Hello there crafty friend!
Welcome to our October 2021 Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by!! Does it seem fast to you, too?! Our hop this month has such a fun cue...
Technique!! I had SO many ideas... it's truly been mind boggling trying to decide which technique to use for this hop! I did finally decide on one simply because I hadn't done it before and I had the perfect stencil to help me do it!
So... I chose to do the Bokeh Technique. Have you tried this technique before? I've always admired cards used with this technique but in all of my 20+ years of cardmaking I haven't once used this technique myself. I remembered though that I have the cool Bokeh Stencil set from Newton's Nook and let me tell you... this stencil made this technique SO easy!! I love it and I'm hooked! I'll be using this one again and again! Anywho... so I started with a couple fun ink blended backgrounds.
For my first card I ink blended Mermaid Lagoon, Squeezed Lemonade and Twisted Citron Distress Oxide inks. And then using a Jumbo Round Sponge Dauber from Gina K Designs I added Sugar Cube white pigment ink from Taylored Expressions over the first stencil in the Bokeh Stencil set. I replaced the first stencil with the second stencil in the set and applied more white pigment ink. Now, I decided to experiment on my next step. For my first card, I used the Gina K Designs Black Amalgam ink and it kinda blended into the background which it's cool... I love the effect! I used the fabulous Insightful Meadows stamp for my cards... love these stamps! I should play with them more often! And I also used a cute little butterfly stamp from the Within Each of Us stamp set.
For my second card, I used the Wilted Violet, Kitsch Flamingo and Broken China Distress Oxide inks and used the same Sugar Cube white pigment ink over the stencils. After applying my Ranger Anti-Static pouch all over the dried background, I stamped the flowers and the butterflies with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink and melted a fine black embossing powder.
To finish off the cards, I stamped the sentiment from the Aging Gorgeously {July 2020 Sentiment Kit} with Wow Clear embossing ink on True Black card stock and melted Alabaster White embossing powder with my Mini Wagner Heat Tool. I trimmed the sentiments and popped them up on the cards. This time the flowers and butterflies became the focal piece of the card. I love how this one turned out, too! I really can't choose between them. What do you think? Which one is your favorite?
That's it for me this time! I hope you'll try out a new technique and have some fun! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity... I can't wait to see all the different techniques being shared! I'm sure that some of my friends are having a giveaway so be sure to comment as you hop along.
Let's get to the hopping...
Crystal <--- you're here
Oh wow, I love this technique! I have not tried it yet but now I am even more inspired. Your cards are so beautiful, it's hard to choose but I love the first one with the bright yellow green in the center!
ReplyDeleteBoth are lovely Crystal, but the second one is my favourite, because I love the colours
ReplyDeleteBoth of your cards are gorgeous! I think I like the 2nd one best, which is the way I've always done it with the bokeh technique.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never tried this technique as it always looked intimidating! Wow! That stencil worked perfectly. These are all SO pretty! I will need to try this!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards and
ReplyDeleteI haven't done this
technique before. I
love the violet card.
Carla from Arizona
I really love how dreamy the bokeh makes your card look, Crystal! That's such a good technique, I'll have to find a similar stencil and try this!
ReplyDeleteI have always love the look of this technique but I've never tried it. You make it look so easy so guess I will need to buy that stencil. Is there another way to do this without the stencil? I love the colors that you use but I'm especially fond of the first ones.
ReplyDeleteThis techniques makes to most beautiful soft backgrounds! Both of your cards are delightful. Your color combinations work so well together.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards! :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful colors and stamps. I LOVE the bokeh stenciling you did. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThese cards are stunning!!! Love the colors.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous .. I haven’t used this technique before .. I am just coming back to crafting after 3 years of doing very little and have literally just discovered distress oxides and got my first ones plus first ever stencils and masking sheets this week… I published my first DO card on my blog yesterday 😀I did see another vid somewhere about bokeh … I don’t currently have suitable stencil but I will have to look into that. I do have the gorgeous Insightful Meadows stamps so am feeling pretty inspired now x
ReplyDeleteMarisela Delgado said: So pretty! mariandmonsterd@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteLove love love your cards…such a fun technique!
ReplyDeleteI started using this technique this past year, but I don’t use it often. Great color combos.
ReplyDeleteI love doing the bokeh technique and enjoy the results a lot. I love the second one with the embossed image but both are lovely!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty card. Thanks for sharing the video. I'll check it out soon!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cards. Great technique. I'll have to try that one too! Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards. I love this technqiue, thanks for the reminder and the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cards! I especially love the color combo on the first one. So calming. I have never tried the bokeh technique and I have this very same stencil set. Lol. You have inspired me to ink them up.
ReplyDeleteGreat cards. I have never heard if this technique. Will have to try it.
ReplyDeleteWow! Gorgeous cards! I have never tried this technique but these stunning cards make me want to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteI'm always so impressed with the 3D look of the inks, as if they are in the distance. Love this technique!
ReplyDelete