February Design Team Work for Blue Fern Studios

 

I'd like to share one of my February Blue Fern Studios projects with you today. 

 

This mixed media canvas was treated with crackle, stamping and mists.  The featured heart was cut out of corrugated cardboard, treated with gesso and mists.  After the media dried, the heart was covered with some lace, and outlined with beads.

 



 

Here's a close up of that sweet Blue Fern Studio Little Bird chipboard.  Some white paint, mists, watercolor pencil and white gel pen brought the bird to life.

The porcelain looking flowers were achieved by adding clear gesso to the flowers and then misting very closely to the centers of the flowers. Close up of the porcelain looking flowers, Blue Fern Studios leafy page accent treated with fiber paper and glue then painted and misted.  The flower chipboard is from the Bohemian flower collection from Blue Fern Studios.

 

 

I would like to respond to those of you who have inquired as to how I create the crackle effect on some of my small mixed media canvases. I first coat the canvas with some Golden’s Titan Buff acrylic paint, then I apply Helmar’s Crackle  Medium (follow the manufacturer’s instructions). Because the Helmar’s product is a little tacky then most crackle products, I leave the crackle Step 2 to set overnight, and I find I get the best results when I let the product sit that long.  You can speed it up with a heat gun, but the crackle effect doesn’t come out as well.  I apply the Step 2 Crackle on the largest part of the canvas with a large brush and very few strokes to get the large crackle effect.  On the corners of the canvas, I apply the Step 2 Crackle with a smaller brush and many strokes.  The more strokes of the product will render a smaller crackle effect, and the fewer strokes of the product will render a larger crackle effect.  Once the product has completely dried, use your favorite colored mists and stamps.  In this case, I have used the pewter metallic mist from Glimmer Mist, to add some depth, in some of the crackle crevices.  You can view some of that metallic mist on the photo above.  Have fun!

Thank you for visiting, I'll be posting more February project this week on my blog. 

Canvas Art designed for Blue Fern Studios

Here's a 4 x 4 canvas featuring one of the leafy page accent chipboard pieces from Blue Fern Studios.  As was done on the sea shell frame I posted earlier, I used the art fiber tissue paper technique on the leafy page accent. You can find a short tutorial on the technique here at Blue Fern Studios.  During my Design Team term, I will be sharing a picture tutorial on how to create this effect. I normally post on the 17th of each month at Blue Fern Studios, so check out the posts for the future tutorial.

The canvas background was treated first with taupe colored acrylic paint, crackle, various colored mists, and some stamping.  It's an easy technique that brings life to the canvas and so much interest.  Quick and simple too!

Close up of the leafy page accent chipboard piece:

Thank you for stopping by.

Joy Canvas for the Berry71Bleu Joy December Challenge

While searching for some inspiration and a challenge to entice me to get back to creating, I found the "Joy" challenge hosted by Berry71Bleu.  The challenge is to write at least three sentences expressing what joyful thing you appreciate. Here's my take on the "Joy" challenge and it was such a delight to create with a 5 x 7 piece of canvas.

Here's a close up of some of my hand-made dimensional paint spread on top of a stencil.

The shabby chic chipboard snowflakes are from Blue Fern Studios.

Here are the "Joy" Challenge Rules:

Joy. What brings you Joy? What always puts a smile on your face? Joy can be interpreted in many ways. Think about what person, place, activity, pet, hobby or simple pleasure gives you joy. This can be anything--that first warm cup of morning coffee, reading your favorite book, your family, your dog cuddling up next to you! Think outside of the box.

 

The second part of this challenge is that you must include journaling. Your journaling must be at least 3 sentences or more. Jotting down places and dates do not count. Document your thoughts and explain why the subject you chose to scrap brings you joy.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stop by Berry71 Bleu to see what other's have created to inspire us and maybe you'll be inspired to get back into creating too.

"Done Is Better Than Perfect" - Creating with a Chipboard Stencil

Hello everyone!  It's so good to be back creating and doing something that I love after a few months of absence.  I have been caring for my mom during her convalescence, and we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.  During some down time, I created this canvas inspired by two things: the Blue Fern Studios Quatrefoil Panel, and a quote from Pinterest.   Are you one of those that starts something and then find it's not perfect in your eyes so you put off finishing it?  I'm guilty of that, and when I read this quote it resonated with me to do something with it to remind me that there is pleasure and growth in the process and finishing something is just as rewarding.

The delicious background was created using the Quatrefoil panel chipboard as a stencil and lots of application of molding paste, mists, ink and stamping.  The word "Done" was created with the chipboard bits inside of the chipboard and stamped, inked and added some Diamond Dust to tone down the harsh black letters.   Unfortunately, the pictures don't truly capture the rich saturated colors of those glorious mists.

      

Quatrefoil Panel used as a Stencil

                                                       

 

I loved how the chipboard stencil background technique came out, and I will be making more creations with this same technique in the near future.  Hope you stop by when I complete the second piece that I've been working on and I'll share a tutorial with you.  Until then, do something you love and finish it! :)

 

Canvas Tutorial: Quick and simple canvas background

Hello Friends, I'm posting a quick and simple canvas background tutorial for you.  Give it a go and let me know what you've created so that I might drop by and visit you.

Grab a 5x7 canvas and let's get started.

I'll be posting a shabby chic 5 x 7 canvas on April 27th with some yummy Blue Fern Studios chipboard.  Drop by and see if it's something you would like to try too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blue Fern Studios Dress Form Chipboard

As I was working on this project for Blue Fern Studios, the dress form chipboard fell on top of this pretty green flat ribbon rose band that I've been saving for a future project.  An "Aha" moment came to me, and I quicky started ripping a part the flat rose ribbons with the seam ripper...I was going to make a skirt for my dressform.  I tied a bead on the end of each of the curly ribbons to give them weight to hold them down.  The chipboard pieces was painted with Tim Holtz crackle paint, inked along the edges.  A small Martha Stewart Stencil was applied on the stand of the dress form with some light texture paste and Rub'N Buff. The small Martha Stewart stencils are just perfect for Blue Fern Studios chipboard and they come in a variety of designs. The white butterfly on the bodice is from Prima.  My niece just painted her bedroom a light green color, and I hope she'll hang this canvas piece on her wall.

Picture of the flat rose ribbon that inspired the skirt.