Christmas cards and a mixed media canvas from Zanka

Hello!
Today I'm gonna show you some of my first Christmas cards made for this season. They are all based on the same idea and composition but I played with the whole colour scheme of Vintage Christmas line - so I have the green, the red and a combo of both .
All cards are decorated with a mix of plain and glittered or embossed chipboard pieces and trust me, there are no dimensional flowers - only cut outs from the BFS papers! It's easy to create an illusion of dept with the layers of embellishments, while the cards are relatively flat and easy to post.

Supplies: papers Vintage Christmas, BFS glitter Pyrite, BFS embossing powder Cotton pink, chipboards : Blue fern frame (piece) , Floral lattice bits, Garden lattice bits, Twiggy branch, Mini flourishes.

My last November project is a mixed media canvas - I had a blast with this one, layering the paper strips, laces, chipboards and embellishments. Chipboard pieces are brushed with a white texture paste.

Supplies: papers Vintage Christmas, Frolic. BFS mists: Cotton candy, Winter mint. Chipboards Swirly circle, Garden lattice bits, Ironwork edges.

Thanks for staying here for a moment & have a great day!
DT Zanka (Zaneta)

'Memories' by Marta Lapkowska

Hi everyone,

It's Marta Lapkowska here! Are you rady for some inspirations ?
I have made two layouts for today's post. Two different styles but two equally interesting projects.

First page is totally mixed media based layout.

I used brand new paper collection 'Autumn Anthology'. For some interest I added some white string across the page.

I have added some modelling paste through the stencil. Everythig was coloured with sprays.

As my final touch I added chipborad 'Clip Frames'.
You can follow the whole creative process on the video tutorial.
I hope you will enjoy it:


My second make is plain and clean.
As you can see this layout is flat and easy to store. Even tho I am a mixed media girl I like to make sometimes easy pages which could be challening for me. No art mediums ? Oh yes, just stunning papers and few wonderful chipboards!

I must say I love the papers from 'Frolic' collection. Bright, very colourful and beautiful!

I embossed all the chipboards with yellow embossing powder.

I love fussy-cutting :)

I wish you a very creative day !
Love, Marta xx

Summer snapshots

Hello BFS fans!
I hope you've all been great! I'm happy to be back and share with you some of the colorful snapshots from my summer.

'Bloom and grow'
It's all about the soft, white washed colors, with just a hint of teal and pink. The chipboards treatment is simple - I'm using either plain or just covered with a layer of gesso.
Chipboards: Deja vu border, Blue Fern frame (piece), Layering stems

'Totally love you'
This is one of my favorite BFS papers and I've been saving it for long! It's so decorative that it needs just a small amount of embellishments. I used piecec of old lace and chipboards to frame my story.
Some messy stamping is just added to get more contrast in the pastel backgrund.
Chipboards:Radiant suns, Blue Fern frame, Dot grid panel, Quaterfoil panel

'Remember (Krakow marketsquare)'
A selfie with my daughter while visiting Krakow marketsquare! A quick vacation layout, if you don't count the time for fussy cutting the roses ;)
Chipboards: Mixed chains, Grunge frames, Memory frames, Blue Fern frame (yes! again - this giant piece lasts forever)

I have about 1000 photos from this summer, so I might be sharing some more next time :)
Have a great day everybody!
DT Zanka

Today We Feature YOU!

We love sharing projects created by our Design Team, but we are also always on the look out for layouts, cards, etc. created by those of you who purchase our products.  You do amazing things with Blue Fern paper and chipboard.  Today, we would like to share some of the projects we have found on blogs, in galleries, on Facebook, etc.

Yana Smakula of Ukraine created 3 lovely holiday cards using non-holiday themed Blue Fern chipboard as the focal point on her cards.  Isn't it beautiful the way she dressed up the cards with chipboard?

We spotted the following layout on Amy Lassiter's blog.  We immediately noticed that the paper is from our Sanctuary line.

This layout by Наталья Трофимова was an entry in our December Sketch Challenge.  She chose to use paper from the Ombre Dreams collection as a background for these sweet photos.

Bonnie Friesen of Canada shared this elegant wedding layout with us on our Facebook page.  She used paper from the Ombre Dreams collection and the stunning Blue Fern Frame in the background.

