Cocoa Vanilla Studio - More Happy Days

Here to share some more Cocoa Vanilla Studio, Happy Days goodies from the Scrap Shotz shop and how they are shaping up into summer loving layouts from my scrappy space! 

For a peek at my first few pages with this amazing collection, pop over to Cocoa Vanilla Studio - Happy Days. Now let’s get to my newest layouts … 

Embrace The Alphas

For this layout, I reached for the Cocoa Vanilla Studio - Happy Days, Chipboard Title Stickers. I love the doodled look of the alphas and wanted to use as many as I could on a layout - so decided to use them as my background! 

I prepped this pattern paper from the collection with some black splatters. I also added a few random texture stamps and phrase stamps from my stash around the edges using Paper Rose Studio, Premium Dye Ink - Intense Black. This creates a sort of frame for the layout and love how it draws the eye to the middle of the page. I then used Ranger Ink, Distress Ink in Black Soot and one of my way-too-many stencils from Vicki Boutin and shaded in some colour in the middle of the page to anchor the alphas and my photos. I added a few small touches of the stencil to the edges of the page too. 

From there, I picked my favorite titles and spelt those out across the middle of the page - using a ruler to make sure they stayed straight. I wasn’t worried about covering up some the titles with my photos, that’s part of the fun. I did put the titles a little off set though and added the heart chipboards in between for a touch of colour. 

I then added two small photos, with a few collection patterns layers behind, and then just tucked and layered the florals from the Cocoa Vanilla, Happy Days - Floral Ephemera in and around the photos. My final touch was a couple little tucked tags with black/white twine and the collection die cut butterflies. 

All The Pattern Paper 

For my next magic trick (ha ha), I reached for every single pattern in the collection - they are all so pretty! 

First, I had to create my background. I cut down a 12x12 piece of cardstock to 11.75x11.75 and backed it with the cut apart pattern paper. I like how the cut apart has so many different colours and patterns making the edge of a layout a lot of fun. I used Ranger Ink, Distress Ink in Black Soot and a paw print from Peartree Cutfiles to add some paws to the background, and matched some Distress Inks to the Happy Days collection to add some small splatters around the paws. 

Now let’s get to the pattern paper! First I cut 3 pattern pieces in about 6.5 wide and 9.5 high; used a white journal pen to quickly and messily outline the edge then layered and titled them so just edges of each were peeking out and dropped those in the middle of the page. I reached for my 4 photos and added a layer or two of pattern behind each - also tilted and outlined in a white journal pen. I dropped those down on the larger pattern a little messy too but generally in a grid pattern. No straight lines on my layouts. 

For the final touch, I cut a few thin circles from the pattern paper and tucked them behind the top right and left bottom corner photos. I used the circle to anchor my title from the chipboard alphas and tucked in a few of the florals too. I used the same white journal pen to add some white lines to the leaves of the floral bunches. 

I had such fun with this Cocoa Vanilla collection - definitely one to add to your shopping cart for those summer, hot vacation or everyday playful photos! 

When Life Gives You Lemons

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When Scrap Shotz sends you the Simple Stories, Simple Vintage Lemon Twist, you make layouts!

I have absolutely loved playing with this collection. At first I honestly was not sure I would have memories to match the style … but I was so wrong. This collection is all about fun, bright, cheery designs and colours; and I have loads of those kinda memories to document! 

Florals for the Win! 

For my first layout, I was all about showing off the amazing floral die cuts in this collection.  Flowers, butterflies and bees and all beautifully coloured and detailed. 

First I stamped the background Paper (Bazzill Cardstock, Raven) with Tim Holtz, Distress Oxide in Hickory Smoke using an older botanical Vicki Boutin stamp from my stash. Adds a few splatters too. Then I simply layered a whole bunch of die cuts up from the bottom of the page and down from the top - a layered jumble! 

The top layer serves as the anchor for my photos (which I backed in just white cardstock) and my title. The bottom layer was a good spot to feature a few phrase embellishments, stickers and a couple of bees too from the collection.  

Hexagons are my Favourite! 

For my second layout, I played on the hexagon/bee inspired elements of the collection. I cut a bunch of different pattern paper hexagons on my die cutting machine. The patterns are so pretty - wanted to show them all off! 

