"Fabulous" - Mixed Media & Art Challenge

Hi there! After much internal debate, I decided to create a layout without a picture titled "Fabulous" for the Mixed Media & Art Challenge "Colors of Life".

I chose to use the sketch by turning it sideways and the color scheme that is found below it. Here is the Mixed Media & Art challenge board:

The 13arts Out of the Blue "Pink Flowerets" paper was perfect for this challenge. The soft pastel colors were just what I needed. For my project I used a lot of Blue Fern Studios products, Wild Orchid Crafts flowers, and Little Birdie flowers and stencil.

The title chipboard piece was painted with gesso than white acrylic paint. I then embossed it with Blue Fern Studios Azul and Pearl embossing powders. In this picture, you can also see the flowers I used. The pink flower is a Little Birdie flower and the others are by Wild Orchid Crafts.

Under the round glass stones, I used Blue Fern Studios Mocha glitter and Blue Ice glitter. Throughout the center of my wreath, you will also see Fuzzy Navel Mini Prills and Blue Fern Studios seedlings Red Grape and Pink Topaz. I used Prima Color Bloom Spray in Ginger Coral and Lindy's Stamp Gang Cape Cod Coral in the center of my wreath.

For the Blue Fern Studios flower chipboard, I put on two coats of gesso then painted it with the same colors I used in the center of my wreath. When I was done, I embossed it with Blue Fern Studios Baby Pink, Coral, and Pearl embossing powder. Then I added the Pink Topaz Seedlings randomly.

For my background, I ripped pieces of scrap paper that I had. I glued them to the paper then added heavy gesso over it. I used Golden Crackle Paste and a Little Birdie stencil. When the crackle paste was dry, I used a Stripes stencil by Ranger with modeling paste. Then I embossed the stripes with Blue Fern Studios Azul and Pearl embossing powders. Finally, I mixed Lindy's Stamp Gang Spray Tibetan Poppy Teal with diluted white gesso to paint the background. I also added some Ranger Distress Ink in Mowed Lawn with a text stamp on the background.

I love using these bright pastel colors and of course I love to use glitter! I have many colors of glitter so this was a great opportunity to use some pastel glitter!

Thank you for taking a look today and I hope you get to take a look at the challenge blog! Take Care!! :-)

~ Jessica ~

"Dreams" Layout for the Art Playground Challenge!

Here is my newest layout titled "Dreams" for the Art Playground Challenge.  The theme is "Be Authentic".  This blog post is going to give a summary of various aspects of who I am as a person - I created my layout based off of this idea.  I wanted to create a layout to show how I am authentic as a person.

Here are the colors for the Art Playground Challenge for August:

The colors are perfect to represent me as a person! Often I see things as black and white, meanwhile I have to remind myself sometimes there may be a gray area. Also, blue is the color I use during meditating in stressful times. "Breathe in blue. Breathe out red."

I chose to use a music notes stamp on my background because music gets me through all of my highs and lows in life. I sing it loud so I have to play it loud. :-)

The cracked stencil with the blue seedlings represent the times I feel broken yet I still fight through it and keep hope alive. The inspiration for this comes from a song by the band Disturbed. The name of the song is "The Light". Here are some lyrics: "When you think all is foresaken, listen to me now. You need never feel broken again. Sometimes darkness can show you the light."

I took a picture on vacation about a week ago at Myrtle Beach specifically for this challenge. To go with my picture, I used some black roses. Although I always mean well and do the very best I can, I have always felt like an outsider no matter how many people I surround myself with. I am a beautiful person, but I am also the black rose.

Behind my picture is a pair of twos because the number two is my favorite number. I remind myself that it is okay to be in second place because nobody is perfect.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little better through this layout. I tried to be as authentic with my artwork as possible to represent the person I am. Thank you for taking a look today!

~ Jessica ~

"Family" Layout - More Than Words Challenge

This is my newest layout titled "Family" and this is my entry for August's More Than Words Challenge.  The center two people in the picture are my great-great-grandparents Susan Anna Edwards Fischer and Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Fischer.  He was born in 1866 and came to Pennsylvania from Hannover, Germany in 1884.  He was a very hard-working farmer in Washington, Pennsylvania. 

Here is this month's mood board for the More Than Words Challenge:

Most of my project is made from Blue Fern Studios products.  My background paper is Amber & Apricot's "Yesteryear". I used the "Chapters" paper from the collection and the "Calling Cards" paper from the Memoires collection as my matting.  I used modeling paste and a stencil to the right of the picture and embossed it with Black & Gold embossing powder.  Using the For the Birds stamp all the way to the top of my page, I embossed the music notes with the Black & Gold embossing powder.

The Family chipboard title was painted with white acrylic paint, embossed with Pearl embossing powder, then stamped and embossed with the Super Grunge stamp and Ivory embossing powder.  The Branch chipboard was embossed with Ivory embossing powder and I added Russett glitter to the tips of the leaves.  Here you can also see the Amber & Apricot Printed Chipboard "Sweet".

The yellow and off white flowers are from the Fresh Florals set while the blue ones are from the Spring Blooms set.

Under the glass stones is White Gold glitter and in small areas around the page I added Beating Heart seedlings.

