My first post by Lisa Griffith

Hello Blue Fern Studio fans! 

My name is Lisa Griffith and I am so excited to share my first projects 

as a Blue Fern Studio Design Team member!  

I am already loving being part of this adventure.....

I live in the US with my wonderful hubby of 13 years and my 7 year old son, Liam. I started scrap booking when my son was born and I have been doing it on and off ever since. Last spring I rearranged the furniture in our house and carved out a small studio for myself....and the addiction was born! (LOL) I am a working mum and with all the chaos of school, work, sports, music lessons etc, paper crafting is my little retreat where I can have some time to just relax and create. My style is very girly with lots of flowers and gems but very also "grungy" and distressed with lots of inks and paints. I love antique hunting and I am always looking for vintage ephemera like old book pages or bits of lace that I can incorporate into my layouts. I enjoy looking at all the crafty blogs out there for inspiration, and I would love it if you would visit me! You can find me at www.thepaperattic.blogspot.com

My first layout is a photo of my grandma...

I absolutely love Blue Fern Studios panels, this one is called Quatrefoil Panel which I embossed in white and then misted and stamped. I have also used a piece of Bohemian Flowers.

My next layout is a wintery page....

Here I used the Shabby Flakes and the Tattered Diamond Bits which I embossed in white and silver and then colored with mist and sprinkled with white glitter. 

Thanks so much to Blue Fern Studios for having me...

Lisa xo

2 Layouts, and a Canvas, with Kelly Foster

Hi everyone! Kelly here..I am thrilled to be going on my second year here at Blue Fern. I hope you are enjoying all of the inspiration from our new (and returning!) DT members this month, I know I am!

I have three projects to share today so I'll get right to it!

"Love"

This first layout, I have used a bunch of little bits of Blue Fern Chipboard. I started with one of the frames from the Ever After Frame Set. I did a little stamping, embossing with black and bronze, and then added a bit of gold shimmering acrylic ink. I also tucked a piece of the Bits Of Honey, which I cut in half and left bare, into either side of the layering beneath my photo.

On the right side of the photo, I have placed one of the Garden Daisies (Small), which was painted with the same shimmery ink, a bit of green pearl paint, and topped with just a bit of a gold texture paste. To the cluster on the left side, I added one of the cute little dandelions from the All Natural set, which was given the same treatment as the Daisies.

Lastly, the title, "Love" comes from the "Good Vibes" set, and this piece was painted with a green pearly paint and a gold shimmering acrylic ink. I added just a touch of stamping as well.

Chipboard used:

Good Vibes Set

Garden Daisies- Small

All Natural Set

Bits Of Honey

Ever After Frame Set

 "Count Your Blessings" (8x10 Canvas)

This canvas, which I started some time ago, was finally finished when I chose the perfect bits of chipboard to finish it off! I made my flowers out of a vintage dress sewing pattern, and I added little strips cut from the Checker Bits as the stems.

The word "Blessings" comes from the Spiritually Speaking word set. This was simply given two coats of gesso so it would stand out.

Chipboard used:
Spiritually Speaking

Checker Bits

 "Sweet As Honey"

Last up, a sweet, girly layout. The Graduated Circles, this one cut apart a bit, make for such a fun page design. I painted this with Distress Paint, watercolors, gelatos, and then brushed on some gold texture medium.

The title was colored with Gelatos as well, in pink and butterscotch.

Chipboard used:

The Latest Buzz

Graduated Circles

Thank you so much for taking a look today, I hope you enjoyed my projects. Have a great day!!

*Kelly*

A Layout and a Card with Rae Moses

Hello, everyone! I'm Rae and I am so honored to be a part of the Blue Fern Studios Design Team! This is my first post, so I'll here's a little bit about me:

I live in Colorado with my husband and three children. I used to be a high school teacher, but I currently enjoy being a stay-at-home mom. I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, and crafts of all kinds! I've been scrapbooking for about six years, and I am hopelessly addicted! I love creating layouts and altered projects of all kinds. I love the shabby chic, elegant, and grungy styles. I love layers and distressing!

Here are a couple of my first projects I have made for this month:

"Delightful" Layout 

If you follow the BFS blog, then you've seen this layout already because it's my take on the January Sketch Challenge. :)  But, I thought I would share some closeups of how I treated the chipboard. 

