Happy Times | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Hi everyone!

Popping in today to share my latest layout created for Cocoa Vanilla Studio using the new 'Happiness' collection. For this page I chose to document some sweet photos of my daughter that were taken the night before her 10th birthday. I also decided to introduce some mixed media using Distress Oxides.

For this one I wanted to challenge myself to create a page without using ANY of the flowers or floral patterns from the range. (SO hard to resist!) Instead, I took my inspiration from the cute hearts pattern found on the reverse side of the So Fresh paper and use hearts as a theme of my page.

When it came to my page design, I started with a sheet of white cardstock and cut a piece of the So Fresh paper to cover the top half of my page. I then took a piece of the stunning Expressive paper with its abstract painted design and tore a piece to layer over the top. I added an extra tear near the centre and folded the edges back to expose some of the pink cross pattern underneath, securing it in place with staples.

At this point I wanted to "drag" some colour down to the bottom part of my page, so I added some 'Cracked Pistachio' Distress Oxide. I mixed it with a little water on my craft mat before applying it using a wide brush and a vertical stroke. I then layered some 'Tumbled Glass' Distress Oxide over the top using the packaging technique to soften it. Next, I added a thin strip of the Meadow paper that I had punched with a heart edge punch along the bottom edge of the So Fresh paper. 

I cut a piece of the Happiness paper to use as a photo mat, and positioned it so it sat on the punched horizontal line; then layered two fussy cut frames from the Frame Of Mind paper over it before adding my photo strip on top. I added a frame from the Die Cut Ephemera pack over the middle photo; then the die cut happy times words below the strip for my page title.

In the bottom section of my page I added some hearts that I had cut using metal dies from the Expressive paper, which I then layered with some small word stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet. Amongst the larger hearts, I added a few heart stickers from the Clear Sticker pack; then a chevron sticker alongside my photo strip.

To finish off, I tucked in a butterfly above my photo, as well as the time to shine banner piece in top section of the page (both from the ephemera pack). I also added a couple more hearts that I had cut.

Finally, I stuck a small label from the Accessory Sticker sheet down the bottom of the page that I stamped with the date; and a then line of handwritten journalling and I was done.

Thanks for stopping by today so I could share this with you. If you haven't gotten your hands on the 'Happiness' collection yet, make sure you check with your favourite retailer. (I know many sold out in record time and have since re-ordered.) Until next time, happy scrapping! X