Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Vintage Christmas with Cathi

I can't believe a year has flown by and it is time to finish my term here at Blue Fern Studios!! I have loved working with the amazing products and my talented fellow team members.  I am so grateful for the wonderful opportunity to design here!!  For my last post here I have made two layouts and set of cards.


My first layout features the gorgeous Vintage Christmas collection Wonderland paper. I decided to do a snowy layout and just love these colors! I chose a gorgeous wintry vintage image of a family gathering pine boughs for the holidays.


Here in this first close up I have added some layers under the photo using the Vintage Christmas 2 Calling Cards cutouts. I love the Snowflake Frame which I have embossed with Imagine Ink Icicle Embossing Powder. I've added a snowflake from the Shabby Flakes collection which has been embossed with Icicle and Cotton Candy Imagine Ink Embossing Powder. 


In this photo you can see how I've used several background stamps to build up texture. I have used the Making Plans stamp, the Crackle Textures stamp and the Coarse Fabrics stamps using various distress inks. I also edged  my chipboard with Festive Berries Distress Ink to tie into the colors of the paper.


I've used some gorgeous flowers on this layout, the beautiful red Christmas Bloom and pink Soft Blossoms. For the title of my layout I used the Wonder chipboard from the Wish Wonder Dream set, and again used Icicle Imagine Ink Embossing Powder

Blue Fern Studios Supplies:

Paper:
Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas ~Wonderland
Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas 2 ~Calling Cards

Chipboard:
Shabby Flakes
Snowflake Frame


Imagine Ink Embossing Powder:
Icicle
Cotton Candy

Stamps:
Making Plans
Coarse Fabrics
Crackle Textures

Flowers:
Christmas Blooms
Soft Blooms



My next project is a set of cards using both sides of the Vintage Christmas 2 Jolly paper. I always love to use the Calling Cards page with its gorgeous cutouts and images to make a set of cards when I can.


In my first card I used the beautiful Holiday Deer chipboard piece, embossed in Antique Gold Imagine Ink Embossing Powder. The Yours and Mine at Christmas Time actually came from the branding strip at the bottom of one of the papers!  The red and aqua flowers are part of the Christmas Blooms set while the white one is from the Soft Blooms set.  To finish off the card I used some ribbon from my stash and sewed in brown around the edge of the card.


I love the image on my next card, so much fun! I have added the Christmas Cheer sentiment from the Calling Cards paper as well.  Underneath my image I have added a bit of twine from my stash. The beautiful snowflakes are from the Let it Snow set, embossed appropriately in the Snow Imagine Ink Embossing Powder! The red flower is from the Memoires Blooms and the brown lilies are from the Winter Lilies set.  Again, I have finished off the card with some brown stitching along the edges.


For my final card, I've used the other side of the Jolly paper for the background and some papers from the Calling Cards sheet again.  The flowers are both from the Christmas Blooms set.  The foliage chipboard is from the Layering Stems set and is embossed in Sage Imagine Ink Embossing Powder. I have added some ribbon and a small pine cone from my stash and stitched along the edge to finish it off.


Blue Fern Studios Supplies:

Paper:
Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas 2~Jolly
Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas 2 ~ Calling Cards

Chipboard:
Deer Ornament
Let it Snow
Layering Stems

Imagine Ink Embossing Powder:
Antique Gold
Snow
Sage

Flowers:
Memoire Blooms
Christmas Blooms
Late Winter Lilies


My final layout for Blue Fern Studios features another vintage image and the gorgeous Vintage Christmas Let it Snow paper as its base.


In this first close up you can see the beautiful Ruth's Doily peeking out from under the photo cluster, embossed in Golden Bricks Imagine Ink Embossing Powder. I have used more of the Calling Cards cutouts tucked underneath the image to build up the layers.


I have again used more of the beautiful red Christmas Blooms flower and the chocolate brown Late Winter Lilies as my flower cluster.  I have used a Mini Flourish chipboard embossed in the Pyrite Image Ink Embossing Powder as a finishing touch on the photo cluster.


The Night Before Christmas chipboard piece has been embossed in Ruby Imagine Ink Embossing Powder and you can see the background stamping I have done featuring stamps from the Forever, Essential Textures, and Texture Circles sets.  I finished off this cluster with another Late Winter Lily. 

Blue Fern Studios Supplies:

Paper:
Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas 2~Let it Snow
Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas 2~Calling Cards

Chipboard:
Ruth's Doily
Mini Flourishes
Night Before Christmas

Imagine Ink Embossing Powder:
Golden Bricks
Ruby
Pyrite

Stamps:
Forever
Essential Textures
Texture Circles

Flowers:
Christmas Blooms
 Late Winter Lilies

I have really enjoyed my time here with Blue Fern Studios and look forward to seeing what new products and new inspiration arrive next year with the amazing new 2017 team. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a great 2017!!

