Cocoa Vanilla Studio: Sealed With A Kiss!

Hi Friends!

Welcome back for more Cocoa Vanilla Studio loveliness!

Today I'm sharing a Valentine's inspired layout with the gorgeous Midnight collection!

A super sweet, melt your heart kinda moment....

"Sealed With A Kiss" 

Oh how divine! Such a beautiful page!

This sweet little boy always makes everyday amazing, and this photo of us is just a bit precious! So very dear to my heart! When I was I reflecting on the photograph & memory, my title Sealed With A Kiss came to mind. This title fostered the idea of sealed envelopes, love letters, & writing paper, and so my layout design evolved. That's how simple my creative process is! Inspiration can be found in the smallest of details!

I used the lovely script pattern paper, CV- MN005 MOONLIGHT for my layout base, and softened it's edges with lilac watercolor tones. I also added a watercolor base for my envelope cut file to rest on. Speaking of cut files, this one is from Paige Evans and is called "Envelope Flowers" - SO pretty!

I back the envelope hearts, flowers and leaves with an assortment of papers from the 6 x 8 PAPER PAD, & CV-MN004 MIXED BLESSINGS. The actual envelope is backed with pattern paper, CV-MN003 INSPIRED - totally gorgeous! I embellish the flower centers with ENAMEL DOTS & ALPHABET STICKERS from our LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL collection. 

The colors compliment the MIDNIGHT collection beautifully.

The alphas featured are the O's which I fill with the enamels. Such a small, but oh so effective detail. Love the soft dimension and texture this creates! I use these same ALPHABET STICKERS for my layout title. Perfect!

I seal my envelope with a FLAIR BUTTON, and also embellish it with the take note DIE CUT EPHEMERA. My sweet love letter is really looking the part!

I adorn my treasured photo with a DIE CUT EPHEMERA frame, which I mount with thick foam tape. I embellish it with two sentiment stickers from the ACCESSORY STICKERS sheet. 

Here's a closer look....

Adore! Melts my heart every.single.time!!!

For finishing touches, I add a sprinkle of sequins, and a few more flower and heart DIE CUTS around the love letter.

So very beautiful!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Valentine's theme layout & feel inspired to get creating with the delightful MIDNIGHT collection!

Thanks so much for visiting,

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days,

 Amanda xo

Elle's Studio: February Creating & New Releases!

Hi Lovelies!

Welcome back for more Elle's Studio awesomeness! 

It's New Releases Day & we all know that means a new kit,
& lots of amazing add ons! 

As always, I have a couple of layouts to inspire you with too! 

But first, here's a looksee at all the new items in the shop.....

February Exclusive Kit

Oh yeah!!! SO good!
Just look at the colours this month!!!

And the add ons are pretty fabulous too.....

Ahh-MAZING!!! 

Two words - Rainbow Acrylic!!!!

GAH! You know I can't resist me a rainbow!
& don't even get me started on the Oh Happy Day Stamp! 

And last, but by no means least, this month's Digital Cut Files & Printables....

Wow! Another amazing release day!

***Shop ALL the new releases in the Elle's Studio Shop HERE***

But enough chatter, let's get straight into the inspiration and that Rainbow Acrylic! 

"The Best Day"

W.O.W!!!

All the rainbow love here!

Elle's Studio Supplies: February Exclusive Kit, Oh Happy Day Stamp, Puffy Icon Stickers, Little Acrylic Stars, Rainbow Acrylic, Die Cut Labels, Real Life Phrase Stickers, Jane Alphabet Stickers - Black, 12 x 12 Noteworthy Paper Collection. 

Other Supplies: Watercolor paints, White Bazzill Cardstock, Umbrella Crafts Premium Ink Dyes - Red, Orange, Yellow, Lime, Blue, Purple. 

Here's a closer look ......

For the love of color!!!

I can't decide if I love the Rainbow Acrylic, Oh Happy Day Stamp, Little Acrylic Stars or the Die Cut Labels the most! Oh heck, I LOVE them all!!!

And truly, why wouldn't you?! Such gorgeous products for all types of crafting! 

Here's a few close ups....

The acrylics are truly to die for! Exquisitely cut and just so fancy!

I matched my stamp inks to my rainbow watercolor base, & repeat stamped the Oh Happy Day lines & stars. SO cool! 

I layered the coordinating color of Die Cut Labels onto the mixed media base. I also adorned each label and color strip with more color matching embellishments! Those Puffy Icon Stickers & Little Acrylic Stars are especially fabulous! 

SO much awesomeness!!!

But if bright & bold just isn't your thing, don't despair! 

The February Exclsuive Kit has some seriously pretty pastel elements too...

"Dreaming With Eyes Open: Happiness"

Sigh! So dreamy & divine! 

