Introducing Balloon Alphabet & Numbers Stamps & Dies + Video

Hello and welcome to the last day of our Spring Sneak Peek Week!  All this week I have been sharing cards showcasing our newest collection which are now available to purchase. However, before you run off to shop, make sure to check out this last set of cards showcasing our super fun new Balloon Alphabet Stamps and Balloon Numbers Stamps. 

I've also created a video today sharing a closer look at ALL of the products and cards from this release! You can also view the video directly on our YouTube channel HERE. 

I would love for you to subscribe to our channel and give us a like, as it really helps us with YouTube's algorithm. However, please forgive me for the small audio issues in the second half of today's video. I was forced to upgrade my computer after holding out for so long, which meant my favorite editing software is no longer compatible, and the new one I tested turned out to be a hair-pulling glitchy mess. I finally threw up my hands and settled, but I promise I will be switching to something better for next time. Thanks so much. ❤️ Now let's jump into today's sneak peek and cards!

Card No. 1: I had so much fun with the new Balloon Alphabet Stamps! This 80s girl always loves a good excuse for a rainbow-inspired card! To spell out my "congrats" greeting, I first stamped the letters with one bright ink color and then used a finger dauber to apply a darker shade of ink to the same stamp image down the left side to create a more rounded look. 

I die-cut the panel using the largest Rounded Rectangle Mat Dies and then added the various hanging kitties from our Cat Antics Stamps and Party Pets Stamps, coloring them all to match so they wouldn't compete with the other rainbow colors. I used my favorite Tulip Fine Beading Awl to pierce my stitched mat under each balloon and around the cat's paws. This allowed me to then add realistic strings with a thread and needle that I could tape on the back before mounting them to my rainbow-striped background from our Rainbow Bright Paper pack. I finished my card by stamping the word "friend" from our Big Panda Stamps with Versafine Black Onyx Ink just below my congrats greeting.

Card No. 2: For my next card featuring the Balloon Alphabet Stamps, I pulled out my vellum to heat emboss the letters using VersaMark Ink and various bright shades of Ranger Ink embossing powders in my stash. This gave my balloons a bit of transparency and helped me have some flexibility in positioning them using the Balloon Alphabet Dies. However, I realized with the transparent nature of the vellum, the shiny marks on the balloons got lost in the background, so I filled them in later with a white gel pen. 

I created my cloud background by cutting masks with Spellbinders Masking Sheets and the dies from our Plane Awesome Dies, with a light touch of Mermaid Lagoon distress ink. I then trimmed down the panel using our Stitched Rectangle Dies and pierced holes to thread my balloon strings through using the Tulip Fine Beading Awl. I positioned the two hanging tuxedo-colored cats from our Cat Antics Stamps and the script-style "birthday" word below them cut using our Blooming Frame Dies. I also added a bit of white gel pen highlights to this word to help tie the two words together.

Card No. 3: Switching gears, my next card features the companion Balloon Numbers Stamps. My little niece's birthday is right before Christmas, so her cards are almost always delivered a few days late when we see each other in person during the holidays. With that in mind, I added one of the playful sentiments from our Inside Greetings Belated Birthday Stamps. I wanted to get a head start on creating her milestone birthday cards for the next few years, though, so these numbered balloons are perfect! I used the number "3" to stamp not only my own patterned paper for the card background but also to group five of them for my balloon bouquet. One solitary balloon hardly felt like enough for this cute pig from our Hogs & Kisses Stamps to hold. Before I move on, I should note that our Ribbon & Lace Border Dies provided the stitched edge. I love how this single die can dress up any plain strip of paper and make it any width you like with a couple passes through the die-cutting machine!

Card No. 4: For my next card showcasing the Balloon Numbers Stamps, I stamped various random numbers in a pastel rainbow of colors using the newest VersaFine Clair Ink colors (linked below). I laid each number out roughly where I wanted them to go and then carefully shifted them out of the way, one at a time, so I could stamp a balloon string out of the same color using the string images found in our new Balloon Alphabet Stamps. For my sentiment strip along the bottom of my card, I inked up a strip of cardstock using the same VersaFine Clair Baby Pink Ink and created a custom greeting with our Kinsley Alphabet Stamps. When the sentiment was good and dry, I used the Ribbon & Lace Border Dies to add stitched edges to the strip and placed the cute bunny in the middle that comes with the Alphabet Numbers Stamps. Finally, when everything else was complete, I added Ranger's Glossy Accents to the top of each number to give them the shiny balloon appearance (and then immediately set my card somewhere safe to dry where I wouldn't absentmindedly stick my elbow in it later).

