How to do the Bokeh Technique

Hello fellow stampers, it's Beth Norman here with the Bokeh technique.  It received a lot of attention, and questions, when I posted this card to my blog and TJ Yahoo group that I thought I'd share this technique with you today.

The stamp that I used is called Vintage Floral Collage.  Isn't it a pretty stamp?

This technique requires drying times.  Personally, I let mine air dry but you can use a heat gun to dry your layers.  Drying is important to prevent a big mess in your Craft White ink, and allows for a crisp black stamped image.  On that note, let's start, shall we...

Supplies:  Sticky notes, hole punches, White Craft ink pad, Distress inks (or any ink pads), black ink, sponges, (optional -- heat gun), white card stock plus a scrap piece of white card stock to use to punch your holes.

This is an optional step.  When I do the Bokeh technique, I like to have crisp white edges on my card.  To do this, place sticky notes around the edges of your cardstock, as seen in the photo.

Sponge ink onto your card stock.

Continue to sponge colour onto your card stock until it is completely covered.  Let dry naturally, or use a heat gun, to prevent your white Craft pad from becoming muddled with ink.

Punch two to three circles on your scrap card stock.

Lay your hole over your inked card stock and with a sponge, rub white Craft ink onto your card stock.

Continue adding white circles until you are satisfied.  Be sure to overhang some of your circles so that you are sponging on the sticky note, so they show a partial image once you take your sticky notes off.  You can see examples of this in the upper left corner, and if you look closely, you will see more of this done on my card stock.

Air dry or use a heat gun to set your Craft ink.

Once your background is dry, stamp out your image.

Take off the sticky notes to reveal nice white edging.  Now you can complete your card as desired, or just leave it as is.

I hope you will try this technique.  I'll be watching for it on our Yahoo group.  

Wishing every day was a beach day...

Hello Inky Friends!

Today's card is pretty quick and simple as I am working with limited access

to all my artsy supplies at the moment.  

I LOVE this stamp though and again, I think it lends itself very nicely to creating summer masculine cards ~ especially if you have a Birthday Greeting to add to it!

I used Sea Grass Lighthouse for the focal image cutting it out from the Journey Ovals die set.

I colored the image  lightly with colored pencils, added some Journey Twine behind it and

popped it off the card front. The image Beach Day was stamped along the bottom.

The cloud embossing folder is also offered from Fun Stampers Journey

and I inked up the raised side with white ink before running my blue paper through the machine!

We are just a couple short weeks to another NEW RELEASE Blog Hop and I've already seen a preview of some of the new stamps!! Mark your calendars for it now so you won't miss the hop and the sale! ;)

Until next time...

Happy Creating!

~Tonya -oxoxox-

Pebble Beach

I tried a different approach with this card using Technique Junkie Pebble Beach S699www.techniquejunkies.com/pebble-beach/.

The verse is Beach Day SDX071 - www.techniquejunkies.com/beach-day/.  

I stamped the image with Memento Flannel Gray ink on a light tan card stock. I colored the starfish and the shells with Copic markers.  I used a gold Wink of Stella pen to further highlight the Starfish and parts of the two larger shells. I layered it on gold metallic Star Dream text weight paper, and then on dark brown card stock. 

I stamped the verse with white pigment ink and heat embossed with white pigment embossing powder. The verse is stamped on the dark brown card stock and layered on gold Star D\ream tex weight paper and popped up with dimensionals.  Three areas of tiny shells are attached for texture and visual interest. 

You can look for a star fish at the beach -- and get inky when you come inside.  

Transparent Besties

This was a fun card to make.  I LOVE all my beached themed craft supplies so I save all the scraps from them.  I had this beach transparency and thought it was perfect for this sweet stamp.

