These pretty papers have been cut into shapes from a die cutter, and many of them are the nesting shapes that are readily available on the market

But you may have punches that will produce the same thing, or even shop bought shapes that you haven't used up yet ... so now is the time to make that balloon card

This is a really good way to use up all the pretty odds and ends of paper that you just can't bear to throw away.

Use up your scraps of foiled, embossed or glitter card too for a fancier look to your balloons

Make your balloons in different sizes too and layer them onto the card front, with foam pads underneath some of them, for a really good effect.

Once you have all the shapes cut, then you can ink the edges of each one just a little to help give them definition.

I have drawn a line using a white Sakura gel pen to one side of each of them to represent where the light would be reflected, though it doesn't show up well in the photograph.

The strings from each one of them has just been hand drawn with a coloured Sakura pen, and the tiny bow has been glued in place where all the strings would join up.

The edge of the card is finished with Faux stitching, again using the Sakura pen and it is easy to do, and yet looks real.