You're Awesome | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Hi everyone! I am here today sharing the layout I created for Cocoa Vanilla's themed 'Scraplift Week'. It also happens to be my very first layout using the brand new "You ROCK" boy themed collection. (This range starts shipping to retailers on Monday, so keep an eye out - it will be hitting store shelves very soon!)

For my scraplift, I decided to look back through the Cocoa Vanilla archives for some masculine themed inspiration from previous collections and this is what I created...

"You're Awesome"

I have always admired the clean, fresh style of Raquel Bowman; as it's quite different from my own usual style. (My layouts typically use a full patterned paper background, and tend to be a bit more freestyle and messy than the restrained precision that Raquel is known for.)

Here is Raquel's layout that provided me the inspiration - it was from quite some time ago using the Made of Awesome collection...

I decided to take her original design and flip it over, as I found it worked better with the portrait orientation photo I wanted to use. I did stick with the main structural elements though, including using only a half patterned paper background and using a diagonal flow of embellishments to draw the eye through the photo.

I used a piece of the In Line grey striped paper on my background, which I complimented with a thin strip of the B-side of the Stripped paper. I love grey, so wanted to focus on the monochromatic pieces from the collection. I also cut some of the circles from the pattern on the Stripped paper, which I used to layer under the edges of my photo, along with a paper doily.

For my embellishments, I started by pulling out all the black / white / grey ones, and then sorted through them to choose which ones I was going to use. I chose various pieces of die cut ephemera; chipboard stickers; a flair button and a rubber charm, which I used as my title on the photo. I also added a few pops of yellow, using some stars I fussy cut from the Starshine paper and some enamel dots. (I used foam mounting tape under some of my elements to provide extra dimension.)

I strayed a little from the clean style to add some messy thread, a few randomly stamped phrases and black splatters - all of which made my messy side much happier! (I do love that fact that I was able to add enough of my own touches to make the layout mine, whilst still maintaining the integrity of Raquel's original design.)

If you are ever stuck for an idea and don't know where to start, scraplifting another layout can be a great source of inspiration. (You can find all the CVS design team layouts pinned on the Pinterest account HERE)
Thanks for stopping by today so I could share this with you. Until next time, happy scrapping! X