Balloons in every size......

I fancied making some balloon cards, but I don't own a balloon stamp, die cut or stencil, so I made my own.......

I used the Fiskars shape cutter and the circle template - draw two lines onto a piece of spare cardstock, and cut around the circle to the lines

Now you have a partially cut out circle.....Draw a little 'neck' to the balloon in pencil as shown below, and cut out with scissors

You now have a balloon shape.....

Which you can make in any size.....

Use a post it note or washi tape to steady your base card and the template and using a blending tool, start sponging your balloon....

You can see that I sponged the ink more heavily at the sides and neck, leaving the center paler

Now reposition your template....Sponge another balloon, sponging over the yellow area as well. Pale colours work best. I used Simon Says Stamp dye inks, Lemon Chiffon, Mint and Sea Glass. These colours blend beautifully together

So now you have two balloons, repeat the process with a third colour

Add some strings and sequins. I love the way the balloons look transparent, just like the real thing.....

Here is a second card, this time using a HUGE balloon made with the biggest circle on the template

 and some smaller balloons floating up - the WISHING stamp is by Simon Says Stamp, and I used the Brother label maker to do the 'make a' part of the sentiment

Using the Brother P touch label printer is my latest passion for sentiments, it's easy to type out what you want to say when you don't have a suitable stamp. I get generic refills for the machine at a fraction of the cost of the real thing and they work perfectly