July Projects from Melinda Thompson

Hi Blue Fern Studio Fans,

I have 2 layouts to share with you all today as well as 2 cards all created from the Deja Vu Collection.  Such a gorgeous soft collection with drama all thrown in together.

"Kiss"

Lots of gorgeous chipboard pieces on this layout which I love to layer for an eye catching effect.

I have outlined a few pieces with a white correction marker pen...what a cool effect it gave!

Paper: Deja Vu: Luminaires, Lustre & Petite Cartes

Chipboard: Brackets, Eclectic Hearts, Heart Hugs, Shabby Brick Bits, Seasonal Wildflowers, Doodle Flowers

"Dream Baby"

Paper: Deja Vu: Un Voyage A Paris, Petite Cartes

Chipboard:  Treasured Floral Frame, Fancy Fob Watch Chain, XOXO (Hearts)

Paper:  Deja Vu: Lustre

Chipboard: Deja Vue Luminaires Chippies, Chelsea Vines

 Paper: Deja Vu: Petite Cartes

Chipboard: Deja Vu Chandelier Chippie

Thanks so much for stopping by today...happy crafting!

Till next time

Melinda Thompson

Sketch Challenge Winner & Featured Layouts

Let's start off this post by announcing the winner of our June Sketch Challenge.  The winner is entry #16, which belongs to Jessika of Sweden, who has won an assortment of Blue Fern Studios chipboard!  Jessika, please send me an e-mail, within the next 7 days, to {valerie(at)bluefernstudios(dot)com} to claim your prize.

 Take a look at this happy layout Jessika created using pieces of the Waterworks Frame chipboard piece.

The sketch challenge entries this month were outstanding!  There were so many awesome projects to choose from to feature this month, but we have narrowed it down to the following.  We hope you enjoy them!

The first featured project was created by Elena Lishchenko of Russia.  Elena entered a hand-made album cover in our sketch challenge, and it sure is beautiful!  The chipboard piece used on the cover is from the Deja Vu Dangles Chippies set, and the paper is from our Deja Vu collection.

In her blog post, Elena shows the inside of her album, which was also created using the Deja Vu collection.  She has several videos on her blog where she shows exactly how she stacked layer after layer of gorgeous paper from the Deja Vu collection to create each page inside the album.  Here's a peek inside:

Our second feature this month is from Pascale who lives in France.  We love that the pieces from the Turkish Bits, which she has painted black, provide the perfect background and texture for this elegant photo.

And our third feature this month is by Elena Volchkova of Ukraine. We fell in love with the softness Elena created using paper from the very first Blue Fern collection, Blue Fern Garden.  Elena used the Dresden Corsage, which she cut into several pieces, and sprinkled some of the Broken Rings around her layout. 

We couldn't stop at just 3 features this month, so we will continue!  This one uses

paper from the Deja Vu collection, and was created by Karine Gagnon of Canada.  Karine has added the Dresden Corsage chipboard piece to her layout, and used a piece from the Love, Happy, Smile set for the title.

The final feature from our June Sketch Challenge is from Yasmins of Norway.  Yasmins has a YouTube video on her blog where you can watch her process as she created this layout.  She used the Jeweled Page Dangles and Majestic Frame chipboard pieces.  We love how she altered the frame by adding some tiny beads.  

That's it for this month.  Congratulations to our winner, and the awesome women who created the five layouts/album we are featuring this month.  It was such a difficult choice, as always.  Thanks to ALL of you who took the time to enter our sketch challenge in June.

Our July sketch has been posted, and a link to it can be found in our right sidebar.  We hope you will join us once again in July. 

Blue Fern News

This month, Blue Fern Studios is pleased to announce that 2 new designers will be joining our Creative Team.  

First up, is the talented Wilma Voermans from Switzerland.  You will love Wilma's creative style and the way she loves to use color.

Our second addition is the awesome Marilyn Rivera from the United States.  Marilyn will be joining us as one of our Video Educators, so you can look forward to learning from her as she shares her creative process with you each month.  

We will let each designer tell you a little more about herself when she posts on the blog later this month.  

Please join us in giving them a warm welcome to Blue Fern Studios!

Today we would also like to feature this lovely layout, created by designer, Debbie Burns, using our recently released Paisley & Vine collection.  Of course Debbie also added several pieces of Blue Fern chipboard to add just the right touch!  Beautiful way to show off this collection, Debbie.

 Stay tuned for a month of fantastic projects from our talented Creative Team!

July Inspiration with Jelissa

Hello Blue Fern fans! How has your month of July been? The weather has been blazing hot and we're doing whatever we can to cool down.

