7 Dots Illumination - Guest Spot

Hi there, and happy hump day!

The Flying Unicorn Creative Team are being featured on the 7 Dots Studio blog today and tomorrow, using the fun & funky Illumination collection. The fun patterns of this paper inspired me to scrap this silly picture of my eldest when he was a baby (this is a face he still makes at 7 years old when he's hamming it up for the camera).

One of the marvellous things about these papers is that the grey pages have a washed out image of the pattern of the coloured side, but on different pieces of paper, so you can match patterns without having to buy two of the same pages. I randomly cut the shapes out from the grey page, allowing the colourful paper to show through.

In the photo below you can see the separation between the pages - I used some scrap bits of chipboard to separate my layers.

I added dots of Shimmerz Dimensionz and Viva Pearl Pen to add some bright colour throughout.

Bright Prima flowers finish the whole thing off.

I hope you'll stop by the 7 Dots Studio blog for more inspiration from our creative team and a chance to win a gorgeous prize pack. And remember to check out the Flying Unicorn Store for a wide array of 7 Dots Studio products.

Supplies:

7 Dots Studios Illumination: Joy, Tolerance, Diversity
Prima Flowers: Cameo Roses, Roses of Spain Anais, Audrey - Yellow, Encore - Turquoise, Hello Pastel vine
Shimmerz Dimensionz: Green Thumb, Blue Lagoon, Red Rover, Orange U Pretty
Viva Pearl Pens: Sunny Yellow, Salmon

WCYDW for Flying Unicorn - Faux Resin Embellishments

I'm up with a quick WCYDW (What Can You Do Wednesday) tutorial for you this week over on the Flying Unicorn Forums. I am using a new format for the tutorial; be sure to leave me a comment to let me know how you like it!

This week's tutorial is about making a quick embellishment using silicone molds. I love the way resin and paper clay embellishments look, but seldom have the forethought to have them pre-made for a project. The tutorial will take you through a quick and easy way to make faux resin embellies using hot glue.

Enjoy!

Great Outdoors

Where do you find your inspiration for your backgrounds? I find inspiration all over the place - in fashion, on labels, in architecture - and the latter inspired the background for this layout. We frequent an Irish restaurant where the decorator added decorative holes in the plaster to reveal the brickwork underneath for an "authentic" feel. The leftover bits from the Shabby Brick Panel were perfect for my interpretation of the effect, and they paired brilliantly with the stone viaduct in my picture (which happens to be the one from the Harry Potter movies).

I wanted to keep the bricks understated, but add some subtle texture, so I painted them with super heavy gesso, and once it dried I sponged some more on for dimension.

The Manor Hinges were painted, then heat embossed in places with Distress Embossing Powder for an aged patina look.

I love the drama of these Pretty Weeds, and painted them with metallic green paint to make a simple statement in my cluster.

Blue Fern Studios Products:

Blue Fern Garden Papers: 

- In Bloom (x2)

- Timeless

- Calling Cards

Blue Fern Studios:

- Shabby Brick Panel

- All Natural Set

- Pretty Weeds

- Manor Hinges

We always love seeing what you create with Blue Fern Studios products, so please remember to share your projects with us in the Blue Fern Gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

"Happy" for Blue Fern Studios

Hi there! I'm stopping in today to recap the first of my April DT layouts for Blue Fern Studios shared on their blog today, using the thick, gorgeous Blue Fern Garden papers and some scrumptious chippies.

Spring is in full swing here, and I couldn't resist playing along with some springy greens, flower motifs and outdoor photos. And for a change - no kid photos (gasp!). Instead, here's a selfie of me taken in Central Park in NYC this past summer when Evan and I were on a trip to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary without kids - don't I look rested?

Once again, I loaded my Blue Fern paper down with media. I know I've said this before, but I'm so impressed with how this paper holds up to media. Gesso, mists, paint, ink - I threw them all at the paper.

I love the new Eastern Lantern chippies, and used this one as an elaborate hummingbird feeder. I simply painted it with graphite paint and added some script stamping; the nice thing about such an intricate piece of chipboard is that it doesn't take much.

The birds from the Little Birds set are just too sweet. To add some texture, I dabbed on some Texturez Dazzlerz, then misted overtop.

