No Limits

Rollercoaster

~ dddesignz ~ 3 Comments

Who’s in for a good roller coaster ride this summer? While visiting our family in Austria, we took another trip to the Prater, Vienna’s renowned amusement park. Emperor Joseph II opened the park to the public in 1766. It has been serving up smiles ever since! Our 10-year-old grandson somehow convinced his Mom to ride this wicked (lying down) roller coaster. I’m the one safely on the ground, filming for prosperity! This picture captures them as they pause before being loaded into a corkscrew lift to start their ride.

The paper selected for this layout is from Webster’s Pages and it is called Dream in Color – Drifting. It fits beautifully with my design when I rotate it upside down. I chose Peartree Cutfiles Rollercoaster cut file to document this fun event. I wanted my layout to provide the illusion of a roller coaster. To achieve this effect, I took several steps. 

First, the cut file was cut out in black to help the title stand out. Next, the letters of the title were cut in blue to match the sky in the photo. The third step included cutting the file once again in red to imitate the red steel girders of the actual roller coaster. The cut file was cut once again in yellow to mimic the yellow rails the roller coaster cars travelled on. Once all 4 colours were cut, I carefully cut the elements away that I didn’t need and glued each section into place to recreate the coaster my family was riding.

To further the illusion of the actual roller coaster, I used Taylored Expressions Black Foam Sticky Strips to back the cut file and provide dimension. Each sticky strip was cut in half lengthwise and then carefully adhered to the back of the cut file to achieve this look. While somewhat tricky and time-consuming, I am very happy with the result.

The sticker phrases and journalling box came from an older Echo Park paper collection called hello Summer. The large colour-coordinated FUN sticker is from Photoplay’s Those Summer Days paper collection. The final design element was adding brightly coloured stars in the sky. These stars are Puffy Stickers from Cocoa Vanilla Studio’s No Limits collection.

I may not be a roller coaster enthusiast myself, but I certainly had a blast documenting this ride for my family. My grandson is very excited this layout will be included in one of his scrapbooks!

Have I convinced you to get out to the amusement park this summer? Be sure to take every opportunity to enjoy this glorious summer and all the opportunities it offers! Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Right Here Right Now

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

Do you remember the joy of Springtime and the welcome change of activities from winter? Owen wanted a basketball for his birthday and was thrilled when his wishes came true this year. I turned, once again, to Cocoa Vanilla Studio’s No Limits collection to document this special moment. I love how the colours in the photo work so well with the colours in this collection. The background patterned paper for this layout is called Spark.

The Right Here Right Now title came from Peartree Cutfiles. I chose several coordinating papers from the No Limits collection to complete this title.

I backed the words in the cut file with four coordinating patterned papers (Stardust, Latitude, Nebula and Orbit) while I popped up the orange arrows (Spark) using fun foam. By doing this, I helped draw emphasis to the picture below.

The Always be Your Awesome Self phrase was cut from the Universal patterned paper sheet. I chose a coordinating green ink and inked around the edges of this 3″ x 4″ phrase for further emphasis. It was also backed with fun foam for dimension. Next, I chose two coordinating phrase strips from the 3″ x 4″ rainbow phrase block as seen on the Universal patterned paper. The edges of these phrase strips were highlighted in coordinating inks.

Before adhering any of the phrase elements to the layout, I took time to plan out the remaining embellishments I would use from this collection. The blue star, rocket ship, and blue ticket were all chosen from the coordinating Die Cut Ephemera package. The edges of the star and ticket were inked with coordinating blue ink. At this stage, all of the phrases and ephemera were layered and adhered directly to the layout. The final touch was adding the date for prosperity. Doodlebug Designs Inc., Teensy Type alphabet stickers, were used to do this.

Thanks for joining me today, I hope you’ve enjoyed learning how this layout came together. This is a wonderful collection of papers and ephemera for all the boys and men in your life. I hope you have as much fun creating with it as I did!

Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

You Rock My World

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

I had the pleasure of scrapbooking with dear friends at ScrapFest this past weekend. It was a fun-filled weekend of shopping, cropping, connecting and creating! This is the first of two layouts I completed using Cocoa Vanilla Studio’s newest collection, No Limits. I purchased this collection from Scrapbook Your Joy, a Canadian online store with excellent products and customer service.

Big Bang is the name of the patterned paper base. I wanted to add texture and layers to the page, so I was inspired to stitch the rays on the page. Using a paper piercer to establish the start and endpoints of each line, I stitched them using coordinating embroidery floss. If a line reached the edge of a page, I wrapped the embroidery floss over the edge and secured it with tape. The embroidery flosses used in this layout were DMC 762 and 3848.

Once the stitching was complete, I added a random splattering of coordinating foil stars in teal and silver. The patterned paper had a ring of stars in this area, and I used the foil stars to highlight it and draw your eye to the picture. The picture was matted using teal cardstock and secured to a piece of fun foam for added texture and dimension before adding it to the layout.

I chose some of the random phrases from the No Limits coordinating sticker sheet and added them to the layout between the stitched rays. The remaining elements for this layout came from the No Limits coordinating ephemera, chipboard and puffy stickers. Some of the ephemera were backed with fun foam to provide continued texture and dimension. I added the date using white Doodbug Designs Inc Teensy Type stickers.

This is the first time, in a very long time, that I did not use an electronic cut file on a layout. I did not want to cover up any of the stitched elements on this page nor detract from drawing your attention to the picture.

Thanks again for stopping by, I hope I’ve inspired you to look at your patterned papers in new and creative ways. Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!