For this snowflake dangle, I painted it with gesso, then added some Distress Glitter.

I also painted this dangle with gesso, and once it was dried, I used some purple chalk ink on the bows and outlined the heart. I finished it off with Tattered Angels Glitter Glam.

 For the "delightful" piece, I painted it with gesso, then I pressed the purple chalk ink onto it in a random fashion.

Chipboard used: Winter Dangles, The Optimist Word Set

"Beautiful You" Card

I just adore this Shabby Layered Frame! I thought it would make a perfect fit for a card, so I made one with it. And, because I was going for a basic distressed look, I decided to cover the bottom layer of the frame with paper. I simply traced the frame on the paper I wanted to use, and cut it out and glued it to the chipboard, and then used a file to sand the paper to show the fine details of the outline.

For the top layer, I decided to simply "brush" it with black archival ink, careful to leave some of the raw chipboard showing.

Chipboard used: Shabby Layered Frame

"Blooming Beauty" Layout

There is A LOT of chipboard on this layout!

For these Graduated Circles, I used basically the same technique that I did for the card above, but I used brown archival ink.

On this Spring Branch, I started out with a heavy layer of gesso, then I randomly poured clear microbeads on it while the gesso was still wet. Once dry, I used Silks Acrylic Glaze paint in Guatemalan Green. It was a little brighter than I wanted, so I applied Distress Ink in Walnut Stain to make it match better with my color scheme of my layout.

For this frame from the Petite Boutique Frame set, I put on a heavy coat of Croco paint from Viva Decor. Once it dried, I dabbed on some Vintaj Patina paint, and finished it off with brushing it with Distress Ink in Walnut Stain.

And, for my title, I used the Blooming Beauty piece. I used the technique I used on the frame above for the "Blooming" part, then I covered the "Beauty" with black glitter.

Chipboard used: Graduated Circles, Spring Branch, Petite Boutique Frames, Blooming Beauty

Thank you for taking a look at my projects! And, thank you so much to Leslie and Valerie for having me as part of this team!

My First Post By Keren Tamir

Hi Everyone!!

Keren here with my first post for Blue Fern Studios and I'm really excited to showcase my work with these beautiful chipboards!!

but first a little about myself:

I'm 39 years old. I am a wife to a wonderful husband who is very supportive of my scrapbooking and a mother of two amazing kids; a 12 year old boy and a 7 year old girl. I've been scrapbooking for 10 years and I mainly scrapbook about my family. I love to create and experiment with many different mediums and techniques.

My style is a combination of Shabby chic and mixed media. I use lots of flowers and vines together with different artistic mediums on my layouts. My style is always evolving and that’s one of the things I love about this art.

One of the main reasons I started scrapbooking was to preserve memories and photos for my children. However over the couple of years, I’ve started to enjoy another aspect of scrapbooking. I love the artistic outlet that it gives me. I love to create and I’m passionate about what I do.

I’m delighted to be joining Blue Fern Studios on this new journey!!

I hope you enjoy my creations!!

you can also find me HERE on my blog.

Now without further adieu here is my first project:

"All You Need Is Love"

Altered Canvas

This is a 12x12 Canvas I created for a friend. 

Its one of the most powerful messages, sang by one of the greatest bands of all times.

If all of us just loved, this world would be a better place!!!

I covered the Ornate Heart with gold crackle paint. Then I edged it with brown ink and stamped it randomly all over with a script stamp. I also used the script stamp on the background. Finally I smeared some gold glitter stickles all over the heart.

You can see the heart's texture a little closer below. The crackle paint gave it an antique look.

The Love title from the Valentine's Word set was simply sprayed in black ink.

Blue Fern Studios chipboard used on this Canvas:

Ornate Heart

Valentine's Word Set (Love)

<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>

"You Shine"

In this bright and cheerful layout of my son I have used a few pieces of the Tattered Diamond bits. I cut them in different places so I could spread them throughout my page.

They were first covered in Turquoise acrylic paint and then stamped with a script stamp using a darker shade of acrylic turquoise paint.

You can see the diamond bits in a close-up below. I also smeared some white gesso on them to blend it with the rest of the layout.

The title "You Shine" is from the Optimist Word Set.  It was covered in the same dark hued paint from above.

Blue Fern Studios chipboard used on this layout:

Tattered diamond bits

The optimist Word Set (You Shine)

Thank you so much for visiting the Blue Fern Studio's blog.

