pattern paper

Happy Days | Happy Days Collection | Michelle Stokes

Michelle Stokes 25/06/2023

Hey Crafty friends it’s Michelle here today. I’ve created a layout using the wonderful Happy Days Collection for part of my annual scrapbooking series documenting my daughters current loves.. To keep a cohesive look to this project I make all the pages in the same design, just switching out the collections to suit the feelings of that year. Leila allowed the use of pink for this years layout, which is a big thing compared to the previous years.. Lets take a look

The bonus of creating one of these layouts each year is that it comes together so fast. The design of the layout is already pre-decided, I just need to select the papers, cut them to size, machine stitch around the edges and adhere to the layout. This years layout features pretty papers from the A5 paper stack as the smaller scale print works well when combined together with multiple patterns. Each square is cut to roughly 3 3/4 inch and set around the edges of the layout with white space in the opposite diagonal corners.

I added a 3×5 size photo to another A5 pattern paper and adhered to the middle right side of the layout, overlapping some of the background pattern papers. I added the list of favourites to the left of the photo using a piece of notepaper adhered to some pattern paper to create a ‘clipboard’. I used ephemera pieces to create the title and my own handwriting to write the list of loves

I add minimal embellishments to these layouts as I really want the list of faves to stand out with each one I create. For this layout I made 2 main embellishment clusters in the top and bottom corners, diagonally across from each other. Both contain fussy cut florals from the LUSH BLOOMS paper, ephemera pieces, butterflies from the FLUTTERBY paper, punched mini flowers and some mini puffy stickers.

Theres also a couple of punched flowers in the same pattern paper as the bottom left corner, just for a little hidden dimension

Heres a final look at the entire layout, plus a link to last years post that shares all the previous years layouts can be found HERE ..

I really enjoy creating these pages each year, and look forward to seeing them evolve each and every year. Theres a couple of years that I want to go back and create pages for that were before the times I started this project so I hope to share those with you all one day in the future. Do you document your kids favourite things each year? Please share in the Community group if you do, we all love to see different ideas on how people document these kinds of things, and It really is fun to look back on

Well thats all from me today, thank you so much for stopping by!

Until next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x

Choose Happy | Happy Days | Kellie Moore

Kellie Moore 05/06/2023

Hello Cocoa fans, welcome back to the blog.

Today I have a page to share that features ‘watercolour’…this was my DT assignment, and I wont lie by saying I felt confident with this task. If you know my work, you know I’m not a huge user of mixed media. I love the look of it, but Im not confident but I gave it my best shot. Here is my page..

What I decided to do was use watercolour in a controlled way. I started with watering down some distress oxides in co-ordinating colours to the ‘Happy Days‘ collection, then I pulled out some alpha stamps from my stash. I used a paintbrush to paint on the colour onto my ink pads then stamped out some words onto white cardstock. Here is what it looks like close up..

I love the look of the words, they add a really unique look to my page. I used the paper ‘Flutterby’ as my main paper and layed it on top of a full 12×12 of the ‘Rainbow Bright’ paper. Next, i ripped down from the middle of the ‘Flutterby’ paper and added some of the ‘Little Blossom paper to the inside of the paper to add contrast.

Next, I started on my photo. I added a white border to my photo, then added a layer of the ‘Little Blossom’ paper and a layer of the ‘Feel Good’ paper. I then used one of the frame die-cuts (from the ephemera pack) cut in half to add to each side of my photo, and a label tab above my photo. I added some dimensional foam behind my photo to add dimension.

Now that I had my photo in place I decided to get my title in place. I used a label sticker from the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’ and some of the ‘Mini Puffy Alphabet’ stickers for the word ‘Choose’ then the word ‘Happy’ from the Die-Cut Ephemera. I added some yellow distress oxide under my title to make it pop and used some of the ‘Puffy Sticker’ hearts around it. At the bottom of the page I added some rainbows from the ‘Feel Good’ paper.

To finish off my page I added some more heart ‘Puffy Stickers’ above my photo and added some white ink splatters.

I hope you are inspired to create, and that you might try this watercolour technique or something similar …even if it is outside your comfort zone!

