Saturday, October 2, 2021

~ Friends of Unity October 2021 Blog Hop ~

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








 


Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!
We appreciate you!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,
Crystal


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23 comments:

  1. 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!

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  2. Both are lovely Crystal, but the second one is my favourite, because I love the colours

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  3. Both 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.

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  4. I’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!

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  5. Beautiful cards and
    I haven't done this
    technique before. I
    love the violet card.
    Carla from Arizona

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  6. 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!

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  7. I 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.

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  8. This techniques makes to most beautiful soft backgrounds! Both of your cards are delightful. Your color combinations work so well together.

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  9. Beautiful colors and stamps. I LOVE the bokeh stenciling you did. Gorgeous!

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  10. These cards are stunning!!! Love the colors.

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  11. Gorgeous .. 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

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  12. Marisela Delgado said: So pretty! mariandmonsterd@yahoo.com

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  13. Love love love your cards…such a fun technique!

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  14. I started using this technique this past year, but I don’t use it often. Great color combos.

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  15. I love doing the bokeh technique and enjoy the results a lot. I love the second one with the embossed image but both are lovely!

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  16. Very pretty card. Thanks for sharing the video. I'll check it out soon!

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  17. Gorgeous cards. Great technique. I'll have to try that one too! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  18. Beautiful cards. I love this technqiue, thanks for the reminder and the inspiration.

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  19. Gorgeous 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.

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  20. Great cards. I have never heard if this technique. Will have to try it.

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  21. Wow! Gorgeous cards! I have never tried this technique but these stunning cards make me want to give it a try!

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  22. I'm always so impressed with the 3D look of the inks, as if they are in the distance. Love this technique!

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