Hi everyone and welcome back! I’m here with a festive birthday card to share today using the Bunch of Balloons stamp set from Hero Arts.

I’ve been wanting to play with my Karin Brushmarker Pros for a while and thought this was a great time to brush off the dust and get coloring.

Whenever I do watercoloring, I like to create a barrier. That means I stamp the image in Black pigment ink and heat emboss with clear embossing powder. This way, I don’t have to worry about my colors mixing with one another when I start adding water.

I’m using Fabriano Artistico White watercolor paper which is more textured on one side then the other. My balloons are stamped and heat embossed on the smoother side of the paper.

The colors I’m using today are 170 Magenta Red, 195 Amber, 283 Gold, 253 Grass, 204 Cool Aqua, and Neon Red Lilac from the Karin Brushmarker Pro. After I colored the image, I used the coordinating die to cut it out and work on my background.

While this would look awesome on a white card front for a clean and simple look I decided to really punch up with color!

I lightly ink blended the Streamers Stencil on Dove White Cardstock using a blender brush and Dandelion Ink. After removing the stencil, I went around the edges of the card front with Dandelion Ink and Soft Apricot to create contrast and draw our attention to the balloons (just in case you missed them).

I have a sentiment also from the Bunch of Balloons stamp set stamped in Intensified Black. Once I die cut the balloons using the Bunch of Balloons Framecuts, I could adhere them to the card front with foam tape to add a little dimension.

What’s a birthday card without sparkle? I finished it off with sequins from the Icicle Sequins Mix attached with precision glue and topped off with the Sparkle Lacquer pen.

This was such a fun card to create! Hope you enjoyed today’s inspiration. Thanks for joining me and I’ll see you again soon!