Thanks for stopping by today

Till next time

Kel

Spring Days and Icecream | Daydream | Kellie Moore

Kellie Moore 18/10/2022

Welcome back to the CVS blog friends…hope you are doing well!

It’s Kellie here, and today I’m sharing a page with this months prompt of ‘Spring.’ For my page, I have used a lot of the ‘Daydream’ collection with a bit of ‘Storyteller’ thrown in…. here it is!

To start my page, I used the paper from ‘Daydream’ that is a white with a black dot….this is a great paper to use as a background as it’s not too busy. Next I decided to look through my cutfiles to see what I had that would help represent spring…and this one from Confessions of a Paper Addict with the suns, rainbows and clouds was perfect! To back the cutfile I used a bunch of the papers from both Daydream and Storyteller and added in some plain vellum for the clouds as they give a nice, soft effect. For the centre of the suns, I made some shaker pockets with some yellow/gold sequins.

To add some more colour to my page I used some distress oxides behind different spots of my cutfile to enhance the design.

For my title I used some yellow alphas from my stash and the word ‘Days’ is from the Daydream ephemera. I love using different fonts in my titles!

I love the florals in the Daydream collection so I used these next to my title and on the right hand side of my picture. I also added some butterflies around my page….

I hope you enjoyed my ‘Spring’ inspired page today and you are having fun with your Cocoa Vanilla products.

See you next time!

Kellie

Storyteller | Happy | Rachel Lowe

Rachel Lowe 22/08/2022

Hello CVS friends! I wish I would journal more on my layouts, using my own handwriting but I struggle and therefore using other means to journal. Today I am sharing a rainbow fun layout when I have used Storyteller collection and the accessory stickers to add my journalling.

This double rainbow cut file is from the Silhouette Design store.

I have used the curve of the rainbow cut file to add my accessory stickers/journalling. I chose my phrases and then cut them as I needed to fit the curve. I know this is cheating but it does look good!!! I used Oh My Heart paper, using both sides to create my rainbow. You will see that I have used foam tape on some of the rainbow pieces so it didn’t look ‘flat’. Once I had done this I added accessory stickers on thee top curve to create my journalling. I chose a patterned background paper using Little Love paper.

Here I added the Storyteller puffy sticker hearts adding them to the hearts on the paper pieces of the rainbow. On the top rainbow I added a butterfly Wood Epoxy Button. Adding these embellishments prevents your layout looking ‘flat’ and adds texture.

I used Ditsy Daisy paper for my title HAPPY. I also added some of the letters with foam tape. I used the smaller pattern of this paper from the A5 paper pad which is perfect when you are creating smaller elements.

I created a small floral embellishment cluster using the floral die cut ephemera pack, just because I like flowers really but keeping in mind this layout is ‘busy’ in patterns and colours so not wanting to over do it.

I matted my 4×4 inch photo and added to the lower right of my page with foam tape, tucking under a banner tab to the top and then a phrase sentiment from the die cut ephemera under my photo. A black and white photo against these colours/patterns really pops.

This is a simple but fun layout to create. I love the font of the accessory sticker words/phrases and they really do work well on this layout as my storytelling of my photo.

As always thank you for stopping by today and look forward to sharing my next layout with you in September.

Rachel X

HAPPY DAYS WITH YOU | DAYDREAM | GWEN WRUCK

Gwen Wruck 17/10/2020

Hi Creative friends, Gwen back on the blog today with a new share and today’s layout is featuring the stunning ‘Daydream’ collection. For today, I decided to have a play with the cut apart pattern paper in the collection called ‘Happy Place’. It’s fun to see just how many elements I can get out of one sheet of pattern paper!

To begin my page, I’ve created a background with the ‘Serenity’ pattern paper as my border and a plain white cardstock from my stash. I’ve then used the centre of the ‘Serenity’ paper to cut out some simple banner strips. I’ve done this with a cut file from CUT to YOU but you could also do this with a border punch or even just fussy cut out the design freehand with your scissors.

Next, I’ve cut the striped piece and the heart row from the ‘Happy Place’ pattern paper. I’ve layered these two pieces with the banner pieces to create my background. I’ve added them randomly, working bottom to top along the centre line of the page, adding stitching to the top of each banner piece as I go.

