bokeh and butterfly basics

I created the bokeh piece on this card when I was preparing for the Bokeh card class I did a short while ago. I had seen Lisa Young's beautiful card on her Details for the Butterfly Bokeh Card post and loved it so I decided to CASE it.

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Bokeh Card Class

At my sister's request, I had a Bokeh Card Class at my place during her visit. It was so much fun! The picture above is the one I used on my Facebook Event page to let people know they would get to try Bokeh three ways during the class.

Bokeh is all the rage lately. Here's a definition from Wikipedia:

In photography, bokeh (Originally /ˈboʊkɛ/, /ˈboʊkeɪ/ BOH-kay — also sometimes pronounced as /ˈboʊkə/ BOH-kə, Japanese: [boke]) is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens. Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light".

Stampers have come up with many different ways to create a similar look. In my class we experimented with three different ways:

1) Bokeh with Watercolour - One of the attendees didn't get a chance to finish her card so she's coming back to finish it another time, but two left with beautiful cards using this method.

Everyone was given a 5 1/4 x 4 piece of watercolour paper, a paint brush, a water bowl and told to pick whatever colours they wanted to use from my ink pads. First we used the paint brush to soak the paper with water. Then each person took one of the ink pads they had chosen, squeezed it to get some ink on the cover, dipped their paint brush in water, and then picked up some ink from the cover and used it to do circles in different spots all over the paper. They repeated that with each colour they had chosen to use until they were satisfied with the look, adding extra water to the paper as needed. We laid it aside to dry and later went back and added the finishing touch by sponging white craft ink through different size circle stencils here and there. They each picked a colour of card stock to create a card base for their card and each picked a sentiment and whatever embellishments they wanted.

2) Bokeh with One Colour -

My "almost double digiter" decided to join us for this card and she actually used two colours on her card, but everyone else used one. I posted a video on this method in my blog post Bokeh Technique with Just One Ink Colour. Once again, one of the attendees didn't quite get her card finished and is coming back to finish it another time. I let everyone pick whatever colour they wanted to use and guided through the steps to complete it.

3) Bokeh with Sponging -

I posted a video showing this technique on my Birthday Bokehs blog post. Once again I let everyone choose the colours they wanted to use and guided them through the process. When they were happy with it they chose the card stock they wanted for the card base and whatever sentiments and embellishments they wanted.

I loved seeing how each one turned out so different. It is such a fun technique, no matter which way you do it, and it turns out different every time.

If you missed this class but you are interested in trying the technique, let me know. I am planning another Bokeh card class for sometime this month if I get enough interest.

Stampin' with my Sister

My sister, my only sibling, lives on the other side of the island from me. She has been a big encouragement and supporter in my Stampin' Up journey. She came to visit this past weekend and we had some fun stamping together. I finally got to show her all the neat stuff I have been getting since I signed on as a demonstrator. She got to try out some of the product and tools I have and, at her request, I had a Bokeh card class while she was here.

The picture above is one she took of the cards she created during her visit. She's so creative! Even her picture looks cool. The bag in the picture is a gift bag she picked up in a store while we were shopping.

The two cards in the bag and the one on the left hand side are ones she made during the Bokeh card class, I'll tell you more about them in another post.

I forgot to take a picture of the card on the right. She used one of the butterfly thinlits, a stamp from the butterfly basics stamp set, and some Irresistibly Yours DSP to create the card. You can see my card that she cased for this one on my Changing Plans result in two cards instead of one post.

The middle card I do have a picture of.  Here's a closer look:

I wanted her to try out the Lotus Blossom Stamp set so she searched pinterest for some ideas and she was inspired by Sarah's pin of a Lotus Blossom Card. Here's a funny for you - I didn't know until just now when I went to find out who this pin was from that it is actually a pin from my very own neighbour and stamping buddy! 

The weekend went by way too fast. We had lots of fun, but it was a crazy busy weekend. Can't wait for her next visit. Hopefully we'll have more time to stamp next time.

