Eclipse Birthday Card

I've see these cards on Pinterest and Facebook.  Well, I finally made time to make one!  This was for my Cardaholics group with the challenge of a birthday card.  I was inspired by the colors of Central Park paper packet.

I used our Thin Cuts - Block Alphabet (Z3386) for this.  I thought about using the Cricut, but decided it would be more accurate making them the "slower" way.  Even though it might sound like it took a long time, it wasn't really that bad.  Let me explain how I made my card...

The scene is on 3.5" x 4.75" and is backed by Pacifica cardstock (X5968) that measures 3.75" x 5".  First, create 2 masks of the balloon.  The balloon came from the stamp set accompanying the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection, but any balloon will do.  Why create two?  Well, because you'll want to cover two balloons at once to create the pattern.

I stamped all of the Glacier (Z2841) balloons first.  The I masked those (one at a time) to stamped the Poppy (Z2852) balloons.  I stamped one on scrap White Daisy cardstock too.  Then, I masked both of those colored balloons to stamp the Willow (Z2807) ones.  Looking at the "W" is a great example why you need two masks.  Finally, I stamped the Lemon (Z2808) balloons.  I tried not overlapping that one but did to go between the two Willow balloons (again 2 masks).

Next, I added the balloon strings.  I had to put the mask back on a few times.  And I added a string to my scrap balloon.

My Cuttlebug came out after the last step.  I laid "WISH" out and when I was happy, I added painters tape to the letters with overlapping tape.  NOTE: you'll want to have clearance on the top and the bottom of the Thin Cuts to poke the letters out.  If your painter's tape is wide, cut it down.  I didn't want them to separate and have to build the word each time.  I've since learned that  if you have Cling Wrap plastic wrap - the one that's sticky on one side - that could be used instead of the painter's tape.  It's probably better too, since you can see through it.

Position the "WISH" onto the stamped paper securing it in place with the overlapping tape.  Run through the machine and poke out your letters.  NOTE: if you are making more than one of these cards, make sure your word stays with it's matching background!

Once the letters are cut, they're ready to have 3D foam tape (Z1151) added to the back.  I used the regular height for this (and the balloon).  The stamped part was adhered to the Pacifica cardstock which, in turn, was adhered to a card base.  Then "A BIRTHDAY" was stamped so it could be lined up with the edge of the "W" in Pacifica (Z2892) ink.  The letters were put back in their respective hole.  The balloon received the thin 3D foam dots (Z3341)on the balloon, but the end of the balloon was adhered to the card using Bonding Memory Glue (Z553).  The final step was adding the Central Park Sequins (Z4178).

Done!  My take of the Eclipse card.  : )