I attended my first CKC Scrapbooking convention last weekend in Houston with a dear friend.  It was overwhelming, but loads of fun!  We shopped, took some classes, shopped, took another class, shopped.....shopped some more.......you get the picture, right?  I saw this stamp/die set and had to have them because they reminded me of the water tower by my Dads house back home.  The tower was a lovely shade of sky blue for many years, and then "they" painted it to look like a hot air balloon.  Did my Dad like the new "balloon"?  Hmmm.....  The day that I found this stamp set also happened to be his birthday, and if he were still with us, he would have been 83.  (Love you Dad!)  

The stamp and die sets are from My Favorite Things www.mftstamps.com.  I LOVE this set!  There are two different ballooons, puffy clouds, and eleven different phrases.  The die set has two dies, one for each balloon. A Darice embossing bolder gave me the perfect background for my hot air balloon, and I added some Pearl Acrylic Paint to the clouds .  I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black,  die cut it with the matching Die-namics die, and colored it with Copics.  I added a small bow to the balloon, and the sentiment "Up, Up, and Away,", which is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and die cut with a Sizzix, www.sizzix.com , cloud die.  Perfect!  The Inside is stamped with clouds, a sweet sentiment, and the other balloon.     This card was so much fun to make and perfect for the retiree that received it.  :-)  

Till next time, take care!

Becky