Background or focal point

Last week I walked over to our local art-supply store to get a new Sharpie marker. I'm a firm believer that you can never have too many Sharpies. Or any marker or fancy pen. In fact, after I found the Sharpie I needed, I picked out a few other markers that I had to have, too. And then since I was already sucked in, I did some browsing to see what other creative supplies I couldn't live without.

One of my finds was a rubber stamp with "Happy Birthday" printed in many different sizes. I made two cards using my new stamp: one with the image as a background and one with it as the focal point.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Happy Birthday Background (Inkadinkadoo)
Card stock: Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, So Saffron
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Cupcake builder punch, corner rounder, rhinestones, Mono Multi liquid glue, crochet thread (DMC)

When I first picked up this stamp in the store, the idea that popped into my head was similar to this layout, except I pictured a floating balloon instead of a cupcake. I started making this card with that plan in mind, but I didn't have a balloon stamp that looked just right. So I took a slightly different path and went with a punched cupcake instead. I added a bow around the cupcake and a few rhinestones for a little sparkle.

I typically wouldn't leave such a large plain white border on a card, but I really like the way this card turned out.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Happy Birthday Background (Inkadinkadoo)
Card stock: Whisper White, Ballet Blue, textured Taken with Teal
Ink: Riviera Kaleidacolor (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Chalk Talk Framelits dies, balloon die (unknown), Decorative Dots embossing folder, crochet thread (DMC), Dimensionals

I wanted to make a second card with the stamp, but using it in a different way. I pulled out one of my old multicolored inkpads and stamped the "Happy Birthday" image on Whisper White cardstock. Then I cut it out with the largest tag in the set of Chalk Talk Framelits dies.

I was still stuck on the idea of a balloon, so I found a die-cut balloon shape in my craft supplies and tied on a string of crochet thread. I didn't want the string to just hang down, so I wrapped it around the tag before using Dimensionals to adhere the balloon and the tag to the embossed card base.

After I took this photo I went back and added a little highlight to the balloon with a white gel pen to give it a bit more dimension. I still feel as if there is something missing from this card, but I'm not exactly sure what. (If you have an idea, leave me a comment.)

So which do you like better: the stamp as a background or as a focal point? Thanks for stopping by!