machine stitching
Is it over yet? | Life is Beautiful Collection | Rachel Lowe
Hello CVS friends today I have a layout that although the subject matter is of a more serious matter it doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty! I have used Life is Beautiful (Digital collection available) collection, which remains one of my fav CVS collections.
Let’s talk about texture. If you are not a fan or experienced in mixed media how do you add texture to a layout? I focused on texture when creating this layout. Paper tearing is one way to add texture, and paper tearing also allows you to add elements under and over the tears which also adds more visual impact.
Another way of adding texture is to sew on your layout, either by hand or using a sewing machine. I always add machine stitching to my layouts. Another technique with stitching is sewing over a strip of paper and then tearing the paper away from the stitching.
Paper layers, dimension (ie foam tape to attach some elements and enamel dots) and a light spray of paint (here I have used black) all add texture to a layout.
Recently I have dusted off my embossing folders and started to add texture to papers and elements using various embossing folders. So my 2020 did not look ‘flat’ I embossed with a polka dot folder and added dimension fluid dots which I also added over my title also.
I really enjoyed putting this layout together focusing on textures! I also wanted to scrap a part of the Covid 19 journey that I am involved in, because memory keepers is what we are.
Thank you for stopping by today and keep safe and well!
Rachel X
HAPPY TIME | LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION | SOPHIE DELORME
Hello everyone ! It’s Sophie here and I am sharing a sweet layout with you today.
For today’s layout, I used a digital Cocoa Vanilla kit ! It’s the “Life is Beautiful collection“. I fell in love with the color scheme of the collection and all the gorgeous patterned papers and embellishments ! I printed them with my very old printer on good quality paper, and it gave beautiful results !
I started with an easy mixed media background. I call it the “reverse packaging technique”…
I put a few splatters of ink on a 12 x 12 plastic package, add a little bit of water and press my thick white cardstock on it. It always gives interesting results, and it was my starting point for the design of my page.
I teared a part of the beautiful coral-pink patterned paper to put on the left side of the page and did a little bit of stitching with matching thread.
I backed my photo with tissue paper, adhesive foam and a few layers of patterned paper for dimension and interest, and fussy cut plenty of beautiful embellishments from the same collection that I scattered around my photo.
I put a banner and the fussy cut word “Happy” for my title and a few butterflies for which I only glued the center to make their wings pop.
I wrote down my journaling and added the date, as well as a few Nuvo Crystal Drops.
Here are more close-ups:
I hope you felt inspired by my page today ! Digital products are a great alternative for collections that are no longer accessible and you can get them right away on your computer ! But don’t forget that they are all for personal use only !
Thank you so much for passing by the blog today, and happy creating !
Sophie xx
HELLO LOVE | MORE THAN WORDS | GWEN WRUCK
Hi Creative friends, Gwen back on the blog today with a new share. I’m really having a bit of a stash bust at the moment with my CVS products, while I wait for the latest collection to arrive and I’m really enjoying seeing these older products on pages. This project features the ‘More Than Words‘ collection and a sweet photo of my daughter and I, taken a few years back.
For this page, I actually started with the idea to use up some of my stash in this collection and noticed that I had quite a few orange/yellow elements left. I’ve made a stack of layouts with this collection and most of those featured the pretty pinks and greens… so I thought it would be fun to use up some of the darker prints and that pretty peach/orange tone.
Some of you will also know that I’m on a bit of a coloured background kick at the moment so thought I’d start with the ‘Sketch Book’ pattern paper as my background. I’ve then framed it with the ‘Gossamer‘ pattern paper to create a solid border around the edge. I’ve also used this pattern paper to mount my photo along with a small piece of the ‘Effervescent’ pattern paper I had left in my stash. I’m going for a design that runs across the centre of the page so was sure to keep the lines of my background paper running left to right (not top to bottom).
Next, I wanted to build the photo mat and base elements of my page. To break up the peach in the background, I’ve pulled out a cut file, this one from CUT to YOU and cut two out in white Card Stock. I’ve layered these across the middle section of my page to act as a base for my photo and embellishments.
