Cocoa Vanilla Studio: Loving Every Second Layout & Process Video

Hi Cocoa Vanilla Studio Friends!

 I am so excited to be sharing my take on this week's CVS design team fussy cutting theme!

I just love fussy cutting and the new HAPPINESS collection has so many perfect papers to snip away at! 

But enough chatter, here's my layout for today....

"Loving Every Second"

Sigh! Isn't this just divine?!!

Those fussy cut blooms from the CV-HA001 BOTANICAL BLISS paper are errrything! And I just adore this indigo, white, peach & blue color scheme - so, so pretty!

Here's a better look at my layout....

Swoon! Florals, butterflies, pretty colors and a giant heart - what could be more perfect for scrapbooking my two darlings?!

That indigo base paper is the reverse side of CV-HA001 BOTANICAL BLISS & just happens to be my favourite colour! So striking and it teams perfectly with the crisp white cardstock, and beautiful peach florals. Speaking of white cardstock, I trimmed mine to 11 inches square, and stitched it to that gorgeous indigo base paper. I layered the cardstock with the heart cut file, which I mounted with foam tape to create gentle texture & dimension. The heart cut file is actually the large die cut from the LARGE DIE CUT & BACKING KIT. Such an easy way to incorporate a cut file look without needing a digital cutting system! (and even better, you'll still have the beautiful backing paper left over for a future layout -  so win, win!)

Next, I layered fussy cut florals from the CV-HA001 BOTANICAL BLISS paper onto the large die cut. You'll also spy some fussy cut butterflies from CV-HA008 BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL. Gorgeous!!!

There are also some sweet ACCESSORY STICKER & DIE CUT EPHEMERA butterflies and blooms too!

But it's that sweet framed photo in the center of the heart that really makes my layout!

I love making my photos the 'hero' of my page. Ultimately, that's why I scrapbook. Recording those precious memories & telling our stories is so important. I used a DIE CUT EPHEMERA wreath to frame my photo, and then foam mounted it over the central layer of fussy cut and DIE CUT EPHEMERA florals. 

My title is also from the DIE CUT EPHEMERA pack, and positioned to the bottom left of the framed photograph. Beautiful!

 I embellished the page with sequins from my stash of our 2015 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL collection. (I *may* have been hoarding these pretties) For finishing touches, I applied the typewriter font journal stickers from the ACCCESSORY STICKERS sheet. Perfect!

Simple.Classic.Beautiful!

Fussy cutting is definitely 'a must do' with the HAPPINESS collection!

If you want to see how this lovely layout came together, please watch my process video here...

Thanks so much for watching!

I hope my video inspired you to get fussy cutting with your favorite Cocoa Vanilla Studio papers!

til next time,

Happy Arty Days,

Amanda xo 

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

Paper Issues: October Mix It Up Monday

Hi Friends!

Time to get your messy on with Paper Issues: Mix It Up Monday!

The October challenge is to use a stencil.
Yep. that's all! I know, it totally leaves the creative door wide open.... 

Love how fun stencils & templates are! So many different ways to apply them to your projects!

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

Isn't this pretty?!!

A really delicate and elegant mixed media page.

I've used Fancy Pants Designs: Life Is Beautiful collection 

and teamed it up with a Donna Downey peonies stencil (from my stash). 

I combined Lindy's Stamp Gang Magical's in Salt Water Taffy with some gel medium, and applied it to the stencil using a palette knife. Love the result!

So delicate, & it works perfectly with Life Is Beautiful!

Here's a closer look at that stenciling....

Love the shimmer of the Magical and the high sheen of the gel medium - so glossy!

Those puffy stickers & that flair!!! Love me some Fancy Pants!

The sheen is just divine, huh?!

How stunning is that floral pattern paper?!! 

Incase you want to order, it's called Save The Date ;) 

Super cute ephemera too!

Love it all!!!

You can check out the Fancy Pants collections here 

& use my code: AMANDA to save 20% off your total order!

To see what the rest of the team created, 

& to get started on this super fun challenge, 

visit the Paper Issues blog here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo 

Paper Issues: September Pinspire Me Fun!

Hi Lovelies!

Check out the fabulous Pinspire Me board designed by Mary-Ann Coulter Maldonado for

 Paper Issues this month....

Talk about Back to School COOL! This mood board is awesome!!! 

I was totally taken in by the school theme and those rich colours too....

"School Days Fun"

I've used the Fancy Pants Designs: Life Is Beautiful collection with a couple of items from my stash to create this super fun and playful page! LOVE how it turned out!

here's a few close-ups....

