Beautiful Ride for GDP023

Stampin’ Up!’s 2016 Occasions Catalog is filled to the brim with balloons – balloons can be found in the papers, punches and several stamp sets.  It’s odd to me, then, that I didn’t reach for any of those amazing products when I created my card for this week’s Balloon Theme at the Global Design Project.  Instead, I used the balloon basket from Celebrate Today in the Annual Catalog and created my own balloon with a circle punch.  Here’s my card:

Beautiful Ride, Celebrate Today, Dots for Days, Stampin' Up!, Brian King, GDP023And here’s the banner for the challenge that inspired my card:GDP023Tips, Tricks and Reminders

  • Sweet Puppy Takes a Ride.  I had cropped out my balloon basket with Thick Whisper White when I thought, “I would really like to put someone in the basket.  How cute would it be if the set came with a cute cat or dog?”  Without hesitation, it hit me that the puppy from Beautiful Ride would be PERFECT for my vision.  I mean, really, how cute is he?Beautiful Ride, Celebrate Today, Dots for Days, Stampin' Up!, Brian King, GDP023
  • Dots for Days.  The big balloon from the Balloon Framelits coordinates perfectly with this basket, but the open end of the balloon overlapped Mr. Puppy, so I simply cropped my hot air balloon with a 2-1/2″ Circle punch.  To decorate the bright red balloon, I heat embossed Real Red cardstock with the Dots for Days background stamp and White Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  It really gave the balloon the “pizzazz” I was looking for.  I’ve only used this stamp set on one other project before – you can see that project here.
  • In the Clouds.  The don’t show up perfectly in the photo, but the backdrop for this ballooning pup is filled with Soft Sky clouds.  The entire page is filled with clouds from the Balloon Celebration stamp set – some are inked and stamped once in the background, while some are inked, stamped off once and the stamped on the Whisper White base.

    Balloon Celebration, Stampin' Up!

    Balloon Celebration, Stampin’ Up!

QUICK TIP:  When creating a background like this, you’ll want to stamp off the edge of the Whisper White panel to vary the placement of the images.  When you stamp over the edge of your card base, though, the line from the edge of your card will be visible in the second generation image – want to know how I learned that?  To avoid that unwanted line, give the stamp a full re-inking each time and stamp off on a clean sheet of paper.

Beautiful Ride, Celebrate Today, Dots for Days, Stampin' Up!, Brian King, GDP023Stamp Sets:  Beautiful Ride, Celebrate Today, Dots for Days, Balloon Celebration  Papers:  Soft Sky, Real Red, Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, Crumb Cake  Inks:  Archival Basic Black  Accessories:  2-1/2″ Circle punch, Washi Label punch, White Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I hope you’ll pop over to the Global Design Project to see the cards by the design team members and to play along with this week’s challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian

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Stampin' Up!, Brian King

31 Comments

  1. I love the cheery balloon, it reminds me of all the gorgeous hot balloons we see in the Yarra Valley area. Very cute with the dog in the basket too!

  2. Great card this morning, Brian!!!
    Love your polka dot balloon!

  3. Definitely a beautiful ride and clever way to use the stamp set!

  4. Oh captain, my captain–You enable like a boss! I thought there was a stamp set or two I wouldn’t want. You have actually made me want balloon stamps now–and I don’t even like balloons! You’re some kind of Svengali!

  5. Too cute for words, Brian! I love that sweet puppy, too!

  6. I love this card. The little dog is so cute riding in the basket.

  7. Love this card, Brian! It’s such a “happy” card. I also like the way you used the arrows to let us know which products are used on the card. Thanks!

  8. Fun card, Brian. I love the big polka dot balloon and the dog in the basket. Too cute!

  9. Love your balloon! Always nice to dig out a rarely used stamp set and give it some ink. I’m on a tear about that these days!
    Looking forward to making a balloon card for GDP soon.

  10. Just adorable! Love the soft clouds in the background!

  11. Well leave it to you Brian to make a circle into a balloon and have it turn out so beautifully. This card with the little puppy is not only beautiful but it’s a really fun card also very versatile. I’d guess that kids and adults alike would really enjoy receiving this one. After all, there is a child inside all of us. Love, love, love it.

  12. Love the idea of the circle punch for the balloon, Brian. This is a beautiful card.

  13. I love your hot air balloon – fab card Brian! I love your info graphic too of what you used where! Cool thanks for sharing 🙂 x

  14. OMG, the dog is perfect! Soooo cute!

  15. I just had to stop by and say your card is amazing! I love the color combo, and that sweet doggie made me smile!

  16. Love that balloon and pup looks like he is having so much fun way up amongst the clouds .Very clever ! Cute card !
    “Up up and away in my beautiful balloon” ….I can hear it now !!!

  17. Thank you so much for including the pic/graphic with the various elements spelled out. It helps me so much to better understand how you put this together! Super design! It really makes me smile!!

  18. Fantastic card Brian … love that you have used the Beautiful Ride greeting with a hot air balloon! Good thinking 99! And yes, the little puppy taking a ride is very very cute! xx

  19. Such a cute card. You did a great job, love the addition of the puppy dog

  20. Hallo Brian,
    how cute: the dog in the basket! It is so a nice and funny idea, i love it.
    Greets
    Cornelia

  21. those soft clouds and the pop of red are so beautiful together!

  22. Love that BOLD balloon Brian!

  23. Awesome card Brian 🙂 love how you put the little dog in the basket.

  24. I love all of your card, but that back ground is to dream of…

  25. Seriously, this card is soooo adorbs !!!

  26. Brian, you puppy is perfect in here. Great way to make that big balloon! You always come up with such different ideas.

  27. Colours – amazing
    Design – clean and superb
    and that little dog! You are so clever Brian x

  28. I love your balloon – it reminds me a bit of of a fly agaric and its great red color :). In combination with your clouds it is a really cool card.

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