I hope you enjoyed my creations

Have a wonderful day!!

Keren

Inspiration from the Colors of Sea Glass

Greetings from Joyce in Southern California!   I came on the scrapbooking scene three years ago when I came into possession of some old family vintage photos.   I decided to preserve them and tell my family’s stories through those photographs. My intention was to only scrap these photos and put them away for future generation’s enjoyment.  However, I came down with the hoarding ailment so many of us have caught, and I started stalking art stores for supplies, joined an online monthly scrapbooking kit club where it exposed me to the terminology, trends, and manufacturers.  I immediately became smitten with this art form because it allowed me to incorporate all my previous skills of drawing, watercolor painting, bead work, home and apparel arts, and a legitimate excuse to buy more art supplies.   I’m excited to be back designing for Blue Fern Studio’s (“BFS”), because I enjoy taking something raw like chipboard and transforming it into a pretty embellishment.  But most of all, I enjoy sharing ideas and techniques for the BFS Follower.  My style?  Well, I will leave that up to those of you that view my work.  You can find me here at BFS on the 17^th of each month, and every day on my blog at  http://scrapsofelegance.blogspot.com.

Today, I am sharing a project inspired by the colors of sea glass, and using a fiber tissue technique to create structure, texture and dimension on some of the chipboard pieces.   

Technique:   Apply gesso, or white paint, to the chipboard and allow to dry.  Then apply glue to the chipboard and tear off small pieces of the fiber issue paper and work it in and around the defined areas of the chipboard and set to dry thoroughly.  I normally add several layers, and fold and scrunch the paper as I mold the paper to the chipboard.  Once the fiber tissue paper is dried, apply clear gesso (do not use the regular opaque gesso) and let the application dry.  Apply mist in the same color family with a small paint brush in three stages starting from the lightest to the darkest color, and allow each stage to dry before continuing to the next stage.  Save the darkest color application for valleys created by the fiber tissue paper (don’t over work the valleys too much with the dark color, it should be done sparingly).  After the final application is dried, apply a light application of metallic paste on the peaks of the fiber tissue paper. To further enhance the design of the chipboard piece, use a water color pencil around the shape of the chipboard, and into very small crevices.

The small 4 x 4 canvas below is transformed by adding the pretty delicate leafy page accent chipboard using the same fiber tissue paper technique on top of a hand-cut corrugated heart. You can see the water color pencil work better on this chipboard piece.  

Check back with me here in the future, because I’ll be providing a pictorial tutorial on the fiber tissue paper technique I created on one of my future design team projects for you. 

Tip for the Day:  Use clear gesso instead of opaque gesso on your chipboard when you’re creating with light colored water based mists.  The opaque gesso acts as a resist and repels light colored water based mists, and you’ll waste your mist product. The clear gesso will absorb the color beautifully and allow you to work with lighter color mists.

Thank you!



3 Feminine projects by Evgenia Petzer

Hello wonderful scrappy friends! its Evgenia Petzer with you today, its my first post over Blue Fern Studios blog and i am so excited to join this amaizng team of ladies. I really love chipboard and the BFS designs are so close to my feminine style.

I will start by introducing myself: I am 29 years old, born and raised in Russia, but now we live in sunny South Africa, thats the native country of my husband. We have a 5 year old son and another boy we are expecting in about 2 months time. We also have a cute little yorkie and a ginger cat. I have been so lucky to design for some great manufacturers and to give lots of scrapbooking classes in Russia and here in South Africa.

I will start today with a handmade notebook/journal in a fabric cover. I love this tiffany shade of aqua now...

BFS Products used: Symphony border, Vintage Locks

Both of chipboards used here i covered with craft acrylic paint and on the symphony border i applied glossy accent afterwords, it hepls to "melt" these two colors together.

The pages inside are handdied in some tea and coffee for more vintage look.

Next is the shabby chic card:

BFS products used: Grande Cages, Leafy page accents

Both of chipboard pieces are embossed with a Zing powder, and the cage is sprinkled in between with microbeads

my parents will have soon their 30th wedding anniversary and I amde this card for them

BFS products used: Symphony corners medium, Leafy page accents

Both of the chipboards I embossed with Zing powders, mixing 2 colors on each chipboard piece.

Thank you so much for your visit! Hope you enjoyed my projects:)