Hello, crafty friends! I have two adorable cards to share today using this balloon animal die from Spellbinders. These were quick and simple cards to put together, which seems to be a theme with me lately!
I had this strange idea of making the balloon animal into a Dalmation. I’m not sure what sparked this idea – my brain sometimes works in mysterious ways. Although the list of supplies looks long, it really was a simple card to put together.
Card 1 Supplies
Spellbinders – Balloon Party Animal Die
Spellbinders – It’s Party Time Stamp Set
Spellbinders – Faux Stitch Embossing Folder
Spellbinders – Essential Glimmer Rectangles
Spellbinders – Party Decor Die Set
Spellbinders – Topsy Turvy Cake Die Set
Spellbinders – Glimmer Hot Foil System
Spellbinders – Fluted Classics Slimline Dies
Making the First Card
I started the card by firing up my Glimmer hot foil machine. I foiled one of the Essential Glimmer rectangle plates with black foil. After it was foiled, I trimmed the panel down with my paper trimmer. I then cut a panel of red card stock that would fit inside the design of the hot foiled panel that I had just made. I embossed that with the Faux Stitch folder. This embossing folder was the Embossing Folder of the Month for May ’22.
Now onto that balloon animal! I cut out all of the shapes with white card stock. There is the basic shape of the animal, and then there are smaller shapes that give it dimension. I added extra dimension by doubling up these smaller shapes. I also tried to add some shading to the base shape with some light gray ink. Before glueing on the smaller shapes, I did add the black spots to the base piece, so that some of the spots would look more natural. The black spots were easy to make, since I used the Party Decor die set. This set has two dies that cut dots in two different sizes. I did add a couple smaller dots, including the eye, using a die from the Topsy Turvy Cake die set. I love being able to use random dies from different sets to create a card – it definitely gives more mileage to all of my supplies!
Speaking of getting more mileage from my supplies, I used a slimline die to cut out my sentiment that I had white heat embossed. This is a bigger sentiment than normal, so a thin sentiment strip die wouldn’t work. If you have larger sentiments, go look through your stash for rectangle or slimline nesting die sets. If it’s the right height for your sentiment, all you have to do is partial die cutting in order to get the right length. Easy peasy!
Card 2 Supplies
Spellbinders – Balloon Party Animal Die
Spellbinders – It’s Party Time Stamp Set
Spellbinders – Diamond Plaid Embossing Folder
Spellbinders – Topsy Turvy Cake Die Set
Spellbinders – Fluted Classics Slimline Dies
Making the Second Card
As soon as I finished putting the spots on the Dalmation, I got the idea for this second card, thinking that perhaps I would cover the animal with hearts instead of spots. I didn’t do that, but I did make the second card! Instead of putting hearts on the balloon animal, I put them in the center of the large, open diamond areas of the embossed panel that I made from white card stock. The hearts come from yet another die from the Topsy Turvy Cake Die Set. I’m telling you, that cake set has so many surprises!
For the balloon animal, I cut the smaller pieces from a slightly lighter shade of red than the base piece. I also took a very small shading brush and added some Spun Sugar Distress Oxide to the small pieces as a highlight. Did you know that Spellbinders just started carrying Distress Oxides in their online shop? I love having a one-stop shop for supplies. To finish up the balloon animal, I added some white gel pen highlights.
I used the same partial die cutting technique for the sentiment and finished the card by scattering some clear sequins around the design.
That’s it for my cards today. Thank you so much for visiting! Leave a comment to let me know which card you like the best.
Wishing you all a crafty day,
Allison
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