CIC 524 | Birthday Hedgehog | Balloons

We’re in the birthday spirit at Cupcake Inspirations this fortnight, with our theme being Balloons. Although that doesn’t mean you have to make a birthday card – you could use balloons for a new baby, a wedding, whatever you prefer! As long as there are balloons as a feature on your project, you can join in. We are also sponsored for this challenge. We have a new-to-us sponsor, Laurie Furnell Ink. One lucky winner who plays along with the challenge will win two digital sets of their choice from Laurie Furnell Ink.

I chose the hedgehog from the Balloon Animals Digital Stamps set for my card. I sized and positioned it in word before printing it directly onto my card base.

Red Balloon – TN9, TN8, CR11, MG3

Yellow Balloon – GB9, GB7, GY2, CT4, CT3

Blue balloon – BT9, BT7, BT5, BT1

Belly – EB4, RB2, RB1, FS8, FS7

Nose – IG10, IG8, IG6

Spines – EB7, EB4, EB1

Grounding – IG2, blender

With it printed out I used my Spectrum Noir Illustrator markers to do the colouring. I started with the balloons, and decided I wanted to have some bright and happy colours. I went for primary colours, though my blue is a little on the green side rather than a true blue.

For each of my balloons I wanted to have fairly high contrast to give the look of roundness. I started with my darkest colour on the left hand side of the balloon, though not right up at the edge. I then extended it slightly with my next darkest, then used the middle shade to bring the line all the way around to the right hand side, again a step in from the very edge. At this point it’s almost like a circle has been drawn within the balloon. I use my second lightest shade to fill in the majority of the balloon, then the lightest shade for the remaining area, leaving a little space white as highlight. I didn’t include the white highlight on the red balloon as the area that would have the highlight is hidden behind the yellow balloon.

For the hedgehog I started by colouring its belly. As with the balloons, I put the shadows on the left hand side, and anywhere that the body would be overlapping and casting shadows, such as under the chin, or next to the arm. I went with colours similar to those I would use for skin as hedgehogs do have somewhat fleshy tummies. (I did an image search for hedgehog tummies to check this – lots of cuteness there!) When I was done with colouring though I had to call my husband over because, if you’ll excuse the phrase, the poor hedgehog looked like some kind of weird flesh baby! It was very odd looking. I figured it could be because the rest of the hedgehog wasn’t finished, so I let it be, with the plan that I would come back and change it later if needed.

For the spines on the hedgehog I wanted to make sure that they looked spikey. Or at least try. To that end, I added the colour with flicking motions, not worrying about if I had some white spaces left. I followed the drawn lines of the stamp to make sure that the spines were curving the correct way. It turned out better than I hoped, and the hedgehog no longer looked so weird, so I was pretty happy with that! I finished off my colouring by adding some grounding below the hedgehog.

I decided I wanted to add some shimmer to my balloons, and grabbed my Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen. I hadn’t used it in ages and at first it seemed like it might have dried up, but after a bit of encouragement it gave me quite a lot of sparkle! A bit more than I was after, to be honest, and I wonder if I might have preferred it without, but never mind.

For a finishing touch I added a sentiment. I checked the Color My Life app to see what birthday sentiments I have that might be suitable, and found a small one from an old Craftin’ Desert Divas stamp set which fit nicely beside my hedgehog.

I hope this inspires you to come and join in with our challenge. You can find further inspiration from the rest of the Design Team on the challenge site or directly at their blogs via the links below.

Love,

Charlotte E (Lady Joyful) Email thejoyfulsoulcreates@gmail.com

*Affiliate links may have been used in this post. For more details on affiliate links as well as other ways to support me, visit this page.*

Challenges included:

Crafty Animals – Anything Goes With An Animal

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge – Balloons

Double D Challenges – Colors of Summer

Seize The Birthday – Anything Birthday Goes

Through The Craft Room Door – Anything Goes

---

Check out what the rest of the DT made:

Anila

Bhavya

Charlotte (that’s me!)

Ishani

Kanan

Leanne

Nora

Sandy

Sue T.