It's my turn on the Blue Fern blog today and I have two creations to share with you. The first is based on the fabulous July sketch. Here is what it looks like:

I've kept the orientation of the sketch, as well as the dark background and my papers came from a mix of Sanctuary and Love Story to create my layout.

My mixed media background was created Birdsong Melody from Sanctuary, with a lot of paint dabbing and layering with watercolors, as well as textural details using microspheres, dew drops and microbeads, as well as some string and stamping. I love it that Blue Fern tries in sneak in a few dark colored patterned papers into their collections for us to create our very own backgrounds.

Some close-ups:

The La Plume chipboard which I first painted with a light brown, followed by UTEE embossing for resist and layering with more browns. Beneath are paper layers made from scraps I had left over from Love Story collection.

The Notebook Edges chipboard, which I first heat embossed and then colored with different shades of blue. To add texture to my layers, I mixed chipboard, paper, lace and trims.

A close-up of some of the textural details I have in my background.

I hope my sample has inspired you to create a project of your own to participate in our monthly sketch challenge!

Blue Fern Studios products used:

Sanctuary collection - Melody Birdsong

Love Story collection - Concerto, Sweet Song, True Harmony

Notebook Edges

La Plume

And now for my video tutorial. For this project, I revisited one of my all time favourites from Blue Fern Studios, the Ombre Dreams collection. 

I used only "Susan's Dream" because the images on the paper fit my composition perfectly and had the exact type of watercolor imagery I had in mind to create for my background. I also used scraps from Dream Cards and Charlotte's Dream to build up my layers.

Some close-ups:

A die cut from Dream Cards which I used as my title, and a Bohemian flower piece tucked into my cluster. You can also see the half-tone stamp which I used to add minute details to my background.

I love the big chipboard pieces because they are simply value for money and so fun to play with. Here, you see Medley Border which I have cut up into four pieces and tucked them everywhere to maintain the flow of my composition, as well as to break up the monotony of paper layering.

Interspersed in the layers is also the Notebook frame which I had added some texture to.

Here is the start-to-finish video. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I have creating the project.

Blue Fern Studios products used:

Ombre Dreams - Charlotte's Dream, Susan's Dream, Dream Cards

Notebook Frame

Bohemian Flowers

Medley Border

Halftone stamps

love,

Jelissa

July Sketch Challenge

Welcome to July!  We're here today to give you a kick-start to your next project by providing you with a sketch.  It's an awesome way to kick-start your creativity.  Our July sketch, created by Michele Singh, is beautiful, with a strong horizontal line all the way across the page - or will you flip it and have a strong vertical line?  That's totally up to you, of course.

Let's take a look at how some members of our Creative Team used the sketch:

Zaneta Glowa

(Paper Collection:  Deja Vu)

Debbie Burns

(Paper Collection: Paisley & Vine)

Yuko Tanaka

(Paper Collection: Montage)

Jelissa Mei

(Paper Collection: Sanctuary)

Keren Tamir

(Paper Collection: Sanctuary)

Galina Sazonova

(Paper Collection: Deja Vu)

Bente Fagerberg

(Paper Collection: Blue Fern Garden)

Now it is YOUR turn to show us how you used the July sketch.

One lucky winner, selected by a random draw, will receive a prize package of Blue Fern Studios chipboard!

In addition, we will also select 3 (or more) layouts to feature.

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! 

2). Please note that you can do whatever type of project you please - a layout, card, 

  canvas, altered item- whatever suits your mood and style! 

We would love to see the different ways our sketch can be used.

3.) 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!}

4.) Upload your project using the Inlinkz tool below by midnight EST on July 31, 2015

We look forward to seeing how you use our sketch and Blue Fern products!

Enter Here:

An InLinkz Link-up

The Wait is Over - introducing Frolic!

There's no better way to wrap up the month of June than with the reveal of our new paper collection, Frolic.  

Frolic, as a verb, is to play and move about cheerfully, excitedly, or energetically, and that is just what we want you to think of when you see this collection.  The colors and designs are certainly cheerful and energetic.  How perfect for so many projects!  Here are the individual papers from the collection so you can see what we mean. 

 Take your time as you scroll through this beautiful 10-page collection. 

But we have more good news - we didn't stop with just the paper.  

We have chipboard pieces designed to coordinate with the Frolic Collection!

Butterfly Friends

Bird Ornaments

Frolic in the Sun

Frolic Mesh

Tea Medley

Have you had a chance to try our very popular stamp sets?  These 4x6 sets are of the highest quality
clear photo-polymer.  We have designed two stamp sets to coordinate with our Frolic Collection.

Washi Tape

Garden Frolic

We hope you are as excited as we are about Frolic!