Happy World Card Making Day 2020

Happy World Card Making Day everyone!


I am here today sharing a card I made for this occasion using the new Daydream collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. I created a rosette using one of my fave thinlets Sizzix dies, a rosette by Tim Holtz, which became a focal point of this card. 

Here is the card I created:


And a close up:


I created a process video for this card - you can see it on the CVS Youtube channel here






Bloom and Grow with Cocoa Vanilla Studio


Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here today with you sharing another layout using one of my fave past collections ‘Unforgettable’. For this layout today I am documenting some photos taken of my girl when she turned 7.

Here is the layout that I created:

Almost a year ago now was my girls 7th birthday. We have a wall in our house that I call the photo wall, which we always take some birthday photos in front of. The last few years the photos have been with a large number balloon. It is just crazy how quick time goes when you have kids and how they grow up in what feels like an instant. The two photos which I have used are printed in black and white and approx. 3×4″ in size.

 

The main design of this page is built around the circular designed wreath in the patterned paper. I fussy cut around the wreath first. Once I had done that and was going to adhere it to my page I realised that I wanted something to ground that left side. So I used the Unscripted paper (both sides) to create a 3″ or so wide edge to lean the wreath into. The wreath patterned paper had a cluster of flowers to one side. So I decided to continue to build on that design and added more floral elements, including some leaves and butterflies from the ephemera pack or fussy cut from the Lacewing paper.

I thought the title in the foam stickers ‘Bloom and Grow’ was the perfect sentiment for this birthday theme. I love the bold statement these black stickers make against the white card stock background.

To help one photo stand out I used the Pink side in the Unscripted paper as a mat, this really helps distinguish it as the feature photo and draw your attention to it. I added some extra embellishments to the left of the photo also, including larger floral ephemera – a circular sticker saying ‘a moment in time’ from the Accessory sheet and one of the gorgeous tassels in the collection. I finished embellishing that area with a few enamel dots and the ‘you are amazing’ tiny word stickers.

 

I must say, I do love the cut apart papers that come in the Cocoa Vanilla collections. I always find the smaller designed elements perfect for cutting out and using to layer on my pages. I could not go past the larger butterflies in the Pretty Bits paper , which you can see was placed to the top right of my page in the photo below.

 

To help the layered elements in my layout stand out I always try and use a variety of adhesives, including liquid adhesive, foam tapes in varying depths, etc. This helps chosen elements to stand out off the page more that others.

I hope that you have been inspired by my layout today. It has been a crazy time here in Regional Victoria with the stage three lockdown we are currently in. This means school is now remote for the most part, and as a teacher and a Mumma of school aged children our days have been long, somewhat emotional (to say the least) and tiring. The Bowman household are all a little precious right now, but so thankful for our overall health and wellbeing compared to what many people in our state are going through right now.

 

 



Sending hugs and prayers to anyone who may be going through a tough time right now,






Raquel xxx

Altenew Enjoy the Ride Scrapbook Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway




Hey everyone, I am super excited to be here as part of the new Enjoy the Ride scrapbook collection release blog hop for Altenew today. You may be visiting here today from the amazing Lilith Eeckel's blog but if you are not be sure to start at the start of the blog on the Altenew blog here.


Here is a glimpse in the bright and vibrant collection by Altenew 'Enjoy the Ride'.


Here is the layout I created as part of this hop:


Here is a process video for how this layout came together:



The subject of this layout is our gorgeous puppy Lola. Lola is a cavoodle and the most incredibly patient dog in the world. It is hard to believe that she is 5 as to us she is still our baby girl and such a special part of our little family. The photo itself was taken one afternoon when she was relaxing on our couch. 


I chose to keep the colour palette quite pastel in terms of the papers that I chose to use on this layout. I adored the pink gingham style print in the 'Brisk' paper. I also adored the blue tone in the 'Blustery' paper. I chose to frame the whole layout in the 'Brisk paper, as well as create a mini envelope as a design feature for the page that will hold the journaling as well. To add detail to that border I added some machine stitching. The photo of Lola was matted on the 'Blustery' paper as well as the inside of the mini envelope lining. 


I loved the pops of green in the Bouquet ephemera and the blooming ephemera, so I decided to fussy but more leaves from the 'Clement' paper too. These allowed me to add dimension to my embellishment clusters and layer them with foam adhesive. 


I love to type my journaling. For this particular page I used typewritten journaling in block form and added it to the inside of the mini envelope. It had a small blank area at the bottom I added a heart enamel dot from Altenew from my stash. 


I did not have a large statement title to use on this page of Lola so I decided to layer the small label word 'Adorable' on top of the envelope ephemera. This ephemera envelope actually inspired this whole page design and prompted me to create the mini envelope that features on this page. It is amazing how one piece of ephemera can influence a page design isn't it. You may find this being the case with titles, metal dies, etc. 


