sketch inspiration

Precious Moments Together | Storyteller Collection | Michelle Stokes

Michelle Stokes 24/09/2022

Hello Hello! It’s Michelle here today to share another layout for our month of sketch inspiration using the wonderful Storyteller Collection. I had so much fun creating my last layout that I thought, why not create another using a fun sketch from Page Maps. This one was based on a grid design and brings together multiple photos to tell a story, perfect for sharing one about a new blossoming doggy friendship.

We recently welcomed another sweet pup into our home, his name is Sonny and boy is he a handful. He’s the most hilarious little ball of fluff we’ve ever encountered, and is a great new addition to our little family. Our first doggo Daisy only took a few days to get use to having him around, and so far they seem like they’re going to be the very best of friends.

As you could imagine theres been a lot of photo taking in the last few days, so it was hard to narrow the selection down to just 4 for this project. I edited them all using an iPhone app and printed them out in black and white as per the size on the sketch below.

The sketch I was inspired by from the Page Maps website has a grid of pattern papers with 4 photos across the middle, machine stitching around the edges and clusters of flowers. I love creating with sketches as it takes the guess work out of how to start a layout when you’re stuck in a creative ‘rut’.

Seeing this little friendship begin has been so magical..

I used 4 different pattern papers from the A5 paper stack cut down to roughly 4inch squares, distressed the edges slightly and adhered to the white cardstock using pieces of foam sheet to raise them up off the page. I sewed around the edges next using my machine and some off white coloured thread.

I added the photos across the middle of the layout using the same foam sheets to add a little more dimension to the layout.

Next I worked on creating the clusters, bottom right was first using the ‘Love this’ tag from the STORY TIME cut apart sheet, a bunch of florals fussy cut from the A5 version of SPRING FLING, journaling tag from the EPHEMERA pack, black heart from the FOAM TITLES pack and sticker from the ACCESSORY STICKER sheet.

In the top left corner I added another cluster of fussy cut florals, black heart and ephemera pieces. Using coordinating elements within all the clusters on a page really helps to give it a cohesive look

I added the title to the top left of the grid cluster also, using a mix of both a word from the FOAM TITLE STICKERs and a piece from the EPHEMERA pack

In the top right corner I created a smaller cluster, again using the same floral elements as the other 2 clusters. I used different types of adhesives in all 3 clusters to create different heights of dimension giving the clusters a more 3D feel. My go to adhesives for this are double sided foam tape, sticky thumb ‘sticky dots’ and tacky glue.

I added the usual splattering of gold ink to the layout after adding some hand written text to the journalling card

Here’s one last look at the entire layout..

Well thats all from me today, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing another sketch inspired post from me, and the rest of the team this month. It sure was a fun theme for us to be inspired by. Be sure to share your sketch inspired layouts with us in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Community Group on Facebook, we love seeing what you all create using the CVS Collections!

Until next time, Happy Scrapping
Michelle x

Book Week 2022 | Storyteller Collection | Michelle Stokes

Michelle Stokes 10/09/2022

Hey Hey! It’s Michelle here today with my newest layout share featuring the wonderful Storyteller Collection. This layout is part of our current monthly sketch theme, which is THE best way to get the creative juices flowing when you’re feeling low on inspiration and ideas. I chose an awesome sketch from the Page Maps website, which I’ll share a little further into this post, to document this years Book Week costume of choice. One that needed a little time and patience to recreate.

Here’s what I came up with this week..

The sketch I chose from Page Maps, shown below, was originally designed for a 8.5×11 size layout but is easily converted into a 12×12 design. All the same design features are there, with my own little spin.

I used a few of my favourite A5 patterns from the A5 paper stack to create the vertical strip of patterns down the middle of the layout (off centre). I distressed the edges and adhered flat to the white cardstock. There’s a scalloped border between the top 2 pattern papers using the yellow pattern side of the LITTLE LOVE paper, then a strip of hearts from the STORY TIME paper with a string of yellow pom poms between the bottom 2 pattern papers.

I centred the photos in the top half of the woodgrain section, adding some of the green pattern paper (FLY AWAY) the rainbow hearts card from the A5 version of the STORY TIME paper and the love this tab from the EPHEMERA pack tucked into the top left photo.

