Sunday 29 March 2015

Bokeh Technique

More Stampin' Up fun

'Bokeh' (pronounced bo-keh) comes from the Japanese word 'boke' which literally means 'blur' or 'haze'. It is a term used in photography to describe the appearance and character or 'feel' of the out-of-focus areas of an image. It is intentional blurring or graduation. We've all seen beautiful photos where the subject in the foreground is clear and crisp while the background is beautifully blurry and atmospheric.

If you Google 'bokeh' the result is a whole host of photography sites that go into enormous detail regarding the correct lenses to use to achieve this result and there are a zillion discussions about what is good and bad bokeh.

When applied to a card-making technique Bokeh is used to describe any intentional blurring of an image and I had fun being shown how to achieve this using watercolours and inkpads.


Pink, orange and yellow birthday card


  • Firstly wet a piece of watercolour paper and then add inks in your chosen colour scheme. We used pink, orange and yellow. They will blend together at the edges to create a lovely blurred effect. Leave to dry.
  • Next, create a template of different sized circles. We used a Sizzix Big Shot and a set of dies to cut circles in a small sheet of acetate.
  • Lay the template over the watercolour paper and using a small sponge apply white stamp pad ink to create circles over the background. Move the template and repeat the process to create as many white circles as you feel you want.
  • The rest is up to you. I really love this effect and would love to try it again using blues and greens to create a watery effect, maybe using ripples instead of circles.

The result of using this technique is a beautiful card that although is bright and cheerful, still manages to be soft and gentle on the eye. Good old Stampin' Up.

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