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May 31, 2012

use up those kits, make a mini…


hello all and happy thursday to you all!

today i’ve got a mini book i’ve been working on to share with you. it’s full of lots of goodies from all of my past cocoa daisy kits in it. how do you store your kits when you’re done with them? do you deconstruct them into your stash or do you keep them together with all the add ons and bits and pieces that were left over? after making my projects, i bag everything up into 1 clear bag and mark each month on the pack. that way when i have projects like this one, i can pull from all of my cocoa daisy kits and mix and match supplies that go together.


this is an “a” list book. i like to make a book like this every few years to list all the things i am loving right now. it’s fun to look back at the older ones from the past years.

this book is an old book i had from the thrift store. i painted the cover with several coats of chalkboard paint and then covered the confetti with mod podge when i had them all glued on where i wanted them to stay. the “pages” are made from 3 or 4 pages of the book paper machine stitched together and then i tore out several pages (6 or 7) between the “pages”. does that make sense? :)


this one went a little CRAZY. LOL! too much stuff on there. oh well. move forward, alissa. :)

that’s all i have now, but i’ve got tons of ideas of things to add to my list. i will share more here with you all as i get more completed.

have a great thursday and enjoy your last day of may!

xo,
alissa






May 30, 2012

Tips and Tricks – Little Black Pen


Hello !!!

I’ve had to have a last minute change of plan for this blog post. I’m having major pc probs right now and hubby is building me a new one. I had hoped it would be ready by now, but I’m still waiting and until it’s done I’m unable to upload and edit any photos. I miss this so much : (  So I have come up with a plan b instead. I will share my new project another time.

So today it’s all about the little black pen.

What would I do without my beloved black journal pens???? They’ve become a main part of my ‘must have’ kit when scrapbooking. I use them for outlining, doodling, for titles and obviously journaling.

Take this LO here for example that I made with last months Graffiti Bridge.

I started by roughly drawing around a dinner plate a few times to create this circle and journaled around it.

I’ve then gone on after the LO was made and added further detail with my black pen. Doodling around this kraft tag for example and adding a heart. I’ve also outlined my letter stickers to help them stand out more.

I cut a square from the Amy Tangerine paper and roughly wrote inside the box. ‘LOVE SPENDING TIME’.

I just find all these little things really draw in the eye to a LO, finish it off and add some extra interest.

Here’s another LO’s where I’ve used this technique.

On this LO here I’ve outlined my chipboard alphas and also around the edges of my leaf stamp. I’ve then taken a white pen and done the same against the black mist and crafters workshop stencil. Had I not have done this the details would have just belnded in. It makes everything become much sharper and crisper.

Why don’t you give it a go?? It’s not as scary as you may think. It’s really does make a difference.

Happy doodling : )

xxx

 






May 29, 2012

Inspiration Found…


 

I think one of my favorite things about scrapbooking and creating in general is that inspiration can be found literally anywhere for a project.  Inspiration often serves as a jumping off point for me when tackling a creative project and with creating scrapbook layouts it’s no different.  During our recent spring crop here at Cocoa Daisy (which was a BLAST!) I participated in a challenge created by Lisa where she provided us with some color inspiration and the layout above is what I created for it.  What was the challenge specifically you ask?  Take a look…

 

 

It’s so fun for me and personally challenging to gather and gain inspiration in avenues other than scrapbooking and then create something scrapbook related based around it.

 

What has inspired you to create lately?






June reveal: Hello Sunshine


If summer could pick a kit, it would pick Hello Sunshine! We’ve combined playful (not to mention colorful) patterned papers from Simple Stories, American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, Basic Grey, and My Mind’s Eye, added a wood grained alphabet, and finished it off with so many embellishments, they deserve their own paragraph.

We’ve got two different sheets of stickers from Jenni Bowlin and Pink Paislee, washi tape from Queen & Co., burlap ribbon from May Arts, some wooden flags care of Jillibean Soup, and TWO items exclusive to Cocoa Daisy, a diamond stamp set and some adorable flappers from Ormulu. What are flappers you ask? They are only the perfect little accent, created expressly for Cocoa Daisy and Hello Sunshine, that folds over the edge of a layout or mini book. Fold it in half and use either side, or cut them in half for double the embellishment. We love the concept and so will you.

 

And the add ons:

Pink Paislee’s Prairie Hill takes center stage in Freckles. The softer yellows, oranges, and aquas play nicely against the grassy green alphabets from Amy Tangerine and American Crafts. You’ll get chipboard, manilla tags, stickers, and paper in this add on, a great compliment to the main kit.

 

Just like a wide brim hat is the perfect summer accessory, our add on by the same name has all the perfect accessories for your projects. Tabs and frames from American Crafts, Journaling Cards and a Bag of Bits from Lilybee’s Double Dutch collection, some more Simple Stories, and a few more ways to journal and add a title from Jillibean Soup (we love the perfectly sized cardstock alphabets in this kit) make Wide Brim such a sunny addition!

 

It’s the little things that count, and this month’s Embellishment Pack is full of exactly that, the little things. A brad or pin placed in just the right spot is a fine way to complete any project and with products from Echo Park and Basic Grey, we make it easy for you! And some multi-colored washi tape from the SMASH! collection sticks this kit together nicely.

 

Even more sunshine and color in the form of our patterned paper add on, Shades. Manufacturers such as Lilybee, My Mind’s Eye, Echo Park, Pink Paislee, and Simple Stories combine happy primary colors and lots of very usable patterns. Plenty of sunshine to choose from here.

We kept a Cocoa Daisy Exclusive stamp in the main kit, but decided to let you pick and choose for the rest of them. The three other stamps (for
June, we’ve got a graphic ampersand, some delightfully funky houses, and three interlocking circles) are included in the stamp subscription and also be available for individual sale.

You can see the creative and inspiring ways the Design Team used this month’s kit and add ons in our gallery.

 

June kit and add ons go up for sale on June 1st! Have a wonderful week!






Tips & tricks: Repeat that shape.


Over the years I have found a sure way to ensure a well balanced, aesthetically pleasing & unified page design…. ‘Repeating a shape’ within the page.

For this page I focused on Hexagons.

My starting point was this exclusive hexagon stamp (still available in the online store) from the Cocoa Daisy April kit.

And this piece of gorgeous MME paper.

By stamping images directly onto the paper & also onto patterned paper I was able to use the same stamp with very varied results.

To take the repeated theme even further, I stamped hexagon shapes onto the back on my photographs and used the print as a template to shape my photographs into hexagons too.

Repetitions work because they create an interesting pattern that draws attention.
But remember repetition doesn’t have to be limited to shapes.

These repetitions are worth trying too.

  • repeat a color obviously or less obviously like with in a patterned paper of photograph.
  • repeat a shape in the same size or different sizes like I did.
  • repeat an accent in the same color or different colors.
  • repeat an image or shape in a variety of colors.
  • there are tons of options.

I hope you have found this tip useful? I look forward to seeing your creations in the Cocoa Daisy gallery!
Have a super crafty day!






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