Bokeh Technique with watercolour paper and re-inkers

For this card I started with a 5 1/4 x 4 piece of Stampin' Up! watercolour paper. 

First I sprayed the paper with the spritzer before squeezing drops of ink from three different re-inkers randomly over the card. I used Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, and Daffodil Delight. I spritzed the card again and tipped it a bit to help the colours run and spread over the page.

Using a piece of paper with circles punched out as a stencil and placing it randomly over the card, I used Stampin' Up!s Whisper White Craft ink pad to sponge circles. Finally I used the splat stamp from the Perpetual Calendar stamp set to place random splats.

I let this dry for a long time before continuing.

I cut a piece of 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 piece of whisper white card stock and stamped the sentiment on it with a stamp from the Best Day Ever stamp set using Coastal Cabana ink pad. The Best Day Ever stamp set is one of the Sale-A-Bration items that can be earned for free when you spend $60 during Sale-A-Bration.

I cut a 1 3/4 x 3 piece of Coastal Cabana card stock to use as a mat for the stamped image.

I cut a 2 x 2 1/4 piece of Pistachio Pudding card stock to make it a double mat. I adhered the whole thing to the card front.

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I am hosting a Bokeh Card Class Saturday, February 28 at 7pm at my place. You will get to try the bokeh with one colour, bokeh with sponging, and bokeh with watercolour. $15 charge. Use the contact form at the right to let me know if you are interested or join the Bokeh Card Class FaceBook Event.

Birthday Bokehs

The background paper for this card was created using shades of red - Real Red, Melon Mambo, Strawberry Slush, and Blushing Bride. Here is a video of me making the background paper:



To make the card I cut an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of Crushed Curry card stock in half to get an 8 1/2 of 5 1/2 piece and scored it at 4 1/4.

I trimmed one side of the background paper so that it was 4 x 5 1/2.

I used my Big Shot and one of the framelits from the Secret Garden Framelits set to cut the flower out of Strawberry Slush card stock. I used a Stampin' Write marker to draw some lines on the petals to give the flower a bit of detail and I rubbed my fingernails along the edge of the petals and shaped them a bit to give them some dimension.

I used my Big Shot again and one of the shapes in the Fun Flowers Bigz die cut set to cut the flower centre out of Crushed Curry card stock. I drew some dots with a Stampin' Write marker on it to give it a bit of detail.

I adhered the centre to the flower and the flower to the card with glue dots.

I used Memento ink to stamp the greeting using one of the stamps from the Big Day stamp set.

I cut a 4 1/2 piece of Crushed Curry Ribbon from the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack and wrapped it around and adhered it to the panel with glue dots.

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A friend created this card when she was visiting one day. I was so excited about just learning the bokeh technique I just had to teach her how to do it. She used Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, and Hello Honey, along with Whisper White Craft to create the bokeh look. The card base is Blackberry bliss and the greeting is stamped on a piece of Crushed Curry. The greeting is stamped with Blackberry Bliss and is one of the stamps from the December Paper Pumpkin kit. She also used one of the stamps from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set to add some of the Whisper White ink. I love how it turned out!

I'd love to see your creations with the bokeh technique.

Bokeh Technique with just one ink colour

I decided to experiment and see if I could create the Bokeh look with just one ink colour and I love the result! I try to come up with ideas for my Paper Pumpkin subscribers to show them things they can do with the inks and stamps they get with their kits. All I added to this was the card stock and adhesive. The only other things used are the ink spots and stamp sets from Paper Pumpkin kits.

Both of these cards are made to fit standard letter size envelopes. For each one I cut an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of card stock to get a 6 1/4 x 7 piece and scored it at 3 1/2. From the left over card stock I cut a piece 2 1/4 x 3 1/2 to use to make the mat for the bokeh piece and another 2 x 3/4 to do the bokeh technique on.

You can watch me create the card on the right, and see how I got the Bokeh look with one ink colour, in this video which my 9 year old taped:

This card was made with the ink spot and stamps from the January 2015 Paper Pumpkin kit. This stamp set is exclusive to the kit and is not available for purchase. Sometimes past paper pumpkin kits become available for purchase to subscribers so there is a possibility this kit could be one of the  past kits available for a while, but there is no guarantee.

