Inlaid Up & Away

Today I have a couple of cards using the Up, Up & Away set...both use the inlaid embossing technique for the background, but they each have a sightly different color combo and the birthday greeting is different. Here they are...

I created my background using the Tasteful Trim Die for the hills and the Create a Cupcake Punch for the clouds. I stamped the birds and the baskets for the balloons and then I ran it through my Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. I originally planned to use a banner die cut from the Petal Cone Die for my birthday greeting along the bottom, but it just didn't look as I envisioned. So I went with the Modern Label punch instead. The base of this card is Pear Pizzazz.

I decided to give this same design another shot using a Poppy Parade base and this time I made the hilly area at bottom a little larger with less sky area...this slight adjustment was just what I needed to make the birthday greeting on the the die cut pennant work. What do you think?

For the second version I also sponged some Lucky Limeade ink on the top of the Pear Pizzazz hill and some Island Indigo ink on the edges of the clouds. The sky on both cards is a layer of Pool Party.

Which version do you prefer? Thanks for visiting today!