storyteller

Love This | Storyteller collection | Mandy Melville

Mandy Melville 15/07/2022

Hello everyone!

Mandy here today to share another layout featuring the new Storyteller collection! I’m especially loving the gorgeous bright colours and the beautiful florals in this collection, which I think perfectly complement this lovely photo of my kids with their cousins and their grandparents.

I started this layout off by cutting a large heart out of the centre of a sheet of white cardstock. I knew that I wanted to back the heart with one of the patterned papers from the collection, and I couldn’t go past using the gorgeous Brighter Days paper. This is one of my favourite papers from the collection! I decided to cut apart the coloured stripes on the paper so that I could distress the edges of each before adhering them back together on another sheet of cardstock. Once I’d done this, I then added the piece with the cut out heart over the top. I love the way this adds lots of colour and texture inside the heart! You can see that I also added a layer of craft foam between the white cardstock and strips of patterned paper to give the layout some extra dimension.

Next I matted my photo with one of the papers from the A5 Paper Stack and then adhered it on the right hand side of the heart.

To highlight the rainbow of colours on the Brighter Days patterned paper, I decided to keep my embellishing tone-on-tone. I started at the top left hand corner of the heart where I clustered together some Floral Ephemera pieces and a Die Cut camera, all in the pink and red tones. I adhered some with foam tape, and others I stuck directly to the background to give the cluster lots of interest.

Moving down the page, I created another embellishment cluster on the yellow section, again using tone-on-tone embellishing. This cluster includes more Floral Ephemera, as well as a couple of Chipboard Stickers.

Finally, I created a third cluster on the green and blue section, using similar elements that I’d used in the previous two clusters. I also added a Wood Epoxy Button to the centre of one of the flowers in this cluster. You’ll notice that the three clusters are positioned diagonally down the page, drawing the viewer’s eye from the larger cluster in the top left, down through the title and photo, and to the cluster in the bottom right.

For my title I decided on using the ‘Love this’ words from the Chipboard Stickers, which I added above the photo.

To finish the layout off I added a sprinkling of smaller elements around the three embellishment clusters. For this I used the little hearts and dots from the Puffy Stickers, as well as a couple of Chipboard hearts.

Thanks so much for joining me here on the blog today! I hope that you’ve been inspired by my layout!

Mandy x

Together | Storyteller Collection | Danni Visser

Danni Visser 14/07/2022

Hi Cocoa Vanilla Studio fans! Danni here with another layout using the gorgeous new Storyteller collection. Are you enjoying this beautiful new stack of goodies as much as I am? This collection is so easy to work with and so versatile, I am having so much fun with it!

I was rummaging around in my craft room this week (trying to clean but actually making more mess, who can relate?) and found a cutfile in drawer that I had cut ages ago but never gotten around to using. It is meant to be a Christmas cutfile I think, but it immediately made me think of a recent hike my family took in the mountains. I found some photos and decided the tree theme would work perfectly for a layout.

I started with the woodgrain side of Cross It Off 12×12 patterned paper as a background. I love a woodgrain paper at the best of times, and this light toned wood texture is perfect for a hiking layout. I added the cutfile on top of the patterned paper, deciding not to back it with papers because I like the clean look of the white on the woodgrain. I used small dots of glue at the trunk of each tree to ensure the tops and edges lifted up from the page to add dimension.

Next I matted my two 3x4inch photos with the double sided 3×4 cards. I love the patterns on these so much, and they are the perfect size to mat photos with. I also cut the ‘Love this life’ heart shape from one of the journal cards before using it as a mat, saving waste. I then added a strip of yellow to the photo mat using the A5 paper stack patterned papers. Once my photo mat was done I started to think about a title. I have been so excited to use the stunning foam title stickers so I chose ‘together’ and added it just below my photos. The script font of these is absolutely beautiful! I also took the heart shaped piece I cut from the double sided 3×4 cards earlier, and tucked it behind my photos at the top.

Next came the embellishments! I took two of the hearts from the chipboard stickers and added them around the larger heart, followed by a chipboard banner at the bottom of the photos. I like how this bridges the gap between my photos and main title. I stamped the date on a label from the accessory stickers and tucked it into the side of my photo mat. I also took an accessory sticker tiny word phrase and added it to the opposite side for balance.