To create the cluster on the right side of the layout I fussy cut the circle journalling piece from the cut apart paper STORY TIME, layered with another journalling sticker square from the ACCESSORY sticker sheet, pieces from the EPHEMERA pack plus a bunch of fussy cut florals from the A5 version of SPRING FLING paper.

For the left cluster I fussy cut more florals, added a ephemera heart and the A5 version of the round journaling spot from the STORY TIME paper in the A5 paper stack.

I added machine stitching in random places for a little added texture and interest across the page

And I dipped into the never ending, but almost used up, stash of very old white Alphabet stickers from a few years back to create the title of the layout.

I added a fair bit of hand written journalling to this layout, much more than I normally would add. I drew some rough lines using a pencil that I could erase once the writing was complete. I also added the usual splattering of gold ink to finish it all off

Here’s one more look at the entire layout..

Well friends, thats all from me today. Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I created for our current Sketch theme. Be sure to check back in each day to see what sketches the other DT members have been recreating too. If you get the chance to create with any that we’ve shared, please feel free to share them with us and the entire Cocoa Vanilla Studio Community in our group on Facebook.

Until Next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x

Sweet | Storyteller collection | Tarrah McLean

Tarrah McLean 08/09/2022

Hi everyone!

It’s Tarrah McLean back with you today to share my next design team project with you. This week on the Cocoa Vanilla blog we are focusing on sketches. I have of course used the gorgeous Storyteller collection and I also chose a fun sketch from Lottie Loves Paper to work with for inspiration. I am documenting a cute picture of my niece dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

I picked this great sketch from Lottie Loves Paper.

I chose a piece of plain white cardstock for the main background for my layout and trimmed this piece down and adhered it to the ‘B’ side of the Ditsy Daisy paper. I then machined stitched a border around the outside using white cotton. I trimmed a piece of the ‘B’ side of the Brighter Days paper and adhered my photo to this piece. I ripped the bottom edge off and bent the edges up to give texture. I stuck to the design of the sketch mostly by adhering the photo in the centre of the page using craft foam just like in the sketch. I layered a journal spot from the ephemera pack on the right of the photo and also created a small cluster of embellishments in the bottom right corner. Here I included a floral die-cut, a button die-cut and 2 heart puffy stickers.

Below the photo I added my title also like in the sketch – my title is from the foam title stickers and I also added a phrase piece from the ephemera pack. You can see in the sketch design that the title and journaling are together, as I don’t do a lot of journaling on my pages, I just added the date stamp as an extra feature here. There are no rules when creating, and you do not have to completely stick to a sketch if you are using one for inspiration, as long as you have used the sketch as a starting point you can’t go wrong.

I cut up some patterned paper strips from the A5 paper stack and layered these on the left side of the photo, you can see in the sketch design that there are strips added. I also layered one of the frames from the ephemera pack under the top left corner of the photo to add some interest here. Next I chose some of the gorgeous florals from the floral ephemera pack and layered them by adhering some using dimensional tape and adhering some flat to the page also. I love the shadows and dimension this creates on my page. On top of one of the flowers I also added a camera die-cut.

Because I added the black title at the bottom, I wanted to create a visual triangle on my page so I did this by adding 2 of the black foam hearts from the foam title stickers. I added one to the left of the large floral cluster and also added one at the top embellishment cluster. The top embellishment cluster also mimics elements in the sketch. I added a die-cut here, a chipboard word, a floral die-cut, the black foam heart mentioned before and also a puffy sticker heart.

Do you ever struggle to get started with creating a layout or project? Sketches are a great way to get you started and there are so many awesome sketches to include one photo or multiple photos. Why not try a sketch for your next project?

Thanks so much for stopping by the Cocoa Vanilla blog today, I hope you enjoyed reading how my layout was created as much as I enjoyed creating it?!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

sketch inspiration

Precious Moments Together | Storyteller Collection | Michelle Stokes

Book Week 2022 | Storyteller Collection | Michelle Stokes

Sweet | Storyteller collection | Tarrah McLean

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