I’ve then also added in three of the smaller banner pieces from the cut apart sheet and added stitching to those too. These are normally used as journaling spots, but I’m using them here just as parts of my layers.

I’ve then positioned my photo. I think this design works particularly well with photos that are landscape as the banner pieces in the background draw the eye across the page. I have used foam tape for this as well, just for added dimension.

I’ve used the cut apart sheet again for the text element ‘Beautiful’ which is positioned above my photo. I’ve also fussy cut out three of the cute rainbows and added those above and below my photo running along the same lines as the banner pieces.

I’ve also added in here some stickers from the ‘Accessory Sticker Sheet’ as well as fussy cut out floral elements from the ‘Garden Variety’ pattern paper and butterflies from the ‘All a Flutter’ pattern paper.

Here you can see a close up of the stitched details. To finish the page off, I’ve added a few typed sentiments from the ‘Accessory Sticker sheet’ and a Flair button.

I’ve also created a YouTube process video for this layout which you can watch below – I hope it inspires you to get creating with this beautiful collection.

Thanks for popping by today,

Gwen

Happy Days | Throwback Thursday – Midnight Collection | Michelle Stokes

Michelle Stokes 24/06/2020

Hi Friends its Michelle here today with a new layout share for our ongoing ‘Throwback Thursday’ Theme. I dove back into my stash of Midnight collection and added a couple of cute photos of Leila from a family outing a little while ago.

I love the colour palette of this collection and its soft floral patterns, especially that tiny floral pattern paper I’ve used to the left of the layout. I based my layout on one that I’ve made in the past, and one that I’ve been wanting to recreate again.

I started with 4 different pattern papers – INKY DEPTHS, SHINE BRIGHT and INSPIRED and cut triangles from each piece to create the background for the layout. I’ve machine stitched around each triangle after adhering each piece to the cardstock backing.

I backed the photos I’ve used with some of the pretty ombré SHINE BRIGHT paper and added a doily from my stash. Something I haven’t added to layouts for quite some time.

To the right of the photos I created a cluster of mixed embellishments, bringing together ephemera and stickers layered with different adhesives for pops of dimension.

There’s a couple of similar elements tucked into the left of the photos also.

Under the photos I added a title using words from the Die Cut Titles pack with a sprinkling of glitter enamel dots from the Wild at Heart collection to the right.

Lastly I created a mini cluster at the top left of the layout which helps to bring all the embellishments elements together and balance the visual triangle I created on top of the triangular pattern paper background.

Well friends that’s all from me today. Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you’ve enjoyed this instalment of Throwback Thursday – our fortnightly walk down memory lane.

Until Next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x

The Sweet Life | Unforgettable | Amanda Baldwin

Amanda-Jayne Baldwin 12/11/2019

Hi Cocoa Vanilla Studio Friends!

Amanda here, joining you today with some super pretty UNFORGETTABLE inspiration! This week the Design Team have been asked to create scrapbook pages that feature pattern paper as the background – so no white cardstock! We’re aptly calling it ‘white out’ week! Here’s what I came up with…..

“The Sweet Life”

Sweet indeed! What a delightful page!

You’ll spy that I used the beautiful woodgrain paper, CV-UF008 NATURAL BEAUTY as my background paper. However, once I started looking at all those pretty papers I just couldn’t stop at one – so.much.gorgeousness! Naturally, there are lots of pretty pattern papers featured on my layout today! Let’s take a better look….

Isn’t this just gorgeous?!! And truly, life couldn’t be any sweeter with my two darlings!

To the top of my layout, I added a one inch strip of that divine floral, CV-UF001 GLORIOUS. This paper makes me swoon every single time I lay eyes on it! Such a stunning floral design! And speaking of florals, I used that coordinating floral swag DIE CUT EPHEMERA piece to embellish the GLORIOUS trim, and act as an anchor for my title and overall design.

My large title is a digital cut file courtesy of Cut To You, and I have backed it with a few of the 6 x 8 PAPER PAD papers. ‘The Sweet Life’ papers happen to be the smaller variation of the B-side designs to CV-UF003 GARLAND and CV-UF005 LACEWING. Love!!! The 6 x 8 PAPER PAD is the perfect choice for backing cut files with!

