CUT to YOU | Make a Wish

Hello Hello, It's me again. I've gone on a little walk down memory lane for my second layout share for CUT to YOU this month. I've used a photo from a couple years back, an older cut file from the vault and a collection that was released many many moons ago.

I've used the Pinwheel file to compliment a couple of photos I took of Leila a few years back. This can be found in the CELEBRATIONS & FUN section of the shop. I also chose the sweet Life is Beautiful collection for its whimsical feel.

I cut the design out on white cardstock in 3 different pieces. To do this I traced the original design in silhouette studio then released the compound path so that the 2 individual pinwheels were no longer grouped to each other. In order to still keep each pinwheel a whole piece I needed to regroup the pieces back together so that I could still move them as a whole, but also keep tham as 2 separate pieces. Next I copy & pasted the larger of the 2 pinwheels and resized it slightly larger than its original size, thus creating 3 separate pinwheels ready to cut out.

Once the designs were cut I chose the pattern papers and backed the 2 smaller pinwheels, leaving the 3rd plain Jane. I didn't glue the rounded edges completely to the pattern paper as I wanted the lifted edges to give a slight dimensional look rather than flat.

I used the extra pinwheel to fill the white space at either side of the layout as I felt this gave it a soft subtle texture to the once before blank areas. I simply cut the pinwheel in half and glued it down to either edge, and raised certain areas with glue dots

I added frames around the photos and adhered these over the edge of the larger backed pinwheel and created a floral cluster of different elements from the collections ephemera pack.

I balanced out all the colour in the middle of the layout by adding a cluster of similar elements to the top right of the layout

and also continued the large cluster of elements into the bottom left corner

Lastly I added some white alpha stickers to the top and right of the photos to create a title

I sewed through the letters to ensure they stay adhered to the page for years to come, but also because I like adding a little extra texture to a layout here and there.

Well thats all from me today, thanks so much for stopping by the CUT to YOU blog today. Be sure to check out whats new in store if you haven't already, theres a new release of cut files not too far away also!

Until Next time, Happy Scrapping

Michelle x

Cocoa Vanilla Studio | Life is short, Eat the Cake

A big Hello to you scrappy friends! I'm back here today with a new layout share for Cocoa Vanilla Studio featuring an older collection that holds a sweet spot in my heart - Make a Wish. I love that this collection is perfect to document birthday memories, but is versatile enough to just create something soft, sweet and feminine. This layout documents Leila's most recent birthday, the last in single digits.

I'd been holding onto this fun cut file from CUT to YOU for a little while now, ready and waiting for the perfect birthday photos. I wanted to keep the layout 'fuss free' without the massive clusters I've created in the past. I started with a full sheet of that wonderful woodgrain (reverse side of FRESH CUT) for the background of the layout. I added a couple of rough torn strips of HIP HOORAY to the bottom third of the layout to use as a base for the cut file and photos.

Next I cut the cut file out on white cardstock and backed it using my ultimate favourite paper of all time DAYDREAM and adhered that to the left side of the layout using foam tape for a little extra dimension,

To the right of the cut file I adhered the photos using a little of the PARTY DOTS paper to layer underneath. I also added an accessory sticker, 'beautiful' word strip from the PARTY MIX cut apart paper and the 'make a wish' came from the barcode strip on one of the papers.

Above the photos I added a cake that was cut from the PARTY MIX paper, an accessory word sticker and crystal heart and sequins from the bits & bobs pack, plus some stars from the ephemera pack.

Lastly this bottom mini cluster created with leaves, numbers strip and star from the ephemera pack, sequins from the bits & bobs plus the hat and fabulous ticket from the PARTY MIX paper. I also added a sprinkling of gold colour shine and called it done. I had so much fun creating this layout while my sweet nephew watched along asking questions about the process. I think both him and Leila might be ready for a little crafting class of their own.

Well thats all from me today, thanks so much for stopping by.