I reached for the die cut ephemera next and was absolutely spoiled for choice! I chose two of the large flower clusters and added them to either side of my photo mat. I also chose two of the sweet little pink butterflies and added them to the flowers, bending the wings up for dimension. I wanted to bring in a couple more pops of the beautiful red colour, so I added a few puffy sticker hearts around the florals as well.

Finally, I added lots of splatters around my layout using a white acrylic ink and a gold shimmer mist. I love how white and gold look against woodgrain; very neutral colours but they added such a pretty detail. I hope you enjoyed joining me for this layout, I had so much fun making it. Happy scrapping!

Danni x

Story of a childhood treat | Storyteller Layout | Anna Komenda

Anna Komenda 13/07/2022

Hello everyone. It’s Anna here with my first ever project made with BRAND NEW “Storyteller” collection. I know you have already seen few amazing projects from other DT girls, as I am the last one to put my hands on new stuff due to the distance between me and Australia, so the bar is lifted high. First project with new line always stresses me with so many choices I can make and so many ideas bubbling in my head. That’s why I usually like to keep is simple, to get to know the papers and embellishments better. I had one not so pretty photo in mind to scrapbook a story behind it.

When I was shopping recently I found a bag of bear shaped treats that I haven’t seen for ages in shops. It was like a time travel, thirty years back, to my childhood. It was the time when shelves in Polish shops were empty and there was not much choice when it comes to candies and other treats. However, my dad, after every paycheck, was bringing home those waffle bears with meringue filling. I remember loving the super sweet taste and creemy texture (cakes were not a thing back then too). Years passed by and more and more candies started appearing in shops, including all the chocolate bars, cookies, fancy chocolates and bears dissapeared as they were no longer manufactured. They became blurred memories of an early childhood years. Can you imagine my surprise when I found them in my local shop after all those years? I sure bough them and brought them home with me. However my kids, spoiled with all the candies in the world, didn’t appreciate this simple treat (neither did I :) ). It wonders me how one little candy can trigger all those wonderful memories and flood the heart with warm and fuzzy feelings.

Now, when you know all the story behing the photo, it’s time to tell you a different kind of story – how this page came together. It all started with paper called “Cross if off”. I love this kind of simple backgrounds, that are a perfect base for any layout. Combination of white and colorful crosses will match any photo and any theme. Inspired by those tiny crosses, I wanted to add more of them to my page. I cut a paper called “Brighter days” into colorful strips and turned them into the crosses of different sizes. The process is very simple – just glue together two strips of paper of the same lenght.

Next step was to add a photo and a tilte next to it. I combined a chipboard sticker with a wird “story” with a tiny puffy alpha stickers from an older line called “These days”. They look like they were meant for “Storyteller” too.

Colorful cosses are very eyecatching so I didn’t want to distract the eye with a lot of embellishments. I chose few, little hearts from the ephemera pack, yellow camera placed next to the photo and few wooden buttons here and there. I also added tab sticker with word “documented” over the title. Super cute round puffy stickers were the perfect finshing touch.

I usually do not add journaling to my pages but this time I wanted to mention how important those treats were to me so I wrote my thoughts directly on the background. I didn’t like how it looked, so I wrote it again on the piece of 3*4 pocket card from pocket cards pack and glue it on top of the failed journaling. Honestly, I didn’t like this solution either (I wish I just added journaling on the back of the layout as usual) but there was nothing I could do with it anymore. I also noticed that all of my date stamps finish in 2021… It reminded me I have been scrapbooking for so long already :)

That’s it. My first page is with beautiful “Storyteller” collection is finished and I am already working on a mini album. I hope I will be able to share it with you in two weeks. Thank you so much for staying with me.

XO Anna

Love This | Storyteller collection | Tarrah McLean

Tarrah McLean 08/07/2022

Hi creative friends!

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am sharing another layout featuring the stunning new Storyteller collection! This collection is absolutely gorgeous and so versatile for any themed projects and layouts you want to document your memories.

For my layout today, I am documenting a photo of my Mum and myself from a recent lunch out together.

I started by cutting out a free cut file design from Paper Issues from white cardstock and then got busy backing the hearts in the cut file with the beautiful heart and navy papers from the A5 paper stack. Once the cut file was all backed, I added craft foam underneath the cut file and adhered it to the centre of the gorgeous 12′ x 12′ wood grain patterned paper. I love the shadows and dimension this adds to my layout. I did trim down the wood grain paper a little bit and matted it with the 12′ x 12′ small floral paper. I machine stitched a border around the edge using my sewing machine with white thread.

