We have a theme challenge this week over at the Global Design Project challenge blog.
I really never thought that I would consider a balloon card a challenge, but this week I struggled a little more than usual. I almost always try to do something different or unexpected with my projects, and let's face it, it is really hard to come up with something that hasn't been done a million times. So, what do I do when I get stuck creatively? I start small. In this case, I began by putting all of my energy into making the balloons. I got out my new Balloon Bouquet Punch and got busy punching out some Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper.
I thought it would be great to give the balloons some dimension, so I used the round end of my AquaPainter and my Stampin' Pierce Mat to round the edges of the balloons. Then I lightly sponged some Early Espresso ink onto the edges.
Then I decided to add some small flowers punched with the flower from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and the tiny flower on the Tree Builder Punch. That was cute, but I still wanted more, so I used the precious little bow die from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits and die cut some silver glimmer paper. For each balloon I used one complete bow and then I cut the loops off to create a super fancy bow.
After I finished the balloons, then I knew exactly where I wanted to go from there. First, I stamped the birthday greeting from the Birthday Blooms stamp set in Watermelon Wonder ink. Then I decided on the placement of the balloon embellishments and used a t-ruler to mark some pencil lines from the balloons to the bottom of the card front. Then I used the fine tip of a Mint Macaron marker and made the hand-drawn strings. You want to do this before you emboss the background. Then I assembled my card and added some rhinestones for even more sparkle.
I hope you don't mind the lengthy description of my creative process, but I know that everyone needs a little help breaking out of the creative hum-drums every so often. This doesn't always work for me, but it usually helps.
Be sure to visit the Global Design Project challenge blog and see all the amazing projects created by our talented design team.
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