Until next time, happy scrapping
Michelle x

CUT to YOU | Grade 2

Hello Everyone, I'm back with my first layout share of the year for CUT to YOU. Cannot believe were already almost 3 weeks into this new year. Time flies way too quick thats for sure! Todays layout features one of our newest cut files for the month - Grade School - and I've combined that with the awesome You Rock collection from Cocoa Vanilla Studio. Both the cut file and collection are perfect for documenting some first and last day of school photos of Leila in 2019.

I only cut 2/3rds of the actual cut file out on white cardstock. I did this in a couple of steps that work best for me that I will run through below, others may have a different way of going about this.

To begin I opened the file within silhouette studio, resized to fit the grid then traced the entire image. Thinking back now I could have made it a whole lot quicker and less steps if I had just traced over the part of the image that I wanted to cut out. Silly me HAHA

Next I slowly erased the areas that I didn't want to cut out using the eraser tool, set to 'outline' in square form and the biggest size it will go. This meant that parts of the bottom of the file weren't joined together and I needed to hand cut them off the cardstock after cutting out on the silhouette. I don't mind doing this as it was pretty straight forward.

Once the file was cut and ready to go I backed each letter of the word GRADE using different pattern papers that complimented both the background paper and photos of Leilas first and last days of school in 2019.

I backed the number 2 with some red stars to signify the grade of school for the year, then backed all the numbers with vellum. The entire cut file piece is raised off the background paper using foam tape for slight dimension.

I added extra stars to the layout and a few extra embellishments but not too many as I wanted the photos and cut file to be the hero of the layout.

I really like how this layout came together, and cant wait to continue the tradition of first and last day photos in the years to come.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, be sure to check out whats NEW in store and even sign up for our newsletter - theres a FREEBIE included every issue.

Until next time, happy scrapping
Michelle x

Cocoa Vanilla Studio | The BEST Summer Memories

Hey Scrappy Friends! I'm back again first layout of 2020 for Cocoa Vanilla Studio. I cant believe were already pretty much 2 weeks in to this new year and what better way to celebrate than to share a new layout for our 'Holiday' theme this month. For this layout I dipped into my Hello Sunshine collection, perfect for documenting summer memories like this one. Beach days are one of our favourite things to do during summer around the great region we live in, even more so towards the end of the season when its a little cooler and you can explore the coastline without frying/melting.

On this day we were out near a popular lighthouse along the coast where we live, but the beach was pretty quiet. Theres tonnes of rock pools in this area and it was so much fun exploring and seeing all the different creatures living amongst them. This was also during a time in Leilas life where Mario and Luigi had to come everywhere that she did. She had so much fun setting them up in little spots while she went off to explore.

There are a rare few Hello Sunshine product bundles available in the store, but once they are sold out they are gone for good. I've used the 'Solar Flare' paper as my pattern background, then layered the anchor paper and tiny triangles under the photos.

To the right of the photos I've added a couple of accessory stickers, ephemera, puffy sticker and woodie button to create a small cluster. (You can find the Puffy Stickers on clearance in the store for under half price here.)

And over to the left of the photos I've grouped together lots of different cut apart pieces from the main cut apart paper to create a title of sorts, but also to describe my thoughts of that day. 'Fun in the sun' , 'The Best Summer Memories by the seaside' , 'So happy together'. I also added a few more ephemera pieces, puffy stickers and a woodie button to complete the group of bits.

All up this layout came together pretty quickly, some would call it a hot mess of bits and bobs, but one that I'm loving the look of. Definitely a different style of layout to my usual feminine floral designs.

Well thats all from me today, Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out the DIGITAL section of the shop where you can find this range, and many other of our past collections ready and waiting for you to print, cut and create with. Don't forget to share with us in the Cocoa Vanilla Studio group on Facebook as we all LOVE to see what you create.

Until Next time, Happy Scrapping!
Michelle x