Birthday Challenge at Melonheadz Friends

Happy birthday! Well, maybe it's not your birthday today, but today's challenge at Melonheadz Friends is birthdays. I got a little carried away this week, as I'm finally over the sickies that have plagued me since the first of the year, and my creative juices just kept on flowing! Feels so good to be back in my studio creating again. :) So let's get to it, shall we....

Card #1

I used the Happy Birthday set for all my cards this time. My first card is simple. I used this bunch of balloons and a simple sentiment. I love these colors together. To 'paint' the watercolor-look background, I created a mask by cutting a second set of balloons from plain paper and placing it over the card panel using repositionable adhesive. I then used an ink applicator (the foam kind by Tim Holtz) to apply a soft, even layer of color all around the mask. 

This keeps the balloons underneath white so that I can color them without the background ink distorting the color. After I colored the balloons I added glossy accents.

Inside message is a simple star shape with inked edges. The little star clusters are a stamp.

Card #2
This one is also fairly simple, as I wanted something that could easily be mass produced as a party invitation. I layered two panels on the card front, then added the banner cut out with foam tape and stamped the simple sentiment.

Isn't this banner so much fun?!

Here's the inside - simple panel with stamped info.

Card #3
For the last card I used the balloons again, only this time I wanted them to be more colorful so I used various colors and added sequins for the look of confetti. A simple strip of pink separates them from the sentiment.

Again, I used the masking technique so that the balloons would remain white until I colored them.

Thanks for coming by. As always, I hope you'll be inspired to join the challenge. You aren't limited to Melonheadz digis, so if you don't have any yet, you can still play with us! You might even win a set of adorably hand drawn images if you enter. :) Hope to see you in the gallery!

("Let's Celebrate" stamp set for the invitation by My Creative Time.)