I decided to place my photo over towards the right of the page so as not to cover up too much of the hearts in the cut file design. I chose 2 more of the papers from the A5 paper stack and trimmed them to layer under my photo. I also slightly distressed the edges of the papers, I like how this adds a little more interest and texture to my layout. I also added one of the small banner stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet to the top left corner of my photo. I also tucked in one of the tab stickers above the photo too. I created a cluster of embellishments in the bottom right corner of the photo and could not go past the ‘Special To Me’ banner piece from the ephemera pack. I added foam tape under this piece and placed it under my photo. I also added a chipboard button, heart and floral die-cuts and a couple of stickers here as well.

To the left of my photo, I added the cute camera die-cut from the ephemera pack and placed one of the gorgeous wood epoxy buttons on top. Above the camera I also added some of the phrase and word stickers from the Accessory Sticker Sheet. Below the camera die-cut I added my title which is made up of the foam title stickers. Below the title I added a die-cut butterfly and another chipboard button. You will notice in between the hearts in the cut file that I added some of the super cute enamel hearts randomly. This was mainly to enhance the heart design of the page. I love how this looks.

In the top left corner I added another cluster of embellishments here also, this cluster consists of one of the gorgeous floral die-cuts, a chipboard button and a butterfly die-cut. I added this cluster to help balance out the cluster I added in the bottom right area of the page. This helps with the flow of the page and draws the viewers eye in. With almost all of my pages, I start out adding all of the largest elements like my photo, the title and any larger embellishments. I then move to adding some smaller embellishments and then the smaller things to finish off the page. Once I had finished embellishing my page, I added some sprinkles of white mist and stamped the date stamp as well.

Thank you so much for stopping by the Cocoa Vanilla blog today! I had so much fun creating this layout, I hope you enjoyed reading how I created it. Make sure to ask your retail store for the gorgeous Storyteller collection…you absolutely NEED this in your life!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

You Make Me Smile | Storyteller | Lina Monaco

Lina Monaco 03/07/2022

Hello wonderful, scrappy friends!
Lina, here today on the blog sharing my very first layout with the brand spanking new, Storyteller collection. I know you’ve all heard me rave about how much I love certain collections, but this one, this one is my most favourite! It’s perfect! From it’s gender neutral colour palette, to the florals and ephemera…. it’s just a well rounded collection and I’m happy to have gotten my chance to play with it!

The photo I documented is of my youngest little girl, peace sign and big smile. I could not resist documenting this photo since all it’s colours coordinated perfectly with the collection. I matted the photo with the A5 Paper stack and popped it up on many layers of dimensional foam so that it sat on top of the rainbow die cut. The rainbow die cut is an image I found online, traced with my Silhouette Cameo and paper pieced with papers from the collection. I also cut stars, in multiple sizes to tuck into my layout as layering pieces. All of these elements sit on top of regular white cardstock that I matted with the 12×12, Little Love paper. It’s so sweet with it’s little colourful heart pattern with a navy blue background. It also features a yellow star pattern on the reverse that caught my eye.

The title is comprised of words from the Foam Title Stickers. And how fitting since this babe’s smile make me smile from ear to ear.
I also used some gold thread to create a little home for the Wood Button to sit on. This one is a darling little butterfly with a blue background. To finish off this bottom right corner of the layout, I added some phrases from the Accessory Stickers sheet and this conveys my feelings and emotions on my layout since I do not journal on my layouts.

For more embellishing, I used clusters in the top right corner of my photo and again at the bottom left. This along with my title creates a visual triangle that works in layouts and pleases the eye. I used some stars and pieces from both the Floral and Die Cut Ephemera packets. The ephemera in this collection is stunning and so sentimental as it pertains to telling a story and creating memories. I am just smitten by the collection itself… if you hadn’t noticed

Thanks a bunch for joining me on the blog today and I hope you enjoyed my layout!
xoLina

Graduation | Storyteller Collection | Danni Visser

Danni Visser 30/06/2022

Hello Cocoa Vanilla Studio fans! Danni here with my very first layout using the incredible new Storyteller collection! We have been completely spoiled for choice with this amazing collection, so it was difficult for me to decide where to begin. Then I remembered that I have been biding my time to scrap my university graduation pics, waiting for just the right collection to come along…and here we are!

