Kraftin' Kimmie Krafty Tips and Tutes - Photo tutorial of bokeh technique (10 easy steps)

Hello krafty friends!

I'm happy you are here to visit me today as it's my turn to 

present the Krafty Tips and Tutes.  I've chosen to make a 

photo tutorial on the bokeh technique for you this week.

WARNING - this is very photo intensive as I've not had much luck

at all with videos of late. But it should be pretty easy to follow. 

Additional warning - a couple of my photos are blurry

as I was trying to take the pic with my left hand while

still demonstrating the step with my right - LOL.

Boy did I miss my daughter that day for her help!!

Anyhoo..... first let me show you the finished card 

and then I'll start into the steps on how to make it.

Stamp from "You're a Scream" by Kraftin' Kimmie

Products you need for this project are:

watercolor paper or glossy cardstock 

paint brushes and water & papertowels

masking/stencil/painter's tape

watercolor paints or distress/regular ink refills

ink pads (distress or regular) and white craft (or StazOn) 

circle template, sponges or sponge dauber, 

solid circle stamp in a couple sizes

heat gun (preferable if you don't want to wait for project to dry)

Step One:

Start with a piece of watercolor paper.  You can also use

glossy cardstock but today I'm using watercolor paper.  I'm 

using a panel sized 5 x 5 1/2" which I will trim down when I'm done.

It's really helpful to secure your paper to the surface you're 

working on. I'm using painter's masking tape. The paper will

buckle a bit as you are coloring it so the tape helps to keep it flat

and in place.  You can put a piece of wax paper under your panel 

to help with the watercolor seep-through that might occur 

(if you're kind of messy like I am - LOL).  

Step TWO:

Prepare your watercolor supplies.

I used 3 different shades of blue on my panel - 

Pool Party, Baja Breeze and Island Indigo.

The amount of ink you use depends on how deep you

want the color to be on the panel.  Typically I use between

5 and 8 drops of ink one little well of this paint tray.  

Step THREE:

Prepare your panel by using just clear water - give it a 

good generous coating all over.

Step FOUR:

Now start adding your base color(s)

I first swoosh the lightest ink around and then go back

and swoosh in some more of the darker shade in just a few

areas. It's very subtle but does create more depth in the panel.

Step FIVE:

When you are happy with the base colors, dab it off with a

paper towel (see how messy I am :o) ? ).

Step SIX:

Using a solid circle stamp or two (or circle stencil) add 

some darker spots to the panel.  Note:  I save the insides of my 

stamps that have pop out middles for this - works great 

as it's kind of hard to find solid circle stamps. 

I first used a larger circle rubber stamp in a few areas on

the panel.  Because the paper is a bit dry the ink will appear

appear kind of dark so I will use the deeper shade of blue that 

I made and softly blur the circle and shape and edges later.

  Then I randomly stamped the smaller circle around the

panel to fill in the spaces a bit more and add depth to the base.

Then I take the lighter shade of blue and 

give it a final wash-over to blur and blend the circles.

Step SEVEN:

Once again dab off with a paper towel and then if you 

have a heat gun use it to dry the panel for the next steps.

Note: if you don't have a heat gun you will want to wait 

about an hour before you start the next steps (longer if

you're using glossy cardstock). 

Here's a photo of the different finishes you will get 

with a watercolor panel (left) and glossy cardstock (right)

Step EIGHT:

Now we are going to add the bokeh effect dots 

with white craft ink, a sponge dauber and a circle stencil.

I've made my own circle stencil using various sizes of

circle punches in a random pattern and a clear window

sheet from some product packaging.  You can also use the end

of a pencil eraser, a sponge dauber, or a circle stamp for this step.

Tip: I found it works best if you start at one end (corner or side)

and work away from it as you fill in the circles as craft ink

is pretty sticky and you can accidentally pick up the edges from the 

one before and and mess up your pattern.  

To create the bokeh effect you will fill in the different sizes of 

circles around the panel. The larger circles should have less ink

on them and be a bit blurred as they are the farthest out of focus

and the smallest circles will have the most saturated color 

(because they would be closest in the photo as spots of light).

Step NINE:

Craft ink is very sticky and takes a long time to dry

(even on watercolor paper) so I use a heat gun again (I'll 

spare you that boring picture - hehe) to set the color again. 

StazOn ink will dry much faster but I like the results I get with the craft ink.  

When you've dried it you can take off your masking.  

and you get something that looks like this

Step TEN:

If you've done a really good job of masking (or not been

really messy like me) you can trim the panel to leave a small

white edge around it.  I have taken the pane and trimmed it down 

to 4" x 5 1/4" with my paper cutter to get this

Final Step(s):

Take your bokeh panel and add your images (or sentiments)

and adhere it to a mat and/or your card base to finish your project

like I did with the yellow cardstock.  Then add some other embellies

as you wish - such as the Doodlebug sprinkles (available in the 

KK shop) and a wooden sentiment for extra pop to the project.

Ta Dah - DONE!!! Easy peasy - right ?

Thanks so much for sticking with me to see my tutorial.

I hope it was clear and easy to follow and that I've inspired 

you to go get inky and give it a try too!

Til next time...hugs and happy kraftin'! D