I’ve then positioned my photo on the left-hand side of the page and began thinking about my title and other design elements. I’ve gone with the title ‘Hello Love’ from the ‘Chipboard Titles‘ in the collection. These are super sticky and great quality and really add a lovely touch to your page. I’ve positioned it to the lower right of my photo.
With the largest elements of my design locked it, it’s time to embellish! I’ve started with some floral and leaf die cuts from the ‘Die Cut Ephemera‘ pack. I’ve just made sure to keep to my warm soft Apricot/Peach tones and Black and White.
I’ve also fussy cut out some butterflies, some from the ‘Collage‘ pattern paper and some from the ‘Gossamer‘ paper I have used earlier. I’ve also filled in the design with some Die Cut title elements and stickers from the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’.
Lastly, I’ve rounded out the page with some Enamel dots and a deep dive into my stash to find some ‘Endless Summer’ Woodies. I love the warmth of the wood grain here, perfect for this page.
Thanks for popping by the blog today, I hope you enjoyed seeing this page come together and that it might inspire you to do a little stash busting yourself! If you do, be sure to share it with me in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Facebook group :)
Until next time,
Gwen
xo
SWEET MEMORIES | WILD AT HEART | GWEN WRUCK
Hey Creatives! I hope you are all well. Gwen up on the blog with you today sharing and I’ve dug deep into my stash for this share, using the ‘Wild at Heart’ collection. I paired it with this happy snap of Miss C and myself which was taken a while back while we were just hanging out. I love these pics, so fun and so ‘us’ and they work so well with this sweet collection.
For this page, I was really inspired to use up some of the ‘Chipboard Frames’ from the collection. I had an unopened pack in my stash so pulled them out and set out a plan to layer them onto my page. I just mixed and matched them with my photo until I was happy. At this point nothing is stuck down, I just needed to get an idea of where everything was going to go.
Next, I went about backing my photo. For this, I’ve used the ‘Memento‘ paper and ‘Luscious’ paper, I’ve also added my signature stitching here. I’ve then gone ahead and recreated my design with the photo and the chipboard. Once I was happy with the position of everything, I’ve glued the frames to the photo (not the background) so that everything is in one piece and easy for me to move around.
Now it was time to work on my mixed media background. I’m going for a subtle look here and used some mixed media shimmery spray and the packaging technique, not fussing with it too much, just letting the spray drip a little and move around the page, then set it aside to dry. Once dry, I’ve added my photo and frame pieces on top.
Before sticking everything down, I’ve added in a large die-cut doily from the ‘Ephemera Pack’ to the right of my photo as well as a tag from this same pack, sticking out the top edge of my photo. My page is a central design so everything is working from the centre of the page outwards.
It was now time to embellish! I’ve started by fussy cutting out some of the elements from the ‘Fussy Cuts’ paper and pulling pieces from the ‘Ephemera Pack‘ and ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’. Adding bits and pieces to the main structure of my page. I’ve also used a bow die in my Sizzix machine to create some fun paper bows and added these for dimension and interest. This is a great way to use up paper scraps if you have them.
Next, I’ve added in a flair button from the ‘Flair pack‘, some typed sentiments from the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’ and some ‘Enamel Dots’ in gold to add a pop of sparkle. These smaller elements help round out the page and finish it off so nicely.
I hope this page has inspired you to pull out your collection of ‘Wild at Heart‘ and get creating! It’s always great to stash bust a little before a brand new collection arrives! As always, be sure to share in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio community, we love seeing what you make :)
Until next time,
Gwen
xo
On An Adventure | Legendary Collection | Danni Visser
Hi Cocoa Vanilla fans! Danni here, back with another layout using the incredible Legendary collection. This one is a super simple dimensional rainbow layout that doesn’t require any fancy equipment, just a pair of scissors! I added some machine stitching for extra interest, but that step is definitely optional.