And take a look at this sweet little guy!  Paulien van den Bosch created this layout using paper from our Sanctuary Collection.

And the final layout today was found in an online gallery.  The background is a beautiful paper from our Ombre Dreams collection.  We just love how the two chipboard pieces were altered to coordinate perfectly with the background!  

Thanks for making us look so good!

'Sanctuary' Inspiration by Lisa Griffith

Hello Blue Fern Studios friends....

I am a little later than usual this month due to some technical difficulties on my part...

But I actually felt very lucky to have a few more days as it gave me a bit more time to play

with the new collection 'Sanctuary', that I am so IN LOVE with....

'perfect'

I started with the beautiful paper 'Conservatory' and then I layered a lot of pieces of Blue Fern Studios papers including the 'Calling Cards' from the Sanctuary collection and some pieces from the Blue Fern Garden collection in the background and created lots of texture with gesso, paints, stamping and gold micro beads.

For my title I embossed a piece from the 'Chunky Word Set' set in copper to match my copper colored paints.

I also used pieces of the 'Shabby Brick Bits' which I painted in white and then covered in different paints in gold and copper colors. You can also see a piece of 'Ginger's Poppies' tucked under my photo.

'girl in bonnet'

For my second project I started with the paper 'Bountiful' also from the Sanctuary collection. I only recently tried to do a layout with a dark background and I love how it turned out, using a dark background paper looks so dramatic and makes your photos and embellishments really stand out.

I layered some gesso using several masks, some blue and pink paint and pieces of washi tape to create my background and then added some bits of lace, flowers, and tucked in a piece of 'Blue Fern Frame' that I painted white and blue. You can also see small pieces of the paper 'Mercantile' from the Montage paper collection.

'magical'

For my final layout I started with the paper 'Meadows of Time' from the new Sanctuary collection. 

I just love the blue and brown vintage patterns here, so gorgeous and totally inspiring to me. I knew I wanted to make a wintery looking page so I started by adding gesso with a sea sponge for a very uneven look and then I added some mists in blue and brown.

I tucked in a few pieces of Blue Fern Garden paper, and then added some pieces of the 'Shabby Flakes' and a piece of 'Winter Titles' which I painted white and then sprinkled with white glitter.

I hope I have inspired you a little today :)

See you next time...

Lisa 

Two Layouts and a Card with Rae

Hello, everyone! It's Rae with you today to share some projects I've made this month.

"Wonder" Card

For this card, I used a couple of sheets of paper of the Blue Fern Garden line, Parlour and Timeless. I used a light brown distress ink to give it the aged look.

In this closeup, you can see the four pieces of chipboard I used, each treated in a different way.

 The bird is from the "Little Birds" set is simply colored with brown archival ink. The title, "Wonder" from "Winter Titles" set was primed with white paint, then I randomly placed light blue embossing powder so some of the white would show through, then I lightly covered the whole piece with a light brown distress ink. The foliage peeking out under the flowers are remnants I had form some "Layering Stems" that painted white and lightly misted with an olive green mist.

For the "Majestic Frame," I covered the whole piece with an embossing medium and sprinkled brown, gold, and blue embossing powders. I repeated the process three times to get nice coverage.

"Cherish" Layout

For this layout, I used papers from the Ombre Dreams collection, along with some green cardstock.

I used the "Blue Fern Frame" for the focus of my design. I treated this piece by spraying it with a brown mist, letting it dry, then tracing the details with dimensional paint to create a look somewhat reminiscent of a gilded metal look. I finished the look by spraying the whole piece again with the brown spray to get into the little crevices of the dimensional paint.

I used green dimensional paint and poured purple and coral embossing powders over the entire "Cherish" piece while the paint was still wet. Then, I used a heat tool, and overdid it so the paint would bubble up for this dimensional distressed look.

"Key to my Heart" Layout

I used papers from both the Blue Fern Garden and Ombre Dreams collections, picking out light blue and light brown tones, along with some cardstock.

In this closeup, you can see the paper that I stamped with a script stamp to alter the look of it.

I treated all of the pieces with gesso.  On the "Ket to my Heart" title and key, I used two shades of brown distress ink.

On the "Large Roman Clock Set" I used various distress and chalk inks.