The Life is Beautiful puffy stickers are an absolute fave of mine!!!

And how about the fun ephemera in this collection - I mean that typewriter is just ADORBS!!!

As always, there's some awesome flair in the collection too!

Yep. Totally loving me some Fancy Pants Designs!

Be inspired be the rest of the team's take on this challenge here

& to go in the draw to win a PI gift card,

 be sure to  upload your take on this challenge in our 

Paper Issues Friends & Fans Facebook Group.

Don't forget to visit the Paper Issues store here

& 

use my discount code: AMANDA to save 20% off!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo 

Cocoa Vanilla Studio: Best Day Ever

Hi Creative Friends!

Hope you've had a fantastic week!

*Don't forget today's the last day to upload your 'All About Me' challenge creations over at 

Deer & Fawn Designs blog*

Today I wanted to share with you a really sweet and simple layout I created of my darling daughter, that uses up some of that trickier heavy patterned paper....

'Best Day Ever'

Isn't she lovely?! Such a beautiful young lady!

As usual I am scrapping from my Cocoa Vanilla Studio stash, and I love the 

Life Is Beautiful collection.

Infact, I love it so much that this patterned paper is all I have left! lol!

This paper is sooooo fun and pretty but I have struggled to use it. 

It's just so bold and busy that I never know where to start?

You may have some of these 'heavily' patterned papers at home too -

 you know the ones, really pretty but how to use them?

Well, that's how today's layout came about. I was determined to use this pretty paper!

For my layout design I wanted to show off the gorgeous paper, so I've kept it as a real page feature.

TIP: Use busy pattern papers in large blocks and combine with very simple embellishing.

I chose to 'dress' my photo rather than the page, and kept it minimal! 

A couple sweet doilies, 3 hearts and a flair button, a small ephemera title and a scatter of sequins is all this page needed to be complete.

So pretty!!! Love it!

Speaking of love, check out those super cute hearts.....

The printed wood veneers (as well as that cute flair button) are from the Life Is Beautiful collection & are just too sweet! They make embellishing your pages too easy!

That larger handmade heart is from Charms Creations & is just lovely.

You can see all of the Charms Creations embellishments here.

& there you have it!

Hope my liked my layout and,

 that I've inspired you to try using some of that busier patterned paper too!

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment,

til next time,

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo

Cocoa Vanilla Studio: Life Is Beautiful: Happy

Hi Lovelies! 

Welcome back for another oh-so-pretty Life Is Beautiful layout to inspire you!

It's of my two darlings and is just the most precious photo I had to scrap it straight away!

Here's my page,

"Happy"

Told you it was oh-so-pretty! Isn't this the sweetest page?!

It has a real softness to it, despite being quite monochromatic.

To be honest, I am so in love with this collection that I don't have many papers left  - hence my 'using up my scraps' design!

By drawing on all the gorgeous blue tones in the collection I've avoided my layout looking like it is a leftovers page,

& I have had a ton of fun playing with all the blue embellies to 'dress' the page.

With so many terrific colour combos within the Life Is Beautiful collection, this design could be used over again. So Cool!

Let's take a closer look....

And aren't those blue embellishments divine?!!

From the die cut ephemera, to way too pretty blooms & my personal faves; the Little Pretties (resin pastel roses)

Life Is Beautiful has adornments sorted!

Oh, and that navy bitty bow is just the cutest! It balances those softer blue tones in the cluster perfectly too!

Did I mention that I am loving the sequins as well?  A touch of bling and playfulness! Yes please!!!

And that die cut ephemera title just partners perfectly.

And I added the alphabet stickers for a subtitle too - xox, too sweet!

As my layout is quite 'clean' and relatively flat, I added stitching, cotton and staples for a gentle textural touch.

But mostly, I really just had 'the blues', lol!

Those blue embellishments really do make my page.

And there you have it!

A monochromatic, left overs page that is soft, feminine, and a lil too pretty!

Hope you liked it & feel inspired to get creating with your Cocoa Vanilla Studio stash!

Thanks for visiting,

til next time,

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo

Cocoa Vanilla Studio: Hello Happy Days!

Hello Lovelies!

OMgoodness! Let's start with the most exciting news this week -

New Cocoa Vanilla Studio Collections Coming Soon!!!

Free Spirit

Hello Sunshine

How amazing are Zoe's sneak peaks of the new collections?

