Hello there, Dear Friends!
It's the 1st of October!! There's a chill in the air (in the mornings, anyway), pumpkin spice and salted caramel mocha lattes are all the rage at Starbucks, the leaves are starting to change colors and in some cases, are already beginning to drop......fall is in the air!
The 1st of the month also means that it's time for another Senior Design Team Challenge at Papertrey Ink and with that, Nichole has challenged us this month, to create a Christmas or winter-themed banner for our homes because after all, Christmas and winter are just around the corner.
I knew I wanted to create a new Christmas banner for our home this year so I headed to my pin boards on Pinterest for a little color inspiration, and ran across this photo by Tara Anderson that I LOVE. The colors, the details, the texture......I love the use of cream AND white with pops of bright pink & red, so that was my jumping off point for my banner.
To get started, I used the Boxy Banners dies to die cut my banner flags.....the larger layers from rustic cream card stock and the smaller layers from stamper's select white card stock. Before adhering the two layers together, I wanted to mimick the texture on the white wrapping paper in Tara's photo and I did that by running each of the white layers thru the Big Shot with various impression plates. I used the Woodgrain, Sheet Music and Damask Designs impression plates here.
Next, I began die cutting layers to add to the flags and just placing dies and die cut shapes on the flags to get a feel for what colors needed to go where and what die cuts I wanted on each flag. I knew I wanted to use my new Damask Snowflake Dies to add snowflake layers to each flag......the snowflakes are the *perfect* size to use on these banners!
Nothing is being glued down at this point....it's all about just laying things out to see where you want them. Sometimes one die cut would work better in a certain color, but you might not want that specific shape or color right next to another one. To get a really balanced banner overall, I always lay things out like this first, until I have everything just the way I want it. Then, all that's left to do is adhere everything and you're done!
The end result......a cheery Christmas banner that I can't wait to hang this year with the rest of our Christmas decorations. I could hang this in the dining room on the hutch or perhaps in the family room on the mantle. However, I'm thinking that this would be the perfect touch to dress up the studio just a bit for Christmas!
Here are some close-ups of each flag....
Can you see the woodgrain impression plate texture on that white layer? I also used the Bells & Boughs stamp set and coordinating dies on this flag.
The Holly Jolly dies were used on this one......with the addition of some rhinestones and Martha Stewart chunky glitter.
Ahhh....my favorite image from the new Holiday Photo Finishers set was used on this snowflake as well as a Doily Details die cut. And can you see the Damask Designs impression plate pattern on the white layer?
Here, I used my new Candy Cane Christmas stamp set and dies to create that mug and candy cane. I LOVE the way the rhinestones and glitter work together here to create some razzle-dazzle. Also, notice the sheet music impression plate pattern on the white layer here.
Here's the last little flag. More candy canes on this one as well as my favorite sentiment from the new Stylish Sentiments: Holiday set. (Remember that line from Elf? Makes me smile every time!)
This last photo lets you see a little better, the texture that the impression plates add.....love that.
All righty, Friends, that's it for me but be sure to visit each of the girls on the Senior Design Team today, to see their Banner Builder projects!
Betsy Veldman
Mish Wooderson
Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson
Hope you have a fabulous weekend!
{Christmas Banner supplies - click on thumbnails}
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