2 Bright and Bold Layouts

Hello, Jackie here today to share my February design team projects, including one with the new Blue Fern Garden papers. I was so excited to receive these papers; they are so beautiful I almost couldn't bear to cut into them. Almost. I did get over it, and had a lot of fun in the process.

I love the lattice pattern of the Love Letters paper, and started by cutting it out with an X-acto knife, then used the pattern on the background Signature paper dictate how I trimmed the lattice. I wanted to leave the lovely birdcage and doily in the bottom right and the flowers and flourishes in the top left corners visible.

I glued the lattice down, then applied all my media overtop to make it an organic part of my background.

Lots of Blue Fern Studios chipboard scattered throughout. Frames are a great way to highlight a focal point on your photo; here I printed a second copy of the photo and fussy cut my son and the swing out of it and adhered it over the frame to bring movement to the picture. Of the three of us in the picture, there is no doubt who is the focal person (even more helpful when the photo is not particularly flattering of my eldest son and I). I started by rubbing a candle on the chipboard to create a bit of a resist, then painted and splattered on various coordinating colours of watercolour paints for a fun, artsy feel.

In addition to the lattice, there are lots of layers of paper and media on my background. I didn't want to cover these completely with additional layers of paper, but did want to add some additional bulk behind the photo; the Shabby Brick Bits were ideal for this purpose, and grounded the photo and cluster while allowing the background to peek through. I simply painted the chipboard with two coats of gesso, then added stamping and splattering.

Your chipboard doesn't always have to be the focal point of your layout. I needed a little something to bulk up my cluster, and this butterfly, painted randomly with watercolours, fit the bill perfectly.

With such a busy background, I wanted to make my title bold and simple to help it really stand out. A simple coat of black watercolour paint did the trick. I mounted the title on top of the flowers in my cluster with some wet adhesive.

Products Used

- Blue Fern Garden Signature paper

- Blue Fern Garden Love Letters paper

- Blue Fern Garden Calling Cards paper

- Shabby Brick Bits chipboard

- Picture Perfect chipboard

- The Optimist Word Set chipboard

- Icons Set One chipboard

I had so much fun playing around with this next layout. I love this picture of my middle son, and the look of disdain on his face, and wanted to use chipboard to draw the eye in to the photo.

The Graduated Circles were perfect for the task. I started by colouring the piece with a white Gelato, then built up additional colours with Gelatos and finished the whole thing off with random spots of coordinating embossing powder. I would later use the Graduated Circle as a frame for my clusters, which keeps the eyes moving around the centre of the page.

The Tattered Diamond Bits ground the photo within the circle, preventing it from looking as though it is just floating there. I started by heat embossing them with a weathered embossing powder, then added in Gelatos in orange and brown to marry it to my colour scheme.

For the title, I painted it with gesso and my finger, leaving texture behind, then misted it randomly to achieve an ombre effect.

And last but not least, a pop of purple to coordinate with the purple in the photo.

Products Used

- Never A Dull Moment chipboard

- Graduated Circles chipboard

- Tattered Diamond Bits chipboard

- Seaside Seashells chipboard

Thank you for stopping by today! 

Valerie Shares a Little Bit of Love

Hi all.  It's February, so it's only natural to think of love.  My parent's just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.  Instead of a card, I wanted to make a canvas for them.  I chose the beautiful Ornate Frame to use in the background.  It's a large piece of chipboard, but it works great for a project like this.

I primed the chipboard with gesso, then applied pink paint, and some Shimmerz Dazzlerz.  While it was still wet, I also sprinkled it with white glitter.  When dry, I used some ink around the edges.

I am having such a great time creating with the Blue Fern Garden paper collection.  I love the beautiful colors and attention to detail in the backgrounds.  This is one of my absolute favorites from the collection.

If you're like me, you often have problems coming up with a title, or would like something different.  The Blue Fern chipboard words are the perfect solution.  I wanted this title to stand out against the background, so I painted it brown, and used some dimensional adhesive to lift it off the page just a little.  It really adds some depth, and it's a nice change from alphabet stickers.

Here is a closer look at the heart from the Winter Page Dangles set of three.  This photo also gives you a closer look at the detail in the paper.  I primed the chipboard with gesso, and then painted it with Distress Stain.  It wasn't quite the color I wanted, so I also used some red ink.  It was finished off with a few pearls and some Inka Gold (Old Silver). 

Thanks for stopping by today and letting me share my projects with you.  Jackie is up tomorrow, so be sure to stop by and see what she has been creating.  ~~~Valerie

My First Post by Leila Cardoso

Hello Ladies

Here's my first post and I would like to say that I am excited to be part of this wonderful team and work with Blue Fern Studios chipboard and papers.

I'm 37, married, mother of 2 amazing kids (12 and 6 years old), my great source of inspiration. I live in Araruama - Rio de Janeiro / Brazil.

I started scrapbooking in October 2010 and never more stopped,. I just love this incredible paper world.

You can see more of my work on my blog: http://lolo-artesanato.blogspot.com.br/

Let's see what I have to show today???

Layout "Adorable"

I painted the chipboard with blue pen "Tombow"...

Blue Fern products used:

-Blue Fern Garden Parlour 

-Blue Fern Garden Timeless

-Turkish bits

-Good vibes

Layout "Treasure the Moment"

I put some gesso on chipboard pieces and them some pink gelatos...

