

Until next time, happy scrapping!

EPIC | Legendary Collection | Raquel Bowman

Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here today sharing a layout inspired by one of our Cocoa Vanilla Facebook community members and from our recent cyber crop Keighley Brennan. I absolutely adored the vertical design of this layout, the circle elements and also the scattering of stars that featured on the page.

Here is Keighley’s layout:

I also used the Legendary collection for my layout too. Here it is.

The subject of my layout is the subject of most of my layouts when I am using a masculine collection, my little man  this particular photo was one taken a few years ago that I found in my photo stash – it was such a nice surprise to find it as it had always been a picture that I had wanted to document but just had not done so yet. When I look back at old photos I find it hard to recall when the kids were so little, I’m so thankful for my craft and scrapbooking for documenting all these little moments in our lives.


I used my Sizzix Big Shot and circle dies to create the circular elements for the page. I do of course love my electronic die cutter but the big shot makes it easy to cut elements like shapes so quick and easy if I have a suitable die set to use.  Originally I was going to use the same style colour palette with the blues however once I started creating I was drawn to the green diagonal stripe and the  rest of the layout progressed from there.

The title is made up of the fussy cut letters spelling EPIC from the cut apart sheet of paper. I loved the font design and thought they made a nice statement title. The colours in the font actually inspired the rest of the colours that I used on the page. I added tiny word stickers as a sub heading to help support the EPIC title. 
The flag ephemera piece was a nice way to add detail to the top of the layout. I finished this cluster area with some fussy cut stars from patterned papers, enamel dots and another tiny word sticker. 
I did not have the right die size to create a perfect circle mat around my photo using the orange paper so I did my best to keep the circle even using my scissors. The entire layout was backed in the green diagonal stripe paper. I love how this looks. 
I hope you have enjoyed stopping my the blog today and found inspiration.

Take care xxx

INSD Challenge Inspiration | Gwen, Tazhi, Anna B, Rachel and Michelle

Hi everyone! Today is our final day of sharing the projects our design team created for our International Scrapbook Day celebration. We are starting with Gwen, who designed a “Grab 5” challenge for everyone and her criteria were – a chipboard element; a die cut title; flair button; enamel dots; and something fussy cut. She created a beautiful page of her daughter for her sample using our ‘Wild at Heart’ collection and a cut file from Cut to You.

Oh how we loved the gorgeous rich tones of this collection! It was so nice to see it showcased a couple of times during the weekend by our team.

Next up, we had another LIVE scrap stream into the group, with Tazhi using Gwen’s challenge criteria to create this beautiful page. (Lucky for Tazhi, she had her hubby do all the butterfly fussy cutting for her before she began.) She used our ‘Unforgettable’ collection and created her watercolour style background from her home in New York while we all watched on.

Our final challenge for the weekend was one that was set by Anna Blades, and she challenged everyone to create a monochromatic layout using tones of only one colour (plus black, white and grey were allowed). She used our ‘Bohemian Dream’ collection and decided to focus on the stunning purple from the range and came up with this sample that included soft, subtle mixed media on her background.

Also sharing a sample for our monochromatic challenge was Rachel, who decided pink was going to be her colour of choice and she nailed it! She mixed elements from several of our collections to create a delicate, feminine page. We love the floral cluster she created and the way those hearts draw the eye straight through the photo.

The final layout we have to share comes from Michelle, who also tackled the monochromatic challenge and chose pink as her colour of choice. Michelle decided to mix things up a bit by also combining this challenge with Anna’s heart themed sketch and a sweet photo of her daughter. She chose pink elements from across a variety of collections and pulled them all together to create this darling layout.

Look at how beautifully the different collections combined by choosing a single colour to unite them.

And that wraps up all the INSD inspiration from our awesome team. I am sure you will agree they all created some stunning, and very inspiring work. What a wonderful weekend we all had to celebrate this fabulous craft that we all love. Tomorrow we return to our “regular programming” so stop by and see what Danni has to share. Happy scrapping to you all!

INSD Challenge Inspiration | Anna K, Raquel, Melissa, Tarrah, Laura and Sue

Hi everyone! Today we are once more turning the spotlight on some of the layouts our design team created during our International Scrapbook Day celebration a few weeks ago.

The first layout we are sharing belongs to Anna, who created a fabulous sketch challenge for us, and this stunning sample layout using our ‘Happiness’ collection to go along with it…

If you would like to see how Anna put this beauty together, she has a process video available on our YouTube channel. You can watch it here:

Anna’s sketch challenge proved to be very popular, with many gorgeous layouts being shared as a result, including from our own team members. Raquel decided to play along using Anna’s sketch to create this layout of her and her son using our ‘Unforgettable’ collection which we absolutely love!

Raquel also created a process video for this layout, and you can watch it on our YouTube channel here:

The final layout we have to share using Anna’s sketch was from Melissa, who created this one LIVE in our INSD group from her home in New Zealand. She used our ‘Legendary’ collection and we are crushing on that big yellow heart and those die cut patterned paper leaves.

The next challenge we had on offer was Tarrah’s multi photo and mixed font challenge. Tarrah used our ‘Wild at Heart’ collection and was inspired by the work of fellow DT member Raquel to create an 8.5×11″ layout.

