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Sunday, 15 February 2026

Wildflower Birthday for Paper Players 773

Welcome to a new challenge at The Paper Players! Our hostess this week is the wonderful Stef and she has a clean and simple challenge for us: Balloons and Birthdays. 

Many thanks to all of you who played along with Ann's dreamy colour challenge - the gallery was gorgeous!


I did have to remind myself that this is not only a birthday and balloons challenge but also a Clean-and-Simple challenge, so there had to be lots of white space and minimal embellishment in the design. Fortunately, I like a clean and simple design. More challenging was to find some balloons in my stash! You wouldn't think it would be that hard... but turned out it was. 

To the rescue came the Wildflower Celebrations DSP, which came with two sheets of punch out ephemera. I used the balloon and a separate one of tiny flowers to create the focal point and worked from there. I used  two scraps of the paper to create steps for the balloon to rest on. Sadly, this paper seems to be retired. 



I used the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder to give the card front some interest. After attaching the paper steps, I added the balloon but popped it up on dimensionals for some lift. 


The sentiment, stamped in Blueberry Bushel to match the DSP, is from Sweet Jar. It's cut with my favourite banner from Stylish Shapes. It's finished off with a trio of pink gems.

What will you do with this Clean and Simple Theme? You can see what the rest of the team have done, and link up your entry, at The Paper Players page. 

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:

  1. Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
  2. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
  3. Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
  4. Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
  5. Have fun, and thank you for playing with us!
Don't forget to check out the great inspiration from the rest of the design team.

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)
Jan Clothier - You are here

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.





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6 comments:

  1. Claire Broadwater16 February 2026 at 00:59

    Jan, this is such a pretty CAS card. I love the embossed background and the pink balloon. The flowers on top make it look so feminine. SMILE! I hope you have a lovely week, My Friend!

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  2. Joanne James - The Crafty Owl16 February 2026 at 06:34

    First things first, full disclosure - I was panicking looking for balloon stamps when I saw your card and remembered that paper had balloon diecuts - so thank you for that!!! The simple balloon makes for a lovely CAS card and the addition of the cluster of flowers and the banners add colour and interest without overwhelm. A beautiful CAS birthday card, my friend!

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  3. Ann Schach16 February 2026 at 09:56

    Clean and simple perfection, Jan! I love the strips of designer paper against the embossing. Of course, I LOVE your choice of embossing folder (wink)! This is such a beautifully feminine card that will delight the recipient. Have a wonderful week!

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  4. Stef Perry16 February 2026 at 12:35

    You know what's funny Jan, I was trying to remember what I had in my stash with a balloon or ballons, even though this is my challenge ;-) . Your CAS card is lovely, with the pretty paper strips and adding the flower onto the balloon string, which really dresses it up nicely. Fabulous card!

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  5. LeAnne17 February 2026 at 04:17

    This is just delightful! I love this layout---so simple and yet it can use up some of those inevitable scraps we all "hoard"! Love those little balloons, too! They work perfectly with your papers!

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  6. Christy Lynn18 February 2026 at 06:29

    Such a sweet birthday card, Jan! I love the floral embellishment on the balloon and that navy paper with the polka dots, so cute!

    ReplyDelete