Welcome Home!

Hello again, friends!  I hope your holiday season is going well--MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!  I've got another banner to share with you today as well as another piece of artwork with the same "theme".  My sister recently returned home from an 18 month mission in Brazil and so, of course, I had to make some fun banners, etc., to welcome her home!  Come see the banner...

My sister love bright colors, so that was my starting point.  I die cut some Smoky Slate cardstock and patterned papers from my scrap drawer using Stampin' Up! banner dies.  I then layered these together and put them in a pattern-ish.  I added flowers held together with Stampin' Up! brads from my stash to the "space" banners, you know, where there should be a space between words?

The words were created by cutting out letters with my Silhouette.  The letters are cut out of Basic Gray cardstock and layered onto punched circles of Basic Black cardstock.  These are added to the banners, but first washi tape was layered to create an artsy feel.  

The pieces were all punched and then reinforced with colorful hole reinforcers from my stash.  The banner was tied together with green, yellow, and white baker's twine also from my stash.  The sentiment is "Love you Abbie".  Abbie is my sister's name. ;)

After I finished the banner, I looked at the paper that the letters were cut out of and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.  Instead, I used the scraps of patterned paper from the banner and washi tape to create a fun framed piece of art that matches the banner.  The wood frame was covered with washi tape to make it a bit more whimsical.  Sequins were used for the "holes" in the letters and for a bit of embellishment.

Thank you for stopping by today and MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE to you all!  I hope you spend the next few days surrounded by loved ones and that, if you have time, you join in the fun with the challenges I'm linking with.  HUGS and MERRY crafting to you all!

For these fabulous challenge~

Creative Card Crew: Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly: Choose Past Challenge

(To Die For)

PDE Linky Party: Anything Goes

Sweet Stamps: Anything But a Card

Top Tip Tuesday: Make Your Own...

Another little something...

Hi!  I have something a little bit different for you tonight.  I wasn't really happy with my submission for the Gingersnap Creations Border Punches challenge, and so I decided to go another route and submit another card.  I saw this card by the amazing Joan over at Stamping with a Passion! and immediately knew I needed to CASE her.  The background looks perfect to use border punches with!!!  So, I decided to make my own version using some new stamps from Pink Paislee that I purchased the other day.

Here is the card~

Details~

I used different patterned papers out of my scrap drawer, silver glass glitter and plain old school grade gold glitter, three different border punches, and a gel pen for my background panel.  To add some interest to the fabulous bee image, I highlighted two sides with a border of blue, put an office label on the right side, and then added crackle accents and rhinestones.  The flowers cascading down were an after thought--and I really like them! :)

In addition to re-entering the Gingersnap Creations Border Punches challenge, I'd also like to submit this to the Creative Belli At Least 3 Shapes challenge--I've used a bunch of shapes on this one!!! :)

So, what are your thoughts?  I really like the way it turned out!!!  I hope you've been inspired to create something new today--and won't you join in the fun at these two fabulous challenges!  Happy crafting! :)