Spring Is In the Air!!

 Hi, Lisa here with 3 new layouts. Spring is in the air, and that means the flowers bloom and gardens flourish. To get you in the mood for spring I used lots of flowers and spring colors. Blue Fern Studios has lots of floral inspired chipboard for your projects.

 On the first layout I used the Graduated Circles to frame my photo. I painted it with acrylic paint and after it was dry, used glossy accents on it to stick my micro beads to.

Once the frame was dry, I added some Doodle Flowers to the circle. I primed the Doodle Flowers with white gesso, then sprayed them with mist, then I topped each with a rhinestone.

 I used the Angel eyes word from the Spiritually Speaking set. I used the same colors and technique as on the Doodle Flowers.

On this next layout, I used the Best Of Times chipboard frame from the Memory Frames set.  The design was inspired by using the April Blue Fern Studios Sketch Challenge. It is a beauty, so give it a go and you'll have a chance to win some beautiful Blue Fern Studios chipboard!

The paper I used is Blue Fern Gardens. I did a little mixed media with gesso, ink and masks for the background.

For the frame, I primed it with gesso, then colored it using  Gelatos in 2 colors, spritzed it with water, and rubbed it into the frame.

I used the Mini Ring Things in various parts of the page. The little heart is one of the pieces  from the Blue Fern Bits. Don't throw away those pieces that fall off of your Blue Fern Panels chipboard, they make great little fillers.

 Here is a close up of the Memory Frame, and a border from the the Doily Bunting set.

This next layout was put together in 30 minutes. I practically closed my eyes and just started throwing things onto my paper.  I let the Blue Fern Studios chipboard dictate the design. I used a brick mask to mimic the Shabby Brick Bits, the word Believe from the Spiritually Speaking set to evoke emotion from the beautiful photo I found on Tumbler (I know the last name of the photographer is Mueller) and the Spring Branch to signify the season. I simply am in love with concrete angels.

I primed the word with gesso and sprayed it using 2 coats and drying it in between each coat.

 
I primed the Spring Branch with gesso. Once it was dry. I sprayed the leaves  using my mists and then painted the branch part with acrylic paint. Then I used a pearl pen in the same brown'gold color and rubbed it into the branch. I did the same with the brick bits.

Thank you for joining me for my April Blog Post. I hope you have been inspired. Until next time, Happy Spring!!

April Sketch Challenge!

Hello and welcome to a new month and a new sketch challenge!

We're so happy you've come by and we sure hope you can play along with us this month. As usual, we've got a beautiful sketch, a load of designer inspiration, and of course some goodies to be won! So bookmark or pin this one now because you don't want to miss out :)

April Sketch

This one can easily be flipped or turned to suit your photo! 

Let's check out what the designers have come up with:

Joyce Lawrence

 Rae Moses

Camilla Ekman

Jelissa Mei

Maja Stokk

Jackie Clark

Lisa Griffith

Leila Cardoso

Patter Cross

And we have a brand NEW batch of goodies for you too- including some of our NEWEST designs, hot off the press! Take a look at what one lucky randomly drawn winning participant will win from this month's sketch challenge:

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 OR use Blue Fern Studios paper on your project. Please note that you do not need to use the pieces featured in the sketch- use whatever suits your fancy! You can find the store nearest you HERE. {Do not use any other brand of chipboard on your project please!}

3.) Upload your project using the Inlinkz tool below by midnight EST on April 30th, 2014.

We look forward to your entries!

An InLinkz Link-up

Designer Inspiration: JOY!

It's time for another dose of designer inspiration from the team, and today we have a theme for you!

Today, our projects all evoke a feeling of {JOY}.

I hope they will bring a smile to your face...and perhaps inspire you to create your own happy project! :)

Evgenia Petzer

Jelissa Mei

**Jelissa has a step-by-step tutorial on this layout! You can see it {HERE}**

Joyce Lawrence

Kelly Foster

Keren Tamir

Maja Stokk

Marie-Josee Hamel

Patter Cross

Yuko Tanaka

Thank-you for visiting and getting a daily dose of inspiration from the Blue Fern Studios Designers :)

We hope you have a joyful day!!

{3} Creations from Patter

Today I have three different projects for you—a card, an altered binder, and a layout. All three creations use the new Blue Fern Garden papers. I hope you have had a chance to try them. They are truly wonderful! Now let's look at my creations.

The Card
For my card today, I used the Blue Fern Garden Signature paper. I wanted to create a card that left the paper 'as is' but made it come alive if that makes sense. I did use some of the Blue Fern Garden Timeless paper too for the die cut leaves on the card.

