Wednesday, 12 August 2020

Living the Dream | Cocoa Vanilla Studio


Hi friends! Popping in today to share a recent layout I created for Cocoa Vanilla Studio using the 'Unforgettable' collection and some photos of my gorgeous girl at the beach. As my daughter gets older (she’s now 12), I am finding it increasingly difficult to get photos of her, as she doesn’t enjoy posing for me as much as she used to. (Unless she is dressed up in a costume, but that’s a whole other story!) So you can imagine my delight when I managed to capture these photos of her, and I couldn’t wait to scrap them.


I chose to use the ‘Unforgettable’ collection because I just can’t pass up the opportunity to create something gorgeous and girly whenever I have the chance. I began my page with one of my favourite papers from the collection – the fabulous aqua diagonal stripe print on the reverse of the Sprightly paper. Instead of keeping the sheet as a whole, I decided to add some extra interest by cutting off a strip along the left edge and flipping it over to reveal the abstract watercolour pattern on the other side. Before re-joining the two, I also added a narrow strip of the Unscripted paper between them. I also distressed the edges of the joins slightly to add some extra texture.


With my page base constructed, it was then time to create a focal area for my layout. I layered several smaller pieces of paper (Sprightly; Garland; and Pretty Bits) to form a mat for my photos, adding some cardboard behind the left photo to lift it up a little higher than the other. Then it was time to play with some pretties!


I decided on three main embellishment clusters placed in the bottom left, top right and bottom right corners of my photo mat. Beginning with the top right cluster, I used a die cut circular frame and a large floral piece from the Die Cut Ephemera pack as the anchors for the cluster. It was at this point that I realised I really needed to draw in the stunning blue colour of the water in my photos. Unfortunately, this colour didn’t feature in the collection so I had to come up with another solution. I found a small floral cut file called Flower Bunch (designed by Paige Evans) that I had cut previously, and coloured it using watercolour paints.


Once dry, I cut it into three pieces so that I could use a portion of it in each cluster. I tucked the largest of the three pieces in underneath the die cuts I had started my first cluster with. I then added two smaller die cut flowers; and a small tab and phrase from the Accessory Sticker sheet. I then finished the cluster with a beautiful die cut butterfly.


My third and final cluster was to be my title cluster. I had already picked out the living the dream die cut from the ephemera pack for my title piece (it was an easy choice – just look at that beach on a perfect Queensland winter day). I added another die cut flower and leafy branch, as well as the remainder of the painted cut file. I used foam tape under the title, which allowed me enough room to add a watercolour style Clear Sticker under the edge.


I finished off with a small die cut heart alongside my title cluster and then some tiny splatters of blue ink scattered around my page.


Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you. I hope I have inspired you to get some supplies out and create something pretty too. (Besides, we all need to make room for the new ‘Daydream’ collection coming soon, right?!)
Until next time, happy scrapping! X

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