All the heart eyes for this pretty page! 

Elle's Studio Supplies: February Exclusive Kit, All My Heart 6 x 6 Paper Stack, Happiness Acrylic, Wood Veneer Confetti, Real Life Phrase Stickers, February Labels, Light Purple Puffy Alphabet Stickers, 12 x 12 Noteworthy Paper Collection.

Other Supplies: White Bazzill Cardstock. 

Gosh, this is pretty! 

And how fantastic is that confetti veneer heart base?!! 

Such a creative and fun way to use those sweet veneers! 

I need to add that I am totally crushing on those soft Light Purple Puffy Alphabet Stickers! 

That color is so divine & totally swoon worthy! 

Here's a few close ups for you.....

More dreamy purple in those lusicious layers......

The photo cluster layers are created from the February Exclusive Kit & the  6 x 6 All My Heart Paper Stack. So gor-jus! 

 & let's not forget that a-may-zing Happiness Acrylic! 

Another exquisite embellishment for your memory keeping! 

Whoa! So.much.gorgeousness! 

Be sure to stop back on Valentine's Day as I share a trio of loved up cards using this kit too! 

Remember you can shop ALL the new releases in the Elle's Studio Shop HERE

or, if you're like me and don't like to miss out, 

set up a Monthly Kit Subscription HERE.

Thanks so much for visiting today! 

I hope I've inspired you!

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo 

Elle's Studio: More January Kit Inspiration!

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back for more Elle's Studio inspiration! 

I just can't stop creating with the gorgeous January Kit & new releases!

  I know I say it every month, but honestly, this month's products are just incredible! 

The proof is that this is my 5th scrapbook layout that I've created with these supplies!

 Yes, 5th! It's that good! 

And before you ask, you bet I used the Happy Heart Stamp! 

I've stamped all.the.things this month! I la la LOVE this stamp! 

I created a lot of loved up Valentine's inspired projects, but today I want to demonstrate the versatility of these awesome products! 

So enough of the chatter, here's my latest layout to inspire you with.....

"#Besties 4 Eva"

Wow! Isn't this fun! Besties forever, indeed! 

Elle's Studio Supplies: January Kit, Happy Heart Stamp, Sweetheart Puffy Stickers, XO Wood Veneer Confetti, Wood Veneer Hearts, Heart & Star Acetate Die Cuts, January Labels, January Blank Label Stickers, Happiness Found Stickers, Black & White Polka Dot Alphabet Puffy Stickers, Jane Alphabet Stickers, Noteworthy 12 x 12 Paper Collection, Noteworthy Puffy Stickers. 

Other Supplies: White Bazzill cardstock, machine stitching, staples, Umbrella Crafts Premium Dye Ink in Sunshine Yellow & Black. 

For this layout, I was totally inspired by my sweet photograph of my daughter & niece. The great mix of  colors and designs in the January kit allowed me to draw on the near black of my niece's hair, the gray of my daughter's tee, & that golden butterflies filter! The movement of the butterflies in the photo also influenced the flow and movement of my design. 

Let's take a closer look.....

I started this layout with the fabulous yellow striped pattern paper from the Noteworthy collection. I layered a sheet of torn white cardstock over it, inserted a couple of 3 x 4 cards into the layer, and stitched & stapled it all into place.  

I featured the dominant yellow stripes on the left, to encourage your eye to move across my layout, left to right. The Happy Heart stamped yellow base adds to the directional flow, and further guides you across my page. I selected all the yellow acetate hearts & stars from the Heart & Star Acetate Die Cuts pack and aligned them with the stamped base also.  

To complete the base, I embellished with lots of stickers, die cuts and veneers! I love the layered Wood Veneers Hearts over the acetate hearts - so cool! I also loved the confetti style look of the stamp, so I tried to arrange my embellishments in a similar fashion. For a more interesting & striking effect, I added a few black icon stamps as well. The pops of black balance the bright yellow perfectly!

For my photo cluster, I layered more of the 3 x 4 journal cards from the January Kit, and then tucked in a few labels, stickers and even one of the acetate hearts. I embellished my photo with a Sweetheart Puffy Sticker & that divine Wood Veneer Heart! 

For finishing touches, I included a few sentiment die cuts and the Happiness Found Stickers. Last but by no means least, I added my mixed alphas title! 

I used the extremely versatile and everyday essential, black Jane Alphabet Stickers for the #Besties part. Love these stickers! 

And for the remaining title, I used the super cute Black & White Polka Dot Alphabet Puffy Stickers. Perfect! 

The January Kit is jam packed with all kinds of awesomeness!

I hope my layout has shown you it's versatility for creating, & inspired you to take some inspiration from your photographs too! 

Thanks so much for joining me today!