Card No. 5: I made a New Year's card for my dear Taiwanese friend, who celebrates the Chinese New Year using our new Balloon Numbers Stamps and the greeting from our Holiday Greetings Stamps. From there, I built my card around these elements, tying the balloons to presents with coordinating gold metallic ribbon using our Perfect Gift Boxes Dies and adding metallic streamers with our Crepe Paper Streamers Dies. For my card base, I used a gold shimmer cardstock topped with a black striped print from our Sleek Stripes Paper pack, which had been trimmed down using our new Rounded Rectangle Mat Dies. I love how all the elements came together for this classic design.

Card No. 6: I will admit my next card was a bit of a creative experiment, playing with different embossing powders and how they would look with the Balloon Alphabet Stamps. I always love how pearlized balloons look so I pulled out Hero Arts White Satin Pearl Embossing Powder. For each balloon, I would stamp with colorful Versafine Clair Inks and then, for good measure, stamp them a second time with clear VersaMark Ink before heat-embossing them with the pearlized powders. Because the powder is semi-opaque, it muted the colors of each balloon. 

At this point, I realized it would be difficult to find other patterned papers or even cardstock to match the balloons, so I created my polka-dot background. I then hunted to find a solid dot image, but this berry image from our Season's Greetings Stamps was the closest thing I could find. In hindsight, though, I like it because the berry has the same shiny mark as the balloons. Of course, to get them to match, I needed to heat emboss each polka-dot, so I started by stamping out the rainbow of dots using the VersaFine Clair Inks and then worked in sections to stamp them again with the clear embossing ink and sprinkling them with powder. I could do all the dots freehand with a small acrylic block, which went quite quickly compared to moving the single berry image around my Misti tool, and the simple image was easy to line up a second time with the clear ink. 

Continuing with not having cardstock to match, I decided to ink a piece of white cardstock with the same Versafine Clair Verdant (green) Ink and die-cut a banner using our Brilliant Banner 2 Dies. From here, I stamped the "Happy Birthday" greeting from our Happy Thoughts Stamps and then pressed the entire die-cut into my VersaMark Ink pad before sprinkling it with the embossing powder. If I had to do it again, I think I might try harder to mix a custom blend of inks, and I would skip heat embossing the banner because the opaque nature of the pearlized powder really muted my greeting, and the Stazon ink pad in my stash appeared to be dried out. I pushed forward, though, and used a ruler with my Copic Multiliner pen to draw radiating balloon strings that I "tied" to a cat bed from our Pet Sympathy Stamps and the sleeping kitty from our Cat Antics Stamps. Ultimately, my daughter will appreciate my effort to create a personalized card that celebrates her love of cats.

Card No. 7: While I still had all my supplies and Balloon Alphabet Stamps already out, I decided to take a second stab at this design concept. This time, instead of using the pearlized embossing powder, I used Ranger's Holographic Embossing Powder, which is more transparent in nature and allows the bright colors to shine through. Once again, I stamped a rainbow polka-dot background with the holly berry from our Season's Greetings Stamps. I also directly inked a scrap of white cardstock with the Versafine Clair Verdant (green) Ink. However, this time, I die-cut the word "Congrats" using the word die from our Slimline Scalloped Frame Dies and matted it onto white cardstock before fussy cutting a small shadow with my scissors. I added the shadow because I realized too late that some of my stamped polka-dots were falling behind the word and interfering with the readability. My last steps were adding the two bunnies from our new Balloon Numbers Stamps and threading black thread for the balloon strings.

Card No. 8: For my last card today, I have another children's milestone birthday card using the Balloon Numbers Stamps. I paired the cute little monkeys and vines from our Love Monkey Stamps with the mailbox and letters from our Snail Mail Stamps. To frame my scenes, I use our Comic Strip Speech Bubbles Dies cut from aqua cardstock and a lighter shade of aqua cardstock for my sky. I grounded my scene with grass cut using our Mini Grass Border Dies and stamped my sentiment using the Inside Greetings Belated Birthday Stamps. The monkey holding the balloons initially held a bouquet of heart balloons, but I clipped them off to replace them with three #5 balloons stamped in shades of pink to match the letters in my scene. Not only was this my last card to share this week, but it was also the last card I created for this release, and I felt happy to end my crafty marathon on a high note.

