Bokeh Technique with a Butterfly

The Bokeh Technique is all the rage at the moment and I have been wanting to give it a try.  It creates beautiful coloured backgrounds with white spots representing light reflections - this is often achieved by photographers.  Apologies for my vague description.

I created a couple of cards and will show the other one in another card next week.  With this card I was looking for a soft pastel background and used Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder and a touch of Marina Mist reinkers.

In essence I brushed a piece of watercolour paper with water, then after mixing some reinker and water added this in splotches all over the paper.  I used an Aqua Brush to allow me to water down the ink and keep the watercolour paper moist.  Once I was happy with it, I used a heat gun to completely dry the watercolour paper and then added circles using a template I created with some clear acetate with circles cut out in various sizes using the Circles Framelits and a sponge dauber.   The picture below shows the circles a bit better.

There are lots of tutorials on Youtube if you are looking for full details of how to create.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sorry I have been gone so long

Hi all, I know you are probably wondering where I have been - I will share some details but first let me show you the first of many projects that I have been creating.

I went with a bright and and funky card that would be perfect for kids of any age (as well as adults), using the Celebrate Toady Stamp Set and the Balloon Framelits Dies.  I love this stamp set and die, and you will see more cards using these later this week.

This card has a Whisper White card base which I layered with the Pacific Point dot DSP from the Brights Designer Series Paper Stack, and used the Sweet Taffy DSP behind the cut out balloons.  I wanted a smaller balloon so I used the Circles Dies and used the top of the Streamers from the Balloons Die Set to cut the 'tail' of the balloon and added some co-ordinating Bakers Twine and voila.  There are links below to some of the products used.

I must apologise for being gone for so long.  Unfortunately restructuring at work left us under resourced and 'highly stressed'!!!  In addition my father has dementia and unfortunately has deteriorated significantly over the last few years, last year needing full time nursing care.  All I can say is it is a horrible illness, I have slowly lost the father I knew (even though he is still with us), and watched my mother struggle as she saw the deterioration of the husband she had shared her life with for almost 50 years.

As a result I struggled to keep my Stampin Up going, even taking a break from classes for 6 months last year (sorry ladies), but I made a decision this year to reduce to work only 4 days a week, allowing me more time to spend with my parents and renew my love of creating.  And finally I have found some balance!

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

$14.95

Brights Backgrounds Designer Series Paper Stack

$37.95

Sweet Taffy Designer Series Paper

$18.95

Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp Set

$44.95

Balloon Framelits Dies

$29.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Telescoping Christmas Card

I am finally on holidays from work - yeah.  I am not going away, so I am so looking forward to spending some quality time in my craft room.  I did notice my blogging this year has been a bit lacking so my sincere apologies to those who follow my blog - one of my new year's resolutions will be to a bit more regular in posting in 2012.

To my card - I have been wanting to try out these Telescoping cards for a while now and since I was missing a Christmas Card, decided to give it a go this morning.

I used a number of different dies to create this card plus the Circle Scissors to create some of the circles.  I decided the bottom scallop circle was a bit boring, so use the Crop-A-Dile to add some decoration, I then added some two-way glue pen on the edge so that I could add some dazzling diamonds.

When you pull the ribbon at the top it opens up to show the 3 different panels.  You just have to remember that the middle panel needs to be upside down when you layer them on top of each to put the brads in.

I think these types of cards will definately be on my list of "to do" items in classes in 2012.

I thought I would give you an idea of what my desk looked like after getting (the majority) of my Christmas crafts and goodies completed.  The small little patch at the front of the desk is where I worked!!!

I spent about 3 hours cleaning up my desk on the first day of holiday - I always find I can be more productive when everything is back in its place.

More Miriamthiums

I did get on a bit of a roll with these gorgeous flowers by Miriam Spiess (see here).  I pulled out a favourite gift bag design and the pillow box to showcase these flowers.

Apologies the photo is a bit 'glarey', I used the gorgeous flocked paper from the Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper and Basic Black Satin Ribbon.

The flower is made from Cherry Cobbler and I have sponged the edges in Cherry Cobbler too.  The Antique Brads work perfectly with these flowers.

I made the flower for the pillow box using the standard scallop punch and a flower from the Boho Blossoms punch.

A Vintagey Treat Holder

I am inspired by Kimberley Van Diepen (a US Stampin' Up! demonstrator), and some time ago I made this little treat holder which was inspired by her style.

It uses the Two Tags Die - I cut 2 of the tags which fold, and joined the flaps together to make a triangle.

The DSP is now retired but the ribbon (in Cherry Cobbler) and the embellishments are all available - Vintage Trinkets and Antique Brads.


I cut the ribbon in half and frayed is a little to give it a more rustic look.

Super Quick Birthday Cards

I was inspired to make this set by the talented Dawn Griffith (see her post here).  These were so quick and simple to make and are great for that quick little card to add to a birthday pressie.

The cards are 3" x 3" and I used the Designer Frames Embossing Folder to create the embossed oval.  The ovals are punched using the Extra Large Oval Punch from Mocha Morning DSP (as everyone probably knows by now - one of my favorite DSP's).  The Happy Birthday is stamped and punched using the Word Window Punch, and I added a teeny flower from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and a Pearl Basic Jewel.  As you can see I also decorated the flaps of my Mini Square envelopes to match.


I also made a little bag to store them all in.  This was another quick and simple project, designed to co-ordinate with the cards.  I used the Fancy Favor Die to create the bag, matched the front and created a handle for it.

Stampin Up Regional Swap - 3D

This is my other swap for the Stampin' Up! Regional event in Melbourne. I made the mini milk cartons that are in the same style as the Tiny Tags I made some time ago (see post here). They were quick and simple to make and of course they are the perfect size to hold a chocolate santa.

I think I have got carried away with this style as I have now made - mini post-it notes, chocolate slider, boxes, milk cartons, and I'm sure that this style will work just as well with the new Candy Wrapper die that will be available from the 1st December - must put that on my list to make. At some stage I will take a photo of all the different items I have made in this style (its just as well they are all small otherwise they may not fit in a photo!!).