Happy Times | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Hey everyone!

Today I have a new layout to share using the gorgeous new Happiness collection from Cocoa Vanilla Studio! For the next few days the design team are sharing layouts using patterned paper backgrounds, and I'm kicking it off today with a fun layout featuring some cute photos of my son Isaac with my niece Phoebe. We recently got to spend a few days with my sister-in-law and nieces who we don't get to see very often because we don't live close to each other. The kids had so much fun playing together, and Phoebe was very attached to Isaac! I had lots of fun documenting these photos using the bright and vibrant Happiness collection!

I decided on using the Shine Bright patterned paper from the Midnight collection for my background. I tend to lean towards using white cardstock for my backgrounds most of the time, so I loved the challenge of using a patterned paper instead. I did try out a few of the more vibrant patterned papers from the Happiness collection, which I think would have worked great as well, but in the end I settled on this one as I felt more comfortable using a lighter and more subtle background.

I also used a cut file (from The Cut Shoppe) on this layout, and I had lots of fun creating embellishment clusters for each of the frames in the cut file using die cuts and stickers from the collection.

As my photos were both vertical, I chose to position them over the two vertical frames in the cut file. I layered a couple of die cuts behind the photos to give them some extra interest, and I also matted them using one of the patterned papers from the 6x8 paper pad.

For my title I used the 'happy times' die cut from the ephemera pack. It was the perfect phrase to use as a title for this layout, and it was a great size to use in one of the frames in the cut file, along with some die cuts and stickers layered underneath it.

I used foam tape to adhere some of the embellishments in each of the clusters to give them some nice dimension, and I also added some thin corrugated cardboard behind the entire cut file to raise it up off the page and help it to really stand out.

I used one of the cut apart sheets from the 6x8 paper pad and cut the small wreath out of it, which fit perfectly behind one of the circular frames in the cut file. I used this to record the names and date for the photos.

I finished the layout off with a few little word stickers and some die cut hearts scattered around the page.

Thanks so much for joining me here on my blog today! I hope that you've been inspired by my layout. If you'd like to watch how I created this page, you can check out my process video over on my YouTube channel...

Mandy x