Spotlight on the Close to My Heart/Operation Smile You're the Bomb Blog Hop

Welcome to the Close to My Heart/Operation Smile 
You're the Bomb Blog Hop

 I am following {Melissa Robinson's Blog.}   We have 20 Close to My Heart Consultants participating in our Close to My Heart/Operation Smile You're the Bomb Blog Hop.   If you lose your place while traveling through our blog hop, the complete list of participants can be found here.    

Thank you for hopping through our Blog Hop.  I hope that you get some great ideas on how to use this adorable stamp set.  

This stamp set will be retiring on March 31st.  When you purchase this stamps set, Close to My Heart donates $3 to Operation Smile.  Who is Operation Smile?  

Operation Smile's volunteer medical professionals travel around the world to treat children suffering from facial deformities. Their efforts mean new smiles for thousands of children. Operation Smile volunteers also build public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable healthcare systems for children and families. You can learn more about Operation Smile on their website at operationsmile.org.

So, on to my cards.  I have been wanting to get my hands inky.  I love technique and it has been a while since I just played.  One of the techniques I have been wanting to try is the Bokeh technique.  So much fun!  Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light".  It is a type of photography where there are lots of blurry circles of different colors.

Here are my cards.

           

I used watercolor paper for the main panel.  I also used an aquapainter, a paint brush with a water reservoir, used for water coloring.  

First of all, I moistened the watercolor paper.  Then I picked my favorite color combinations.  I used Sunset, Cranberry, Cotton Candy, and Canary for the above card.  For the card below I used Glacier, Lagoon, Pacifica, and Thistle.

I took the reinkers for my chosen colors and mixed 10 drops of water to 3 drops of reinker.  Then, using my aquapainter, I worked with each color and "splotched" it onto the wet watercolor paper.  I kept adding splotches of the different colors until the entire paper is covered with color.  Then I let it dry.

After it was dry, I made circle stencils using my Art Philosophy cartridge and my Cricut Explore.  My circles were cut at 1 3/4", 1 1/4", and 1" in diameter.  I used a sponge dauber, White Daisy Pigment Ink, and my stencils.  I applied the pigment ink onto my card front in circles with the stencils.  There is not rule or real direction on how to do this.  Be sure and overlap the circles.

Then I put the stencils down and just using the sponge dauber, added some additional circles that were a little more "vibrant".

Then I stamped the sentiments using Black Archival Ink and added some silver sequins for pizazz!

Super simple and so much fun!

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Want to get this incredible offer?  Just click on my link below to my website and place your order and it will be shipped directly to you!

By the way, I would love for you to leave me a comment and then please go to our next artist, {Sheila Bennett's Blog.}

You can purchase any of the supplies listed below on my website.  

Supplies Used

You're the Bomb	Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks Re-Inker	Canary Exclusive Inks Re-inker	Sunset Exclusive Inks Re-Inker
Cranberry Exclusive Inks Re-Inker	Glacier Exclusive Inks Re-inker	Lagoon Exclusive Inks Re-Inker	Pacifica Exclusive Inks Re-Inker
Thistle Exclusive Inks Re-inker	Archival Black Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad	White Daisy Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad	12" X 12" Black Cardstock
Sequins Silver Assortment	Sponge Daubers Value Pack (12)

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