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo  

Citrus Twist Kits: Life Crafted Album & Love Stories Kit!

Hi  Friends!

Welcome back for more Citrus Twist Kits inspiration!

 Boy oh boy, have I been having tons of fun with my new Life Crafted Album!

The new February Life Crafted Kit - Love Stories - is all kinds of awesomeness! From pretty pattern papers to the divine ephemera & even the acetate shapes, this kit has my heart!

But enough chatter, let's take a lil looksee into my album.....

Missed my first post with the opening "Getting Started" pages? 

You can check it out here.

Here's the next installment...

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted January Fresh Starts Kit & die cut ephemera from February Love Stories Kit. 

This month I have been able to really embrace how Life Crafted is going to work for me & my stories! You'll see that I have now divided my album into 3 key sections: A Beautiful Life - memory keeping & story telling, Give Yourself Time - dedicated to self care and personal growth, & Random Thoughts - fun, random bits n pieces from daily life, as well as a bit of creative play. It's kinda like 3 albums in one, which will grow & develop as the year unfolds. I used my January Fresh Starts Kit for this, and then continue to mix and match the two kits because the kits have been so beautifully curated that everything coordinates together perfectly! 

My album will be an eclectic mix of scrapbook pages, pocket pages, traveler's notebook spreads and all things in between! Ultimately, it will become a beautiful mini album that reflects me & my stories! Perfect! 

Here's a few pages from my A Beautiful Life section.....

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted February Love Stories Kit, Life Crafted Album - black. 

This IS my why! Such a treasured memory, & so beautifully documented. Love the soft color palette & the gold foil accents. On the left hand side of my album, I have a more traditional scrapbook style page with lots of pretty layers & embellishments. I trim the pattern paper to a 5" x 8" size, and hole punch the side so it fits into my ringed binder. To the right, I have created a more TN / pocket style page - doing things my way & loving how it looks! 

The stamps included in the Love Stories Kit are amazing! I use them subtly on both pages. 

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted February Love Stories Kit, January Life Crafted Fresh Starts 6" x 8" Pattern Paper.

How awesome are these TN style pages?! Love This, indeed! Documenting the everyday moments never looked so good! Here's how it fits into my album...

Yes, This!!! 

For these pages, I mostly used the February Love Stories Kit, but I also added in the powder blue pattern paper from the January Kit. The 3" x 4" cards were perfect for these fun photos of my husband, son & new puppy - just look at the facial expression on my son, hear the love, indeed! The die cut acetate shapes in this month's kit are such a fabulous edition too! 

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted February Love Stories Kit, black puffy alphas from the January Kit. 

Nawww! Another wonderful moment documented! So sweet!

I have mixed up my memory keeping style again & I have to say, I am having so much fun! The 5" x 8" title page is a fave of mine, & I love the mix of the January black puffy alphabet stickers with the February ephemera & acetate shapes! 

Here's a close up of my TN style page...

Isn't this darling?!!

I loved the bold colors, but as most of my album will be soft & full of pastel pretties, I used plain white paper as my base. The white helps to balance the yellow & red, and adds a 'clean' look to the page. 

Best part, it looks gorgeous and I documented it in minutes! Life Crafted is fitting memory keeping into my busy life! LOVE!

Next up, my Give Yourself Time feature....

For my opening page,  I use a clear vellum overlay which I embellish with the you've totally got this ephemera & a puffy heart sticker from the Love Stories Kit. But it's what's underneath that has me....

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted January Fresh Starts Kit. 

Ga ga gorgeous! Nothing says self care like encouraging affirmations! That pattern paper is totally swoon worthy! 

Over the page, you'll see more from the February kits....

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted February Love Stories Kit

Each month the Life Crafted kits include an exclusive 3" x 8" book mark & this month's was perfect for my self care album! I embellished mine with die cut ephemera & acetate shapes as well as foiled chipboard & puffy sticker hearts! (All are from the Love Stories Kit). 

Peeking behind the book mark is a pocket page affirmation....

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted February Love Stories Kit

Sigh! SO pretty & so heartfelt! A little reminder to self kinda page! 

Tip: To keep the dimension of the die cut butterfly wings, I adhere the butterfly onto the outside of the pocket, not onto the paper. This prevents bulging, out of shape pockets and looks just as effective. 

Also in my 'me' section, I am trying to document more of lil' 'ole me....

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted February Love Stories Kit. 

Nawww, puppy love & evening beach walks! My best Summer, right here! This makes my heart happy!

As the month's progress, so will my stories & self care - but oddly enough, I have already created the closing page to this part of my album.....

