Inspired by Kelly - Two for One Balloon Cards

The inspiration for these cards came from the archives of Kelly Taylor's videos - Layering Balloon Stencil 5 Ways: Birthday Parties.  Knowing I had these stencils in my stash I dug them out and set out to ink blend a few panels.  I wanted to try a couple of the ideas I saw in her videos.  

I ink-blended my balloons using Distress Ink in Villainous Potion, Peacock Feathers, and Cracked Pistachio onto my first panel.  I wanted to add more interest, so I pulled out another stencil and layered it over the second layer of balloons, while the balloon stencil was still in place, and added some tone-on-tone details. 

Once I had a completed panel I wanted a bold sentiment, but instead of adding the sentiment over top of the panel, I opted for a die-cut inlay.  Which left me with the reverse, which I could have tossed or used later.  Instead, I made two cards for the price of one.  

Rense and repeat.  This go round I used Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, and Salty Ocean and once again layered my balloons with ink-blended.  Then I took two of the ideas Kelly shared and used them on one panel.  First, I added the black outline to the top layer of balloons before removing the stencil.  After removing the stencil, I added shimmer to the balloons with the thin black outline for even more interest.  

For this version of the die-cut inlay, I left the balloon panel as an A2 size (4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches), to fill the full card front, and cut only the sentiment.  For the reverse card, I used my go-to stitched rectangles to create the black panel.

All of these cards were mounted on white card bases and kept clean and simple.  I felt the balloons were bold enough to carry the cards on their own, with no need for additional embellishments.