Mandy here with you today to share a set of Christmas cards that I created using a combination of Cocoa Vanilla Studio collections! I chose a fresh and pretty colour scheme of pink, aqua, and lime, with a touch of grey and woodgrain. I then pulled together some products from the Happiness, Boys Rule, and You Rock collections to create my cards. I’m going to show you that it’s super easy to create Christmas themed projects even if you don’t have a Christmas collection. Plus I think the Cocoa Vanilla products are gorgeous and are perfect for using for any occasion / theme!
For my first card, I started by adding a piece of the beautiful pink Expressive paper from the Happiness collection to the middle of the card. I also used the Straight & Narrow paper from the Boys Rule collection, and tucked the grey stripe side under the top edge of the pink paper, and the lime green side under the bottom edge. I then adhered a die cut frame from the Boys Rule Miscellany pack to the card using foam tape for added dimension. I used some Christmas stamps from my stash to add a sentiment inside the frame.
To embellish the card I fussy cut a couple of stars out of the You Rock Starshine patterned paper, and then I also traced one onto the Boys Rule Straight & Narrow paper and hand cut it out. I think the stars help to give it a Chrismasy feel! To finish the card off, I added a few Wild at Heart sparkly enamel dots.
For my next card, I used the same patterned papers, and this time I layered them in strips across the front of the card. I only adhered the edges of the grey stripe paper as I wanted to tuck a couple of tags in behind this strip. The smaller tag is from the Happiness die cut ephemerapack, and I stamped the phrase ‘merry merry merry’ onto this one. The larger tag I created using a metal die from stash and the Bright & Beautiful woodgrain patterned paper, also from the Happiness collection.
Once again I finished this card off with a couple of fussy cut stars from the You Rock Starshine patterned paper, and some enamel dots from the More than Words collection.
I love how these cards turned out using non-Christmas themed collections, and I can’t wait to hand them out to some special friends during the Christmas season!
Thanks so much for joining me here on the blog today. I hope that you enjoyed taking a look at my cards!
Hi everyone! It’s Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you and it’s one that is pretty special to me.
Today is World Prematurity Day – a globally recognised day that is aimed at increasing awareness of preterm births, as well as highlighting some of the challenges that are often faced by these babies and their families. Each year approximately 1 in 10 babies are born prematurely, including all three of my children. My post today is for all those babies born too soon.
For my project I decided to create the first in a series of mini albums for my children to document the time following their births. (It has taken me over 7 years to get around to tackling the photos of my boys and all the memories that come with them, so please bear with me for the long post today.)
I began my mini album with the fabulous ‘Boys Rule’ collection and a small 6 ring planner that I purchased from Kmart. (These make perfect mini album covers once everything is removed from the inside.) After choosing the patterned papers I was going to work with, I cut them into a variety of sizes to form the pages of my album.
I used an adjustable 6 hole punch (purchased via eBay) to punch holes on each of the pages, and then used white hole reinforcement stickers (from my local newsagency) to help protect the holes from becoming damaged through handling.
On some of the pages I added extra interest by using border punches to create decorative edges. This, combined with the variety of different page sizes, placements and patterns throughout, is what gives the album so much character.
If you are planning on giving something like this a go, be sure to mix things up as much as you can! Don’t feel like all your pages have to run vertically – a horizontal page thrown in here and there not only adds extra interest but makes the album more interactive as it is turned to be read.
Depending on the theme of your album, you will find that some pages require no more than a photo and some simple embellishments; whilst others may have lots of journaling and very little room for embellishments.
For the sake of continuity across my album, I printed most of my photos in black and white with a few colour feature shots added in. I printed them in a variety of sizes and orientations as well.
Don’t be afraid to add embellishments such as stickers or journaling directly over part of your photos, or to include pages that have no photo at all and are simply decorative. You can even punch directly through photos and use them as a page in your album.
One of the other benefits of making your pages different sizes is being able to get a “sneak peek” at what is coming on the next page. This adds to to the anticipation as you leaf through the album.
To further enhance the cohesion across the album, I typed all my journaling on my computer. When putting each page together I began with photo/s and journaling placement first before deciding on embellishments.
For an extra bit of fun, add some interactive elements such as tip-ins, pockets, or pull out tags. You can see how I used one of the small cards from the Die Cut Ephemera pack with a couple of pieces of washi tape to form a tip-in (fold out flap) to include my journaling underneath.
One of my tips for putting together each page in an album is that whilst I approach each page individually, I am also mindful of what is on the facing page. You can see how I carried across the same colours in the spread below. (Working with the same collection throughout the album helps enormously.)
The only other embellishment I included in my album were a few stickers from the ‘Love Always’ Accessory Sticker sheet, as it had a few more love-filled and generic phrases that suited some of my photos.
Another way to mix things up with your photos is to create a collage or include a series of shots taken close together. (And let’s face it, who doesn’t take 20 shots when you are trying to get the perfect one?!)
