A Mini Sizzix Tutorial - Photo Magnet feat. exclusive Spotlight Dies

Hey everyone, today I am sharing with you a quick photo tutorial on how to make a cute and fun magnet featuring a favourite photo and the new and exclusive Sizzix Lifestyle dies coming to Spotlight Stores here in Aus really soon. 

I have used a few die sets in this one, here it is:


Cut the shapes using four different patterned papers. I used the Bohemian Dream collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. I also chose to use my new fave the magnetic plate to help hold the thinlits dies in place when cutting. 

Here is what I cut out:

Once cut out I added one of my fave 2x2" photos behind the frame and layered the pieces ontop of each other. I also added a couple of ephemera pieces from the coordinating CVS pack. 

To make the frame magnetic I simply added a small trip of magnetic tape that I had in my adhesives stash. 

And voila - all done! 



I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy tutorial today! Don't forget to keep an eye out in your local Spotlight Stores for the new dies and the awesome Foldaway machine. 

Raquel x


Cards using Wild Child by Pink Paislee

Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here with you today sharing two cards featuring the new and ah-mazing Wild Child collection! I don’t know about you but I will admit I squealed with delight when I saw this new collection. Not only are the icons super cute, but it has both feminine and masculine sets of embellishments, stickers, and papers; it’s like getting two collections in one. Having a little boy, masculine collections that suit young boys is hard to come by. So yep, this collection ticks all the boxes for me and I was so excited to get playing and creating.

Here are the cards I created to share with you today. I decided to create both a feminine and a masculine card to show you using the same overall design idea.
Raquel is creating a bright and fun birthday card set today featuring the new Wild Child Collection. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #wildchild #cards #cardmaking

Here is the process for how the cards came together:
For the first card I have used the more feminine embellishments and papers in the collection. I love the fun and playful nature of Wild Child and decided to embrace that when creating these cards. I love creating a set of cards that look like they are made as a set. When creating the cards this means that what I do to one card I try and replicate on the other card.

For both cards I began by cutting the striped Paper 04 for this card, and cutting it to fit the card base. I then added a layer of Paper 02. The main element of the card is the ‘rainbow chaser’ speech bubble which was actually cut from Paper 02 as well. That paper has all these bold, amazing statements that would be perfect to fussy cut and use as titles on your projects.
Raquel is creating a bright and fun birthday card set today featuring the new Wild Child Collection. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #wildchild #cards #cardmaking
I used a lot of foam adhesive when layering together the pieces I’d assembled from this card. I actually made a tag from Paper 01 too. Of course the unicorn was the perfect finishing touch, I wanted the speech bubble to look like it was the unicorn saying it. I also added a typewritten ‘Happy Birthday’ to give the card some meaning for how it may be given.
Raquel is creating a bright and fun birthday card set today featuring the new Wild Child Collection. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #wildchild #cards #cardmaking
For the second card I have used the more masculine/boy themed papers and embellishments. Again I have embraced the fun playful theme of the collection and tried to create a bright and fun card to match.

I used the stripe Paper 12 this time for the base as it was blue in colour. The lime green in Paper 10 was the perfect accompanying piece. I also cut the card title ‘superdude from the Paper 10 as well.
Raquel is creating a bright and fun birthday card set today featuring the new Wild Child Collection. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #wildchild #cards #cardmaking

Again I added a handmade tag this time from Paper 07 and embellishments including ephemera and stickers around that speech bubble. How cute is the lil dog?!? These cards were honestly so much fun putting together!
Raquel is creating a bright and fun birthday card set today featuring the new Wild Child Collection. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #wildchild #cards #cardmaking
Of course a card isn’t complete without an envelope! This was achievable and super quick to make thanks to my excess card stock stash and my We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board. I had envelopes in minutes that coordinated beautifully and fit the cards perfectly.
Raquel is creating a bright and fun birthday card set today featuring the new Wild Child Collection. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #wildchild #cards #cardmaking
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. I hope I have been able to show you how easy it is to create cards using the new Wild Child collection.
Raquel is creating a bright and fun birthday card set today featuring the new Wild Child Collection. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #wildchild #cards #cardmaking
Just in case you missed the reveal of the collection you can see it here or I have created an unboxing on my YouTube channel which you can see below. Amazing isn’t it?!?

Sweet Memories with Bohemian Dream by Cocoa Vanilla

Hey everyone, I'm here today sharing with you a new layout featuring the gorgeous ‘Bohemian Dream’ collection. This was my first layout with the new collection and wow! Bohemian Dream is so gorgeous isn’t it?!?

Here is the layout I created:
The subject of this layout is my little girl. This pic was taken right before she went to sleep on the night before her 5th birthday. 5! Yep my baby is 5. Seriously, how does it go so quick? Anyways, this was her last night being 4 so I wanted to document it. As soon as I printed it I knew I wanted to use it with this collection as I was was thinking along the lines of ‘sweet dreams my four year old’ or something of that nature. Since the collection has a lot of Dream catchers I made the link there. I printed the photo in black and white as the colours in her doona cover would have been too bold. The photo is printed at around a 3×4″ size.