Blue Fern products used:

-Blue Fern Garden Boudoir

-Blue Fern Garden In Bloom

-Blue Fern Garden Calling Cards

-Treasure the Moment

-Eclectic Hearts

If you have not seen the sketch this month, it is worth checking out as it is gorgeous...

Card "Follow your Bliss"

I painted the chipboard with metallic gelatos in gold color...

Blue Fern products used:

-Blue Fern Garden Parlour

-Broken Rings

Thanks for stopping by here today, hope you have enjoyed and been inspired!!!

xoxo

Leila

Blue Fern Garden with Camilla

I am so excited to show you my first layout and card using the brand new paper collection from Blue Fern Studios. And of course I have used some fabulous Blue Fern Studios chipboards as well.

For my layout I have used one of the papers as background. I have cut out a piece of another to use as layers behind the photos. The paper stripes are actually the pieces I have cut of from the papers I have used. The chipboards you see on the layout are also new. I have only painted them in white.

Here you see one of the Charmed Page Dangles.

And here you see one of the Beaded Strings.

This is the card I made using the papers. 

It is the Jeweled Page Baubles and one of the Eclectic Hearts. I have painted them with white gesso, then smeared on some blue, stamped with black ink and finished with some glossy accents.

Make sure to check back to see some more inspiration from the design team.

Camilla

January Sketch Challenge WINNER & Top 3 Features!!

Good morning :)

Today is always an exciting day because we get to make someone a lucky WINNER, and three others our esteemed FEATURES of the previous month's sketch challenge!

We were so pleased with the beautiful entries we received and cannot thank you enough for sharing your artistry with us. We hope you have a chance to play along this month too!

Let's start with our lucky randomly drawn winner of the January Sketch Challenge prize package:

CONGRATS to Teresa A.!!!!!!!!!!!

We're so excited for you, Teresa! Thanks for playing along!

Please email me {erin@bluefernstudios.com} within 7 days to claim your prize.

A reminder of the chipboard prize pack we offered up in January:

And now, let's take a moment to admire our Top 3 Features!

Krystle Thomas

We LOVE the way Krystle used our January sketch to create this awesome 2-page layout! What an excellent use of our Page Chains- the clean, crisp design of this double pager makes its a stunner!

Marina Gridasova

We loved Marina's soft, neutral color palette and masked details. And it's always inspiring to see how certain elements from our sketches are re-created in different ways, and the hanging baubles that Marina has incorporated here were pure perfection!

Beatrice Lawson

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Beatrice has created a bold, classy layout using red and black. There are so many great details to admire here!!

Congrats again to our lucky prize winner, and to our fabulous features :)

Play along with us this month! We have another GREAT prize to be won and, as always, an inspiring sketch to work with. See you there!

A Blue Fern Garden layout, Tiny Mini, and a journaling entry.

Hi, Lisa here today, and I will be sharing with you 3 different projects. A 12x12 layout, a tiny mini and a journaling entry to my journal book. The Blue Fern garden paper line is just my style. I love the colors, the patterns and the images of the vintage roses are my favorite!!
Here is my 12x12 layout.

 I used  the Tattered Diamond Bits scattered over the layout. and to frame the photo, used the Beaded Strings to frame the photo. Both were painted with white acrylic paint then sprayed with Radiant Rains Mist while the paint was still wet. I added some pearls to the little circles on the frame. 

I did the same paint and mist treatment on the Memory Frames. When the acrylic is still wet, and it is sprayed, it leaves a gorgeous weathered look on the chipboard.

The next project I would like to share with you is my tiny mini. I adapted the pattern from a couple of Post It Notes Covers that I did a couple of years ago. The difference is I created pages for the inside using the beautiful Blue Fern Garden paper rather than using Post It Notes.

I used Viva Color Crackle paint on the Iron Works Accents. Once the the paint dried and crackles, I painted Silks Acrylic Glaze in Olive Vine over it. I wrapped the piece of chipboard over around the book binding before painting to prevent cracking.

Here is the detailed chipboard wrapped around the book binding. I created a small charm to hang from the eyelet I punched on top of the mini before I place the inside pages in.

 Here is peek inside the book. I fussy cut some of the paper to get the images centered perfectly. Then cut out all of the words in back of the paper and used them on each of the pages in the mini.

I used a corner punch on some of the pages in the mini.

Here is a close up of the mini with the seam binding ribbon closure. I used Silks acrylic paint to color the seam binding.

And finally I created another journal entry for my mixed media journal I am working on. I used the February sketch and took some of the elements in the design and applied it to the pages.

 This is the left side of the journal entry.

 This is the right side of the journal entry.

I painted the Berry Stems with Silks acrylic paint and after it dries, I dotted the tiny circles with glue and sprinkled microbeads of the glue. Once it dried, I sprayed a clear acrylic sealer over the entire chipboard in place to secure the beads.

Here are 2 of the smaller Berry Stems in the set.

The Always and Forever chipboard quote is treated the same way I did the Iron Work Accents in the mini.

For the 2 hearts from the Heart Set, I painted it with white acrylic paint and then sprayed them with Radiant Rains Shimmering Mist in Grapefruit Pink while the acrylic paint is still wet.

 

Thank you for stopping by to see my projects this month. The Blue Fern Garden paper collection is my all time favorite right now!!! I adore each and every piece and design!!