I embellished my larger title with a few carefully selected pieces, the first of which was my photo cluster. I tucked my photo just beneath the edge of my title and attached them together with the ‘treasured’ ACCESSORY STICKER. I used another sticker beneath my photo, as well as a DIE CUT EPHEMERA tab to support my photograph. Here’s a closer look for you…

The Cocoa Vanilla Studio FLAIR BUTTONS are always amazing, and I added that sweet camera one to complete the look.

To balance my black & white photo on such a colourful page, and create that second point of interest to the title, I foam mounted that sweet DIE CUT EPHEMERA camera embellishment. Subtle, simple but so effective!

In keeping with the rule of three, and the sweet camera embellishments, I also featured the pretty black camera ACCESSORY STICKER. So cute!

The final adornment to that big title is the fussy cut the florals from pattern paper, CV-UF003 GARLAND. I foam mounted them just below the title, and ensured that they reflected the swag at the top of the page too. This really added that wow factor to my overall design.

The CV-UF008 NATURAL BEAUTY paper is so stunning that I had to use both sides of it. The pretty B-side (that striking black & white foliage print) trims the base of my layout. I ensured that the GARLAND floral arrangement overlapped this trim & in turn, created a more cohesive design. For a polished look I added the ‘best things in life…’ sentiment ACCESSORY STICKER and a good sprinkle of ENAMEL DOTS.

And there you have it! Beautiful, classic creating that highlights our gorgeous UNFORGETTABLE pattern papers!

I hope I have inspired you to use more pattern papers in your projects this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Happy Arty Days,

Amanda xo

Throwback Thursday with a Retro Hip Twist | More Than Words | Amanda Baldwin

Amanda-Jayne Baldwin 18/09/2019

Hi Friends!

Amanda here for more Cocoa Vanilla Studio inspiration! Today I am sharing a slightly different take on the Throwback Thursday post!

That’s right folks! I have been getting my ‘retro’ on and created a Cocoa Vanilla Studio: MORE THAN WORDS delight for Issue 8 of Retro Hip Magazine! Yay!!!

Normally you have to purchase the magazine to see the full projects, but as a special treat for all of you, I have the editor’s permission to share this wonderful layout,

“Sweet Thing”

Oh my heart!

Isn’t this stunning?!! Throwback Thursday never looked so fresh & new! Such an exquisite page!

This layout was created for a special feature on how to make white space work for your designs. I just LOVE using white space to draw attention to my photos, and maximize overall design interest. I used one of my all time favorite Cocoa Vanilla Studio collections; MORE THAN WORDS, some light mixed media and a whole lotta fussy cutting to create this lovely layout. You can read the full article in Issue 8 of Retro Hip Magazine here, and by the way, code FRIEND10 will save you 10% off this issue!

In the meantime, here’s how I made this beautiful layout….

I started with 12 x 12″ white cardstock which I trimmed to 12 x 11 1/2″. Next, I machine stitched a half inch strip of pattern paper, CV-MT001 PRECIOUS onto the right hand side of the layout. I used the packaging technique with a pretty peach paint, and added a few splatters too! While this dried, I began fussy cutting butterflies from pattern papers, CV-MT003 GOSSAMER, CV-MT004 COLLAGE, & CV-MT006 TREASURE. I also fussy cut the sweet thing wreath from the TREASURE paper too. I then arranged the butterflies, with my sweet photo onto the peach watercolor base.

Here’s a closer look….

I tucked in a few DIE CUT EPHEMERA blooms into the photo cluster, and added a DIE CUT sentiment banner onto my photograph too. SO pretty!!!

Next I added that fussy cut sweet thing wreath, and a CHIPBOARD STICKER butterfly….

So many pretty details!

You’ll notice that I used a few pretty sequins from my stash (including those butterflies!), as well as a good sprinkling of the MORE THAN WORDS ENAMEL SHAPES.

For the finishing touch, I fussy cut the sweet heart sentiment from pattern paper, CV-MT006 TREASURE, and layered it over one of the butterflies with foam tape. I just love how effective this looks!