Banner Frenzy...

Somone got a little crazy this weekend and not only cleaned her crafting space, but once it was clean, she felt inspired to get crackin'! I've been on a patriotic kick lately and decided I'd get my creative juices flowing on banners. I pretty much stayed in my space all weekend. For those of you who know how I work, or have purchased my creations, you know my dedication. Each of these 3 banners took about 4 hours each to make. Time consuming, yes, but a few of those hours were set aside for glue drying.

FREEDOM--is a special thank-you for my sweet friend who made me realize the older I get, the less I need or want. She has taught me the true value of quality friendships! Thank you Donnak for making my birthday so AWESOME! Each card panel is 4 1/4 by 5 1/2(blue cs), the top layers(red and kraft) are cut down 1/4 so they nest nicely on top of each other. The red striped paper as well as the smaller kraft polka dots(underneath the lettering) paper is from DCWV Nautical Paper Stack. To create the accordian circle I took 2 strips of blue cs(1 cut at 1.5 x 11, the other cut at 1.5 x 8.5), scored each one, then taped both pieces together. Once you have the ends taped together, you then attach a small circle to the accordian circle to keep it all together. These circles are very, very strong...much like corrugated cardboard. At this point, I left the accordian circles to dry for at least 2 hours...which gave me plenty of time to hop over to my Cricut and cut out the lettering. Lettering is from the Storybook Cartridge on the 'fancy' option and cut onto SU! red glitter paper....absolutely LOVE this stuff!CELEBRATE--this one is for an upcoming 4th of July party in GA. We will be heading down to visit my sister soon and my niece and daughter have July birthdays so I told my sis I'd take care of the decorations/supplies. I figured after the party is over, she might like to keep this little gem and put it on her fireplace hearth ;)AMERICA--is an extra banner I made just for fun! If you'd like to purchase her for yourself or as a gift, she is available in my Etsy shop today! I will have a few more gift ideas this week. Some cute teacher gifts and another friendship gift. I hope this inspires you to create something fun!