Die Cut Balloon Cards

A Great Way to Use Scraps

I have a TON of cardstock scraps.  Scraps that I just can't part with because they are good quality cardstock and I'll eventually find a use for them.  Well, I found a use for them.  I made a set of birthday cards with die cut balloons on the front.

The Lawn Fawn Party Balloons Lawn Cuts dies are great for this card design.  There are a variety of shapes and sizes of balloons, as well as balloon strings and dies that allow you at add a highlight to the balloon (which I did not use here).

I cut a whole bunch of balloons in different sizes using the traditional balloon and traditional round balloon shapes.  This is something you can do while you watch TV.

But, the die cuts looked boring.  So, I pulled out a variety of old embossing folders (Stampin' Up!, Lifestyle Crafts, Taylored Expressions, Sizzix, Richard Garay, Design Objectives and a couple that are unmarked) and added embossed patterns to the balloons. 

Next, I die cut a bunch of balloon strings.  Once my images were all cut out, I arranged them on the front of my card in a pattern that seemed to work. 

Again, I thought the design looked boring.  And again, I decided to pull out my embossing folders to add some texture - this time to the card panel. 

Once I was happy with the card panel, I adhered it to the card base and added the balloons and balloon strings.  I then cut by hand some simple banners and rectangles, appropriately sized to fit on my card, and added a birthday sentiment with some Versafine Black Onyx ink. 

Below is a view of all of the cards together.