And just like that her extended vacation is over and my granddaughter has returned home. The house is quiet now and it’s time to get back into my normal routine. Fortunately the weather was good yesterday and I was able to get all the bedding and towels washed and dried. Now I need to focus on a fall craft fair I’m attending in October. First on my list is a new selection of gender neutral birthday cards. I started with this balloon-themed one using the Celebrate With Tags Stamp Set.

I began by creating an A2 card base from Pretty Peacock Card. After cutting and scoring the card I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

Then I chose the balloon image from the Celebrate With Tags Stamp Set and a Pretty Peacock ink pad. First I stamped the balloons over the entire front of the card base. Then I stamped some balloons floating up from the bottom of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. This piece I immediately fixed inside the card base using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

Next I stamped some balloons on the front of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope to match the design on the inside of the card. Finally I stamped one last balloon onto a scrap of Very Vanilla Card and it out (minus the string).

LABEL TO CELEBRATE

With the balloons done I was ready for the birthday sentiment from the Celebrate With Tags Stamp Set. I love the simple, bold design and stamped it onto some Very Vanilla Card using Pretty Peacock ink.

Because the rest of the design was pretty simple I went looking for a decorative shape for the sentiment. I found exactly what I needed in the Labels Aglow Dies. Then having cut out the sentiment I attached it to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

That just left the single fussy-cut balloon to add, but first I needed to add a string. In the end I cut 6″ of gold cord from the Simply Elegant Trim pack. Although it was fiddly, I managed to tie a knot in the cord and fixed it at the neck of the balloon using a dot of liquid glue at the back. Then I attached the balloon to the sentiment using pieces of Stampin’ Dimensionals. Where the balloon extended past the top of the sentiment I stacked the Dimensionals two high to keep it level.

Finally I put a tiny dot of liquid glue onto the card base below the sentiment and let it dry for a minute. Once the glue had started to change from white to clear I curled the cord a little and pressed it onto the glue. Because it was partly dry the glue still held the cord but without oozing out from underneath. With that my latest birthday card was done.

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