I also used the Little Bird Set chipboard and hid the bird among the flowers. To color him, I added some distress ink, a little Sharpie for the beak, and a pearl for the eye.

Blue Fern Products Used:

Blue Fern Garden Signature

Blue Fern Garden Timeless

Little Bird Set

The Binder
I needed a new recipe binder so I thought I would alter this 3-ring binder and turn it into my new recipe binder. I used the Blue Fern Garden Parlour and Calling Cards papers along with the Beaded Strings chipboard.

To color the chipboard, I put on a layer of gesso followed by some Shimmerz Texturez. Once that was dry, I randomly painted on some Luminarte Twinkling H2Os to match the papers.

Blue Fern Products Used:

Blue Fern Garden Parlour

Blue Fern Garden Calling Cards

Beaded Strings

Sweet
And finally, here is my 8 1/2 x 11 layout. I used the March Blue Fern Studios sketch challenge for my page. There is still time for you to play along, so I hope you will join in the fun. Click the sketch at the top of the right column for details.

I used three of the new Blue Fern Garden papers—In Bloom, Boudoir, and Calling Cards. I also used three different pieces of chipboard—Shabby Brick Bits, Blue Fern Bits (hearts), and the title is from the Valentine Word Set.

To color the Shabby Brick chipboard, I randomly painted on some gesso. I wanted to leave some of it raw since I was coloring the other chipboard on the page. For the Blue Fern Bits (the hearts), I used some embossing powder and various paints to get a glossy and bumpy look. I painted the title from the Valentine Word set with acrylic paint.

Blue Fern Products Used:

Blue Fern Garden Boudoir

Blue Fern Garden Calling Cards

Blue Fern Garden In Bloom

Shabby Brick Bits

Blue Fern Bits

Valentine Word Set

Thanks for stopping by, and remember to join us in the March sketch challenge! Blessings,

Pink & Blue with Leila Cardoso

Hello Ladies

Leila's here today to show you 2 projects using the gorgeous Blue Fern Studios products, chippies and papers.

The first one is a blue layout 12x12, Boys will be Boys...

The circles I applied a layer of gesso and then with a brush applied  blue ink irregularly.

In the title I made the same thing with the circles, then applied some colorless relief.

BFS products:

Blue Fern Garden collection - Parlour paper

Graduated Circles

Boys will be boys

My second project for this month is a pink paper craft bag for gifts, I customize it with stencil, modeling past and spray ink, put some piece of paper and other little cute things...

Here I used the chippie with no change...

And this I colored with acrilic paint and put some spray ink and little drops...

BFS products:

Blue Fern Garden collection - Boudoir paper

Blue Fern Garden collection - Calling cards

Symphony border

Natural Sprigs set

So, this it is! Thanks for stopping by.

xoxo

Leila

March Projects w/Erin Blegen

Hello :)

Erin Blegen here today to share my March projects with you. I always enjoy varying my projects each month, so today I have for you a layout, a card, and a tag...a little bit of something for everyone.

Let's get started :)

"Always"

The large panels available from Blue Fern Studios like this "Number Grid" one are so great for working with 12" x 12" layouts. I like to cut mine up and make them suit my design. 

I painted the panel white before randomly dabbing it with embossing ink, sprinkling with Stampendous "Shabby Pink Embossing Enamel", and setting with a heat gun. I love the pretty pink and textured bits splattered throughout the chipboard to mimic my background.

Blue Fern Studios Products Used:

Number Grid

"Different" Card

As like anyone who has ever used chipboard before, sometimes the raw look just suits the project best. Here I've used a few various pieces and have simply dabbed them randomly with a Prima white chalk edger pad before adding them to my project. Combined with some of the more subtle Blue Fern Studios papers, I created a neutral, monochromatic look which I love.

Blue Fern Studios Products Used:

Blue Fern Garden "Love Letters"

Blue Fern Garden "Calling Cards"

Checker Bits

Film Strips

Eclectic Hearts

"Love" Tag

 Sometimes downsizing a chipboard piece can give you exactly what you need for a particular project. Here I've taken the middle out of the "Helen's Doily" to beautifully accent this tag. Primed with gesso, covered with a Prima "Shabby Tote" chalk edger pad, and adorned with pearls :) The Blue Fern Garden "Picnic" paper was whitewashed with gesso to make it a little bit more subtle in order to achieve the look I was going for.

Blue Fern Studios Products Used:

Blue Fern Garden "Picnic"

Blue Fern Garden "Calling Cards"

Helen's Doily

That's it for me! I hope you enjoyed :)

Don't forget about our March Sketch Challenge- still plenty of time to play along!