Raquel Bowman

Bloom and Grow | Unforgettable Collection | Raquel Bowman

Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here today with you sharing another layout using one of my fave past collections ‘Unforgettable’. For this layout today I am documenting some photos taken of my girl when she turned 7.

Here is the layout that I created:

Almost a year ago now was my girls 7th birthday. We have a wall in our house that I call the photo wall, which we always take some birthday photos in front of. The last few years the photos have been with a large number balloon. It is just crazy how quick time goes when you have kids and how they grow up in what feels like an instant.  The two photos which I have used are printed in black and white and approx. 3×4″ in size.

 

The main design of this page is built around the circular designed wreath in the patterned paper. I fussy cut around the wreath first. Once I had done that and was going to adhere it to my page I realised that I wanted something to ground that left side. So I used the Unscripted paper (both sides) to create a 3″ or so wide edge to lean the wreath into. The wreath patterned paper had a cluster of flowers to one side. So I decided to continue to build on that design and added more floral elements, including some leaves and butterflies from the ephemera pack or fussy cut from the Lacewing paper.

I thought the title in the foam stickers  ‘Bloom and Grow’ was the perfect sentiment for this birthday theme. I love the bold statement these black stickers make against the white card stock background.

To help one photo stand out I used the Pink side in the Unscripted paper as a mat, this really helps distinguish it as the feature photo and draw your attention to it. I added some extra embellishments to the left of the photo also, including larger floral ephemera – a circular sticker saying ‘a moment in time’ from the Accessory sheet and one of the gorgeous tassels in the collection. I finished embellishing that area with a few enamel dots and the ‘you are amazing’ tiny word stickers.

 

I must say, I do love the cut apart papers that come in the Cocoa Vanilla collections. I always find the smaller designed elements perfect for cutting out and using to layer on my pages. I could not go past the larger butterflies in the Pretty Bits paper , which you can see was placed to the top right of my page in the photo below.

 

 

To help the layered elements in my layout stand out I always try and use a variety of adhesives, including liquid adhesive, foam tapes in varying depths, etc. This helps chosen elements to stand out off the page more that others.

 

I hope that you have been inspired by my layout today. It has been a crazy time here in Regional Victoria with the stage three lockdown we are currently in. This means school is now remote for the most part, and as a teacher and a Mumma of school aged children our days have been long, somewhat emotional (to say the least) and tiring. The Bowman household are all a little precious right now, but so thankful for our overall health and wellbeing compared to what many people in our state are going through right now.

 

 

Sending hugs and prayers to anyone who may be going through a tough time right now,

Raquel xxx

Beach Life | Daydream Collection | Raquel Bowman

Hey everyone. It’s Raquel here with you today joining in on the outdoor theme share from this week. When I think of outdoors I think of times when my little family is happy and that has to be our yearly trip to a coastal town over the summer holidays. True perfection;

Here is the layout so you understand what I am referencing to :

Now just look at the smiles on my babes faces. This is pure outdoor enjoyment right?

So let’s talk this layout. I have used the new and beautiful Daydream collection. Wow! This was my first play with the collection and I am already blown away and claiming it is my new and forever favourite.

The cut file is a freebie cut file from the beautiful and fellow design team member Gwen who owns the store Cut to You. If you sign up to her newsletter you can score free goodness just like the feature file I have used on my layout today.

The title ‘beach life’ was part of the cut file however I loved the perfect way that this teamed with the two photos of my beautiful kiddies.

I used the 6×8” paper sheet pad to back most of the cut file elements  I also used those papers to mat the photos. I chose to continue using the same prints that I used within the cut files for continuity. 

I chose to back the beach ball with two separate papers. This helped me to achieve a textured look on the ball so it didn’t all appear one colour. 

I took full advantage of the smaller patterns in the 6×8” patterned paper. I also used a combination of regular adhesive and foam adhesive to achieve a dimensional look. 

How beautiful is the dimension and supporting embellishments?  And these faces make it all just so fun to document too.

I am hopeful and crossing my fingers and toes that this beach side trip that we have taken at the same time for the last three or is it four years will be possible in the new year.