One of my favourite things about Blue Fern chipboard is all the different titles and words available. I have to admit I am lazy about titles, so having such a large selection of words ready to go is fantastic.

I had a great time playing with some Bamboo Izink and Black Prima Wire to make the flowers in my background.

Blue Fern Studios Products

Blue Fern Garden Paper:

- Timeless

- In Bloom

Blue Fern Chipboard:

- Little Birds Set

- Eastern Lanterns

- The Optimist Word Set

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Blue Fern layout!

OUAS Guest Designer - Enjoy Days Never Forgotten

Happy Saturday! I hope it's a good one for you. For us, it's the last official week of winter; our kids' ski lessons end today, and they start baseball next weekend. Hopefully we can still get a couple of days of skiing in over the Easter Long Weekend, but spring has definitely sprung.

The end of winter always leaves me feeling a bit melancholic. I love the slowness of winter, the weekends away at the mountain, the family time. The melancholy definitely impacted this layout I prepared for Once Upon A Sketch, where the Flying Unicorn CT are guest designing this month. Generally both the process of creating and the end result make me feel happy. I tend to scrap moments that remind me of good times, whereas this month's journalling prompt took my layout in a different direction. It was good, cathartic, but I have to admit that afterwards I had to scrap something whimsical.

The journaling prompt this month is "An Event That Changed My Life". My journalling (located on the reverse of the layout) details my dad's diagnosis with cancer at the age of 64, just as I had a new baby, and our decision to go on a family vacation to Florida to enjoy the time we have together. My dad is 5 years into his battle (hard to believe the little guy in the photos is now 5!), and we are glad for every day we have him.

I love the Joggles stencil in this kit. To make it pop on my layout, I started by stencilling with Shimmerz Dazzlers in Spun Sugar, and once that was dry added offset stencilling with  Prima Chalk Edger in Turquoise Stone.

I love the combination of purple and turquoise together, and touched all of the flowers with the chalk edger to tie everything together.

The Stampers Big Brush pens included in the April Flying Unicorn Mixed Passion Add-On are perfect not only for stamping but for precision outlining - here I've used them to add definition to the edges of my letters.

Here is the wonderful sketch from Once Upon A Sketch. Be sure to play along this month for your chance to win some fabulous goodies!

Thanks for stopping by!

New Blue Fern Studios Sketch Challenge

I don't know about you, but I love sketches. Nothing gets my creative juices flowing like a beautiful sketch, and I wait with bated breath for the next Blue Fern Studios sketch to come out. The April sketch does not disappoint!

Once again this month I'm playing with the gorgeous Blue Fern Gardens papers. I just can't get enough of them. Though pink isn't one of my go-to colours, I thought this paper went perfectly with one of my wedding photos.

I stuck pretty close to the sketch this month:

Doesn't it just make you want to grab your Blue Fern Studios products and play around?

Here are a couple closeups:

I did some water distressing on the Blooming Foliage chipboard so that I could peel it apart and get a more layered look to the leaves (I actually separated the whole piece into 2 so that I have a mirror-image piece to use on another project). I introduced some purple into the layout to match the purple flowers in my bouquet, and toned everything down with a little shimmery white paint.

I didn't want the Mini Ring Things to be too bold, so I painted on Gelatos with a wet paintbrush then dabbed off the excess for a muted look, and added some Liquid Pearls once it was dry.

To give the layout a more romantic, vintage feel I painted on some real tea and let it run down the page. This also helps to unite different colours and patterns just as touching everything with white gesso can.

The Calling Cards paper is perfect for layering!

Thanks for stopping in today. I hope you'll play along with us this month - as usual there is some gorgeous Blue Fern Studios chipboard up for grabs.

Flying Unicorn April KOM - Part 2

I adore the Small Art, Big Passion add-on from Flying Unicorn - a mini kit meant for card making. I am always short on cards, and am usually reluctant to cut into one of my 12x12 kit papers - after all, I might want it for a layout! So the Small Art kit is perfect for me.

Here is my first card for the month, using some fantastic FabScraps papers from the Retro Twist collection.

Once I fussy cut the images from the paper, the card pretty much made itself :) The Stampers Big Brush Pens make outlining and adding details easy.

A couple closeups:

The Flying Unicorn April Kit and Add-Ons went on sale yesterday - if you haven't got yours yet, hurry and get one while the getting's good!

Thanks for stopping by!