March 17, 2011

Birthday Banner

Good Thursday to Everyone!
Gaby here with a From Start to Finish Banner.
My Sister Monica recently celebrated her 40th B-day and I want to show you how I created this banner. I was inspired by a banner Jana Eubank created back in October for Halloween.
After deciding on the design and my sister's likes and her colors (yes, we were all asked to wear black and turquoise!..that's my family! Never mind be happy that I show up to you party, and maybe bring you a gift, but I must wear specific colors? lol... we actually enjoy that kind of stuff!) I set out to create or design on my Gypsy.
For the design: I first had to decide how many pieces/flags I needed for my banner: -HAPPY- -4OTH- -MONI- That is a total of 16 pieces/flags (I cut her name short, phew!!...kidding again, we do call her Moni). Next, I had the colors, black and turquoise and finally I had to decide on the actual theme. Even though my sister is on dialysis, she still keeps her spirits up by always wearing make up and wearing dresses and stockings with high hills most of the time. So there it was the other part of my design!
My next step was to see how much card stock and pattern paper I needed.
After I gathered all the pieces I decided to use
Cricut Country Life, Forever Young, MS All Occasions Cake Art, MS Seasonal Cake Art, and Base Camp cartridges for my project.
Using Country Life I cut 16 of this banners at 11.5" our of very thick heavy DCWV card stock.
I cut 16 of the layers using patter paper also at 11.5"
I adhered the base and layer together using my ATG gun.  I want to mention that I did not need to cut the layer using card board because there was no need since the base card stock was heavy enough, otherwise I would have had to cut the layer twice, once in card board, the other using pattern paper.
My next step was to create 16 rosettes, one for each piece/flag

Using the MS Seasonal Cake Art cartridge and my Gypsy just to see how many I could fit on sheet.  I was able to fit 6 pieces cut at 2".  I used 4 pieces for each rosette, so I had to cut 64 pieces or 10 times a whole sheet plus an additional sheet with only 4!!! My Expression was churning!
Here you can see that I had to score at each peak and valley.  That is 64 x 11.. that is 704 times!
Yes, my fingers were sore!  And I had to fold them too! (now you know why I cut her name short! lol)
This is how I folded each piece in a zig-zag motion.
Next I had to adhere 4 pieces together. You do this by overlapping the ends or two peak and one valley.
This is what it looks like when all 4 pieces are adhered to each other.
Next step is to bring it down or push it down and inward.  It is much easier than it looks. Here I am using one hand so that I can photograph with the other. But with a little finesse and both hands, it is not that hard.
At this point you need to have some 1" circles already punched and the glue gun ready!
Oh, you will be so glad you have a glue gun!
I forgot to take a picture of the scalloped circle I cut to use in between the flag/piece and the rosette.
I cut 16 scalloped circles at 5" using MS All Occasions Cake Art
This was my basic piece/flag for my banner.  I now had to create something to decorate each one of them.
I am not very please on the location of the banner's placement.  I don't think that it highlighted the design and colors, but the party was not at my house! I feel that a banner like this placed on a flat colored wall or surface would emphasise the design much better! What do you think?
For the 3D star I used a Sizzix die and for the 40th I used my Gypsy to weld everything together and create the layer/shadow. The 4 and 0 were size 5" and the t and the h were cut/welded at 2.88" using Base Camp.
She was cut using Forever Young at 7" and her layers. Added a little bling and tulle to her dress.
The lipstick was also cut at 5" with its layers using the Forever Young cartridge.
Added bling and Glossy Accents.
I additionally cut and decorated a piece/flag with a nail polish cut at 5"; the high hills/shoes at 5"; the perfume bottle at 4"; and the boots at 6" using the Forever Young cartridge.
All the letters were cut using Base Camp at 5" with their respective layers.
I finished the banner using lots of black and turquoise ribbon and black tulle.

Thanks for visiting and thanks to Sheila for allowing me to be part of this Awesome team/blog

11 comments:

  1. WOW!! That is so neat! I bet your sister loved it! GREAT JOB!

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  2. What an Awesome decoration for a birthday. I be Monica was thrilled and really felt special on her day. Thank you for presenting such a BEAUTIFUL design with a wonderful tutorial to help us along the way. AWESOME!!

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  3. Wow - I am sure your sister loved the banner. I love the colors you have chosen!

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  4. Wow look at that I bet she loved that banner. TFS
    Sue

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  5. Look how pretty that is and so festive. What a wonderful banner and great colors for the 40th.

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  6. GREAT BANNER. Love the colors you chose to celebrate her day. TFS
    Patty

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  7. this is sooo pretty.....TFS!!!!!

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  8. Gaby, I saw this banner on your blog and that is one fantastic banner!!!

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  9. Wow! This is a beautiful banner!! Sounds like you have a pretty fun family!! Thanks for sharing a part of your life with us!!

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Thank you for your sweet sweet words of encouragement.