Products used:

Paper

Amber & Apricot - "Yesteryear"

Amber & Apricot - "Chapters"
Amber & Apricot - Printed Chipboard
Memoires - "Calling Cards"

Flowers

Fresh Florals

Spring Blooms

Chipboard

Family Memories
Branch

Embossing Powder

Pearl

Ivory
Black & Gold

Stamps

Super Grunge

For the Birds

Seedlings

Beating Heart

Glitter
Russett
White Gold

Paints
Lindy's Stamp Gang - Clam Bake Beige
Lindy's Stamp Gang - Whale Watch Blue
Shimmerz Spray - Truffle
Prima Watercolor - Yellow

Blue Fern Studios - "Love This Moment"

My second layout for August also features the Tattered Walls collection.  My background paper is "The Maid's Room" from the Tattered Walls Collection.  I wanted to use the colors blue, red, and yellow so I chose blue as the dominant color, red is the secondary color, then tiny bits of golden yellow as accents.  On three small areas on the background, I used matte gel and a soft floral stencil, then sprinkled some Beating Heart seedlings and some Blue Ice glitter over top.

The title chipboard Love This Moment was first embossed with Azul embossing powder.  Then I embossed over it with Pearl embossing powder.  This seemed to soften the sparkles from the Azul embossing powder.  On this side of the picture, the white flower is from the Christmas Blooms set.  I created the two red rose buds on this page by separating the pieces of one of the Homespun Blooms and folding them into place.  I did the same thing with the off-white Chesterville Florals flower to make some rose buds.

In this picture you can see more of the Beating Heart seedlings surrounding some tiny accent flowers I had from my stash.  The oval frame chipboard piece under my picture was cut in half (to fit the size of my picture) and embossed with Azul embossing powder.  The Gold Nugget seedlings add the touch of golden yellow that I wanted for the layout.

I used the Journaling Cards stamps on watercolor paper and embossed them with Azul Embossing Powder (and added the bits of Gold Nugget Seedlings).  The Card to the left of the picture has a piece of Tattered Walls Ephemera under it for dimension.

The two off-white flowers are both part of the Chesterville Florals set.  The red rose bud was made from one of the Homespun Blooms.  And the blue flower is from the Dark Tropic Lilies set.

Products Used:

Paper

Tattered Walls - "The Maid's Room"

Tattered Walls Ephemera

Flowers

Dark Tropic Lilies

Homespun Blooms

Christmas Blooms

Chesterville Florals

Chipboard

Oval Frame

Love This Moment

Embossing Powder

Azul

Pearl

Seedlings

Gold Nugget

Beating Heart

Glitter

Blue Ice

Stamps

Journaling Cards

I hope you enjoyed my layouts and video tutorial this month!  Stay tuned for more inspiration from the other lovely designers here at Blue Fern Studios.  Have a lovely day :-)

~ Jessica ~

Video Tutorial for Blue Fern Studios! - "Our Story"

Hi everyone!  My first layout I want to share with you this August for Blue Fern Studios features the Tattered Walls Collection and I included a video tutorial that you can find below.

The main background paper is "The Reading Room" and I added a strip of "The Garage" paper.

The Our Story chipboard was first given a coat of gesso, then painted with white acrylic paint.  Next I embossed the whole title with Pearl embossing powder.  Then using the Super Grunge stamp, I embossed the title with Ivory embossing powder.  I love the effect!  The Bits of Honey chipboard pieces were embossed with Fern embossing powder.

The red rose buds are actually from the Homespun Blooms flowers that I took apart and made into rose buds (you can see it in my tutorial).  The rest of the flowers on the page are from the Homespun Blossoms collection and look really nice with the colors in the picture.  Below the flower you are able to see the Green Ivory embossing powder that I used with the Crackle Textures stamp.  You can also see the Marine glitter on the flowers and Lemonade Seedlings that I added around the flowered areas and other spots around the picture.

In this picture you can see more details and see the Tattered Newsprint stamping that I did around the picture.

The Tattered Walls Ephemera was a nice touch to accent the areas around my picture.

And now, here is the video tutorial I created.  I hope you find it helpful and fun. :-)

Products used:

Paper

Tattered Walls - "The Reading Room"

Tattered Walls - "The Garage"

Tattered Walls Ephemera

Chipboard

Bits of Honey

Our Story

Embossing Powder

Fern

Pearl

Ivory

Green Ivory

Flowers

Homespun Blossoms

Homespun Blooms

Stamps

Crackle Texture

Tattered Newsprint

Super Grunge

Glitter

Marine

Seedlings

Lemonade

I hope you enjoyed the video tutorial!  Check back soon for another August layout for Blue Fern Studios!
~ Jessica ~

"Sunny Days" Video Tutorial!

Hi everyone!  I have a new layout and video tutorial for the Mixed Media & Art Challenge for July titled "Sunny Days".

Here is the Mixed Media & Art mood board this month:

I chose to use the beach theme from the mood board along with the sketch.

A list of products can be found at the end of my blog post along with the video tutorial.  Here are some more closeups:

And here is my new video tutorial in fast-forward.  I hope you find it fun and insightful!

Products used:

• Canson 140 lb. Watercolor Paper
• Kaisercraft High Tide Sticker Sheet
• Distress Ink Pads:
• Antique Linnen
• Tumbled Glass
• Lindy's Stamp Gang - Whale Watch Blue
• USArtQuest Mini Prills - Fuzzy Navel
• American Crafts POP! Microbeads - Wave
• Blue Fern Studios:
• Blue Ice Glitter
• Coral Embossing Powder
• Wild Orchid Crafts Roses
• Finnabair
• Art Extravagance - Clear Crackle Texture Paste
• Art Basics Heavy Gesso
• Golden Glass Bead Gel
• Liquitex Matte Gel
• Aleene's Original Tacky Glue
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Ashland Decorative Glass Fillers

I hope you stop on by again soon!  I will be up on the Blue Fern Studios Blog very soon with another video tutorial! :-)

Have a great day!

~ Jessica ~