Before adhering any of the hexagons, I added some mixed media to the background. The black small hexagons are another Vicki Boutin stamp from my stash applied with Staz On in Jet Black. Then some packaging technique with Tim Holtz, Distress Ink in Mustard Seed, and finally splatters in more Mustard Seed and some Evergreen Bough. I finished it off with black splatters using slightly watered down Black Nouvo. 

From there I just played with the pattern paper hexagons to create a nice anchor for the photos, and then layered a bunch of title elements down the right hand side of my photos. A little lemon tucked here and there, and a couple bee embellishments and voila! I love how bright it all turned out.

All the Hearts! 

There are so many super cute hearts in this collection - sticker, cardstock and foam hearts… blue, yellow, black and pattern hearts …so many hearts. So I focused on a design that would give me an excuse to use way, way too many! 

First, I covered the bottom half of the page with the black/white plaid pattern. This is my favourite pattern in the collection so I really wanted to show it off. Then I cut a few different circles from some of the other patterns. The circles become the anchor for my photo and created a neat transition from the bottom pattern and the white cardstock (Bazzill Cardstock, Avalanche) on top. 

From there, I backed my photo in a few more pattern papers, and used the stickers sheet to create some fun tabs on the left. I also added a few splatters in Tim Holtz, Distress Ink in Mustard Seed, Evergreen Bough, and Black Soot behind the photos. 

Then it was all about the hearts! I wanted it to look like they are floating up from the love my nephew has for our dog! So focused on scattering them from the photo upwards and widening the scatter as it got close to the edge of the page. I finished it all off with a two alpha title and a little rip and extra heart at the bottom of the page. This one came together real quick - so fun! 

Strips and Stitches! 

For my final layout, I wanted to use all the pattern paper branding strips, scraps of paper and washi tape of the collection. 

First, to add a little more black to the background pattern, I used a honeycomb stencil and rubbed some Tim Holtz, Distress Oxide in Black Soot on it followed by a few sprints of water and then pressed the wet side down to the paper. This gives you a more faint and less perfect negative impression of the stencil which matched the style of the collection quite nicely. You can see it there on the top left side and near the bottom right. 

From there, I cut a bunch of strips of paper, tore each end so there were different lengths and then layered them down the left side of the page. I added a few strips of washi tape in there too for a little touch of shine. After the strips were all in place, I stitched a few with black thread on my sewing machine. I left the stitched ends loose and a little long so it looked nice and messy. 

To finish it off, I added my photo with lots of fun layered embellishments and patterns and this really long title. This collection is in the Scrap Shotz Scrapbooking Kit and included cardstock and Doodlebug alphas - these are those cute black alphas! 

Are you playing with this kit or collection - we would love to see! Tag us on social media or join the Scrap Shotz Paper Crafting Facebook Group and post up your projects! 

P13 Summer Vibes

Not sure about you, but I am not ready to say goodbye to summer just yet. So I am extending the season by focusing only on summer themed scrapbook supplies while in my crafty space, such as P13 Summer Vibes collection. Documenting some of my favourite summer memories with these happy supplies keeps the sunshine around a little longer! 

Layout One - Hello World 

For my first layout with these watercolour summer goodies I went straight for the map pattern paper #06 - I am a sucker for a good map or globe inspired pattern. 

I wanted the pattern to do all the work, so picked just one photo and layered it up with all kinds of goodies from the P13 collection. Then used the Hickory Smoke, Distress Oxide from Tim Holtz to add some arrows and a heart from the photo to Portugal (where the photo was taken). 

I used some of the same ink to add a few splatters behind the photo cluster and some arrow stamps on the top and bottom of the page. 

The title Hello World and the 3 botanical stems are from a gray Thickers collection deep in my stash. I love how bold they look on all the white space, and they matched the stamped ink perfectly. 

Layout Two - Sweet Stripes

For my second layout, I just had to use the diagonal stripe paper #04 - the pastel colours reminded me of a yummy, sweet ice cream cone and there is no one sweeter than my wee niece! She just had to be featured on this pattern paper. 

With this layout, I again focused on creating a fun photo cluster - layering all the cute things and patterns with my photo and leaving the rest of the layout to just be colourful. 

I cut apart most of the pattern stripes and then used my distress tool to rough up the edges of each strip to give the page a bit more texture and dimension - and then glued it all down on a scrap white paper back in the same order of the pattern. 