SD671 Besties

I stamped the girls with black ink onto white cardstock, cut it out and adhered it to the transparency. Then, I inked up with words with black StazOn and stamped it directly onto the transparency.  I finished it off with a tiny starfish embellishment.

http://robinredd.typepad.com/reddrobinstudios/

You Are Beautiful

Good morning Junkies!  Today  I'd like to share a journal page I created using some of the newer Technique Junkies stamps.

I started out by spraying the background with Art Anthology Colorations in Salmon and Siesta Key.  Then using the Morse Code stencil, I used the Distressed Removal Technique from the Sensations Stencils CD.

Next, I stenciled Art Anthology Kona Velvet through one of the smaller strips on the Triangular stencil.  I added several random lines of this stenciling.  Next, I stamped Boom Boom Room randomly across the page.

I stamped two of the faces from the Beautiful Faces set onto a piece of cardstock and then colored them in.  I used Art Anthology Bronze Metal Effects on their face, Ferrari Sorbet on their lips, Shamrock Velvet on their irises, and Kenyan Copper Sorbet on their eyelids.  I then cut them out and glued them to my page.  Next I stamped the words "You are" and "Beautiful" onto a piece of cardstock and sprayed it with Warm Colorations.

I then took a couple of plastic circles in various sizes and colored with Cocoa and Merlot Colorbox Inks.  I glued these down with Glossy Accents so the glue lines wouldn't show through the plastic.

Finally, I outlined everything with a 6B graphite pencil then smudged it with a color shaper.

I hope you enjoyed today's page.  Until later........................

Marilyn

Dreamy Mermaid with Batik Shell Background

Hello Junkies!
Karen McAlpine with you today.  We are having lovely summer weather here in Michigan, USA.  Just the perfect weather for sending a beach/sea themed card to a special someone.  The Technique Junkies June Release  collection is full of  gorgeous beach themed stamps!! I used several of the new stamps and beachy colors to create my dreamy mermaid card.

Materials List:

Stamps: Batik Shell Swirls and By the Sea (Set of 6) from Technique Junkies

Ink: Cameo Coral (retired Stampin' Up); Brown; Tattered Rose Distress

CS: White Textured; Cameo Coral (Stampin' Up)

Make It:

• Make a card base from Cameo Coral CS
• On white textured CS, stamp the Batik Shell Swirls with Tattered Rose ink
• Stamp the Mermaid (from By the Sea Set) with Cameo Coral ink
• Stamp the sentiment (from By the Sea Set) with brown ink
• Add to the card base

Stamping the Batik Shell Swirls stamp on the textured CS makes such a soft and romantic background.  So lovely! The By the Sea Set also has several other beach/sea sentiments!  A great set for card makers.  I am always looking for sets with nice sentiments for my all occasion cards.  So, really enjoying this set!

Hope you have enjoyed this serene beach themed project.  All the new June Releases are all just so lovely!!  Thanks for visiting and see you next time.
Karen McAlpine
Dreaming and Creating

Cloudy By The Sea

Hello fellow Junkies!!

Today is the last day to stop by the Technique Junkies store to get the June Stamp release for 15% off, so don't forget to pop on by and get some of the great summer stamps.

Today, I'm bringing you some inspiration using the gorgeous background stamp called, "Bold Shells #S687".  For my background I created a watercolor background using an oldie but a goodie from the December 02'/January 03' TJ Newsletter called "Watercolor Background".  I then used the Misti, to stamp Versafine Black Onyx ink and because I used watercolor paper, the Misti allows me to stamp twice and get it perfectly lined up and with great vibrancy.  Did you know you can also get extra magnets and replacement grid papers for your Misti at the Technique Junkies Store?

My sentiment is from the "By The Sea #SS060" Set of Six.  This is a gorgeous script sentiment which I stamped over a My Favorite Things stitched cloud die and embossed with Versafine Black Onyx Ink.

Thanks for checking out the inspiration I've created for you today and I'll be back shortly with some more inky goodness from the June release.

Happy Stamping!!

The Crafty Nurse