Naughty or Nice | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Hi everyone,

Today I am sharing a layout I created recently for the Cocoa Vanilla Studio design team using the 'Merry and Bright' collection. I was tasked with the "Throwback Thursday" feature, when one of the design team creates something new with an older collection. I didn't delve back too far for this range, however those that know me might be falling over in shock that I created a Christmas page. I had this hilarious photo of my boys with Santa that I just HAD to document though.

For this layout, I decided to create a mixed media page, so I started with white cardstock, acrylic paint and some Distress Oxides. I first used a wide paint brush to brush the diluted green Distress Oxide across the page, then used a rubber brayer to apply pink paint to the lower half of the page. Next, I added some stencilling using a star stencil, sponge dauber and a coral coloured oxide; then topped my background off with some stamping using a star background stamp and grey ink.

After the background was complete I mounted it onto the wood grain print of the Season’s Greetings paper, then started building the papery layers on my page. I cut and tore pieces of the Star Bright and Countdown papers, as well as the diagonal pink/red stripe paper from the A5 Paper Stack. I used my fingernail to ruffle up the torn edges to add extra texture.

I layered my paper pieces together, adding a grey doily from my stash and some frayed gauze for even more texture, and then secured the stack together with staples before adding my photo on top.

To embellish my page I focused on creating 3 main clusters. The first was in the top left hand corner of my photo, where I had a spot on the photo that had to be covered up anyway. I did this by using a couple of stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet and just sticking them directly onto the photo. This cluster also featured a pair of sweet little houses and flower from the Die Cut Ephemera pack and one of the Puffy Gold Stars.

The second cluster was along the bottom edge of my photo and I again used die cuts and a gold star, plus some phrase stickers from the Accessory Sticker sheet.

The third cluster to the right of my photo was where I included my journalling, which I typed onto one of the coordinating Pocket Cards. I also added a small die cut sprig of holly; another gold star and a handmade arrow embellishment.

I finished my layout off with some gold adhesive pearls and some splatters of gold mist.

If you would like to watch this page come together (and listen to some of my waffle), then make sure you pop over and watch my process video on my YouTube channel here:

That's all for today. Until next time, happy scrapping! X

Joy | Cocoa Vanilla Studio - December Challenge

Hi everyone! I am popping in today to share a bit of festive inspiration, which is my take on this month's challenge for Cocoa Vanilla Studio - the beautiful "Peppermint Place" mood board designed by Raquel Bowman. I decided to go with the Christmas theme of the board and document some photos of my boys laying under our Christmas tree last year.

Here's a look at the board...

And here is my take on it, using the fabulous new 'Merry & Bright' collection...

For my layout, I was initially drawn to the picture of the stacked lines in the top centre of the board, which inspired me to create a strip style layout. I chose 3 patterned papers - Season's Greetings; Jingle all the Way; and Oh Christmas Tree; and cut a variety of different sized pieces. I then distressed all of the edges, before layering them vertically down my page.

 On top of the paper strips I added a white paper doily inspired by the lacy pattern on the lantern in the bottom left corner, then some frayed gauze for texture, and finally, my photos on top.

For my embellishments I then decided to use a cascading design, and follow the flow of my page vertically down the page. I used a mix of Die Cut Ephemera pieces including flowers, tickets, banners, and hearts.

To the right of my photo, I added the Flair Button with the two hearts on it, whilst to the left of my photo I added the die cut Christmas tree from the ephemera pack, which I popped up on a little bit of cardboard to bring it up to the same height as the photos. 

For my page title I added the word JOY which I fussy cut from the Season's Greetings paper. Underneath that I added the large floral piece from the Die Cut Ephemera pack. To finish off, I stamped the date and added a line of handwritten journalling.

I hope you will play along with the challenge this month. There is a $25 store voucher up for grabs for one randomly chosen winner. To be in the running, load your entries via the Cocoa Vanilla Community Group by the 31st December.

Until next time, happy scrapping! X

Ho Ho Ho | Scrap the Girls December Challenge

 Hi everyone!

Popping in today to share my take on the December challenge for Scrap the Girls, which (not surprisingly) just happens to have a bit of a festive theme. It's called "The Story of Christmas" and besides the overall theme, it features a colour palette and an inspirational image.

Here's a look at the board...

And here is my take on it, using the new 'Merry & Bright' Christmas collection from Cocoa Vanilla Studio...

The photo I was documenting was a photo of my daughter with Santa that I took last year. Yes, I know Santa isn't a girl, but we make a special exception to our "no boys" rule for Santa in this challenge. (So if you have any Santa photos with your girls, this is a great time to get them scrapped!)

I decided to use a mix of two patterned papers for my background - the tiny spots on the Happy Holidays paper, combined with the candy stripes of the Jingle All the Way paper. I also added some tearing and distressing for texture along the top join between the two. 

Next, I cut a couple of pieces of patterned paper from the A5 Paper Stack to create a double layered matt for my photo. I then added some frayed gauze before sticking my photo down on top.

With my photo in place, my plan was to embellish along a horizontal line on either side of the photo, right where the lower join between the two patterned papers was. For this, I wanted to use some of the gorgeous little gingerbread style houses from the range to form a bit of scene to frame the photo.

The two larger houses were both fussy cut from a couple of the new Pocket Cards, whilst the third smaller house was from the Die Cut Ephemera pack. I also used the Hey Santa card from the Pocket Card pack. I then extended the line of embellishments out further by adding two tags from the ephemera pack that I had tied with small pieces of twine. The final large piece I added was the Christmas tree, which I tucked in behind the house on the left side of the page.

With all of my main embellishments in place along the line, I then decided to add a little bit of extra colour using a light peach watercolour paint which I just gently painted in around edges of my embellishments.

For my title, I fussy cut the words Ho Ho Ho from another of the Pocket Cards and stuck it down above my photo. A few little touches to finish my page off included a die cut flower tucked in along the top join where I had folded back the paper and secured it with staples; a small die cut heart down near the bottom of the page; a stamped date; and my handwritten journalling. 

I am really happy with how this sweet layout turned out and I hope you will join us for this challenge. You can grab all the challenge details as well as see what else the design team created, on the Scrap the Girls blog HERE

Until next time, happy scrapping! X