Celebrating My Freedom To Create This 4th Of July By: Renea Harrison

Happy 4th Of July!!! I hope this Independence Day finds those of you who celebrate, enjoying time with your family and friends, and enjoying so many of the freedoms that we as American's have.

Today, I am celebrating my freedom to create in three different styles. First up is a Shabby Chic layout that I created using the Blue Fern Studios Courtship Lane Paper Collection. 

I started with a layer of Blue Fern Studios Courtship Lane~Main Street Paper, and then layered on another layer of Courtship Lane Bourbon Avenue Paper, that I did some stenciling with texture paste, corner rolling and distressing on. I then added a layer of lace and then took more of the paper collection and created a matte for my photo.

At the corner of my photo, I took a Blue Fern Studios Courtship Violin Chipboard Piece, and crackle painted the violin portion of the piece, letting it air dry to get a deep crackle finish, and then I rubbed different layers of purple and lavender ink over the top to bring out the textures.

I then colored the greenery part of the piece with markers, and then used an embossing ink dabber to randomly add in, and  coated it with some Imagine Ink Sage Embossing Powder to get a raised two tone surface.

I then added some mulberry flowers, a daisy from the Blue Fern Attic Charm Flower Collection, some burlap string bows and a sweet metal heart.

Next, I took some Blue Fern Garden Lattice Bits, coated them in embossing ink, and then coated them with Imagine Ink Mystic Purple Embossing Powder, heat set the powder, and added on some pearl accents, and placed the bits randomly around the edges of my layout.

I added some more mulberry flowers to the top lattice piece along with some a matching burlap string bow. To top my piece off, I added in some of my handcrafted Dragonflies for dimension.

Here with this side shot, you can see all the dimension and texture that those amazing Blue Fern Products can help you create!!

Blue Fern Studio Supply List:
Paper:
Courtship Lane~Main Street
Courtship Lane~Bourbon Street

Chipboard:
Courtship Violin

Garden Lattice Bits

Imagine Ink:
Mystic Purple Embossing Powder
Sage Embossing Powder

For my second project this month, I wanted to create something with a bit more of a grunge feel to it. I love playing with color and inks, and sometimes like to challenge myself to create without using flowers or the more feminine embellishments that most work that I see contains. It challenges me to step outside the box and to be more creative, and I love that the Blue Fern products allow me to still create something amazing and visually stimulating without having to grab a package of flowers, or any fluff.

I started with a layer of Blue Fern Tranquility~Calm Paper,  and then layered on a second layer of Blue Fern Tranquility~Patience Paper, tearing the right side, and heavily inking that edge, then layered on a 3rd layer of Blue Fern Tranquility Serenity Paper, that I distressed and inked the edges on, and then tore and heavily inked the right side edge, layering it over the 2nd layer, so that the 2nd layer so that it peeked out, then layered in some film strip transparencies. I then used texture paste and a stencil to create the raised texture on the paper, spraying it with 3 different layers of spray stain to capture the colors I used in the layout.

I created a background layer by taking corrugated cardboard and spraying it with 3 different layers of spray stain, and then inking the edges. I grabbed a Blue Fern Grunge Frame,

and first stained it with a brown color, then used a clear embossing ink dabber randomly, added coated it with Imagine Ink Seven Seas Embossing Powder, and heat set it, then randomly dabbed with the clear ink again, coated it with Imagine Ink Peackock Embossing Powder, heat set it and then inked back over the whole piece. I then distressed and inked the edges of my photo and added it on.

The clock pieces are Blue Fern Small Roman Clocks that I stained and layered in.

Here you can see all the dimension of all the layering in that I did with the gorgeous Blue Fern papers and embellishments.

The "Story" piece o my layout is a chipboard piece from the Blue Fern~Story, Fairytale, Magic Set. For this piece I inked it in 2 different colors, randomly dabbed it with an embossing ink dabber and then coated it with Imagine Ink Copper Embossing Powder, and heat set it~YUM!!

For the finishing touches I rolled some of the paper scraps and tied them with burlap string bows, added some More of the film strips, a paper button and some metal accents. I just love those blues and browns in the Tranquility line, so bold and so perfectly grungy!!

Blue Fern Studios Supply List:

Paper:
Tranquility~Patience
Tranquility~Calm
Tranquility~Serenity

Chipboard:
Small Roman Clocks
Grunge Frame
Story, Fairytale, Magic Set

Imagine Ink:

Seven Seas Embossing Powder
Peacock Embossing Powder
Copper Embossing Powder

For my final project this month, I decided to do a Mini Album with a Magical Fairy Theme using the Blue Fern Studios Attic Charm Paper Collection:

I used a gate fold album that was perfect for using the Blue Fern Royal Gate Chipboard to create a piece where the gate actually opens. The cover was layered with Blue Fern Attic Charm~Haberdashery Paper.

A Side View.

I did a crackle finish on the gate and then heat embossed it with Imagine Ink Pearl Embossing Powder, and then over inked it with a gold color.