The yellows and blues in this collection match my dress and hood in this photo perfectly. I was so inspired by all the gorgeous colours, I decided to pull out my vast collection of embroidery threads and begin stitching. I selected several of the flowers and leaves from the floral ephemera and added a variety of different stitches and knots to add lots of texture.

I had trouble choosing a title for this page because this was such a huge and important moment in my life, so I ended up going with a card from the 3×4 pocket cards instead of a traditional title. The longer sentiment on it really sums up the importance and gravity of this special moment better than a short title. I also love how the yellow ties in with the colour of my dress. I gently distressed the edges and outlined the card with a hand drawn border.

Next I popped my photo up on dimensional foam and layered it with the 3×4 card. Before I added my stitched florals to the page, I wanted to jazz up the white background. I added a border using Spring Fling 12×12 patterned paper, then added some delicate watercolour splatters in the same colours as the florals. I included some pearlescent watercolour splatters to add some shine.

Once the background was done, it was simply a matter of adding my florals around my photo and title card, creating three main clusters. I tucked some underneath the photo and overlaid others, creating a sense of dimension and realism on the page. Using the A5 paper stack, I fussy cut three tiny butterflies from the butterfly patterned paper and added one of these to each cluster, bending the wings up to create a feeling of movement. I also added a tiny wood button to each cluster, followed by two small puffy sticker hearts in varying colours.

I love how this layout turned out and I hope you did too. I have so many wonderful ideas for this collection! There is a process video for this one on the Cocoa Vanilla Studio YouTube channel linked below, if you would like to see this come together in more detail. Thanks for watching and happy scrapping!

Danni x

Love This Story | Storyteller | Laura Alberts

Laura Alberts 28/06/2022

Hey y’all! Laura Alberts back again with a fun column style layout featuring the gorgeous new Storyteller collection! I am completely in love with this one! The stunning color scheme and all of the tiny details are just perfection. Scrapping a handful of fun selfies for this layout, I opted for two columns on either side of the page. Using the Cross It Off woodgrain paper for the background really helps these photos a pop off the page. Then, I pulled in three papers from the A5 paper stack for my columns, as well as a floral strip from the Story Time cut-apart paper.

I stacked two 3×3″ photos together on the left column and then added a mixed title below them. The ‘Love this’ is from the icon ephemera pack and then ‘Story’ is a foam title. Along with a floral cluster between the two photos, I added a banner along the bottom of the column. One of my favorite details on this page is the tiny flowers I fussy cut and added around my clusters and title.

On the right column, I combined a 3×4″ photo and a 3×4″ journaling card to mimic the stacked design on the left. Tucking in a floral cluster between them and then adding a banner gave it the perfect, simple touch it needed. The wood buttons made the best little accents at the top of my columns, giving the impression that they are pinned to this woodgrain paper. Such a fun detail!

I hope this layout gave you some inspiration to incorporate a variety of different-sized photos into your layout! If you’d like to see how ‘Love This Story’ came together, check out the process video below!

Happy | Storyteller Collection | Melissa Vining

Melissa Vining 27/06/2022

Hi everyone, new product is always so inspiring and today I’m thrilled to share my first layout made with the amazing and gorgeous Storyteller collection!! I’m sure I’ve said this before, but the first cut into a new collection is always the hardest for me, and Storyteller was no exception. I looked at my Instagram feed and saw that the child to get a layout next was Brielle. She turned 8 in April and I decided to create her birthday photo page.

I started this layout by fussy cutting lots of clusters and single flowers from Spring Fling. I just love fussy cutting, and I especially love the look that the extra time and care to cut creates. I used my Envelope Punch to create an envelope from Little Love, which is one of my favourite papers in the collection because I adore the navy and small hearts! I embellished it with the flowers, an Accessory Sticker and a Chipboard Sticker. The “8” is from my stash.

I created my watercolour background with a navy distress oxide ink, followed by gold shimmer mouse through a stencil. I just love how it turned out! The packaging technique is a perfect mixed media look when you want something a little random and not too perfect! The butterflies in this collection are adorable, and the butterfly below is from the Chipboard Stickers.

I used one of the Pocket Cards tucked into the envelope because I loved the sentiment, and I loved the fun design feature it added! I distressed the edges of the card and machine stitched around the outside. It was fun to embellish too!

I layered my photo over the envelope and then added more fussy cut flowers, an Accessory Sticker and a Wood Button. I backed my photo with two layers of the same pink paper from the A5 Paper Stack, and of course I distressed the edges!

