August Card Chain Challenge Featuring MFT Up in the Air

Hi there!  Its time for the August Card Chain Challenge reveal!  If you're new to The Card Chain Challenge, let me tell you, its wonderful!  Card makers from all over the globe get to exchange their beautiful creations and its quite inspiring!  What a fun way to make new friends! 

So, as with any challenge, there are a few rules.  You must stick with any one (or more if you are so inclined) of four different options.  For August, our options were:

1. Color Palette option:

2. Sketch option:

3. Theme option: Ships / Dogs / Friendship

4. Product/Technique option: Memory Box / Stencils / Tea Bag Folding

With this month's card, I thought that the sketch would be absolutely perfect with hot air balloons!  And I just happened to have the Birdie Brown Up in the Air stamp set from My Favorite Things... ;D 

These images look so sweet in the August color scheme too, don't they?!  And that little doggie (another of the challenge options) peeping over the basket??  Oh my goodness, I just fell in love with him!

I began by stenciling the background using a cloud stencil and distress ink.  After that, I stamped and colored my images before running them through the Big Shot, along with the background panel.  The banner on the large balloon is paper pieced and coated in glossy accents to give it some shine.  I wanted to layer the background panel onto a piece of patterned paper in a subtle print so they wouldn't compete with one another, but also to make my clouds really pop!

Next, I die cut the "hugs" from glitter cardstock and layered it up a few times to give good dimension.  I heat embossed the sentiment in white onto Doll Pink cardstock, which is the closest I could come to magenta.  Lastly, I adhered all of my pieces to the background panel and added a few sequins to give some sparkle!

I had so much fun with this month's challenge...I hope you'll decide to join in sometime!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,