Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Blue Fern Studios DT - Count the Ways and a Colourful Card

Hello friends!

Today I'm in to share two projects I created for Blue Fern Studios, featuring their new paper collection Ombre Dreams and some of their fantastic chipboard pieces.

"Count the Ways"


The first is a layout I made of my big boy, with papers from Ombre Dreams collection. The background was created with gelatos and lots of random stamping. The title came from one of the most popular love poems around - Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Browning but I used it here to describe my love for my sweet and wonderful child:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Some close ups:


A frame from the Memory Frame set which I misted green. 


Counting the ways with the number grid chipboard panel, which I covered with black EP from Lindy's Stamp Gang.


A piece of Layering Stem. Gosh, I love these! Just perfect for tucking into any little corner of my floral cluster.


A piece from Fall Foliage, also misted with green and gesso brushed on randomly. These little wooden birds came from Studio Calico and they are absolutely adorable. 


My floral cluster full of Prima prettiness.


"Follow Your Bliss"

My second project is a simple little card. In fact, I made a card instead of my usual LO because I wanted to use the chipboards as the main features. I layered sheets from the Ombre Dreams collection and layered water colours in pastel tones, careful not to hide the lovely details the papers have.

Some close-ups:



The Twilight Garden Frame. What a lovely piece! I used 13 @rts gold paint on the lamp and added a layer of crackle. For the rest of the frame, I coloured with gelatos.


I used "Follow your Bliss" word as my card sentiment, which I covered with some Lindy's bronze EP.

And that's all I have to share for now. I'll be back in a few days' time with more crafty goodies!

love,




Sunday, June 15, 2014

OUAS June Challenge

Hello friends!

I'm back in today to share my take on the June sketch challenge over at Once Upon A... Sketch. This month, Nadia has come up with yet another beautiful sketch, and I must say that this has to be my favourite so far. So many ideas running through my head on interpreting it, and I've chosen to go with a really colourful take on it.

Here's her sketch and theme:

"The best things in life aren't things"


I've gone back to using white cardstock for this LO and picked a really cute moodboard as my colour palette:

And my take on the sketch:


Lots of gelato goodness in my background as I was getting reacquainted with my stash. I'll have a video tutorial soon on how to use these yummy cream sticks to create a gorgeous background. But before that, some close ups:



My title and some floral fun.... with a little chippie (Layering Stems) from Blue Fern Studios to end off my cluster. 


Layering bits from Kaiserkraft, Prima and Studio Calico.


Love this cute little floral frame, also from BFS, which I used to frame my photo. I brushed a coat of gesso over and highlighted some of the bits with the bolder colours from the mood board. After that, it was some stamping followed by a very random coat of crackle on some parts of the chipboard.


More layering, with my journaling on a manila tag tucked under all those stuff. I wrote about a life lesson which I wanted my kids to learn, which is the quote above. The "best thing" we as parents have given them are not material comforts or a hefty inheritance, but one another and the brotherly love that they will nurture as they grow up together. We want them to remember that love is the greatest gift of all, and that they should always cherish this bond between them. 

Remember, this challenge finishes at the end of this month, so hurry on and get your entry linked up before that. I will be back soon with more lovely stuff to share. Until then, happy scrapping!

love,


Sunday, June 1, 2014

BFS June Sketch Challenge

Hello friends, we are officially in June! Half a year has almost passed and I'm feeling blessed seeing all the wonderful things that have happened so far.

First day of the month also means sketch challenge reveal over at Blue Fern Studios, and this time round, Michelle Singh has come up with yet another gorgeous sketch. And lucky little me got to play with the brand new paper collection from BFS. It's called Ombre Dreams, and it has the most beautiful colours blended together like a watercolour painting. It looks absolutely dreamy, and so breathtakingly lovely that I can cry. As I was telling my team mates, I just want to lock myself in the studio and do nothing but scrap with these heavenly papers.

Anyhow before I get too carried away, here is the fabulous sketch:


And my take on it:


I used the paper named "Susan's Dream" for my background. It has the most calming tones of blues and greens, with a tinge of orange which I have used to highlight certain elements of the page. Those of you familiar with my style would know that I like to use a lot of mediums and thinner papers tend to warp with so much fluid sitting on it. But the BFS papers are so much heavier (and sturdier), my LO remained pretty much the same shape even when I was adding quite a fair bit of water to bleed the colours. If you love playing with mediums like me, you'll find the quality of BFS papers just perfect. 



A cut-out phrase from "Dream Cards". There are several elements that you can fussy cut out from this page and layer them on your project. I also used a gear and bird chipboards.



Another phrase from "Dream Cards" layered on top of the Mini Ring Things chippie. 


The Treasured floral frame chippie. Love the delicate vines and flowers on this piece.


My floral cluster made up of gorgeous Prima flowers.

And here's a start to finish video I put together to show you how I did the background, as well as the various techniques I used to alter the chipboards. Sit back and enjoy the show, and do remember to play along with our sketch challenge this month!