I created my title with a word from the Foam Titles, they just make it so easy! I added a distressed and machine stitched piece of Brighter Days to add some interest at the bottom of my page, and to write my journaling.

Thanks for looking! I hope I’ve inspired you to create with Storyteller!

Melissa xx

SO Sweet | Storyteller Collection | Michelle Stokes

Michelle Stokes 24/06/2022

HI All, its Michelle back here today with a new layout share featuring out BRAND NEW Storyteller Collection. Such a stunningly beautiful collection full of feminine patterns and oh so many sweet florals. And, if you know me well enough, you would absolutely be right in thinking that I jumped straight into the fussy cutting of ALL the florals before I even started the layout.

I thought it was time that this sweet little furry face made another appearance on the blog. Firstly because she’s just so stinkin cute, but also due to the lack of decent photos I’m getting from a certain 11 year old in my household haha.

To create the layout I grabbed the SPRING FLING and OH MY HEART papers and cut giant triangles (from the reverse side patterns) to overlap the majority of the bottom of the white cardstock background, adding machine stitching down the lightly distressed edges. I chose these two designs as they complimented each other well, and worked perfectly as a base for the giant clusters of fussy cut florals to stand out

I used the green pattern paper from the A5 paper stack to create layers under the black and white photo. Rather than using 1 full piece, I cut them into different sized shapes and layered randomly together before adhering to the layout using pieces of foam sheet for a little extra dimension.

I created a long line of floral clusters sprouting out from either end of the photo stack in a diagonal line using fussy cut pieces from both the 12×12 and A5 version of the SPRING FLING paper

I also added some fussy cut butterflies (FLY AWAY) , puffy stickers, accessory stickers and ephemera pieces to create added interest within the clusters.

I added more florals, ephemera, puffy and accessory stickers to fill up the open white space at the top of the layout

And lastly the title, using the awesome foam title stickers. So many title combinations to be made from one very versatile set, definitely an item to add to cart if you are purchasing this collection.

Here’s a closer look at all the pretty florals under the photo. You can see I’ve also added the usual sprinkle of gold ink to finish it all off.

And one final look at the whole layout

Well thats all from me today, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the first creation I’ve made using our BRAND NEW Collection – Storyteller. Cant wait to see what you all create with it too

Until next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x

Smile | Storyteller collection | Tarrah McLean

Tarrah McLean 23/06/2022

Hi creative friends!

It’s Tarrah back with you and today I am very excited to be sharing my first layout featuring the stunning new Storyteller collection! This collection is absolutely gorgeous and so versatile for any themed projects and layouts you want to document your memories with! I absolutely LOVE anything with hearts so the 12′ x 12′ patterned papers with the hearts on them would have to be my favourite!

As soon as I saw the rainbow striped paper, I knew I wanted to use this paper for my first layout. I decided to cut the coloured strips up and placed them all but one, onto a sheet of plain white cardstock. I adhered them down and then bent the edges of all of them with my fingers to create some texture. I left one of the coloured strips out as I wanted to leave some space in between each coloured paper.

I placed my photo slightly to the right of the page using craft foam to add dimension. I layered some papers from the A5 paper stack underneath the photo and distressed the edges slightly to add some texture and to help make the photo pop! I searched through the pocket cards and found the perfect one to suit the photo of my son as photographer! I used craft foam to adhere the pocket card to the left of the photo. When I am placing elements on my page and I am not 100% certain about their position, I will mostly always only use a very small amount of adhesive in case I need to reposition anything or add an extra layer underneath. Once I am happy with where everything ends up on my layout, I add extra adhesive for reinforcement.

Now I have the main focus of the layout sorted out, next I added a title. I went through the gorgeous black Foam Titles and chose the word ‘Smile’. I placed this word at the bottom of the pocket card to help tie the photo, pocket card and title together. At either end of the photo and pocket card, I tucked in some pretty flower ephemera pieces, I also added the little piece that says ‘Snap Happy’ to the right of my photo.

On top of my photo, I adhered the ephemera piece that says, ‘The Story Behind the Photo’ and also a small phrase sticker from the Accessory Sticker sheet in the top right corner. I also added some more of the phrase stickers above the photo and below the photo, these are great additions to a page to help tell a story! Above the pocket card, I added the camera die-cut using craft foam. From this point, I decided to add my embellishments in a tone on tone look…I took some of the super cute heart die-cuts, enamel hearts and wood epoxy buttons and placed them on their corresponding colours.