With each new collection, we always have a free mini die we include automatically with orders placed in our online store. For this release, we have a fun new mini flower shape die!

When shopping, we have two ongoing promotions you can choose from to be entered at checkout, depending on which offer is better for you. Limit one discount code per order.

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give one last $50 gift code to a lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below. Our daily contests will run through Saturday, January 11th at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, January 12th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at our new Balloon Alphabet Stamps & Dies and Balloon Numbers Stamps & Dies used today and are now available for purchase.

Other Supplies Used:

Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Rainbow Bright 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Plane Awesome Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Kinsley Alphabet Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Blooming Frame Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sleek Stripes Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Holiday Greetings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holiday Greetings Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ribbon & Lace Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Crepe Paper Streamers Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Perfect Gift Boxes Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cat Antics Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Cat Antics Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Party Pets Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Party Pets Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Rounded Rectangle Mat Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Verafine Clair Ink- Hawthorn Rose Shop at: Sunny Studio	Verafine Clair Ink- Lilac Bloom Shop at: Sunny Studio
Verafine Clair Ink- Very Peri Shop at: Sunny Studio	Verafine Clair Ink- Avacado Shop at: Sunny Studio	Princess Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Baby Pink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Versafine Clair Ink- Bali Blue Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Arctic Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ranger Glossy Accents Shop at: Sunny Studio
Season's Greetings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Scalloped Frame Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holographic Embossing Powder Shop at: Sunny Studio
Pet Sympathy Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Pet Sympathy Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Charming Pink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Verafine Clair Ink- Summertime Shop at: Sunny Studio
Versafine Clair Ink- Purple Delight Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Cheerful Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Verdant Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Warm Breeze Shop at: Sunny Studio
Comic Strip Speech Bubble Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Panda Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tulip Beading Awl Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spellbinders Masking Sheets Shop at: Sunny Studio
Love Monkey Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Love Monkey Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Snail Mail Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Snail Mail Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Hogs & Kisses Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hogs & Kisses Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio

Sneak Peek: Party Pets, Doggone Birthday & Inside Greetings Belated Birthday

Hello and welcome to day 4 of our Spring Sneak Peek Week!  All this week I have been sharing cards showcasing our newest collection, which will be available for purchase tomorrow morning!

Card No. 1: Today, I'm featuring cards with our new Party Pets, Doggone Birthday, and Inside Greetings Belated Birthday Stamps. The Party Pets Stamps feature adorable cats and dogs ready to celebrate. For this card, I paired the three dogs, balloons, and gifts from the set with the dachshund dog in the center from our Doggone Birthday Stamps. I framed them using our Stitched Rectangle Dies, which I mounted onto a balloon print from our Suprise Party Paper pack. This card is a bit oversized measuring 6" wide x 4.75" high. For my large script Birthday sentiment, I used our Big Bold Greetings Stamps with VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

Card No. 2: For this card, I started by die-cutting three stitched windows from my white cardstock panel using our Rounded Rectangle Window Dies. I then backed each opening using coordinating pink prints from our Gingham Pastels Paper and Flirty Flowers Paper packs. I tried to color the dog, cats, balloons, birthday cake, and party hat images from the Party Pets Stamps in complementary shades of red, pink, and tan using my Copic markers to match the patterned paper and add balance. I then paired the elements so that they each roughly filled the same space within their window and added a greeting by heat embossing the phrase "Happy Birthday to you" from our Happy Thoughts Stamps on a Brilliant Banner 3 Die cut from red cardstock.

Card No. 3: Up next, I used the cute kitty and the set of three-heart balloons from the new Party Pets Stamps with the Tulip Path Background Stamps to form my card scene. I colored the tulips and the windmill in shades of red and pink to match my balloons and give my card a Valentine's Day feel. I even colored my sky a cotton candy pink to match! I completed my card with the sentiment "You make me happy" from our Happy Thoughts Stamps. I love how it all came together!