With my P13 goodies, Scrap Shotz included the cutest, little matching paper florals from Prima Marketing (no one does florals like Prima) - I added a few these to the photo cluster too. I love the touch of feminine to this photo of her in her ‘movie watching’ seat (aka laundry basket with a blanket and stuffies). So cute! 

Layout Three - Surf's Up

For my third layout, I am all about the circles! The pattern paper #05 features gentle waves and instantly inspired me to reach for some boogie boarding photos from South Africa. My photos are not the best so I cut them in circles to try and hide the flaws - and this inspired a circle design layout! 

Once I had my photos cut in circles and scattered down the page, I just played with all the stickers and goodies from the P13 collection until I had a happy, jumbled, layered “mess”. I did add some white acrylic paint splatters on the pattern paper behind the photos as well. 

A few of the embellishments are fussy cut from pattern paper #03. I liked the combo of botanicals and cameras or sneakers on the pattern. I also added some of the die-cut chipboard pieces #08 (they look and feel like delicate wood veneer - love!) to a few spots on the page to bring a little texture to the layout. 

The ‘Surf’s Up’ title that follows along a photo - playing on the circle design - was the finishing touch.

How are your documenting your summer? 

There are still some P13 Summer Vibes goodies in the shop - pop over, grab some of these watercolour inspired designs and extend your summer! 

 

Cardmaking With The Sandy Paws Collection!

Hello friends! Karla back today with set of summer cards using the fabulous Sandy Paws Collection from Craft Consortium! This is such a cute beachy set, perfect for hot summer days! We recently took a trip to Saskatchewan to visit family and I wanted to send out some thank you cards after our stay, and these were perfect to do just that! The 6x6 paper pad is filled with awesome images and patterns and has some really cool cut aparts too! 

I stamped the images on Bristol Smooth Cardstock and watercoloured them with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers while we were away! It was the perfect way to craft on holidays. I chose images from the Ice Cream Stamp Set, but I love that there are so many different stamp sets to choose from!!

The little Enamel Rings are so cute and are perfectly colour coordinated! I added in some other embellishments from my stash as well for even more pops of colour. These Rainbow Wheels from Studio Katia would be fun to use too!

I used the Tim Holtz Label Stickers to add sentiments to my cards. These have the same dimension and texture as an actual label maker - so cool! 

I used the colouring guide on the stamp set packaging to colour in the images for the most part. I like that I could just follow along and know that it was going to match these fabulous papers perfectly! 

I stamped several of the smaller images, including these yummy ice cream cones, to use as embellishments.

How cute is this little truck?!! Seriously! And, yes, we did eat lots of ice cream while we were at the lake, lol. There is a little grocery store called Fern's Grocery, and it was just a few minutes walk away from the cabin, so.... 🤣

The beach house is one of my favourite images from this set! The paper even has a glossy coating on the little houses on one side - so fun! 

I used the cut apart strips from the pages with various scenes printed, across each of the cards, placing them so that I had scenery for the stamped images.

I used some sparkly Stardust Gelliroll Gel Pen to add some shimmer to various images on the cards, because sparkle is awesome! 

Be sure to check out the full Sandy Paws Collection in the Shop! 

We are also super excited to soon be at the Creative Scrapbooker Magazine Great Canadian Scrapbook Carnival and we hope to see you there too!! If you would like to shop online and have your order ready to pick up at either the Edmonton or Calgary locations, just choose local pickup and make a note where you'll pick up!! Have an awesome week friends!

Simple Stories Safe Travels Layouts

 Hello scrappy friends. Today I have three layouts (and a bonus one) made with the Simple Stories "Safe Travels" Collection. I love the bright colours and fun embellishments. Perfect for travel pictures with kids. 

Layout #1

I have this night picture from the plane so I thought I should use a black background. I backed the cut file plane with as many of the manufacturer's strips as I could. I had to cut into a few papers for the bigger sections. I used a glue pen to attach the pieces. The clouds were another cut file using white cardstock. I used yellow ink to blend some colour into the clouds and then sewed a white thread across the bottom. The embellishments are from the ephemera pack, puffy stickers, chipboard stickers and cardstock stickers.  