I placed embellishment clusters to the left of the photo and to the right of the envelope. Again I used a combination of ephemera and fussy cut leaves. 


Giveaway Prizes:

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog or Altenew Mixed Media Blog by 9/1/2020 for a chance to win.

They will also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 09/03/2020.


Here is the hop list in order:


Thanks so much for joining me as part of the Altenew 'Enjoy your Ride' new release, I hope you have enjoyed my share with you today. Your next stop is Tania Ahmed, happy hopping!




Home Memories - Cocoa Vanilla Studio ‘unforgettable’ collection

Hey everyone, its Raquel here with you today sharing a layout that I created using the free printable INSD kit and free live online class that Zoe did last Friday night. Zoe’s class was created in a 12×12 size and inspired by these home days in isolation. I was so motivated to create a page using the page design and kit as a base for an 8.5×11″ size layout.

Here is the layout that I created:
I created a process video to show how this layout came together, you can see it here:



The layout features two photos of my kiddies taken recently during our home learning. We are going onto our 7th week of isolation here in our household and are currently home learning. Our school has an amazingly supportive program for these two kiddies, but being 5 and 7 they of course need constant support to complete set tasks. Getting used to this new normal and Mummy as the teacher has been new for us all. While supporting my kiddies to learn, I am also a Foundation school teacher so as well as supporting my own kiddies I have a class of 19 to work with as well. To say its been a juggle is speaking lightly. I am very much looking forward to life resuming to normal and everyone being safe and healthy as I am sure we all are.

Here are some close ups of the layout

Thanks for stopping by my blog today, stay safe
Raquel xxx

Altenew 6th Anniversary Blog Hop Day 4 + Giveaway




Hi everyone,

I'm super excited to be participating in day 4 of Altenew's 6th Anniversary Blog Hop, thanks for inviting me Altenew! I think I calculated that this is my 4th Anniversary hop that I have taken part in, I feel very blessed to be a friend of Altenew.

Now, after your stop at Kymona Tracey , its now my turn to give you some Altenew inspiration. 

Here is the layout that I created, 


Here is a process video for how this layout came together:


This layout features mainly the Live your Dreams collection and features a couple of photos of my kiddies pre-self isolation and stay at home enforcements here in Australia. 


I adhered the clear stickers from the kit onto white card stock and fussy cut around them to create a moveable ephemera that I could embellish the page with. 


I used a title from the wood veneer set that says love and matched that with the fine alpha die set and die cut out the letters for YOU.


To give some detail and contrast to the background I used the dot stamps in the Pinstripe stamp set and created a vertical stamped design. 


I finished the page with some machine stitching, enamel dots and typewritten journaling. 




I hope you have been inspired by my layout today, thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Be sure to check out my process video above to see exactly how this layout came together. 

See below for all the hop details and the awesome prizes that can be won!


Special Offer

Enjoy FREE U.S. shipping with code HAPPY6TH or $5 OFF international shipping with code ANNIV20 at checkout. Offer valid from 4/2/2020 at 12:01 am EDT through 4/5/2020 at 11:59 pm EDT. Not valid on prior purchases. Cannot be combined with other promo codes. Shop here: https://altenew.com/



Prizes



Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 10 lucky winners. There are also 14 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:


Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 10 lucky winners. There are also 14 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:

Altenew: 6 $50 Altenew gift certificates
Altenew Academy: 10 class spots
Jennifer McGuire Ink: 1 $100 Altenew gift certificate & 5 Share Handmade Kindness goodie bags($20 each)
My Sweet Petunia: 1 prize bundle(Original MISTI, a set of Creative Corners, a Cut-Align and a bar magnet)
CiLi in Papers: $100 gift certificate
Craft Stash: £75 gift certificate
Amy Tangerine: Your Brightest Year Yet online workshop(valued at $89)
Online Card Classes: 3 class spots
Simon Says Stamp: $50 gift certificate
Scrapbook.com: $50 gift certificate
Michelle's Cards & Stamp: $50 gift certificate
Ellen Hutson LLC: $30 gift certificate
Butterfly Reflections Ink: $25 gift certificate
Scrapbook & Cards Today: 1 copy of Scrapbook & Cards Today Spring 2020 issue
Bumbleberry Papercrafts: £25 gift certificate
Seven Hills Crafts: £25 gift certificate


Be sure to leave comments by 12/4/2020 for a chance to win one of 37 prizes! To make the hop more exciting, start your comment with "Hi from (city or country where you're from)!". 37 winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed below and will be announced on the Altenew Card Blog on 18/4/2020.

Here is todays hop order: 
I'm your last stop on this hop today, thanks so much for stopping by!!!

Happy anniversary to Altenew!

Raquel x