I know - absolutely stunning and I can't wait to get my crafty fingers on both of them! *happy sigh!*

But while we wait - somewhat impatiently (lol!) - here's another super cool masculine layout that I've created with my all time favourite scrapbook collection, Life Is Beautiful.....

"Hello Happy Days"

Isn't this such a fun page? Really super cool!!!

So many bright and happy elements that make this feminine collection perfect for the little men in our lives too!

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

I love die cut ephemera - it is without a doubt my go to embellishment & the ephemera in Life Is Beautiful wins me over everytime!

I mean, seriously, how fun (& cute!) is that bunting? Love it!!!

My other favourite embellies at the moment are flair buttons and enamel dots.......

Those buttons are so cool! I love how the orange on this button pops against the blue patterned paper - gorgeous!

& while we are mentioning papers, I've used the reverse side of CV-LB004 'Happiness Is'.

I love this paper! The geometric pattern is perfect for boy pages & the colour, well, the colour is just awesome!

I've also featured a fabulous alpha cut file on this layout from our friends at The Cut Shoppe. Love it too? It's called, 'Little Letters' and you can find it here.

Here's one last close up for you.... check out the design on the wood veneer - so cool!

Yep, Life Is Beautiful is definitely my favourite collection of all time! Fun papers, cool designs, perfect colour palette & delicious embellishments - what more could I ever want?

Oh yeah, those new collections - Want, want, want! LOL!

Be sure to follow Cocoa Vanilla Studio on Facebook to be kept up-to-date with the latest news ;)

Thanks for stopping by & leaving a comment - it means so much!

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo

Spring Inspiration!

Hello my Ccreative Lovelies!

Hope you've all been having a fabulous week & 

are enjoying the beautiful Spring weather!

The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming - it's such a fabulous time of the year! 

And it's a perfect time to scrap too! Lol! (Any excuse will do!) 

But seriously, the layout I am sharing with you today has taken its cue from Spring.

Soft spring colours, blooms, butterflies....

 but enough chattering, & on to the good stuff!

Here's my layout,

"Just Perfect"

And truly, she is! (Just perfect) - A real sweetie!

She is so kind and innocent & this delicate colour palette reflects that. 

Isn't that patterned paper just the prettiest?!!

A gorgeously girly, Spring inspired, page for my darling Miss M! 

Love it! 

My entire page has been created with the stunning new
 Cocoa Vanilla Studio, "Life Is Beautiful" collection.

A soft, feminine range that is so delicate and delightful!

How sweet are all those butterflies?! 

I am loving those wooden veneers! Divine!

Here's a closer look.....

And even that Lucky Charm butterfly tucked under my flower cluster - gorgeous!

I am also an enormous fan of pattern papers and ephemera.... 

But you've probably noticed that!

Let's take another close up look...

Yep. Love it! 

It's softness & light, delicate and divine, and really flatters my darling photo!

Spring has sprung  & it's inspiration overload!

Hope you enjoyed my creation today!

Time for you to get creating now - maybe even be inspired by nature too!

Thanks for stopping by, 

til next time,

Happy Arty Days,

Amanda xo

Cocoa Vanilla Studio: Life Is Beautiful: Sweet, Happy, Wonderful

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back for more Cocoa Vanilla Studio deliciousness!

& boy oh boy have I fallen in total love with

It is just aaahhhhmazing!!!

But instead of raving about how much I LOVE this collection, here's a look at another gorgeous page I've created with it...

"Sweet, Happy, Wonderful"

 I know, isn't this so precious?! Such a delicate and feminine page for my darling, Miss M!

So many paper pretties here - I don't know where to start!!

Although, I will say that Bitty Bow is the sweetest embellishment yet!

Have you seen these delightfuls? They're a packet full of happiness...

So very, very pretty! And a perfect adornment to my layout! Here's a closer look.....

Oh, while we're talking sweet and pretty embellies, that resin flower has made the all-time favourites list too, lol ;)

Apart from being fabulous on layouts, I am using my Little Pretties in my planners too! Love that mint one....

Just divine!!!

But there's more embellishment goodness to this layout, check out the fabulous ephemera flowers and hearts....

Oh, and those wood veneers are pretty darn cute too!

And let's not forget those simply stunning patterned papers...

When it comes to pretty pages, Life Is Beautiful is the go to Collection!

Thanks for joining me today,

I hope I have inspired you to get a lil crafty with the stunning new Cocoa Vanilla Studio products!

til next time,

Happy Arty Days,

Amanda xo