Sunday, March 6, 2016

March Projects with Cathi



It is March and that means spring will be here soon! I really hope so as it has been raining for days here in Ireland!! Since it is a new month it is also time for a new sketch!! This month my layout features the beautiful new collection Courtship Lane. I have used the gorgeous Town Gossip and Calling Cards papers as a base for my layout.

Here is the beautiful sketch for March:



Here you can see a close up where I used the gorgeous Imagine Ink Dusty Rose glitter through a mask using gel medium to adhere it to the layout through the mask. I chose some yummy flowers from my stash.


I used the Everlasting Love chipboard as my title, embossing it with the Imagine Ink Verdant embossing powder.  I have also tucked in some of the Mesh Bits texture chipboard to add some interest to the background of my layout. I embossed them with the really distressed looking Imagine Ink Oatmeal embossing powder.



I added some metal butterflies as well as a chipboard Royal Monarch butterfly which is covered again in the Imagine Ink Dusty Rose glitter. Here you can see several Calling Card pieces from the collection tucked in under my image. I finished off my layout with a cute little paper clip on the photo, been loving those lately on my cards and layouts.

Blue Fern Studios Supplies:

Paper:
Blue Fern Studios Courtship Lane Collection~Town Gossip
Blue Fern Studios Courtship Lane Collection~Calling Cards

Chipboard:
Mesh Bits
Everlasting Love
Royal Monarchs

Imagine Ink Embossing Powder:
Verdant
Oatmeal

Imagine Ink Glitter:
Dusty Rose

Stamps:
Forever
Essential Textures



My next project is a another layout using the beautiful Courtship Lane papers. I just love the colors and designs in this new collection, vintage but fresh and spring like too with the gorgeous images and colors. I used the beautiful Lover's Lane paper as my base and both sides of the Main Street paper to build up my layers.


In this first closeup you can see the Turkish Bits chipboard. I colored this randomly for a distressed look with the gorgeous Imagine Ink Mystic Plum embossing powder.


I used stamps from the Forever stamp set in Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to give some great texture to my backgrounds. I also stamped a doily from the Weathered Doilies set in Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I used many flowers from my stash here and some fun piles of twine for texture.


At the bottom right of my layout I used several paper layers and the Amour chipboard from the French Words set.  I embossed this in Imagine Ink Mystic Plum embossing powder again. Here you can see more of my stamping and some splashing to pick up the purple.


In my main flower cluster I had a great time coloring the beautiful Symphony Corner chipboard piece. I added a mixture of Ginger Imagine Ink embossing powder and the Mystic Plum. I just love the look it gives!! The flowers are from my stash and build up the vintage colors in the papers and image. I added little bark heart from my stash to finish it off. This is one of my favorite layouts I have made lately, just love the unusual mix of colors inspired by this paper!

Blue Fern Studios Supplies:

Paper:
Blue Fern Studios Courtship Lane Collection~Lover's Lane
Blue Fern Studios Courtship Lane Collection~Main Street

Chipboard:
Turkish Bits
French Words
Symphony Corner 

Imagine Ink Embossing Powder:
Mystic Plum
Ginger

Stamps:
Weathered Doilies
Forever



For my final March project I did a set of cards using the Montage paper collection. So bright and cheerful, I love how these cards turned out. 


I just love using the Calling Card and Bouquet papers to add details to these cards. For my first card I have used the Sweet sentiment from the Bouquet paper. The teacup is fussy cut from the Calling Cards paper. I have used two layers from the Invitation and Society papers from the collection. I have embossed the Leafy Bough chipboard in Imagine Ink Grassy Knoll and finished off the card with flowers from my stash and some stitching. I have stamped a bit of texture onto the card using the Essential Textures net stamp.


My second card features the Bouquet paper sentiment and the Now and Then and Wisdom papers. I layered them and added some stitching, flowers and a twine bow around my sentiment. To finish the card off I used a gorgeous Brigitte Butterfly embossed in the gorgeous Imagine Ink Oatmeal embossing powder.



For my final card I have used the Fairyland paper which I have stitched and stamped with the Essential Textures stamp set. I have layered lots of flowers from my stash and added some twine loops. My sentiment is from the Bouquet paper and I have added a beautiful chipboard heart from the Heart Set embossed in Imagine Ink Dusty Rose embossing powder.

Blue Fern Studios Supplies:

Paper:
Blue Fern Studios Montage Collection~Bouquet
Blue Fern Studios Montage Collection~Calling Cards
Blue Fern Studios Montage Collection~Invitation
Blue Fern Studios Montage Collection~Society
Blue Fern Studios Montage Collection~Now and Then
Blue Fern Studios Montage Collection~Wisdom
Blue Fern Studios Montage Collection~Fairyland

Chipboard:
Leafy Bough
Brigitte Butterfly Set
Heart Set

Imagine Ink Embossing Powder:
Oatmeal
Grassy Knoll
Dusty Rose

Stamps:
Essential Textures


The new Courtship Lane papers are just stunning, I love the colors and the beautiful images in the designs and can't wait to play with the new flowers in the collection later this month!! I hope you will go have a look at the stunning new collection!!




Saturday, March 5, 2016

We Have a Winner & Featured Layouts

A big thank you to all of you who participated in our February Sketch Challenge.  As always, were were amazed by your talent.  Now we would like to announce the winner.  Based on a random draw, this month's winner is...........


