Concord and 9th Guest Post- Balloons!

Good morning! I’m back today with another guest post for Concord and 9th‘s Feature Friday during their 2nd Birthday celebration! Today, the Where Creativity Meets C9 design team is focusing on the darling new Happy Balloons stamps and dies! (I love that you can purchase them in a bundle for a discounted price, too!) Last week, I lamented the fact that I hadn’t had time to use the fabulous Sprinkles Turnabout to make both a masculine and a feminine card, so I wanted to definitely do that this week with the Happy Balloons, because these stamps and dies are super versatile and just plain adorable.

I chose to work with my Distress Oxide inks this week to create an ethereal, bokeh-like effect. I thought the creaminess of the Oxides would be perfect to go with the balloons in the set!  I started by blending the Oxide inks, Cracked Pistachio and Broken China for the masculine card, Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick for the feminine version, then spritzing both panels with some shimmery spray to bring out the “oxidized” effect on the blended panels. I also used a wet paintbrush to create some artsy splatters! Next, I used the solid balloons and my white pigment ink to stamp a random pattern of balloons. I thought the sheer white balloons reminded me of the bokeh effect that you see in those beautiful pictures on Pinterest!

After I had created my backgrounds, I die cut two of the larger balloons from plain white card stock, as well as a balloon string for each and a banner for each from the Happy Balloons die set. I stamped them with their coordinating images and sentiments from the Happy Balloons stamp set using silver sparkled embossing powder. I also die cut two of the “happy” balloon die cuts using silver sparkle paper, then trimmed off the balloon portion, leaving just the die cut word.

I trimmed each panel down a bit so that I could layer them on some more silver sparkle card stock, then adhered my die cuts using both dimensional adhesive and liquid adhesive. I love how that little banner is still 3-D even after it’s been adhered down with liquid adhesive. I have a feeling that will mail beautifully, because it lays totally flat when you put it in the envelope!

As a final touch, I added some Spectrum Noir shimmer pen to the balloons, then covered them with Nuvo Crystal Glaze to add even more shimmer and some different textures to these cards.

Well, that’s all for today’s post! Don’t forget to enter your card into the Where Creativity Meets C9 challenge this month… the theme is Anything Goes, and Concord and 9th has generously donated a $25 gift certificate to the lucky winner! You also have the opportunity to be chosen as a guest designer on a future challenge! Thanks so much for stopping by today… have a marvelous weekend!