Bokeh Technique for Garden Gift Tags

I used a fun stamping technique to help wrap up some gifted veggies, and created these Garden gift tags using the Bokeh Technique!

bokeh garden tag

If you planted a garden this year, you’ll probably have a whole heap of tomatoes or peppers or herbs soon. What did you plant? Some seasons are, ok…MOST seasons, there are more than any one family can use. Or that’s what we tell our neighbors, because we like to share with them.

The extra produce from our garden is beautiful, and it needs beautiful tags for when we present it to the neighbors.

What is bokeh? It’s the visual qualities of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image. It can happen with the help of specific camera lenses. This blurring of the background can additionally help your main subject stand out.

That’s what I did with this tags; created a blurred background so the garden goodies on these tags were featured.

Stamped bokeh garden tags


Bokeh Technique Steps:

Sponge Background

From one 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet, cut in half @ 5 1/2″. (You’ll get at least 8 tags from a single sheet).

I chose sunrise colors, and used sponges to add the ink around my paper. Start with your lightest color, and progress to the darker colors.

Sponge background

Make a Stencil

Cut Vellum to 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″. This size allows you to easily fit it into your embossing machine. I choose vellum because it’s easy to see through and strong enough to use multiple times as a stencil. You can also use window sheets.

Use circle framelits of varying sizes, and circle punches, to cut your vellum randomly. These don’t need to be exactly how you want them on your card, but don’t overlap the circles. We will overlap the circles on your project.

Stencil for bokeh technique

Sponge White

Sponge all sizes of circles with whisper white ink lightly. Do this in a circular motion around the circles of your stencil.

Bokeh background

Layer next “layer” of circles with more ink

Continue until you are happy with the level of bokeh

LET DRY! You can hurry this with a heat tool, or take a short snack break. Or you can do both.

Bokeh background and supplies

Cut into Tags

Cut your piece into 2″ strips.

Punch with Scalloped Tag Topper.

bokeh garden tags

Decorate Garden Gift Tags

You can leave your tags as is, or stamp over your bokeh backgrounds, or layer pretty embellishments on the front.


Supplies:

Whisper White 8-1/2


These tags would also make great bookmarks! Maybe your recipient will use them for their cookbooks while in the kitchen with your gifts from the garden. Or is your neighbor the one with the green thumb? Perhaps they would enjoy a small basket of these tags!

bokeh garden tags basket

This might even nudge them to send over more veggie goodness to your front door!

I’m playing along with these garden tags with the following challenges:


Do you want to make that cute basket to hold your vegetables?

The instructions can be found here in this earlier post:

watermelon picnic basket

Love making tags for gifts? Check out these other great tutorials:

wine tags made with half full stamp set

Thanks for stopping by today for another tutorial! If you aren’t already, I’d love it if you subscribed 🙂

Happy Crafting!

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8 Responses

  1. I love the idea of making our own Bokeh background – I’m going to have to play with that one – this is the first year for a while I actually don’t have any veg growing – I went on holiday in May and left my son in charge of house and pets and I forgot to tell him to water my veg. When I got back they had all died 🙁 so just apples off the tree for us this year! Thanks for joining us again at SU Only Challenge Laura , Fiona DT

    • laurascraftcloset.com says:

      I’ll be excited to see what you create with a bokeh background. You’re always so creative. I’m glad the apple tree is so reliable — next year will be a good year for a garden 😊

  2. Those are simply lovely! Great tutorial on the bokeh technique, too. Thanks for playing along with us at SUO Challenges, we hope you’ll join us for a new challenge starting tomorrow!

  3. These are awesome and thank you so much for sharing and the tutorial! Thank you so much for playing along with us at SUO Challenges. Please join our new challenge today for Clean and Simple. These projects really are fantastic. Love them!

  4. Michelle says:

    Great way to give the basket a personal note.
    Thanks for joining us at Papercraft Challenges.
    Good luck!! Michelle (DT)

    • laurascraftcloset.com says:

      Thanks, Michelle! Personalization is what we do best as paper crafters, right? 😊

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