 ............entry #18 which belongs to Camera Kanami of Japan!.  Congratulations Camera!  
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's the beautiful layout that Camera created for the sketch challenge, using paper from the Blush Collection and several pieces of Blue Fern chipboard. 


We have selected the following layouts that we would like to feature:

Chantale Maisan of Canada who used the Love Story Collection for this romantic layout.



Tiffany Solorio of the United States used the Ombre Dreams Collection for this super sweet layout.



Pam Ellis of Canada who used the Blush Collection and some Blue Fern chipboard for this adorable layout.


Congratulations to those who created these featured layouts!

Want to be eligible to win our monthly prize package or have your layout featured?  
Then be sure to enter your layout in our February Sketch Challenge.





Friday, March 4, 2016

Introducing the Courtship Lane Collection

Blue Fern Studios is excited to introduce our gorgeous new collection and we have so much to show you.  This is our biggest collection yet!  Come travel with us down Courtship Lane where you will see quaint cottages, a concert hall, ornate ironwork, and lots of gorgeous flowers along the way. 

Each double-sided page of this 10-sheet collection is perfectly detailed by designer Michele Singh, 
with a color palette that you will love for all your projects!





















For the first time, we have two sets of flowers to coordinate with the collection!

Courtship Blooms



Courtship Roses




Chipboard: 4 designs created just for Courtship Lane




Embossing Powder: 6 new colors




Glitter: 5 new colors




Stamps: 4 new designs




The Courtship Lane collection is sure to take your projects to the next level with stunning paper and a lot of awesome products to go with it!

Thursday, March 3, 2016

March Inspiration with Jelissa

Hello everyone, March is here!

I cannot believe how quickly time passes seeing that we have only just celebrated our Lunar New Year here with lots of festivities, feasting and family gatherings. Today I'm up on the blog again to share two creations using two fabulous collections - Serendipity and Courtship Lane.

My first share is created with Serendipity. This is a truly amazing collection with all the lovely subtle details nested amongst darker shades. I find myself reluctant to do my usual kind of background work because I couldn't bear to cover up the details.

Because there is so much details on the pages, I can only imagine the number of photoshop layers that went into creating each piece of patterned paper. With that in mind, I did had several overlapping layers of patterned paper as my background to bring out the depth of this collection.

Details in the close-ups:


Heat embossing with Oatmeal EP. I wanted something dual-tone and subtle enough to blend into the background, so I used half-toned stamps to create the motifs.


Love these peekaboo chippies! They are just perfect for these sort of little nook and cranny. I used Garnet EP as my base, and while the melted powder is still hot, I sprinkled Ginger EP on top. The gold is really quite amazing!


My title piece which I had colored with gelato and sealed with a layer of Pearl EP.


Layering Stems which I first covered with Lime Ep, then with Ginger EP because I think I'm addicted to the lovely gold it gives. 

Blue Fern Studios products used:

paper: Serendipity - Calling Cards, Imagination, Contemplation
chipboard: Peek-a-boos, Layering Stems, Laughter Happy Smile


My next share is a video tutorial done with the gorgeous Courtship Lane collection. I'm really loving the color palettes that Michelle has used and pastels always speaks to me. 


I'm a sucker for wood grain motif so it was no surprise that I had to use Bourbon Avenue as my background. This is a photo of my second boy and my youngest girl - she looks exactly like him when he was just a baby. This moment was one in a million - my boys love to make a pouting funny face and I was only trying to capture the two of them looking at me. Never did I expect this cheeky girl to do the same without prompting - we all know how hard it is to get them to even look at the camera, let alone pose! - and I instinctively just froze this memory in time.

More details in the close-ups:


Berry stems layering over Shabby Brick bits with lots of textural detail in the background.


Clusters of embellishments


Painting directly over chipboard and paper for a nicely blended effect.


Fussy cut details everywhere.

And here is the start-to-finish video:

Blue Fern Studios products used:

paper: Courtship Lane - Bourbon Avenue, Town Gossip,
chipboard - Berry Stems, Shabby Brick Bits, Whimsy Flourish
embossing powder: Pearl, Iris, Lilac
stamps: Garden Frolic, Arcadia Textures

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

March Sketch Challenge & First Look at Courtship Lane Collection

Wow, March is here, so that means spring can't be far away!  And what better way to start the month than with a brand new sketch challenge, and a look at our upcoming collection, Courtship Lane, which will be coming very soon. To give you a better look at this gorgeous paper, each example below from our Creative Team, has been created using Courtship Lane.



Our sketch designer, Michele Singh, has a beautiful sketch for you this month.  There are so many ways to interpret this sketch, and we can't wait to see how you apply your style to it.


To give you a head-start, we have some examples from our Creative Team using the Courtship Lane collection. 

Sandi Clarkson 



Debbie Burns



Pascale B.



Nicole Doiron



Cathi O'Neill



Elena Volchkova



Keren Tamir



Yuko Tanaka



Karolina Czajkowska



 Now it's your turn to join us.  We would love for you to use the March Sketch as inspiration for your project.   We will have a prize for one lucky winner (from a random draw), and will feature a few projects from YOU at the end of the month!

We ask that you follow these guidelines:

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, but please make sure your layout resembles the sketch.

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 March 31, 2016.