Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Design Team Call! {Reminder}

Just a friendly reminder, in case you missed it!

It's hard to believe, but it's already time for a design team call at Blue Fern Studios!

It's always an exciting time to open up our doors to our fans and give them the chance to represent our popular brand. If you would like to be a part of this fast-growing company and would love to create with our high-quality chipboard products, then this is the team for you!

We are looking to add a handful of designers to our team and once again, we are seeking out those who specialize in either cards/tags, altered projects, mixed media, and layouts encompassing all styles. We are also interested in acquiring a video instructor! If you feel that you would be a good fit for any of these categories, we would love to review your application!

To Apply:

Please email the following information to submissions@bluefernstudios.com. Please be sure to include "Design Team Application" in your subject. Application deadline is November 15th, 2013 at Midnight US EST.

Full Name
E-Mail Address
Country
Blog Link
List of Current Design Teams
Links to Current Online Galleries
(3) Projects that best showcase your style (preferably using chipboard,
but not required).

Please resize to 650 pixels.

If selected, successful applicants will serve a 1 year term, creating (3) projects per month and will be compensated with a substantial selection of our products. New designers will be notified once selection
is complete, and the new design team will be officially announced November 23rd, 2013 on the Blue Fern Studios blog.

We look forward to reviewing your applications, and wish you the best of luck!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

October Sketch Challenge Winner & Features!

It's time to announce our prize winner for the October Sketch Challenge, as well as the Top 3 Features- so let's get started!

First, the lucky randomly drawn winner of our chipboard prize pack:


Congratulations to: Buffy Burnside!!
Email me {erin@bluefernstudios.com} within 7 days to claim your prize!!

Next, we have 3 beautiful features for you from our entries last month. As usual, this is NEVER an easy thing to do. We always have such wonderful talent and beautiful projects shared with us. Thank-you to all who take the time to participate- we appreciate each and every one of you!!

We loved every little detail of Taniko's layout! The Heart Set was perfect for this one- and leaving the chipboard raw to compliment the multiple beautiful colors that make up her layout was the perfect way to go. Amazing work, Taniko! Thank-you so much for sharing your talent with us!

Jackie's touching layout commanded our attention! The warm colors with just the right amount of brights were perfect for her sweet photo. And her chipboard treatment? Divine!

Sonja's fun, boyish layout was a perfect take on our sketch and showed a great use of our popular title pieces! What a great representation of Blue Fern Studios! Thank-you for participating!!

And thanks to all of you, once again, for taking some time to participate this past month! Check out our November Sketch Challenge for your chance to be our lucky prize winner or one of our Top 3 Features!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Sharing a layout and a card.

We are coming to a close of 2013 in just a couple of months. I have enjoyed my last year working with all of the beautiful Blue Fern Studios chip board and look forward to a new year with new designs!! In the mean time, check here often as new designs are added to the inventory often!!
For my first project I did a 12x12 layout. I had to create a sweet layout to match the wonderful photo of my daughter and her kitty. He really is Sweet As Honey.


I hope you save the innards of your chip board because they add a wonderful design element to your projects!! And if not, you can always purchase a pack of the various pieces where you find Blue Fern Studios chip board. I used gesso as a base, then used a crackle paint on top, then finished it with a glaze medium after the crackle dried.


I base coated all of my chip board peices with gesso and used 2 colors of glaze medium to color  the pieces.  After they were dry, I inked the outer edges slightly for dimension.


I used a couple of colors of glaze medium on the flower chip board and used a pearl pen to add the stamen in the middle.


 Blue Fern Bits  
Graduated Circles
 Large Garden daisies
 Small Garden Daisies
 The Latest Buzz

For my next project, I created a card. Sometimes simplicity brings out the beauty in a chip board piece. I didn't want the beauty of the bicycle shape to get lost, so I made it the star of the card.


All I did was heat embossed it using a fine black embossing powder. I used layers of paper to frame the piece. This card can be used for many occasions.


Penny Farthing

Thanks for visiting today and I cant wait to bring you my next Blue Fern Studios projects for December.  Please visit us often here as the designers bring you inspiration day after day. You don't want to miss a thing!!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Our November Sketch Challenge!

Welcome to yet another new month! We are dangerously close to the end of the year- are you ready for it? 
Well, if not- I hope you're ready for our new sketch challenge, it's a beauty!


And our design team has an array of inspiration for you. Enjoy!

Kelly Foster

Kristine Henanger

Camilla Ekman

Kerryn Lawson

Yvonne Yam

Frau_Muller

Patter Cross

Lisa Gregory

Simply gorgeous! We can't WAIT to see YOUR take :)!!

As always, we've got a great grab bag of chipboard for one randomly chosen participant:

In addition to our prize winner, we will also select a Top 3 to feature in our winner post!
We have just a few simple rules to follow if you would like to participate in our sketch challenge:
1.) Feel free to interpret the sketch as you please by means of taking it as-is or flipping/turning/mirroring it to suit your needs! **Please note that you can do whatever type of project you please- a layout, card, tag, canvas, altered item- whatever suits your mood and style! We would love to see the different ways our sketch can be used.**

2.) You must use at least one piece of Blue Fern Studios chipboard- but you do not need to use the pieces featured in the sketch! You can find the store nearest you HERE. {Do not use any other brand of chipboard on your project please!}
** We had a couple entries last month who did not use chipboard, so please note this step as you will be disqualified from the prize drawing and features**

3.) Upload your project using the Inlinkz tool below by midnight EST on November 30th, 2013.
We look forward to your entries!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

{3} Projects with Patter

Hello! It's Patter Cross with you today sharing my October projects. Today I have two layouts and a card. So, let's get started with a layout.

