Umbrella man with black and white bokeh background

I made this card as a second inspirational project for our October challenge, called Bokeh. And this month the lovely Sue will be your hostess. 

This time I chose an old but one of my favourite Bigz dies, the Umbrella Man. And I created a black and white bokeh background for him.

And now I show you how I made this bokeh background. 

I took a 300gsm watercolour paper and inked with Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress inks. Then, to fix these colours I blended Watering Can and Jet Black Archival ink, but you can use Tim's Archival inks because the Black Soot and the Hickory smoke exist in Archival ink as well.

Then I used a handmade stencil (I cut out circles into a plastic sheet) and sponged Picket Fence ink through the circles.

I smeared more ink through the smaller circles to achieve a nice bokeh effect.

I sprayed my background with a fixative, then I cut out the Umbrella Man from black cardstock and adhered to the card. I also added a text from Tim's sticker book.

So if you like the bokeh technique, please join our October challenge where you can win a £20 voucher of the Country View Challenges.