Stay safe everyone, prayers to you and your family,

Raquel

Captured | Unforgettable Collection | Raquel Bowman

Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here with you today sharing a layout featuring the Unforgettable collection. This collection is one of my absolute faves from CVS; the colour palette is just so stunning.

Here is the layout I have to share with you today – 

This layout is documenting a very special moment for my two kiddies and our family. This photo was taken at my brothers wedding and these two kiddies had a special role in that wedding, my son was the ring bearer and daughter a flower girl. They just looked so adorable and this collection is just perfect for documenting it.

The title of this layout was created using the foam title stickers. I love the contrast of black against the white of the layout and the colours in the collection.

 

This 4×6” colour photo was printed with a white border  the white border allows me to use a busy pattern to mat the photo with – I used the beautiful Unscripted paper to do this.

I am the biggest fan of the CVS woodgrain designs and the Natural Beauty paper in this collection possibly tops the list.  I love creating layouts with a vertical strip of patterned paper and embellishing around that.

The floral embellishments I have used on this layout have formed a somewhat ‘laurel wreath’ behind the 4×6” photo of my kiddies. For this floral design I have mainly used the ephemera pack.

 

To the top left of the photo and layout I have added a small cluster that is made up of a butterfly, a small flower and some hearts from the clear stickers and also the ephemera pack.

As well as clusters to the left and right of the photo – I created one to the bottom right of the page. This gave my layout the balance that it needed. To create this I have used a variety of ephemera, accessory stickers, clear stickers and one of the bows too. The tiny word stickers in the accessory sticker sheets are perfect for acting as journaling on a layout to supply more detail to the title.

I hope you have been inspired by my layout today. Thanks so much for stopping by the CVS blog.

Stay safe, Raquel x

Love you Lots | Unforgettable Collection | Raquel Bowman

Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here today sharing a new CVS layout with you. For today’s layout I have used the gorgeous Unforgettable collection. I absolutely adore this collection; the colours, the embellishments, just perfection! In this layout I am documenting my beautiful babes.

Recently my family and I went on a short trip away together and my youngest, who is 5, shared that he felt his big sister didn’t love him or want to spend time with him anymore. My daughter who is 7 has this year had less tolerance towards her brother but I still see how much she loves and adores him at the same time. I think this is just a sibling thing right? But it really broke my heart that he perceived things to be this way. We have spent a lot of time chatting, playing games and trying to help them reconnect and I am drawn back to moments captured like this. Where their love for each other is so evident. I want to make sure to capture and document these moments more in the future so they realise how lucky they are to have each other, to look out for each other and help each other through the good times and the bad.

Here is the layout that I am sharing with you today. Isn’t the Unforgettable collection just perfect for this black and white photo. It just screams sweetness and love.

I used a gorgeous feature title cut file by Paige Evans on this layout. I am a big fan of statement titles and this one surely does pack a punch. I chose to add my photo to the ‘o’ in the centre of the layout to back the cut file I chose to use the amazing pretty bits paper . I loved that from the one piece of paper that I could have such a variety of patterns behind my cut file.

 

I printed my photo approximately 3×4” in size to pop behind the cut file. The composition of the photo fit perfectly – a tip is to make sure that when backing a cut file with a photo that your focus in the photo and subjects are centred – especially if you are using a curved cut file design like this one. Otherwise, it can result in you losing too much detail from your photo.

When backing the cut file with patterned paper I tried to make sure that I balanced out the colours and complexity of patterns so that the layout is pleasing to the eye. For example, I avoided having two busy patterned papers on letters next to each other.

When using a statement title cut file I like to use the open spaces to create embellishment clusters like in the image below. To create this cluster I used a combination of the ephemera, clear stickers, enamel dots and the accessory stickers. I use a variety of adhesives to create and add depth and dimension to the clusters.

Here is another cluster I created. I fussy cut this butterfly again from the Pretty bits paper. To add string to the tags in the ephemera packs I use a crochet thread from a craft store, I love the thickness of this compared to a twine. It is much thinner.

To add dimension to the whole page I used a foam adhesive. For those of you who may be in Australia I actually use a foam adhesive roll from Bunnings which is the Syneco brand and is 40metres long for only $10.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. I hope you have been inspired to create using your Cocoa Vanilla products.