Card No. 4: Similar to my second card today, I used the Rounded Rectangle Window Dies to create three horizontal windows on a vertically oriented card. I just love how versatile these dies are and how many options and combinations they provide within a single set! I filled each opening with green, yellow, and aqua-blue Swiss dot polka-dot prints I stamped using our new Background Basics 2 Stamps. For the center window, I stamped the bold "Happy Birthday" greeting that comes with the set, and then I built party scenes using the cats and other birthday elements from the Party Pets Stamps. When I was nearly done, I was in the process of adding some white highlights with my Sharpie Paint pen when the pen leaked and splattered a big glob in the middle of my scene, so I decided to disguise the boo-boo and cover it up using PinkFresh Studio Clear Drops in coordinating shades (linked below). As my good friend always says, there's no such thing as mistakes in crafting; it's just an excuse to embellish!

Card No. 5: I used the white cardstock leftovers that popped out when die-cutting my windows for the 2nd and 4th cards using our Rounded Rectangle Window Dies for this card. I couldn't resist the chance to use up every last piece! For my background, I blended a rainbow using distress inks, and then when I was done, I put the panel into my Misti tool and used those same 1" distress ink cubes to ink up our Background Basics 2 Stamps. Because the distress inks don't stamp as crisply as ordinary dye ink, I embraced the distressed look and splattered my panel with water and picket fence distress ink afterward. I also took it one step further and turned some splatters into stars using my Sharpie white paint pen.  I ran a strip of black cardstock through my machine three times with the same window die to form the ground for my critters within each scene. I then stacked the critters from the Party Pets Stamps with gifts and party hats to create the height I needed for each frame. Lastly, I heat-embossed a sentiment from our new Inside Greetings Belated Birthday Stamps onto a black speech bubble from our Comic Strip Speech Bubbles Dies. This might be the first time I've tried using a black speech bubble, but I really liked how it balanced out the other black in my card and popped against the rainbow background!

Card No. 6: I wanted the adorable pup from the Doggone Birthday Stamps to take center stage for this card. I set him in the center and repeatedly stamped the balloon from the Party Pets Stamps to look like a helium balloon bouquet that just got let go and is flying through the air. I stamped each balloon in colorful shades of Versafine Clair ink to get the no-line coloring look. While the balloon was still in my Misti tool, I carefully inked the balloon string using VersaFine Onyx Black ink. The simplicity of the balloon image made this surprisingly easy to do, and I love the results! I then heat set the images and colored them with coordinating Copic Markers. The only other element I added was a simple blue strip of cardstock with a stitched edge along the top using our Ribbon & Lace Border Dies. The strip not only helped ground the little dog but also gave me a good place to center the greeting from the Doggone Birthday Stamps just below the dog and her present.

Card No. 7: For this last card of the day featuring the Doggone Birthday Stamps, I thought it would be fun to show that it works just as well for holiday cards as it does for birthday cards. In this case, I created a Christmas thank you card and started by inking my card panel background with various green distress inks before sketching in some loose tree branches with my Copic Markers. I then layered in some holiday lights onto my tree using the border from our Scenic Route Stamps and added some ornaments using images from the Happy Owlidays Stamps. To add additional gifts under the tree and to match a similar scale to the gift in the Doggone Birthday set, I turned to the present from our Holiday Hugs Stamps, stamping it three times and coloring the gifts in different festive colors.

For my sentiment, I stamped the phrase "thank you so much" from the Words of Gratitude Stamps, the word "for" from the Enchanted Stamps, the word "the" from the Panda Party Stamps, and the word "gift" from the Inside Greetings Christmas Stamps. I've never pieced together a greeting using so many different stamp sets, but I had something very specific in mind for this card, and I realized we don't have any sentiments that say something similar.

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below. Our daily contests will run through Saturday, January 11th at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, January 12th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at our new Party Pet Stamps & Dies, Doggone Birthday Stamps & Dies, and Inside Greetings Belated Birthday Stamps used today, which will be available for purchase on Friday, January 10th.

Other Supplies Used: 

Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Words of Gratitude Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Happy Owlidays Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Owlidays Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Gingham Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Flirty Flowers 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Surprise Party 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Comic Strip Speech Bubble Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scenic Route Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scenic Route Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Enchanted Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Inside Greetings-Christmas Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Bold Greetings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Bold Greetings Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Panda Party Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ribbon & Lace Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holiday Hugs Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holiday Hugs Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Brilliant Banner 3 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Background Basics 2 Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tulip Path Background Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Tulip Path Background Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Rounded Rectangle Window Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Studio Clear Drops: Amber Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Studio Clear Drops: Leaf Shop at: Sunny Studio
Happy Thoughts Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Studio Clear Drops: Turquoise Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio