Tis The Season | Merry & Bright collection | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

 Hi friends!

Welcome back to my blog! Today I am very excited to be sharing my first design team layout using the AMAZING new Merry & Bright collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio! I have documented a fun Christmas photo of my 2 sons from last year. Oh my goodness, seriously this collection is stunning! It is the perfect Christmas collection without being too over the top. The colours and all the elements are so gorgeous!! Even if you are not a fan of Christmas, this collection can be used for any themed project!

I decided to make good use of the 6' x 8' paper stack and began backing a holly wreath cut file design from CUT to YOU with the pretty papers in the stack. I tried to have the green for the holly leaves and I added red for the berries. The other florals I added a mixed floral paper and a striped paper. I will admit this did take some time but I feel the end result is worth it. Once the cut file was all backed, I turned it over and added craft foam to the bottom of the cut file.

I chose the Happy Holidays paper as my background paper and adhered the cut file at the top and bottom of the page to create a wreath shape. I then trimmed down the Happy Holidays paper a little smaller and matted it onto the Oh Christmas Tree paper. I like how this brings out the green/teal in the leaves in the cut file. On the top large in the cut file, I added one of the super cute gold puffy stars. See image below.

I matted my photo using some more of the 6' x 8' papers and also layered a paper doily underneath. I adhered the photo and mats to the lower centre of the wreath. I then cut the Tis The Season words from the Season's Greetings paper for my title and adhered it using craft foam to the bottom of the photo.

I added the green Merry Christmas die-cut under the title and one of the beautiful flair buttons to the left of my photo. I also stapled a banner die-cut to the top left of the photo and adhered a heart die cut to the right of the photo. I tucked in some leaf sprig die-cuts into the cut file to enhance the wreath design.

Lastly I stamped the date stamp just below the heart die-cut of when the photo was taken.

Are you getting the new Merry & Bright collection? If you are considering buying it, considerate no more and do it! You will not regret it!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed my layout and that you are inspired to create with Cocoa Vanilla goodies!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

Believe | Pretty Little Studio | Christmas collections

 Hi everyone!

Welcome back to my blog. Today I am sharing a new design team layout using a mix of some of the gorgeous Pretty Little Studio Christmas collections.

I started out by adding some blue mixed media to a white cardstock background. I then cut out a pretty bow cut file from CUT to YOU and backed it with an 8′ x 8′ Candy Red striped paper. Once it was backed, I added craft foam underneath and adhered it down to the centre of the cardstock background.

I added 2 small photos of my sweet niece down the bottom of the bow, also raised up with craft foam. The adorable baby reindeer die cut from the Home For Christmas Grandma’s House die cut pack was perfect to add to the right of the photos. I added a small poinsettia diecut also from the Grandma’s House pack on the reindeer and also tucked in a small Christmas diecut piece here.

I added one of the gorgeous flair buttons from the Winter Joy Cozy Home set to the centre of the bow cut file and also adhered my title, ‘Believe’ from the Winter Joy Jingle Bells words pack right above the bow. A few more embellishments were also added including the gold Merry and Bright clear stickers from the Christmas Joy collection, some Be Merry cut aparts and some small white word stickers.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! I hope you enjoyed my layout today and that you were inspired in some way?

Happy creating!

Tags: christmas, Christmas Joy, Cut File, Home for Christmas, Layout, Merry & Bright, Papercrafting, papercrafts, Pretty Little Studio, Pretty Little Studio DT, Scrapbook, Scrapbooking, silhouette cameo, Tarrah McLean, Winter Joy

Everyday Happiness | CUT to YOU

 Hi everyone!

Today I am back with you today to share a new design team layout created for CUT to YOU featuring the gorgeous new Heart of Flowers cut file! As soon as I saw this beautiful design, I knew I wanted to use it right away!

Heart of Flowers cut file

I cut the design out from white cardstock and then backed all the pieces with various papers in the Pinkfresh Studio ‘Just a Little Lovely’ 6′ x 6′ paper pad. I will admit this did take some time but I think its worth it in the end!

Once the pieces were all backed, I added craft foam underneath and adhered it down on my chosen background paper using a liquid adhesive. It took a little bit of jiggling and shifting to get the heart shape to look right, that is the beauty of using a liquid adhesive on cut files, you have a little bit of time for repositioning if needed before the glue dries.

I chose a photo of my eldest niece for this page, I adhered the photo over to the right slightly and popped it up with craft foam too. I added a die-cut and a layered sticker to the left of the photo and also added some gold glitter enamel dots to the centres of each flower. On the right of my photo, I added a Charm’s Creations handmade heart in a cream colour with a sticker placed on top. I also added a banner die-cut above the photo.

Thank you so much for stopping by the CUT to YOU blog today. I hope you enjoyed my layout and that you were inspired in some way? Make sure to check out the CUT to YOU store for this gorgeous new cut file as well as hundreds of other cut files designed to suit any project!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

Let Me Take A Selfie | Daydream collection | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

 Hi everyone!

Today I am sharing with you a new design team layout created for Cocoa Vanilla Studio for a '1 paper, 3 ways' feature focusing on the beautiful 'Sweet Serenity' paper from the stunning new Daydream collection as the background.

I chose a pretty cut file design from CUT to YOU, cut it out from white cardstock and then backed all the spaces behind the cut file using a mix of the gorgeous patterned papers from the 6' x 8' paper stack. For the circle space in the camera design, I added my photo which is a selfie taken in my car some time ago! The large circle die-cut piece in the ephemera pack fitted perfectly around the photo here. Once the spaces were all backed, I added craft foam underneath the cut file and adhered it to the 'Sweet Serenity' paper. As the page is all about cameras and selfies, I decided to trim 2 small strips from the 'Stepping Stones' paper and adhered them vertically to both outer edges of the 'Sweet Serenity' paper to replicate a filmstrip look.

You can see the shadows in the detail photos that are created by adhering the cut file up on foam tape onto the page, I love how this looks. On the left of the cut file, you can see I created a small cluster of embellishments with a few die-cuts and a flair button. This helps to balance the large camera feature in the top right corner a little. I also added more florals and a few other die-cuts around the page to decorate.

Design tip: If you look closely at the design of my layout, you will see that I have incorporated the all important visual triangle on my layout. I knew that I wanted to back the small circle on the camera with the darker blue paper and I also included the same paper in the 'Me' of the cut file title. As that was just 2 places, I needed to add a third piece of the darker blue somewhere, the dark blue moth sticker from the Accessory sticker sheet was the perfect addition placed just above the 'e' in 'Selfie'. Having a visual triangle on your layout draws the readers/viewers eyes around the page.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today, I hope you enjoyed my layout today and that you were inspired in some way. The Daydream collection should be in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio online store really soon, so keep an eye for it!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

Good Times | Daydream collection | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

 Hi everyone!

It’s Tarrah back with you today to share a new layout featuring the amazing Cocoa Vanilla Studio Daydream collection! I just love all the florals in this collection so I decided to cut out a large floral and leaf cut file design from my favourite cut file shop, CUT to YOU.

Once I had the cut file design cut out, I took the awesome Daydream 6′ x 8′ paper stack and backed all the florals and leaves in the design with the different papers. The cut file design has 2 rectangles in the centre, I backed both these spaces with patterned papers also and I knew that I wanted to place the sweet photo of my nieces in the top rectangle, I then added my title to the bottom rectangle. My title is the Good Times piece cut from the cut apart sheet.

Once I had the cut file backed, I added craft foam underneath it and then adhered it to the B side of the Garden Variety patterned paper. You can see in the close up photos the shadow this creates on the page. As the cut file is mostly the focal point of my layout, I kept the embellishing fairly simple.

I added some of the gorgeous floral diecuts, tucked into the side of the cut file as well as layered on top near my photo. I tucked in a tab diecut on the left of my photo and added phrase stickers from the Accessory sticker sheet.

The heart flair button is super cute, I added this just above my title, I love the moths and butterflies from the All Aflutter patterned paper, I fussy cut some of those out but only ended up using 1 to fill the space in the bottom right corner of the cut file.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope you enjoyed my layout and that you were inspired in some way.

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

BOO BOO BOO | CUT To YOU

 Hi friends!

Today I am back to share a spooky layout created for CUT to YOU featuring the awesome Halloween 1 cut file. I don’t know what it is about Halloween but I just love documenting it!

Halloween 1 cut file

The cut file was cut using black cardstock and although I cut out the entire design, I decided to leave off the half spider web part, I have put it aside to use on another project. I felt like it would have been squashed on the page and may have looked out of place, I am happy I left it off.

I just recently purchased the Hey Pumpkin collection from Crate Paper so I just had to use it for this layout of my lil pumpkin, Amelia, my gorgeous niece! How super cute is that photo?! The Boo title connected to the spider web was perfect too as Amelia looks like she is jumping out of the pumpkin and saying Boo! So I backed the ‘BOO’ title section with one of the papers in the collection and then added craft foam underneath, I love the dimension this brings to the page, I even added tiny strips of craft foam under the spider web to help it sit up too!

Above the spider web was the ideal spot to place my photo, I layered a tag underneath the photo and added some embellishments here. On the spider web, I added the white chipboard spider web and some wood veneer stars. On the title section, I layered more chipboard pieces, cut outs and puffy stickers. The pieces I chose help tell the story, I love the piece that says, ‘You’re the Pumpkin to my Spice’!

The Halloween 1 cut file would look great cut out in white, orange and purple too! I would love to see how others use it. Make sure to share any of your projects in the CUT to YOU Community Facebook group!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed my layout. Happy creating!

Our Home | Daydream collection | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

 Hi everyone!

Today I am sharing another new design team layout created for Cocoa Vanilla Studio featuring the amazing new Daydream collection!

This week some of the design team are focusing on using the super cute puffy hearts and gorgeous sequins included in the Daydream collection!

I started out by choosing a super cute house cut file from CUT to YOU, I cut it from white cardstock and then backed all the different parts of the house with the gorgeous papers from the 6' x 8' paper pad. The paper pad is perfect for backing cut files and for making cards with, it means you do not have to cut into a full sheet of 12' x 12' paper just to use a small section. Once the sections were all backed, I adhered the entire cut file to plain white cardstock using craft foam to give it some dimension and I then trimmed the white cardstock down and matted the entire page with the 'B' side of the Garden Variety paper. I then machine stitched around the white edge of the white cardstock for some extra texture and detail.

As I went for a home themed page design, I documented a photo of my gorgeous nieces at their home cuddling up with a doona together. I placed the photo to the right side of the house cut file so that you could still see the door of the house! I knew I wanted to add the 'Happy Days With You' banner sticker to the front door as you can see in the detail photo below. To the right of the photo, I tucked in one of the journal tabs, some cute flower die-cuts and a small tab that says 'Sweet'. I also layered one of the moth die-cuts to the bottom right corner of the photo. Underneath the photo, I created a another small cluster including a small house die-cut with layered stickers over the top. Here I also stamped the date stamp of when the photo was taken.

The Daydream collection has the most gorgeous rainbows included in it so I added one of the rainbow stickers above the photo, it was the perfect size. I wanted to add the small yellow sequins to the windows of the cut file design to replicate a reflecting look like you would get from the glass of actual windows, I think these look cute placed here.

I also wanted to give the roof of the house cut file some texture like rooves have so the sequins were the perfect element to add here. They fit perfectly and give some texture to enhance the roof in the design. I also placed the mint green puffy heart to the heart in the cut file design - again the prefect embellishment to add here! The title is made up of the cardstock die-cut words, I added foam dots under the title to help pop it up off the page. I love the dimension it created. I added a few more phrase accessory stickers below the title here. The chimney at the top of the house was looking a little bare so I decided to add some of the small floral die-cuts tucked into it. I think these look cute too! Lastly I added another moth up near the chimney and a heart sticker too.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today, I hope you enjoyed seeing my layout today and that you are inspired in some way. If you don't have the Daydream collection yet, be sure to keep an eye on the Cocoa Vanilla online store as the Daydream collection should be coming really soon! Trust me, YOU NEED IT!! It is amazing!!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x

Sweet Life | Daydream collection | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

                     Hi creative friends!

Today I am back with you to share a new design team scrapbook layout created for Cocoa Vanilla Studio featuring the amazing new Daydream collection! This collection is absolutely stunning, if you haven't got your hands on it yet, trust me, you NEED it!

The photo I am documenting today is of my beautiful nieces on a recent little outdoor adventure to see some waterfalls.

The Daydream collection was perfect to document this cute outing as I was able to include the butterflies, moths, florals and rainbows to help tell the story of the outdoors in the photo. I placed foam adhesive underneath my matted photo and then placed this slightly to the right of the page to allow enough room for my title that I placed to the left of the photo. I also used foam adhesive to lift the title up off the page.

A little tip for when you are adhering butterflies and want some dimension - place adhesive in the very centre of the butterfly body only, let the glue dry and then lift up the wings. You can see in the photo above the shadows that are created by doing this!

Above the photo and title, I placed some more phrases and created a sequin cluster. I also placed a banner sticker right on the photo. I also tucked in some floral pieces either side of the photo and I added a word sticker to the fabric puffy heart!

I cut the pink heart strip from the 'Happy Place' paper and adhered it to the top of the layout. I absolutely love the rainbow stripe 'Stepping Stones' paper, I used this piece as a starting point to create my layout, I cut it and turned it so the stripes ran vertically. By doing this, it directs the eye towards the top of the page and allows you to take in all the elements and photo.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope you liked my layout today and that I have inspired you in some way! See you next time!

Happy creating!

Tarrah x 

Bloom & Grow | CUT to YOU

Hi creative friends!

Today I am back with you today to share a new design team layout created for CUT to YOU! For my layout this week, I have used the stunning new Wedding Frame cut file.

Wedding Frame cut file

As soon as I saw this cut file, I just knew I was going to create with it. Isn’t it gorgeous?! It can easily be used together with any scrapbook collection. I cut it from white textured cardstock and I will admit it took some time to back all those intricate leaves and flowers but isn’t the result so pretty? I love the pops of pinks and blues from the colours in the gorgeous Midnight collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio.

Once I had all the flowers and leaves backed, I decided to add vellum to the square section in the centre. I then turned the whole thing over and added craft foam, I wanted to create some shadows and dimension once the cut file was placed onto my chosen background paper. You can see some of the shadows created in the detail photos.

I adhered the photo of my niece toward the right so that the bottom right corner could be tucked into the floral part of the cut file design. There was an item in the photo that I wanted to disguise so by tucking the photo in and adding some more florals in die cut and sticker form, I think it worked a treat!

I decided to split my title up to have the first word at the top and the rest at the bottom. This is a good way to draw your eye around the entire page. I kept the embellishing fairly minimal as I wanted the photo and the cut file to shine. In the centres of a few of the flowers, I did add some butterfly stickers, I love how it looks like they just happened to land there. A few heart die cuts, heart stickers and some phrase stickers finished off the page.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! Make sure you check out the amazing cut files in the CUT to YOU store. There is something for everyone! I hope you enjoyed seeing my layout today and that you were inspired in some way.

Happy creating!