It may be a little cliche’ but I had to make the main element of my page a dream catcher. It was screaming to be done with this collection and this photo and the story of my page was just perfect for it. I found a dream catcher image online and traced it with my silhouette software. I only wanted the top portion of the catcher as I knew I wanted to create the feathers using the ephemera pack and some stitching.

I love the 6×6 pads. The prints are smaller in design and just perfect for backing cut files with. I have backed a portion of the top of the dream catcher paper with the 6×6″ size of the ‘Wild n Free’ paper. The inclusion of the blue added a nice soft touch to the page as I felt the purple, navy and even the pink were a lot more bold. I also matted my photo with the paper pad on the spot design paper.

This collection has the most beautiful floral designs, dare I say my fave from all the collections, so I had to add some clusters of them on either side of the photo and dream catcher. I added a little foam adhesive to some of the elements to create that shadow and dimension.

For the bottom of the dream catcher I decided to use the three feathers that can be found in the ephemera pack. I wanted it to look like they were hanging off the dreamcatcher, like they do on a real life one, so I replicated the string with stitching and the beading you can find on them with enamel dots.

As always I felt I needed to add my journaling to tell the story of this page. Although the design was somewhat central I felt the design needed a little balance due to the heaviness of the photo so that is why I have placed the journaling where I have.
I hope this page has inspire you today. This would be such a fun page to replicate at home. If you have any questions about it at all don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below or send me a message via social media.

Oh also, if you haven’t checked out the Bohemian Dream collection in detail you can see it in my unboxing video below

Raquel xxx

Falling Leaves using Pink Paislee's 'Turn the Page'

Hey everyone, I'm here with you today sharing a new layout that was created for Fall week on the Pink Paislee blog. I always love when we are given seasonal themes at Pink Paislee because being in the southern hemisphere we are running on opposite seasons and have just entered Spring. Having the alternate season gives me a chance to reflect on the season gone by and relive the memories that I have captured.

Here is the layout I created using the Turn the Page collection:
A scattering of falling leaves reminiscent of Fall features on todays layout by Raquel. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #leaves #fall #autumn #turnthepage
Here is the process video for how this layout came together:


For this layout I documented this picture of my little girl climbing a tree at a local cafe/park. The photo in fact was taken a month before Autumn/Fall started but the tree and surrounds were already showing signs of the autumnal season. Where I live in Australia is known and quoted as having ‘four seasons in one day’ so that doesn’t surprise me one bit. One minute the sun is shining and the next it is bucketing down with rain. It was a nice ‘autumn’ like day where she enjoyed being in nature and climbing a tree, sadly, something kids don’t get to do as much these days.


A scattering of falling leaves reminiscent of Fall features on todays layout by Raquel. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #leaves #fall #autumn #turnthepage
For the basis of my design I decided to create a main focal point around my photo using a free ‘autumn blessings’ cut file from the Paper Issue store. I framed my photo using the heart piece and scattered falling leaves coming from my photo down to the bottom of the page. I wanted the leaves to look like they were falling from the main cut file heart design, just like leaves fall from the trees in Autumn.

A scattering of falling leaves reminiscent of Fall features on todays layout by Raquel. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #leaves #fall #autumn #turnthepage
To back the cut files I stuck to the colours of the red, cream, yellow and pink. To me these combinations felt warm and rich and remind me of Autumn. The leaves were very easy to back with the patterned papers as all I needed to do was glue them onto the chosen patterned paper and then cut around them once dry.

A scattering of falling leaves reminiscent of Fall features on todays layout by Raquel. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #leaves #fall #autumn #turnthepage
For the floral heart I chose to use a selection of the same papers that I used on the leaves to back those pieces also. I tried to tuck and weave my photo around the leaves and flowers in the frame, nestling it into a spot to the right. I used Paper 22 to back my photo and selected more of the pink/red tones from that stripe.

One of the banner clips was the perfect size and the sentiment is gorgeous ‘you are my sunshine when skies are grey’. It doesn’t necessarily fit the fall theme but it does work for my photo and love for my girl.
A scattering of falling leaves reminiscent of Fall features on todays layout by Raquel. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #leaves #fall #autumn #turnthepage
I decided to frame the whole layout in Paper 15, however in the end I framed the top, bottom and left side with the paper. I chose to do that because I had adhered the heart cut file to look as if it was flowing off the right side of the page, framing that side would have affected that. The colours in paper 15 tied in all the colours that I had featured within the leaves and embellishments on the page. I machine stitched around the edges to add further detail and texture.

A scattering of falling leaves reminiscent of Fall features on todays layout by Raquel. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #leaves #fall #autumn #turnthepage
I hope this layout has inspired you today, xxx

A scattering of falling leaves reminiscent of Fall features on todays layout by Raquel. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #leaves #fall #autumn #turnthepage

Let's go on an Adventure with Cocoa Vanilla's 'Hit the Road' collection

Hey everyone, I'm here today with you sharing my latest layout for Cocoa Vanilla. For my layout today I have used one of the limited edition mini collection kits that were available at the recent Paperific expo in Melbourne and online in the Cocoa Vanilla store. I was lucky enough to help out at the expo and nab myself the gorgeous exclusives. I am using the ‘Hit the Road’ collection today documenting a page for my little mans album.