I know I have included a LOT of photos in this post, but sometimes the best way to explain things is to show them, right?
My final tip if you are going to create something similar in a planner cover or album, is to not forget about the extra pockets that are built into the cover. I made some small tags to tuck into the front of my album and added some extra photos, and in the larger pocket I included a letter to my son with some of the details about his birth story.
If you are interested in seeing a few more details of my album I have filmed a flip through of the entire thing so you can see how it all looks together:
Thanks so much for sticking with me through my long post today. I do hope I have inspired you to try creating something like this yourself. It could make an ideal Christmas gift for a loved one, or just something for yourself to treasure.
Sue Plumb here today, and it’s my turn to share my layout for the PageMaps sketch theme that our team have been challenged with this week. It has been amazing to see how all my fellow designers have interpreted the sketch so far, and the range of pages that a single sketch can inspire.
Here is the sketch we have all been working with…
This sketch is one from the PageMaps archives from October 2018; and if you would like more sketch inspiration (including card sketches) you can find them on the PageMaps website.
Despite the floral theme of the sketch, I decided to twist it up and create a boy page instead. I used a combination of elements from two different CVS boy collections – ‘Boys Rule’ and ‘You Rock’.
I began with the ‘Boys Rule’ collection – using the Star Fall paper as my page base to form a border, which I layered with a smaller square of the Entitled paper over the top.
To represent the circular element of the sketch, I cut several different sized wreaths from the free ‘Happiness’ cut files using a combination of white cardstock and the Happy Go Lucky paper for my feature circle. I then arranged them so they were overlapping each other.
Just like the sketch, I used two photos for my page (although I did use a different size and orientation). These photos of my son were taken the day after his birthday while he was testing out his new punchbag and boxing gloves.
I added the die cut what the? speech bubble from the Die Cut Ephemera pack onto my main photo.
Due to the busy pattern on the paper, and the fact that I already had the overlapping wreaths on my background, I wanted to keep the embellishments fairly simple. I dug through my stash and chose the wood veneer pack from the ‘You Rock’ collection. I liked the fact that this was an easy way to add dimension and some natural texture to the page.
I added the large You Rock title piece just to the left of the photos – just like the title was positioned in the sketch. I then adhered a selection of wood veneer stars around the page, placing them at points where the wreaths intersected and forming a “visual triangle” around my photos. I also added a small wood veneer lightning bolt directly onto my second photo.
To finish off, I added the that’s my boy rubber charm along the bottom edge of my photo; then added a small label from the Miscellany die cut pack to the bottom corner of my page and wrote my journalling with a felt pen.
Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you are enjoying our sketch feature this week. Pop in tomorrow to see another layout from our team inspired by the same PageMaps sketch. Until next time, happy scrapping!
Mandy here with you today to share a layout featuring the awesome Boys Rulecollection! I love all of the colours and patterns in this collection, and I knew that it would be perfect for scrapbooking these photos of Isaac dressed up for book week earlier this year. They had to come dressed up as someone who inspires them, and seeing as Isaac takes after his Dad with his love of the cinema, he decided to go as Steven Spielberg.
I started my layout off with the reverse side of the Messed Up patterned paper as my background, which I trimmed down and matted on the reverse side of the Happy Go Lucky paper. I also added a doodled border around the edge of the page which helps to frame the layout and adds some extra detail. Next I adhered a 6 inch strip of white cardstock to the background towards the right hand side of the page. I tucked a strip of the green side of the Straight & Narrow patterned paper underneath the white cardstock to add a pop of colour.
I created two separate photo clusters on the layout, and I positioned them in a way that it draws your eye diagonally down the page. The first is in the top right hand corner, where I added two photos. I printed my photos slightly smaller than 3×4 inches with a thin white border around them, and then I used the Fun & Games cut apart sheet to mat each of the photos. I created an embellishment cluster to the right of of the photos using a camera, which I fussy cut out of the Boy Stuff patterned paper, a flair button, a star from the accessory sticker sheet, and a wood veneer arrow from the You Rock collection.
The third photo I positioned at the bottom of the page, and I layered embellishments under and around the photo to give it lots of interest and to draw the viewer’s eye towards it. I used a couple of chipboard pieces, as well as a wood veneer star, all from the You Rock collection, and I also layered a die cut frame from the Boys Rule Miscellany pack behind the photo.
For my title, I cut out one of the pieces from the Boy Stuff patterned paper, and I combined it with the Totally Rad Alphabet Stickers, to create the phrase ‘Always be Yourself Unless you can be a Director’. I love how this turned out and I think it adds a bit of fun to the page. I wrote my journaling underneath the title, and then I finished the layout off with a few more stars from the accessory sticker sheet.
Thanks so much for joining me here on the blog today. I hope you enjoyed taking a look at how I created my layout. I’ll be back next month with some more inspiration to share with you.