Monday, December 5, 2016

Our November Sketch Challenge

Are you ready for a winner?  We are, so let's get to it and discover the lucky winner of our November Sketch Challenge.



Entry #11 is our winner.  Congratulations to Katwondoo, who created this layout for our challenge, which was to use a Blue Fern chipboard title.  As the winner, you will receive a package of Blue Fern Studios chipboard. Please send an e-mail, within the next 7 days, to {valerie(at)bluefernstudios(dot)com} to claim your prize.  Here is the precious layout she created using one of the words from our French Adjectives Set 1.  



Now we have the pleasure of sharing with you a few layouts from the entries in the November Challenge. 

The first feature this month is this dramatic layout created by Heather.  She has used several chipboard pieces, including the "A Moment in Time" title.




We would also like to feature this layout by Wendy.   Her layout is also very dramatic, but in a different sort of way.  The chipboard title, Happy, is so appropriate for this sweet photo.




Our third feature this month is a project cover by Saba.  The chipboard frame and title make such a wonderful focal point.  The paper is from our Courtship Lane collection.

 

Congratulations to our featured artists this month.  We also want to thank all of you who entered our November challenge.  It was special to see the various ways you all used our chipboard titles.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas & A Blissful Winter Season By: Renea Harrison

It is hard to believe that another year has almost come and gone! I can not believe it is now time for the end of the year Holidays and that my 2016 term with Blue Fern Studios will end with these last three, December projects. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to create for the Team , and I just want to say thank you to everyone at Blue Fern Studios for such a wonderful year of crafting!! It has truly been a pleasure!
For this first layout, I decided to capture a YUMMY, frosty, Winter look:


I used the new Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas 2 Paper Collection for this project, and started with a layer of Jolly Paper,  I then punched a layer of Let It Snow paper with a snowflake punch and distressed, texture painted and glittered the edges. I added a Victorian Angel Die Cut to the bottom corner.



Next, I added a layer of lace, 


took a  Snowflake Frame, painted it with white crackle texture paint, and then added silver seed beads to it.


I then took an Organic Vine Corner, gave it the same treatment and then started adding in my details.


I used Blue Fern Christmas Blooms, Soft Blossoms, silver leaves, and some mulberry paper flowers that I texture painted to on the frame and vine corner. I also added some real jingle bells, and 2 of my handcrafted Tiny Treasures Glistening Silver Butterflies.


To add the final, frosty touch to my layout I took some Shabby Flakes Chipboard, embossed them with Imagine Ink Icicle Embossing Powder, then puff painted the edges and added some sweet rhinestone and pearl buttons to the centers to create that Winter Shine.

Blue Fern Studios Supply List:
Paper:
Vintage Christmas 2 Collection
Let It Snow
Jolly

Chipboard:
Shabby Flakes
Organic Vine Corner
Snowflake Frame

Embossing Powder:
Icicle

Flowers:
Christmas Blooms
Soft Blossoms



For my second Blue Fern Studios December Project, I have a Vintage Christmas Layout that I created with the Vintage Christmas Paper Collection:


I took a layer of  Wonderland Paper, and I created an angled cut and then did some lacing,


with seam binding and created a large bow that I topped with a mulberry paper flower.


I then did some stenciling with texture paste to create a frosty, textural Winter look.


I then ran some lace up the side, took a Blue Fern Ruth's Doily Chipboard Piece and stipple painted it with some gesso, and added my Vintage photo which is one that I recolored and added some angel wings to.


I created a flower layer using a mulberry paper flower that I sprayed with fake snow, a Blue Fern Christmas Bloom and a Soft Blossom. I took a little bottle brush wreath, added a bow and some beads and added that to the floral layer. The handcrafted butterflies are some of my Sweet Pea Glitter Glass Butterflies.


I used a 2nd sheet of the Wonderland Paper, and cut out the tree and the top rose piece and added those onto my layout with foam tape to make the design pop. I then painted the tree with sand texture paste, added some glitter glass and beads to "decorate" it. I added more flowers to the top cut out piece as well.



Here I have a side view that shows all the texture and dimension of all the technique and layering work.

Blue Fern Studios Supply List:
Paper:
Vintage Christmas Paper Collection
Wonderland (2 Sheets)

Chipboard:
Ruth's Doily


Flowers:
Christmas Blooms
Soft Blossoms


For my third and final Blue Fern Studios Design Team project, I have a Christmas themed Book Box with Tag Album Set to share with you. I created this piece using the Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas Paper Collection. 



The book box was already a beautiful Ivory color and so I just started layering on goodies to quickly produce a wonderful Vintage Christmas look.
I used a layer of  Jolly Paper that I distressed the edges on, and then took a layer of  Let It Snow Paper, distressed the edges on it and popped it on for a double layer look. 