Here is the page I created:
Here is the process of how this layout came together:


For this page today I created it in 8.5×11″ size. The moment I am documenting is a newborn photo of my little man. I chose to use this photo as the theme of the collection is adventure and travel in masculine tones, so I took the message of a new adventure we will have with this little man now in our lives.

For the base of the layout I used a free cut file from the Paper Issues store and just shrunk it down to fit the 8.5″ wide size. I backed the file using one of the papers in the collection. I placed a couple of layers of patterned paper and a small doily under the small 3×4″ landscape photo. I added some detail to the ledger look paper by adding a binding edge punch along the right side.

These mini collections contain 5 double sided papers, an ephemera pack and a 3 set of flair. I have stuck to mainly these things when embellishing the page. At the top right cluster on the page I have layered a frame, banners, tags and a die cut circle. The flair and circle die cut helped repeat the circle design that happened on the main base of the page. I also added the date typewritten and an enamel shape from the Free Spirit collection.

I also added another small cluster to the bottom left of the photo. This contained more die cut shapes which act as my title ‘let’s go on an adventure’. I added some ‘You Rock’ tiny word stickers, and some more enamel dots. The staples added with my tiny attacher add a nice detail and textural element to the page.

The final cluster is on the bottom left corner. On this cluster I added a small amount of journaling that I typed on my typewriter. I felt this page didn’t need too much detail in the journaling so it was kept very short. I added a rubber charm from the ‘You Rock’ collection as the blue tones were a perfect match. To ground the whole layout due to how much of the layout was sitting on the top third of the page I decided to add the printed branding strip along the bottom, helping to balance the layout.

I hope you have enjoyed my post today and been inspired by my layout. 

Stronger than you think - feat. Turn the Page by Pink Paislee

Hey everyone, I'm here with you today sharing a layout featuring the fun new embellishments included in the Turn the Page collection by Pink Paislee; ribbons, sequins, and washi! 

I decided to create a layout today that would serve as a little self help/journal entry to myself. Here is the layout that I created:
Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
You can see the process video for how this layout came together below:

This layout featured a free cut file from Bea over at My Shiny Studio which you can download here. I used Paper 22 to back the cut file. I loved how the stripe in the paper gives the impression that I have backed the cut file in multiple papers even when I haven’t.


Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
When adding the strips of ribbon and washi I cut a fun banner into them for some extra detail. I also used my stapler to create a fold which I thought was a simple but nice added touch.
Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
I love the texture the ribbon adds to the page. I also added some further detail with some machine stitching to complement it. I created a cluster to the left of the photo made up of a tag, a fussy cut flower, a puffy sticker and a few of the fun sequins in the pack. I backed the photo with a subtle colour in the collection as I felt there was a lot going on already and also added one of my fave small doilies. The typewritten date finished that part of the page off.
Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
There was a quote on Paper 01 in the collection that really spoke to me ‘you are stronger than you think’. This really spoke to me and I knew it would make a perfect title for where I am at right now. I simply trimmed it down and adhered it to the right of my photo along with more fussy cut flowers and butterflies.
Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
This layout contains some personal words that I didn’t want everyone viewing my album to be able to see. The next and fun little technique I did on this page was to create a hidden journaling spot. It is so important for me to document words and stories on pages so I was excited when I had this idea. I created a layer behind the ‘book’ ephemera so that I could add journaling behind it and it just looks like a little book to open up.
Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
I simply typed the journaling in strip form and cut and adhered it to the book piece after that. The ‘you got this’ clear sticker was the perfect finishing touch to the back.
Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
I never feel like a layout is finished until I add small finishing touches. These finishing touches always come in the form of smaller embellishments. In this case today it is the sequins. I added a scattering of star sequins around each main cluster on the page. I also used the leaves sequins where there are larger florals. So fun!
Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. I hope that you have found this post inspiring and it has given you a new way to use washi, ribbon or sequins!

Washi, sequins and ribbon....oh my! See how Raquel uses features them on her layout today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #8.5x11 #washi #sequins #ribbon #turnthepage
Raquel x

Sizzix Foldaway exclusive products - A Quick Make

Hey everyone, I'm here today sharing my latest project that I created using the new Sizzix Big Shot Foldaway machine and the exclusive dies and papers that are included with it. 


I used mainly the thinlits dies to create this 4x6" card. I love the colour palette of the paper designs. 



Here is how the card came together: 

Don't forget you can register your Foldaway machine on the Sizzix website and receive another 2 years warranty! Register your Foldaway here: https://www.sizzix.co.uk/warranties

Just a note; if you are living in Australia you may want to stalk your Spotlight stores if you are keen to get your hands on a Foldaway machine - just saying! 😜

Also Sizzix Lifestyle are giving away three Foldaway machines to enter all you need to do is follow the following link - you have until Monday the 2nd 7pm AEST to enter https://www.sizzix.co.uk/foldaway-giveaway