For the "Wild Flourish Bundle" I sprayed it with an ivy mist to create drops, then used more light brown distress ink.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my projects today. Thanks for stopping by!


Rae

Two layouts by Marie-Josée Hamel

Hello all,

It's my turn today to share my first layouts with you as a new DT member. My name is Marie-Josée Hamel, aka mariemily.

I am a French Canadian living in the Ottawa region with my husband, Michael, and my daughter, Emily, who is 9. I discovered scrapbooking in 2006 and have been hooked to this hobby ever since. You can see my other projects on my blog, Les créations de mariemily (in French and English).

I am really excited to be part of the Blue Fern Studios DT and I hope you will find my projects inspiring.

Today, I have two projects to show you.

"C'est toi la plus belle" layout

I am a huge fan of rainbows and I love to use this color scheme on my layouts. Here, I decided to paint the Chunky Heart Panel and to alter it with shimmery paints, namely the Silks acrylic glazes:

 

Then, I added color to the center of some heart using Twinkling H2O watercolors:

And I sprayed all the colors of the rainbow over my layout:

Here's a close-up view of the painted chipboard:

"Le roi de l'hiver" layout

I took this picture of a snowy owl on December 29 and decided to use it to create a winter layout in a monochromatic scheme.

I used the Blue Fern Frame. I primed it with gesso, then added Silks Acrylic Glazes in Iridescent Green, and applied Stickles here and there with a paintbrush.

Three Layouts by Kelly Foster

Hello Blue Fern fans - Kelly here.

Today I have three  layouts to share...so I will just get right to it!

"You Are So Fun"

For this layout, I have followed the sketch for this month's challenge...I hope you will play along, too! (Find the link in the right sidebar.)

Below you can see a section of the Renaissance Border, and the word "You" from the Valentine's Word Set. These both were dabbed lightly with gesso, then painted with various colors of water color paint. Once they were dry, I dabbed around the edges randomly with a green chalk ink.

Below is a section of the Twiggy Branch, which was left mostly bare, with just a touch of  green chalk ink.

Below are the other bits of the Renaissance Border and Twiggy Branch, and bottom left I have used one of the Nifty Tags and Tickets to ground my title. I placed one of the adorable little Vintage Keys below that.

Chipboard used:

Renaissance Border

Nifty Tags and Tickets

Vintage Keys

Twiggy Branch

Valentine's Word Set

"Good Vibes"

I used a wide variety of chippies on this one, too...I just really had fun with this page, for the photo that I love so much. First up, the title...this was simply embossed with a white detail embossing powder..I just adore the font for the Good Vibes set, so fun!

Below..one of the Circle Motifs..painted with a shimmery pearl acrylic paint,  a few dots of gold paint for the flower centers, then the leaves were colored with a green watercolor pencil. A touch of stamping with a script stamp was done on top of that.

Up next...Garden Daisies (Large), I applied the same technique as I did the flowers on the Circle Motif, but to top them off I painted on just a bit of a textured medium. The stem was misted with a shimmery green mist.

Good Vibes Word Set

Garden Daisies - Large

Circle Motifs

"Smile"

Another "summer" page. This one is loaded up with bits and pieces of chipboard..see if you can spot them all! Below you will find one of the Nifty Tags and Tickets, which was stamped lightly with green and teal ink. Also, you can see the end of the Calligraphic Border, which was painted with a gold acrylic glaze, then dabbed with a bit of teal acrylic glaze. I also tucked in pieces of the Natural Sprigs, which were distressed, then embossed with green and gold embossing powder. 

For my title, I used the cute "Smile!" polaroid frame from the Picture Perfect set. This was left mostly natural, with a few dabs of ink here and there, and a dark brown chalk in around the edges for definition.

Last but not least, I have added a section of the Blue Fern Frame..I cut this apart and have slowly been using pieces of it. I stamped with a script stamp and then embossed with gold. I then added touches of all of the paints and inks that I used on all of the other pieces in my project to make it blend nicely.

Calligraphic Border

Blue Fern Frame

Nifty Tags and Tickets

Natural Sprigs Set

Picture Perfect

Thank you so much for stopping in today, I hope you have enjoyed my projects. See you soon!