With AAA celebrating an 8th birthday and Less is More requiring a one layer only I decided to combine the 2 challenges with this card. I began with a stamp from a collaborative set from The Stamping Village, designed by Avery Elle, and stamped a little up from the bottom of the card. I extended the lines and balloons by masking and used a ruler to get a better impression of the line. The balloons were coloured using Inktense pencils. I also used a white gel pen to get the balloons to look more realistic and added a tiny hand done #8 in gold on 3 of the balloons. To minimize the starkness of the card I tried something I have viewed on Pinterest and really liked, but with no instructions available it was a bit of guess work on my part. My feeling is that the person who is doing these type of cards is using a Retiform technique that she developed and instead of using straight lines she uses curves. I made a plastic circle, and tested it on a scrap piece with some inks and a brush – liked the result – so used it on my card. For what is basically a first attempt I don’t think it is bad, but I shall try it again to see if I can improve on the technique. I also added a tiny bit of spatter using part of a StampinUp stamp from the Daffodil Daydream collection. The stamp was used because I wanted to control where I placed the spatter. Thanks for spending time with me today.
Lavender House Creations 
Your background is amazing for your row of flowers. Very creative and soft colors so it doesn’t take away from the stamped image and sentiment.
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Thanks so much Gayle. I realize now that it probably isn’t as CAS as it should be for either of the challenges, but no matter I had fun playing and trying something new.
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Background looks great! You did a great job. I like the splatter.
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Thanks Lisa. Having a few stamps that can imitate spatter is useful for when you want to control how much is there.
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What an amazing background. Splatters are a great touch.
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Thanks Gerry. I had fun doing it and shall be trying a few more when I have some time.
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Super balloons and an interesting background! Sometime stark is great, especially in a CAS card – we like to see lots of uninked space for our challenges. Thanks for playing along in our OLC challenge at Less is More.
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Thanks for the comments. I did realize that perhaps it wasn’t as CAS as it should be, but had fun playing nevertheless.
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Wonderful technique for that wonderful background. Thanks for playing with us at Less Is More.
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The technique was a bit of guess work on my part after viewing someone else’s work, but I like the result and shall refine it a bit in subsequent efforts.
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What a fun birthday card! Love the retiform effect that you created and the row of colorful balloons. Thank you for joining us at AAA Birthday bash. Hugs ~ Ishani
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This is a great card! Your background is quite fun.
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