Take care

Raquel xxx

You Rock | Legendary Collection | Raquel Bowman

Hey everyone, I’m here today capping off the Stars and Stripes theme this week on the CVS blog. Of course, I chose to use the amazing Legendary collection which compliments this theme beautifully.

Here is the layout that I created:

This layout is documenting a photo of my little man taken at the start of March – pre-covid restrictions here in Australia. We had taken a family drive to a small town about an hour from our house to visit the market and township. Jack decided to pose on the townships post office doorstep. I adore this photo but it does project such an innocence in this little man. Jack has such a beautiful and sensitive little heart, but certainly as I have documented many times keeps us on our toes. I chose to feature a stripe through the diagonal stripe ‘Explorer’ pattern paper that has backed my photo. If there is one paper that I would love multiples of in this collection it is this lime stripe paper (or the Woodgrain, who can pass up a nice woodgrain). Instead of using my own typewritten journaling I used the tiny word stickers in the accessory sticker sheet. I was able to make a little phrase by adapting some of the stickers available.

The main design element of this photo was a cut file tag which is called Geometric Tags and is available in the Cut To You online store. In my cutting machine software I manipulated the tag so it was bigger and wider – so I could have a giant tag on my layout. The tag features stars – which I was able to highlight by backing the cut file with different patterned papers. I used the yellow in the Wild One paper and the orange in the One Way paper.

The title of the page ‘you rock’ was created using the clear stickers. I adhere the stickers onto a white card and fussy cut around them creating my own die cut titles. I love how these turned out! I also added a flair featuring a star to this title area.

I created an embellishment cluster in the bottom left corner of the page featuring ephemera and fussy cut stars. I used the stars from the All Star paper to trace onto the woodgrain paper. This helped balance the darker elements of woodgrain in the embellishments.

To finish the page I scattered multiple fussy cut stars. These make a nice design element but also can be used to help balance out any colours that are featured on the layout. The entire layout was then bordered on a patterned paper featuring stars called Offbeat.

Thanks so much for stopping by the CVS blog today. I hope my layout has given you some stars and stripe inspiration!

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

Summer | Happiness Layout | Raquel Bowman

Hey everyone! It’s Raquel here sharing a new layout I have created featuring the absolutely stunning Happiness collection. The Happiness collection has to be hands down one of my fave CVS collections. I love the brightness of the collection and the florals … oh boy, the florals are just everything aren’t they?!

Here is the layout that I created:

This layout features a photo of my amazing hubby and my beautiful girl taken on our last family holiday over the summer period. I knew the moment that I snapped this photo it would become one of my faves of these two. I just melt at the love this dad has for his princess. Such a special bond, I hope Charlotte will grow up to know how lucky she is to have such an terrific father figure and role model in her life.  I backed the photo in the same patterned paper that I bordered the whole layout with, Bright and Beautiful paper. I feel like this really helps the photo to become the main feature even though the background of the layout is busy and more detailed.

 

The cut files I have used on this layout are from both Paige Evans (the summer title) and Cut to You (the clouds). I rarely combine two cut files on the one layout however I felt that the photo allowed for it. to back the letter sections Of the cut file I used the 6×8 paper stack. These are a fave never addition to the CVS collections for me, I love that I can use the smaller versions of the patterns within cut files, but also as paper layers to add more detail and dimension to a page.

To the top left of the photo I have a small area of the layout which I embellished. This area contains a combination of accessory stickers and clear stickers. I love the sentiments on the accessory stickers within the tiny word stickers – I always manage to find the perfect wording.

The bottom left of the layout and for cut title featured another cluster and layering of embellishments . These were mainly from the ephemera pack. I am honestly surprised at how far I have stretched the ephemera packs florals. I love them so much! The butterfly is fussy cut from the Bright and Beautiful paper. I love adding a dimensional butterfly to a page and by fussy cutting them from a paper design gives you so many to play with.

As well as clusters of embellishments to either side of the layout, I also layered ephemera behind the photo and on top of the bottom section of the photo. The ‘my happiness’ sentiment was the perfect finishing touch.

Thanks so much for stopping by the CVS blog today. I hope this layout has inspired you to get creating.

Stay safe,

Raquel

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.

 

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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