The next layout we have to share was also created for Tarrah’s challenge, but this time from Laura using our ‘More Than Words’ collection. She went all-out on the multi photo criteria, and managed to add FIVE photos on her page whilst still maintaining a clean, uncluttered look.

The final layout we have to share today comes from Sue, who created this mixed media layout during her LIVE scrap stream in the INSD group. She used our ‘Legendary’ collection which was a perfect match for the fun photos of her kids.

That’s all for today, but stay tuned because we have another serve of inspirational layouts from our team to come tomorrow. Until then, happy scrapping!

INSD Challenge Inspiration | Anita, Danni, Raquel and Kylie

Hi everyone! What an awesome weekend of fun, friendship and inspiration our International Scrapbook Day celebration weekend turned out to be. You may have seen that we shared all the challenge winner layouts on here a few days ago, so we thought this time we would turn the spotlight on some of the layouts our design team created for the weekend.

First up, for Anita’s mood board challenge, was this stunning layout – “Happy Little Moments” that was created by Anita as her challenge sample.

We are totally crushing on the gorgeous colour palette she used and those beautiful cut file flowers that she designed herself for Neat n Crafty Cutz. Anita also generously offered these as a free download, which you can grab for yourself HERE

Here’s a closer look at some of the details from Anita’s layout…

Anita also created a process video for her page, which you can watch on our YouTube channel here:

Continuing on with some inspiration for the same mood board challenge was Danni, who created this adorable layout “You Are Lovely” via a LIVE scrap that was held in the group.

It was so awesome to watch Danni work her magic with watercolours and see this layout unfold right before our eyes. If you missed all the action of Danni’s livestream and would like to see her put this page together, you can view the video in the INSD Celebration group HERE

Here’s a closer look at Danni’s gorgeous watercolour work combined with die cut blooms from our ‘Happiness’ collection. *swoon*

Next up on our challenge agenda, was Raquel’s Scraplift the DT challenge, with Raquel sharing a fabulous layout she created using a page by Kylie as her inspiration.

Here is Raquel’s “Memories” layout, featuring our ‘Unforgettable’ collection…

And here is the layout by Kylie that Raquel used as her inspiration…

You can see how Raquel took some of the main components of Kylie’s page structure and then used them as the building blocks for her own interpretation. So many beautiful layers!

And last but not least, Kylie also created a layout for Raquel’s scraplift challenge. This time, she turned the tables on Raquel and used one of Raquel’s layouts to inspire her own.

Here is the layout that Kylie created, “Sweet Memories”…

Kylie said about her layout “for my interpretation I used the Midnight collection. I really loved the heart overlay in Raquel’s layout and that is probably what inspired me to create my page similar.”

Here is Raquel’s original layout using our ‘Happiness’ collection…

Kylie also created a process video for her stunning page, so you can watch her put it all together on our YouTube channel here:

And there you have it – lots of INSD challenge inspiration from our design team with more to come! See you tomorrow with the next installment.

 

Winners, winners, winners – INSD Winners Announced!

 

Hi everyone! It’s FINALLY time to announce the winners from our InterNational Scrapbook Day celebration challenges – thank you so much for your patience. We had so many amazing entries, our team really had their work cut out for them narrowing each challenge down to only one winner. But can I just say, I really think we were ALL winners. In what can only be described as “difficult” times being experienced right around the world, the opportunity for us all to unite and celebrate our passion for our craft was really heartwarming. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making it such a success.

Now onto some winners! Each challenge winner will receive a $25 voucher to spend in our online store.

Challenge 1: Anita’s Mood Board

Congratulations Sue! You captured the vibe of the mood board perfectly and you won the hearts of our team with your beautiful watercolour work.

Challenge 2: Raquel’s Scraplift the DT Challenge

Congratulations Tahlia! We loved your take on one of Danni Visser’s recent layouts using the ‘Legendary’ collection, a perfect page for the photo of your boys.

Challenge 3: Anna K’s Sketch Challenge

Congratulations Jessica! The colours of your layout were gorgeous and eye-catching, and it was so lovely to see the ‘Hello Sunshine’ collection being used.

Challenge 4: Tarrah’s Multi Photo & Mixed Font Challenge

Congratulations Ashleigh! It’s no secret that we all love stars around here, and your star-filled layout had great flow and looked simply awesome!

Challenge 5: Gwen’s Grab 5 Challenge

Congratulations Lisa! Your layout was definitely another starry creation that captured our team’s eye. We loved all the layers you created on this page and the way you colour matched perfectly to the photo.

Challenge 6: Anna B’s Monochromatic Challenge

Congratulations Tamara! You created such a pretty page. Your page design and use of all those blue elements was fabulous!

And last but not least, our major prize winner…

Congratulations Carolyn! Completing all 6 challenges clearly paid off – you had 7 lucky entries into the draw. You have won your choice of either our ‘Unforgettable’ or ‘Legendary’ collections. (Thank you everyone who uploaded entries into the challenges, I spent a decent amount of time writing all those names out and folding all those pieces of paper this week! hehe)

Congratulations also to Ros Coutts who won Zoe’s guessing game and scores a digital collection of her choice.

Could all winners please send me a private message via our Facebook page and I will get your prizes organised for you.

Thank you again to everyone who joined our celebration – we hope you gained plenty of inspiration, information, and most of all – happiness and a feeling of camaraderie for this wonderful crafting community that we all belong to! 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!

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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