The edges of the album are coated in a pink Glitter Glass. The "Magic" piece is from the Blue Fern Story, Fairytale, Magic Chipboard Set. I heat embossed the piece with a mixture of  Imagine Ink Honey & Buttercup Embossing Powders, and then went over the edges with some green ink to highlight it.

I added flower and feather details. The Daisy, and small green flower are from the Blue Fern Attic Charm Daisies and Courtship Blooms Flower Collections.

When you open the right side of the gate. you are greeted with a Blue Fern Attic Charm Calling Card.

When you open up the whole album, it folds out to a large sectional that is layered with Blue Fern Attic Charm~Curio Paper, lace and a large Blue Fern Gazebo Chipboard Piece that I painted white. The edges are done out in Imagine Ink Blue Ice Glitter.

Page 1 and 2  are covered in Blue Fern Attic Charm~Spring Posy Paper, with pockets created from Attic Charm~Foyer Paper, along with 3 pull outs and a booklet piece created from the Attic Charm~Calling Cards Paper. Details include: lace and a sweet bunny from the Blue Fern Chipboard All Natural Set that I painted white.

Pages 3 and 4  feature Attic Charm~Foyer Paper, and a Blue Fern Attic Stairs Chipboard Piece that I heat embossed with Imagine Ink Oatmeal Embossing Powder.

Pages 5 & 6 feature Attic Charm~Generation Paper, and have to heart doily accents.

Pages 6 & 7 are covered in Attic Charm~Generation Paper, and lace.

Pages 8 & 9 are covered in Attic Charm~Attire Paper, and the page 9 features a Blue Fern Lace Round Chipboard Piece that was heat embossed with Imagine Ink Sage Embossing Powder.

Pages 10 & 11 feature Attic Charm~Calling Card Paper, with Calling Card Cut Outs for accents, along with a garden fairy die cut and a wildflower from the Blue Fern All Natural Chipboard Set that I colored the stem with a marker and then inked the flower head on.

The last set of pages gives you this fold out appearance that matches the the very 1st fold out section using Attic Charm~Curio Paper.

The back of the album is covered in Attic Charm~Spring Posy Paper with the edges finished out in glitter glass.

I hope that you have enjoyed all of my projects this 4th of July, and that you find the time to to grab some of those YUMMY Blue Fern products for yourself, and celebrate your freedom to create!! Hugs ~Renea

Blue Fern Studios Product List:
Paper:
Attic Charm Papers~
Attic Charm
Haberdashery
Curio
Spring Posy
Foyer
Generation
Calling Cards
Attire

Chipboard:
Gazebo
Royal Gate
Magic (from Story, Fairytale, Magic Set)
Bunny (from All Natural Set)
Attic Stairs
Lace Round
Wildflower (from All Natural Set)

Flowers:
Attic Charm Daisies
Courtship Blooms

Imagine Ink:
Embossing Powders:
Breeze
Pearl
Sage
Honey
Buttercup
Oatmeal
Imagine Ink:
Blue Ice Glitter

Three Projects~Three Different Looks Using The Blue Fern Studios Tranquility Collection By: Renea Harrison

For my first Project, I teamed up the Blue Fern Studios May Sketch with the newest Paper Release Tranquility. I love this paper collection!! The natural, slightly grungy paper designs allowed me to capture one of my FAV looks, Country Chic!!
The following is this month's sketch, and you can join in on the sketch challenge here:
http://bluefernstudios.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-sketch-challenge.html

And here is my take on the sketch:

I started with 2 layers of the Blue Fern Tranquility Papers that I distressed heavily and did some random punching on.

Here you can see where I did some peek a boos of with lace.

I created another layer with distressed and inked paper to matt out my photo, and added a metal lock to make it look like the photo was latched to the papers. 

I then took a Blue Fern Wallflower Stamp, and stamped the pattern randomly onto my background paper. I love doing this kind of stamping, it adds the illusion of even more depth and allows you to bring in coordinating colors into your design.

Next, I took some Blue Fern Leafy Page Accents Chipboard and 1st heat embossed the pieces with Imagine Ink Oatmeal Embossing Powder, and then took an embossing dabber and inked just the edges and dipped them in Imagine Ink Peacock Embossing Ink, and heat set it.
I then added a Blue Fern Roses and Lillies Flower, and a couple of stash flowers. creating a floral piece at the top corner of my photo.

I added strips of the papers that I distressed and inked, and then over layered them with a piece of Blue Fern Scalloped Border Chipboard that was heat embossed with Imagine Ink Mushroom Embossing Powder, and cut it into two pieces so that I could layer a piece here, and 

a piece at the bottom of my photo. I added more flowers and lace and some of my hand crafted Peacock Feather Dragonflies and more lace. 

For the large floral piece at the bottom left hand corner of my photo, I used a Blue Fern Leafy Bough Chipboard, and did the same 2 tone embossing that I did on the page accents. I then added on a Blue Fern Roses and Lillies Flower, and a couple of stash flowers.

