Happy Birthday

This is the last day to enter a2zScrapbooking's "Getting to Know You" challenge. I thought I'd do one more card to enter. I am always in need of birthday cards, so I decided to do one for this.

I used my MISTI to stamp the balloon from Hero Arts' "Happy Birthday" (discontinued) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto white cardstock. I colored it with my Prismacolor colored pencils, and then placed the cardstock back into my MISTI. I stamped again with Tuxedo Black, just to make the lines a little darker & crisper, since the colored pencil had dulled them somewhat. Finally, I fussy cut the image, cutting the basket & balloon separately. (I just cut off the balloon strings.)

After cutting another piece of white cardstock to 4.25x5.5", I used all three of the "Puffy Cloud Borders" by Lawn Fawn to cut it into 4 pieces. I inked the bottom panel lightly with Salty Ocean Distress ink. I used the "Rays" stencil by Tim Holtz to ink sun rays on the next panel up, with Squeezed Lemonade & a bit of Scattered Straw Distress inks. I then inked between the rays with Salty Ocean. I inked the bottom area of the next cloud section with Salty Ocean, and finally completely inked the top with more blue. I adhered the 3 lower sections to a scrap of cardstock, just so I could more easily determine placement of the balloon & my greeting.

I stamped the greeting, also from "Happy Birthday," on the bottom section, using Delicata Black Shimmer pigment ink. It really does have a bit of shimmer, as the name implies, but doesn't show up well in the photo.

I had another balloon image that I'd stamped, that hadn't come out well, but I decided to use it to help me place the balloon strings. So I roughly cut it out, laid it on my panel, and used a paper piercer to poke holes where the ends of the strings would need to go. I enlarged the holes slightly, and used a dental floss threader to thread through pieces of baker's twine in the holes, taping the ends to the back of the panel. Finally, I adhered my balloon & basket with foam tape.

I felt the upper part of the background was a bit too bare, so I used one of the bird stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Serene Silhouettes" set and Hero Arts Soft Granite ink to add 3 flying birds. I like how they are subtle, because of the light ink, but still there. All I had left to do was adhere all 4 sections to a white A2 card base.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
Through the Craft Room Door "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #129: "Interactive and/or Birthday" (I'm doing the birthday part.)
Aud Sentiments: "Use a Stamp for Your Sentiment"