Pretty as a Picture
This is an 8 1/2 x 11 layout of one of my daughters and her new haircut. All of my girls have naturally curly hair, and trying to find a hairstyle can be difficult. We think this one is a keeper. :)
Pin It
I used the scissors from the Miss Tailor Set since the layout was about my daughter's haircut. I added various silver paints and a silver brad so that the scissors would look more realistic. I also used leaves from the Natural Sprigs set. I added watercolors, mists, and embossing powders to vary the colors and textures on the leaves.
For the title, I used the Pretty as a Picture chipboard piece. I started with a layer of gesso then added various pink paints and mists to get the colors you see below.
Miss Tailor Set
Natural Sprigs Set
Pretty as a Picture

A Fall Card
The new Fall Foliage chipboard by Blue Fern Studios was perfect for this Fall card. I have plenty of inspiration around as I watch the leaves changing in our yard. I am sure a lot of you do also!
Pin It
I misted the leaves with water to peel up the edges and make them look realistic. I then covered them with various mists, embossing powders, and gelatos to make the color of each leaf different.
Fall Foliage

Say Cheese
For this 8 1/2 x 11 layout, I used photos of the little girl my daughter takes care of. She is such a cutie. Each layout I create, I give to her mom to put in an album I have given to the family. She does not scrap so I hope she enjoys this latest page for the album!
Pin It
To color the Broken Rings chipboard, I added a layer of gesso then various paints and mists to get a variation of color on the rings.
On the title "Say Cheese" piece from the Picture Perfect set, again I added gesso, paints, and mists to get the different colors of orange you see. I liked the dotted effect too. Sometimes when my mister causes these dots, I will smooth them out with a paintbrush but I left the dots this time.
Broken Rings
Picture Perfect

I hope you have enjoyed my creations today and that you are inspired to grab some Blue Fern Studios chipboard and begin creating! Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Blue Fern Studios 2014 Design Team Call!

It's hard to believe, but it's already time for a design team call at Blue Fern Studios!

It's always an exciting time to open up our doors to our fans and give them the chance to represent our popular brand. If you would like to be a part of this fast-growing company and would love to create with our high-quality chipboard products, then this is the team for you!

We are looking to add a handful of designers to our team and once again, we are seeking out those who specialize in either cards/tags, altered projects, mixed media, and layouts encompassing all styles. We are also interested in acquiring a video instructor! If you feel that you would be a good fit for any of these categories, we would love to review your application!

To Apply:

Please email the following information to submissions@bluefernstudios.com. Please be sure to include "Design Team Application" in your subject. Application deadline is November 15th, 2013 at Midnight US EST.

Full Name
E-Mail Address
Country
Blog Link
List of Current Design Teams
Links to Current Online Galleries
(3) Projects that best showcase your style (preferably using chipboard,
but not required).

Please resize to 650 pixels.

If selected, successful applicants will serve a 1 year term, creating (3) projects per month and will be compensated with a substantial selection of our products. New designers will be notified once selection
is complete, and the new design team will be officially announced November 23rd, 2013 on the Blue Fern Studios blog.

We look forward to reviewing your applications, and wish you the best of luck!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Bring on the Scraps! {with Erin Blegen}

Good morning! Erin Blegen here with you today with three "scrappy" projects. And I mean scrappy...literally. Each of my projects were made of scraps of some sort- and who doesn't like cleaning up their desk a little while creating at the same time?!

First up, a mini album:

"The Best"
Every paper in this album (including the pages) are scraps. I guess you could call this a "scrap album" for sure! ;)

 I even used chipboard "scraps" throughout this album- bits and pieces and leftovers of sorts...
 ...punched out bits from panels...


Products Used:

(L-R: Marrakesh Panel, All Natural Set, Village Sign Post, Tuscan Window, Vintage Locks, Heart Set, Leafy Page Accents, Best Day Ever, Small Garden Daisies)

Next, I have a layout:

"Six"
My oldest recently turned six and I took this sweet photo of him on his birthday :)
Another project inspired by scraps, I again added in some chipboard scraps as well...

One of the Tuscan Window shutters was cut in half and used to add texture to the left and right of my photo.

The gears looked great when I applied some molten metal embossing powder!

Products Used:

Tuscan Window

Widgetworks

Lastly, I have a tag to share:

"I Adore You"
Chipboard adds that "something extra" to my tags- and I love them for it! More scraps, some of the leftovers from my mini album :)

 I again used some fabulous molten metal embossing powder to bring this Doodle Corner to life!

...and some gold embossing powder to create this effect on the Vintage Keys piece :)

Products Used:

Doodle Corners

Vintage Keys

Whew! Are you still with me?!
Thanks so much for stopping by today! 
Be sure to check out this month's Sketch Challenge- there's still some time left to enter!