Blue Fern Studios Supply List:

Paper:

Tranquility-Calm

Tranquility-Serenity

Tranquility-Jubilation

Chipboard:

Scalloped Border
Leafy Bough
Leafy Page Accents

Stamp:
Wallflower

Flowers:

Tranquility Roses & Lillies

Imagine Ink:

Oatmeal Embossing Powder
Mushroom Embossing Powder
Peacock Embossing Powder

I love working with natural fibers, colors and subject matter, and the new Blue Fern Tranquility Collection has the perfect colors for layering in with those natural accents!! This second project is a layout that I created that expresses my love for nature, and creates a Hushed Tranquility: 

The background layer is Blue Fern Tranquility Blissful Paper, and the 2nd layer is the Blue Fern Jubilation Paper that has been distressed heavily along the edges.

I used some Burlap Fabric that I cut down and frayed the edges on for a photo matte, added my photo and then topped it with a Blue Fern Treasured Floral Frame

 that I first inked then dabbed with embossing ink and heat embossed with Imagine Ink Oatmeal Embossing Ink, adding on some mulberry paper flowers for accents.

Here you can see all the detail on the frame.

I just love the wood grain feel of this paper!

At the top corner of my layout, I added a large Blue Fern Tranquility Roses and Lillies Flower , a Blue Fern Courtships Flower,  feathers, some stash mulberry paper flowers, and then took some of the pieces that I frayed off the burlap fabric tied them together and tucked them in.
My hand crafted Secret Garden Butterflies contained the perfect colors to accent with!

For the bricks that you see throughout this layout, I used the Blue Fern Shabby Brick Bits that I cut into pieces embossed with Imagine Ink Nutmeg Embossing Powder, and then dabbed embossing ink randomly onto them, sprinkled them with Imagine Ink Oatmeal Embossing Powder, and heat set that. I then took some of the centers and painted them with some sand texture paste and put them back into the skeletons. 

I added some of the texture painted bricks to the peek a boo at the bottom as well.

For the large flower layer, I added more feathers, more burlap strings, some more of the Blue Fern Tranquil and Courtship Flowers, a sweet bird nest, a burlap daisy and more mulberry paper flowers.

For the title work, I used another chipboard piece from the Leafy Page Accents, and a Blue Fern Hushed from the Serenity, Calm, Hushed Word Chipboard Set.

I first heat embossed the pieces with Imagine Ink Oatmeal Embossing Powder, and then did some random embossing on the Hushed piece with Imagine Ink Breeze Embossing Powder, and added flower accents.

Here you can see all the dimension and textures that I achieved using all of the Blue Fern Studios Products.

Blue Fern Studios Supply List:

Paper:
Tranquility-Blissful

Tranquility-Jubilation

Chipboard:

Treasured Floral Frame

Shabby Brick Bits

Leafy Page Accents

Serenity, Calm, Hushed, Set (I used Hushed)

Flowers:

Tranquil Blooms

Courtship Blooms

Imagine Ink:

Oatmeal Embossing Powder
Nutmeg Embossing Powder
Breeze Embossing Powder

For my last Blue Fern Studios Project this month, I have a Vintage look pocket journal to share with you. I used the new Tranquility Paper Collection and lots of YUMMY Blue Fern goodies to put this one together with. 

For the base of the folder I took a piece of the Blue Fern Tranquility-Blissful Paper,  folded it in half to get a Width of 6 Inches, and cut it down to a 9 Inch Length, and then cut out an angle so that I could glue the edges and form my pocket for all my tuck ins.
I added lace down the side, 

and then took a Blue Fern Parisian Ornament, and first coated it with Imagine Ink Pearl Embossing Powder, and then top coated it with Imagine Ink Snow Embossing Powder. Both layers were heat seat and the double layer gave me the look of aged white, Wrought Iron-love it!!!

I added on a Blue Fern Calling Card from the Tranquility paper that I distressed the edges on.
Next came some Blue Fern Tranquil & Courtship Blooms, along with some mulberry paper flowers and leaves. I added a sweet metal, handmade tag and one of my hand crafted Tiny Treasures Emmie's Dream Butterflies. 

At the fop corner of my pocket, I added a Baroque Metal Frame and filled it with more flowers. Added a Vintage look metal clip that I took some of the paper with the word "stillness" on it and mounted it under the glass cabochon.

Here you can see all the tuck ins that I created using the Blue Fern Tranquility Calling Cards. They include:
2 Large Double Sided Pull Outs
1-Folded Piece
2-Smaller Note Cards

Thank you so much for the visit!! I hope that you have enjoyed all of my May projects, and that you get a chance to grab some of those amazing Blue Fern Products and create something beautiful for yourself!! Until next time, 
Hugs ~Renea

Blue Fern Studios Supply List:

Paper:

Tranquility-Stillness

Tranquility-Hushed

Tranquility-Calling Cards

Chipboard:

Persian Ornament

Flowers:
Tranquility Blooms

Courtship Blooms

Imagine Ink:

Snow Embossing Powder

Pearl Embossing Powder