You could, however, use the small heart in Another Thank-You,  Wood You Be Mine, or Snuggles and Smoochies or another stamp set to create a similar card. All you would need is a sheet of 8/12 x 11 very vanilla or whisper white card stock, Real Read ink, or some other of your choice, and a sponge.

This card was created using the ink spot and stamp set from the November 2014: Simply Snowflake Paper Pumpkin kit. Once again this stamp set is exclusive to the kit and is not available for purchase.

You could create a similar card by using stamps from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar or Celebrate Today stamp set. All you would need is a sheet of 8/12 x 11 very vanilla or whisper white card stock, Lost Lagoon ink, or some other of your choice, and a sponge.

If you place an order with me for at least one ink pad and any stamp set you like I will send you the paper needed, cut and ready to go, to make one card in each stamp colour you purchase.

Check out Jac's Stampin' Points at the top of this page to see how to earn Jac's Stampin' Points towards free product.

Fun technique - Bokeh with sponging

I learned about this technique on our Newfoundland Stampin' Up! demonstrators FaceBook page. The group in St. John's had someone show them how to do it at a team meeting. As I'm on the other side of the island I don't get to go to these team meetings so I hit google to find out what it was all about. After watching a number of different videos of different ways to do the technique I finally decided to give it a try.

For my first attempt, shown on the right, I used re-inkers and water in a Stampin' Spritzer. I wasn't thrilled with the result but I probably will try it again. For my second attempt, shown on the left, I used sponging. It was so much fun and I love how it turned out. I will definitely be trying it again. I loved both even more when I used them to create cards.

This card was made with the paper on the left. I'll share the card made with the other paper soon.

For this card I cut a 5 1/4 x 4 piece of whisper white card stock.

I gathered my Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Canteloupe, and Hello Honey ink pads. I prepared a small piece of sponge for each one.

Starting with one of the colours, I dabbed the sponge on the ink pad a few times to ink it up before using the sponge to apply ink to the card stock in a circular motion. I did this in random places all over the card. I repeated this with each colour and continued adding circles of colour, overlapping in places, until all the white was covered and I was happy with the result.

It is important to let this ink dry for a bit before proceeding to the next step.

Using a piece of paper with circles punched out as a stencil and placing it randomly over the card, I used Stampin' Up!s Whisper White Craft ink pad to sponge circles. Using the stencil gave these circles a more defined edge. Finally I used the eraser part of a pencil as a stamp to make the tiny dots.

I let this dry for a long time before stamping the sentiment in the corner.

The sentiment on this card is from the Simply Wonderful stamp set, which is one of the Sale-A-Bration items that can be earned for free when you spend $60 during Sale-A-Bration. I stamped it with Memento Ink.

Next I prepared a card base by cutting a 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Calypso Coral card stock.

I cut a 5 inch piece of the Calypso Coral ribbon from the Best Day Ever Accessory Pack, another item in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure. I taped it around the background piece before attaching it to the card front.

Supplies I used to create this card:

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With the help of my 9 year old, I created this video demonstrating how to do the bokeh technique with sponging.



I will show you what I did with the paper I created in the video in a coming post.
(Update: Check my Birthday Bokehs blog post to see what I did with the paper)


If you are interested in trying out the Bokeh technique, let me know by filling in the contact form at the right and I'll try to arrange a class.

If you place an order with me for
- three ink pads of your choice
- card stock to match at least one of your ink pads
- ribbon to match at least one of your ink pads
- whisper white card stock
- whisper white craft ink
- sponges (pack of 3)
you will have an order totally just over $60 which, will make you eligible to pick a free product from the Sale-A-Bration brochure. If you pick the stamp set I used you would be able to make 48 or more cards similar to the one I made here.
If you live out of town you can have the order shipped directly to you and I can teach you the technique via Skype or FaceTime.