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted February Love Stories Kit

As soon as I saw the I AM ENOUGH label, I knew I wanted use it for the closing page of my Give Yourself Time album. I foam mount it onto a pretty pink label,& that divine floral paper. Pretty! I also add one last reminder to self...Breathe! Those gold puffy alphas are errrrrything!

And last, but by no means least, here's a very quick peek into my Random Thoughts part of the album.....

CTK Supplies: Life Crafted February Love Stories Kit

How fun is this?! Bright, colorful & creative play! Love it! 

And there you have it! 

Life Crafted  - my album, my stories, my way! 

If you're keen to hear more of the how-to, tips & tricks on crafting my album, join me in this quick album walk through video HERE

https://youtu.be/qOcmtKgymv0

I hope you enjoy watching and please press the subscribe button for future inspiration! 

Thanks so much for joining me today, 

I hope I have given you some ideas for how to use your Life Crafted Album & Kits! 

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo

Pinkfresh Studio: Everyday Musings & February Challenge!

Hi Everyone! 

Welcome back for more Pinkfresh Studio inspiration! 

It's a new month, and that means time for a new monthly challenge! 

Here's what the February monthly challenge looks like.....

Oh what a gorgeous color palette!!!

I couldn't wait to dive into the new Everyday Musings collection and create a love themed project! 

Here's what I came up with....

"One Of A Kind"

Nawww! 

Love that man in the photo! We really do share a one of a kind love story!

I was instantly drawn to the colors in the February challenge and as such, made a real feature of the reverse sides of pattern papers, EVERYDAY,  & HAPPY PLACE. 

The pastel pink with the warm red are just too pretty together! 

I used the Half Hearted digital cut file (courtesy of The Cut Shoppe) to enhance the love theme, and backed it with those gorgeous pattern papers. 

I also used the EVERYDAY paper to trim the side edges of my layout too! Love it! 

To ensure my treasured photograph remained the focal point of my layout, I layered it onto a blue JOURNALING POCKET, and embellished with gold accents! The pop of blue really captures attention, and is just a bit preeeeeeetty! (Love me some blue!) 

You'll spy both DIE CUT EPHEMERA & PUFFY STICKERS with gold foil. I love the golden heart that I have used as a faux paperclip - too cute! 

My favorite embellishment though, is that divine LAYERED HEART STICKER! Gorgeous!

I feature more of the gold foil DIE CUT EPHEMERA for my foam mounted title, one of a kind.

For finishing touches, I added a few tiny heart PUFFY STICKERS to complete my page! 

Voila! 

Simple, sweet but oh so pretty! 

I hope that my take on the Pinkfresh Studio Monthly Challenge has inspired you to play along! 

See all the February Challenge details on the Pinkfresh Studio Blog HERE

Thanks so much for visiting today, 

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo 

The Cut Shoppe: XOXO With Love!

Hi Friends! 

Welcome back for more The Cut Shoppe digital cut file inspiration!

Today I'm sharing a Happy Heart Day themed layout featuring the awesome With Love file!

"XOXO"

Sigh!!!! 

All.the.heart.eyes for these two darlings! 

Absolutely gorgeous!!! 

And the best part? 

The With Love file is a FREE one! Yessss! 

Love me a freebie!

Here's a closer look at the file.....

Download your Freebie FriYAY With Love cut file HERE. 

Let's take a closer look at all this Valentine's sweetness......

I cut the With Love file in a pretty watermelon red cardstock, then back it with pattern papers from Crate Paper's Main Squeeze collection. Using my Fine Liner, I glue the back of the cut file - but only along the outline of the large heart. I attach it to my big photograph, and once dry, I fold all the connecting smaller hearts (a bit like butterfly wings) & then fussy cut the excess photo away. 

The result is simply stunning!!! 

The large black and white photo is so striking against all that pink & red! 

& I just love the texture and dimension the folded hearts create!

For added interest, I create a light layer of mixed media to mount the With Love file & photograph onto. I've used Shimmerz Paints Vibez in Sweetheart & Razzeldazzel Berry around the edge of where the heart  will be positioned. So many pretty splatters and droplets! 

**Remember if you're shopping in the Shimmerz Paints store HERE to type code AMANDA in the comments section of your order to receive a FREE paint** 

(no minimum spend, not valid with any other offers & code has unlimited order use) 

I use the glossy black Main Squeeze 6 x 12 Puffy Phrase Stickers for my title, & subtitles. The remainder of my layout is lots of embellishing with an assortment of puffy hearts, heart stickers, glitter hearts and even sequins! 

Simple, sweet & a perfect cut file for any of your Heart Day projects!

I hope I've inspired you today! 

Grab the With Love file from The Cut Shoppe store HERE! 

Thanks so much for visiting, 

Hope you all have a very Happy Heart Day on the 14th! 

Happy Arty Days,

Amanda xo