I added wide gold lace to the "binding" side of the book box and wrapped it around to the front over the edges of the paper layers.



I then took a Blue Fern Studios Dangled Flake Chipboard Piece, painted it with gesso, and then randomly dabbed it with embossing ink, and heat embossed it with Imagine Ink 14 Karat Embossing Powder. I cut out the candy cane piece from the Holiday Cards Paper, and mounted it in the frame, topped it with a hand dyed seam binding bow, and white mini rose, and then added one of my handcrafted Victorian Christmas Die Cuts.


Here you can see all the texture that the embossing powder adds to the frame.



At the corner of the frame, I added a mulberry paper flower, leaves and a Blue Fern Soft Blossom Flower.  I cut the "A Joyful Christmas" piece from the Holiday Cards Paper, edged it with puff paint and added some tiny jingle bells.




I added some elegant lace to the sides of the book box and created a closure tie with some more gold and white lace.



On the inside of the box, I used some Let It Snow Paper to cover the left hand side, and added more of the elegant lace. The tag album had 3 double sided tags and I got to work decorating them.


The front tag features Twas The Night Paper topped with a Holiday Cards Paper Piece, some lace, some Blue Fern Soft Blossoms, mini mulberry paper rose.


The back side is covered with the Twas The Night Paper.


The Second Tag features Holiday Treats Paper, topped with a Holiday Cards Paper piece, and some Delicate Lace.


The back side features more Holiday Treats Paper, topped with a Holiday Cards Paper piece, and some Delicate Lace.


The third tag features Twas The Night Paper, topped with Timeless Lace and a Holiday Cards Paper Piece.


And the back side features Twas The Night Paper.



I covered the back side of the book box with Jolly Paper for a finished designer look.

Blue Fern Studios Supply List:

Vintage Christmas 2 Paper Collection:
Jolly

Let It Snow
Holiday Cards
Holiday Treats
Twas The Night

Chipboard:
Dangled Flake

Imagine Ink:
14 Karat Embossing Powder

Flowers:
Soft Blossoms


I just love a Vintage Christmas look and Blue Fern Products make it easy to capture that look and add in all the perfect details!! I hope that you have enjoyed my work for Blue Fern Studios as much as I have enjoyed working with their gorgeous products!! Hugs ~Renea 





Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Three Christmas Layouts with Karine

Hi there,

It's Karine here today to share with you three Christmas layouts! 

I must admit I'm not a big fan of Christmas scrapbooking, but when I recieved my last Blue Fern Studios package, I was thrilled! Both Vintage Christmas and Vintage Christmas 2 collections are simply wonderful! So let's start with my first layout.

Twinkle


I started out with the Deck The Halls paper from Vintage Christmas. I wanted to go with a traditional color combo with this one, and the red in the paper immediately spoke to me. I also used some of the cards from the Greeting Cards paper, also from Vintage Christmas, to layer under my photo. 


I used the beautiful Tree Toys chipboards on my layout. I embossed it with Imagine Ink Lime embossing powder. While the powder was still hot, I sprinkled some Imagine Ink Vintage Gold glitter. I love the beautiful effect it gave.



To embellish around my photo, I used the beautiful Attic Charm Glitter Roses, as they come with beautiful gold glitter and the colors matched perfectly my layout. I also used two Harvest Lilies.


Finally, my title piece comes from the Winter Titles set. I treated it the same way as the other chipboards.



Magical



My second layout is called Magical. For this one, I wanted a more elegant look, so I choose the Wonderland paper, from Vintage Christmas. I aslo used a piece of the Calling Cards paper from Vintage Christmas 2 to layer underneath my photo.


I treated my background with golden brown ink. I used the Forever stamps set to add a little bit of interest to the background.


I used the Winter Flakes chipboards on my layout. I covered them with silver embossing powder. 


My title piece comes from the Winter Titles set. I covered it with ginger Imagine Ink embossing powder.


Sparkle


I went a bit over the top with my last layout. I started with the Let it Snow paper from the Vintage Christmas 2 collection. I layered pieces of the 'Twas the Night and Calling Cards papers, also from the Vintage Christmas 2 collection.



My layout is built around the beautiful Bubbles and Bows chipboard. I treated it with an embossing powder containing some green and gold flakes.


All through my flower cluster, I used the Berry Stems chipboards. They were covered with Imagine Ink Sea Mist embossing powder. 


Look at this beautiful Santa image! Isn't it lovely?


Amongst all flowers, I used one of the Christmas Blooms. You can see it in the picture above.


My title piece, part of the Winter Titles set again, is covered with Imagine Ink Ginger embossing powder and while the powder was still hot, I sprinkled some Imagine Ink Vintage Gold glitter. 

I hope my layouts help you catch a little bit of Christmas spirit.