'Sweet Moments' - Cocoa Vanilla Studio 'Daydream' Collection

Good morning!

I can't believe how fast September is going. I've definitely noticed a change in the weather this week so I think that's officially summer over for another year!

It's Rebecca with you today, sharing my first layout of September. This month I am working with the stunning 'Daydream' collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. I surprised myself by choosing this collection - it is far from my usual choice of bright and bold colours, but it is so elegant and beautiful that I simply had to have it! 

I was instantly drawn to the A side of the 'Sweet Serenity' patterned paper. It has really soft, pastel colours and detailed sections in two of the corners, on the diagonal. I really wanted to challenge myself to use this paper as the background for my layout but I just couldn't make it work for me - I love a white background too much! So I compromised and tore a large section for the top of the page. I matted my photos onto white cardstock and then added a second layer of  'Coral Cream' bazzill cardstock from the matchmaker pack - distressing the edges as always.

Whilst arranging my photos I realised that the B side of the Sweet Serenity paper matched my son's t-shirt really well with the black specks. I wanted to try and incorporate a small amount of the B side, so cut a slit in the centre of the paper and rolled the edges back to reveal the pattern. I had to cut some of the excess off otherwise my photos would have sat too far off the page. I then added a layer of the 'Happy Place' (B side) patterned paper underneath to try and soften the divide between the Sweet Serenity paper and the white background. I still wasn't happy with the harshness of the white and so added the remaining section of the Sweet Serenity paper to the bottom of my layout, leaving just a narrow white section in the middle and I was much happier.

I created some embellishment clusters around my photos using the Die Cut Ephemera and the Accessory Stickers. I raised a lot of them up with foam pads to add dimension to the layout.

I also fussy-cut a rainbow from the 'Up in the Clouds' patterned paper.

I also created small clusters above and below my photos, finishing the top cluster with a Flair Button and some coral coloured thread.

For my title, I used the word 'Sweet' from the Die- Cut Titles and then added the word 'Moments' using thickers from my stash in a rose-gold colour. 

I completed my layout by adding a scattering of the accessory stickers and ephemera around my title to ground the page and make it look less like my title was just 'floating' at the bottom.

And that's me finished for this blog post! If you find yourself with a few spare moments after reading this, I’ve created a Process Video for this layout to show how it all came together.

I hope you've enjoyed the layout. This collection really is beautiful and I'm already looking forward to creating the next layout which I'll be sharing nearer the end of the month.

Until then, take care, 

Rebecca 

x