Saturday, July 25, 2015

Jump on it July

I can't believe there is only 1 more week in July! Get these stamp sets while you can!
During the month of July, when you purchase $25 in current, retail priced stamps, you qualify to receive either the July Stamp of the month Life is Wonderful, FREE or any one of the Hostess Rewards stamp sets for only $5!
So what are you waiting for! Jump on it while you still can!

-Megan-
Close to my Heart Independent Consultant
www.MDean7761.ctmh.com

Bokeh Butterflies

Back to blogging! Somehow I could not figure out my log in for this account! But I have it all sorted out and can get back to sharing the things I love. Crafting!

Last month my team did a card swap. We each picked a stamp set to make a card out of. I chose the stamp set Paper Bird which is a hostess reward stamp set.


Here is a list of what I used for this card:

Paper Birds stamp set C1613
White Daisy ink z2163
Sky ink (retired) I would suggest glacier ink instead z2641
Sweet Leaf ink z2153
Black ink z2105
Sponge z697
Scissors z1836
Clear blocks
stamp scrubber and spray z1782 and 1778
card base
3d adhesive squares
Heidi Swapp butterfly stencil



Here is my set up. I always put something underneath my work space to catch any ink or glue. I love using the Close to my Heart desk pad. It has measurements on it and a place for lists ans things. I like using it to jot down things as I make a card or scrapbook page so I can reproduce it.

Another thing I always have on hand is a little scrap bin. Something to put my trash and scraps in. I have these little blue bins in 2 different sizes I got from Michaels that work perfectly!

So lets start making our card! The first thing you want to do is take your sponge and scissors and cut the sponge into quarters.
I do this because it makes the sponge go farther. Now I have 4 pieces to use and can use 4 different colors without blending them together and muddying up my inks.
Next you want to take your first color, I used sky, and using the sponge add the color to the card. You can do this in a sweeping motion or in a circular motion depending on what you like. I used a circular motion on mine.
Cover the whole face of the card with the first color.
Next add in a little accent color. I used Sweet leaf. I liked the blue and the green together for use with the stamp set that I chose.
Now in most Bokeh technique you see someone coming back in making circles or bubbles out of white ink. I decided to branch out from that and do butterflies in the white ink. I used a butterfly stencil by Heidi Swapp which you can find at Michaels.
Place the stencil on top of the card where you want it and then using the white ink apply ink over the stencil.
I then let it dry and took a look at it. If you don't think your butterflies are white enough then apply a second coat just repeating the previous step.
After the card is all dry it is time to grab the stamp set, black ink, and clear block.
I picked "greetings" from this stamp set to put on the front of the card. I stamped it in black ink directly onto the card.
After stamping it is always good to clean your stamps so they are ready to use again next time!
Next I stamped the butterfly in black ink. This stamp does not have a cricut cut that goes with it so to get the butterfly shape I needed to fussy cut it.
The last step is to put 3d adhesive squares to the back of the butterfly to make him pop off the card.

And there you have my take on the Bokeh technique! I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for more!

-Megan
Close to my Heart independent Consultant
www.mdean7761.ctmh.com