Layout #2

This layout was about Magnetic Hill which makes it seem like your car is pulled backwards uphill. I ripped some cardstock from a previous kit to make a hill and used all the arrow stickers to show it is going uphill. I also love those journaling cards and enamel dots to make it look like they are hanging on the wall. 

Layout #3

For this layout I used the Creative Scrapbooker Magazine May sketch as inspiration. 

This layout was fun to make. I layered cut files and papers and clustered the various types of stickers and die cuts. We didn't stick around for the highest tide but we were there long enough to see the difference and walk around on the beach so I wanted to highlight these pictures. The title alphas are from a previous kit. 

Bonus Layout

I was so inspired during the crop that I made one more layout with the March collection. This is the Carta Bella "Summer" Collection with some Vicki Boutin Thickers.

Thanks for taking a peek at my layouts. Have a scrappy day!

Carta Bella Summer Take 2

 Hello again! I have one more Carta Bella "Summer" layout to show everyone today (and I may have one more ready for the crop on Friday and Saturday! 

I used the Creative Scrapbooker Magazine April sketch as inspiration for this layout. It was an easy sketch to follow and worked so well with this background paper (the flower cart is part of the paper). 

I layered some chipboard, tags, stickers and fussy cut flowers to add dimension to the layout. The numbers I cut on my Silhouette Cameo. I made 5 text boxes, each with the correct number. Then I sized them until they fit the page. I didn't like how the pink paper didn't pop off the background so I outlined the edges of the numbers with a black Sharpie. I also had to get some enamel dots on there!

Don't forget to join us on Friday and Saturday in the Scrap Shotz Paper Crafting Group on Facebook for a virtual International Scrapbooking Day Crop. There are challenges, games and live demos. Can't wait to see you there!

Carta Bella Summer Take 1

 This month I'm playing with the Carta Bella "Summer" Collection. It's full of small details and pastel colours. I made a layout and a birthday card and have some more goodies to show you on Thursday!

I saw this lemon paper and just had to use it with my lemonade stand picture from last summer. It's a pretty busy paper so I started with the title. I cut the yellow cardstock at the same angle as the lemons. The green title is a cut file in the Silhouette Store. I offset the title and cut it out again on white paper and pasted the green letters on top. The background needed something to bring focus to the picture so I drew a lemon on a white paper. I used distress ink and a blending tool to create the yellow on the lemon. I then used a black Sharpie on the edges to make the lemon pop. I finished off the layout with some frames, tags, stickers, brads and journaling. 

This kit is perfect for card making. There is a happy birthday tag in the cut apart papers that I used as my sentiment. The flowers are fussy cut from one of the kit papers. The centers are brads that add some shimmer. The final touch was to add a scallop border using a punch. 

Don't forget that International Scrapbooking Day is this weekend. We are having a crop Friday and Saturday in the Scrap Shotz Paper Crafting Facebook Group. Make sure to join the group and check out the crop album to see the rules, schedule and challenges. It's going to be so much fun with live demos and games throughout. See you there!

Good Vibes Layout with Kate & Ash

Hello friends! Karla back again with one more layout using the awesome Simple Stories Kate & Ash Collection! So far I've created a breakfast in bed double page layout, a fun selphy layout and now today I'm sharing an outdoor fun layout! This collection seriously has lots of creative options for many different themes. 

I focused on using the florals and feathers on this page and embellished using the coordinating Bits & Pieces ephemera, Chipboard Cardstock Stickers, Decorative Brads and stickers from the 12x12 Sticker Sheet that is included in the 12x12 Collection Pack.

I used a sketch for my page design using one of Jennifer Edwardson's Use Your Own Paper sketches, which always come in handy! I cut one of the journaling cards from the 4x6 cut apart sheet to be smaller and wrote my journaling in. Some of these adorable Garden Party Sprinkletz flowers were also perfect to add to the page!

I fussy cut the rainbow and the words Choose Happy from one of the 4x4 cut apart sheets. There are so many cute images that you can either use on the journaling cards or by cutting them out!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure to check out the full Simple Stories Kate & Ash Collection in the Scrap Shotz Store, and be sure to join us for Live Videos on our Facebook Page - PS Mark your calendar for today, July 24 at 1 pm MST to see me live on FB with New goodies in the shop!! Wishing you a crafty and very happy week ahead!