I started with a white cardstock background and added a border with Wild One 12×12 paper to echo the rainbow theme. Next, I cut curved sections of paper in the shape of rainbow arches with scissors, using a dinner plate as a template guide. I used One Way, Offbeat, Wild One, Explorer and Total Legend 12×12 patterned papers to get a good mix of mostly solid colours and spaced them evenly on the page so the white background showed through between each stripe. I distressed all the edges to hide any imperfections in my cutting and added some machine stitching along the edges of each stripe.
My photo is a very special one to me, of my husband and I walking with our son and holding hands. You can’t see any of our faces, but the love and feeling is still so clear. I kept the photo mats simple with a layer of plain vellum followed by Epic Tales 12×12 paper. I used a combination of accessory stickers, clear stickers and die cut ephemera to embellish around my photo. I especially love how the clear stickers really pop on a white background, so I took the opportunity to add several of them, including the watercolour brushstrokes.
I added a small cluster at the bottom of the rainbow to help balance out the heavy embellishment near the top of the page. I popped the die cut title “Adventure” up on dimensional foam and added some black alphas to complete my title, positioned underneath my photo.
I wanted to add some of the amazing stars from this collection to echo the star pattern on my son’s jumper, so I used a combination of die cut ephemera and fussy cut All Star 12×12 paper and added them around my embellishment clusters and title. I used a sprinkling of enamel dots to help fill in any gaps between the stars.
For a finishing touch I used some diluted black acrylic paint to add some splatters around my embellishment clusters. I find black splatters add the perfect bold accompaniment to the bright colours in this collection! Thank you for joining me today, there is a process video linked below if you would like to watch. Take care and happy scrapping!
Danni xx
Happy Cake Day | Make a Wish collection | Tarrah McLean
Hi everyone!
It’s Tarrah McLean back with you today to share a new ‘Throwback Thursday’ layout featuring the gorgeous Make A Wish collection!
The Make A Wish collection is one of my all time favourite collections by Cocoa Vanilla so when I got a ‘Throwback Thursday’ assignment, I knew this collection was the one I wanted to use to document a cute photo of my niece from her recent 3rd birthday.
I have again chosen to create a page in the smaller format of 8.5′ x 11′. The gorgeous Happy Day cut file title and the candles cut file are all by CUT to YOU. I have had those for a while, I was so happy to be able to use them on this layout! I backed the title with the ‘B’ side of the Hip Hooray paper and the candles with the Party Dots paper from Make A Wish. Once backed, I popped them all up using adhesive craft foam. I love the shadows and dimension this creates.
In the detail photo above, you can see I decided to add the word ‘Cake’ to the title of my layout. Happy Cake Day is the title of my layout. I used the alphabet stickers from the Make A Wish collection to spell Cake.
The background paper I chose is the Daydream paper from the collection, I then chose the wood grain paper and adhered it on top and machine stitched around the edge. I love the texture and softness this creates. I bent up the edhes of the paper slightly also.
The super cute photo had to be the main focus so I decided to adhere it to the centre of the page with one of the chipboard frames ‘framing’ it. Above the photo, I adhered the heart border strip from the ephemera pack and fussy cut out a small journal spot from one of the papers to tuck in. I also layered the ‘Fun’ banner to the top right of my photo. I adddd the wood veneer cake to the right of the photo and added some of the stars from the ephemera packs and accessory sticker sheet. Lastly I added some of the phrase and word stickers also from the Accessory sticker sheet and dated the date stamp.
Thank you so much for joining me on the Cocoa Vanilla Studio blog, it’s always fun to revisit some of the past collections for Throwback Thursday!
Happy creating!
Tarrah x
Love you | Unforgettable |Sophie Delorme
Hello everyone !
It’s Sophie with you today and I am sharing a girly layout created with the gorgeous Cocoa Vanilla Studio Unforgettable collection. It is a simple page featuring my sweet little girl.
I used a thick white cardstock as my background, cut about half an inch around it and adhered it on the back side of the Storyteller paper to create a border all around my page. I also machine stitched with white thread around it.
I did a few watercolor splatters on my background, centered my photo and backed it with tissue paper and adhesive foam.
I used a fussy cut card out of the same Storyteller paper as a big quote next to my photo. I punched out a few stripes of different patterned papers that I stuck down under the card and adhered everything on the left side of my photo.
