Greetings Cocoa Daisy friends!
We are sharing designs with a cloud theme using the Up & Away kits today. The cloud theme is quite popular in memory keeping and can be used to set a scene for you story. Clouds add texture and dimension as well as a bit of whimsy to your layout. You can create clouds with stamps, a cutting machine, print and cut, stenciling or by hand drawing them on your background paper. You can bring dimension to them by stitching, outlining with a black or colored marker, or watercolor, inking, and texture paste techniques. Our design team is sharing a few of these techniques starting with Kristine's memory planner layout.
Kristine tells us, "I was excited to make this “up in the clouds” layout, because I’m so in love with the cloud and hot air balloon artwork in the April Up and Away kits! I decided to set myself a challenge and use only items from the free printables this month."
"There were so many clouds and balloons in the printables that, to be honest, it wasn’t much of a challenge, haha! I also did something pretty different for me, which was to basically ignore the preprinted boxes on the page as I was laying down my decorations."
"Many of our customers and design team members find that easy to do, but it’s a big stretch for me, and I love how it turned out. I’m not sure yet if I’ll add photos to this layout or just journaling - I guess I’ll decide as the week progresses and I start filling things out."
"This was a super quick and easy layout to do - I made a process video for you if you’d like to see how it came together."
Our free printables are great way to decorate your memory keeping layouts and all types of planners. Kristine showed us how easy and simple it is to create a beautiful eye-catching page. Now let's see what Casie has for us today.
"Our spring cloud-filled skies have been incredible lately! I love the Traveler’s Notebook Memory Keeping Kit to create a layout highlighting a special photo. During this time of shelter in place, I am trying to find silver linings in each day. The Simple Dori is the perfect way to document these moments."
"My silver lining on this particular day was the joy I felt watching my son delight in blowing bubbles in the front yard. We are often so busy with life, that we don't have the time to just be at home."
"To create this layout, I layered the blue and green pattern papers from the TNMK kit behind the photo and on the journaling side. I anchored the photo with a sticker strip in blue as well. I completed the layout by adding in the lovely little cloud die cuts from the kit."
"I am enjoying the layers that all those elements create on the paper to tell the story of a simple, joy-filled moment!"
Casie's design is very sweet and we love all the layers she added to this layout. Like Casie, I wanted to focus on the good right now and I also used the "silver lining" theme as the basis for my story. My design is a traditional 8.5x11 size using the cloud planner paper as my design foundation.
I cut out the clouds from the paper following the coloring on the page to create a shape. Next I hand stitched around the edges of the clouds adding texture and dimension. And I stamped the background with a stamp from my stash because I didn't want any of the papers in the kit competing with the gorgeous rainbow washi tape I used as a border for the top and bottom of my layout. I used the puffy alphas to create my title on the main cloud.
It took awhile for me to decide, but ultimately I went with just a few of the die cuts from the kits to create my visual triangle. And due to the stay at home orders, I didn't have anything to create an actual silver lining therefore I added a bit of silver thread and a few phrases to my clouds to represent this concept.
The most important part of memory keeping for me is the story. I usually have a lot to say and this was no exception therefore I created a hidden journaling block. One of the reasons I love tabs so much is they ensure I always have a way of adding the story to my design and they are wonderful embellishments too!
If we take a moment to reflect, we can find a silver lining in most things. Casie, Kristine, and I hope we have inspired you to document the silver linings you are noticing during your time at home.
Take care and be well!
~Robin