I also cut out three labels out of the same patterned paper, added a white stitch around them, ruffled up their edges with scissors and placed them on the right side of my photo. The overall look is like a grid design.
Then, the fun part begins: Adding embellishments ! That’s also the part where it’s hard for me to know when to stop ! There are so many gorgeous flowers, leaves and feathers in the Die Cut Ephemera Pack that match so beautifully… It was a challenge not to put literally everything on my page !!
You might also notice that I created a few watercolor leaves of my own, that I fussy cut and arranged here and there around my page.
Finally, I added a flair button, some enamel dots, some beautiful foam title stickers above my photo, and wrote down my journaling.
Here are the close-ups.
I truly hope that you like my layout and you feel inspired to use this amazing Unforgettable collection. Please feel free to comment or ask any questions, and it will be my pleasure to answer you !
I wish you all a great crafty day !
Sophie xx
Memories Captured | Unforgettable Collection | Danni Visser
Hi everyone! Danni here with a simple modified grid layout using the incredible Unforgettable collection. I still can’t get enough of the beautiful colours and florals in this stunning collection.
In keeping with our ‘Stars and Stripes’ theme for this week, I decided to showcase the grey stripe pattern in Glorious 12×12 paper by using it for my background. I cut a large square from Lacewing 12×12 paper and added a white border to use as the base for my modified grid. I oriented my photo in the upper right of the square, then added a journal spot from Storyteller 12×12 paper which I backed with the woodgrain of Natural Beauty paper. I went ahead distressed the edges and added some machine stitching to the large square and my journal spot layers for some extra texture.
For my title I decided to switch it up and fussy cut some words from Unscripted 12×12 paper and I’m so glad I did! They were easier to do than I thought, and they are the perfect medium sized titles. I placed my title in my journaling spot and added a few lines of journaling along with the date to fill up the rest of the card.
For the rest of the grid I cut rectangles from the 6×8 paper stack in different sizes to fill in the remaining spaces. I love using the 6×8 paper stack for things like this because the smaller pattern makes it more visible in the small pieces. I used a combination of accessory stickers, die cut ephemera and clear stickers to decorate the remaining rectangles. I also added some twine to the sticker tag and outlined some of the pieces with black pen to add definition.
I made some star embellishments by tracing some star shapes on the reverse side of 6×8 paper stack papers and fussy cutting them out. I used these to fill in some of the empty spots and to cover some of the unwanted background details in my photo – an easy way to save a photo if you forget to edit it before printing like I did! I also went ahead and added a few enamel dots to each cluster of stars. The finishing touches were some black paint splatters to the background and a sketchy hand drawn border in black pen.
There is a process video linked below if you would like to watch this all come together. Thank you for joining me today and happy scrapping!
Danni x
Bloom and grow | Unforgettable Layout | Anna Komenda
Hello Friends. It’s Anna here with my new layout made with fantastic “Unforgettable” collection. Recently I am in a mood of using up as many things from my stash as possible. Don’t get me wrong – I love to just “own” scrappy supplies but saddly my scraproom doesn’t want to magically expand. This time I wanted to finish a pack of foam titles so I figure out a design that will allow me to do that.
I started with white cardstock base. Next step was to add a square of paper called “Sprightly“, right in the middle. After glueing down the photos, I added the foam titles on the edges of the square. I tried to fill them from corner to corner combining sets of words together.
I added some flowers, tickets and butterflies on the empty spots around the photos. They all come from ephemera pack. I also found some remaining flair button from “Unforgettable” collection so I used it too.
Edge of the layout seemed empty so I decided to embellish it with some flower clusters. I got few of them left in my ephemera pack. I cut them in halves to be able to glue them all around.
I finished the page with enamel dots, like usual. It seems busy and like a lot of work but it took me less than an hour to make it. Once I got the idea in my head of course. Because it lasted much longer in my head :)
That is all for today. Thank you for stopping by and see you in July. Summer is officially here so it’s time for some sunny projects :)
XO Anna