Merry Christmas Festive Banners

Hey there!  I have had another weekend of craft stall at my little one's nursery which was a lovely small fayre of stalls and activities for the children.  Elliot came home with his very own creation, a fluffy cotton wool snowman, and I enjoyed chatting to everyone about Stampin' Up! and showing my crafted items on display so that everyone could see what can be made with them.

Now both Christmas Fayres are done though I am glad to be able to start some other Christmas tasks, including my own cards (eek!), but I thought I would show you some more from the stalls today.

This is a fantastic banner made using the Build a Banner Simply Created Kit (133507) and some of the Christmas Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit (132697).

The Christmas Banner Accessory Kit is just full of pieces to make a full banner like the 'Noel' and 'Joy' banners on the front of my stall (see my previous post) or, as I have done here, you can split the contents and make lots of lovely projects to gift for your friends and family (or just keep for yourself!).

The accessory kit contains over 27 pieces of glitz and glamour to add to your creations (if my maths is right!). The best of which are the 3 glittered snowflake accent pieces and the gorgeous Bermuda Bay/Pool party two tone ribbon (used here to hang the banner).

The background for the first banner you might recognise as this is one of the stamps from the Gorgeous Grunge set (130514), but hey, I don't think there is anything 'grunge' about this lovely decorative hanging!  I am definitely hanging one in pride of place in my house!

Now, the first banner has two of the rosette pieces from the kit to make a really full rosette, but the second one here only has a single piece for each of the rosettes.  Once I made one banner I just wanted to have a play around so I made some more. After all there was so much in the kit I could make lots!

For those of you who do not know, the Build a Banner Simply Created Kit (133507) comes with two Stampin' Spritzers to work with the background and lettering stencils that come in the pack.  I had a play with using the spritzers to spray the background through the stencils and I also tried just using sponges.  I had equal success after a little play around with the spritzers and the sponges although there was a little more kitchen paper towel to hand to assist with the spritzer method!

My third design here was trialing using the other banner shapes from the pack and playing with the Festive Flurry stamps (131778)  to overlay the background.  I really liked the spot background so I used it again for this one, but I also did a version of this one with the stripes that looked good too.

There was no gluing or stitching on the banner ribbon, just the silver ribbon included in the accessory kit pack tied round the ends which were folded back through the eyelets.  Clever!  I finished all the banners with the 'Merry' expressions thinlit (132171), perfect sizing to fit across the banner.

Well that's probably quite enough banners for one day, but the options are endless.  These are just for Christmas, but you can create your own banners for Birthdays, Anniversaries, Baby Showers or lots more.  The alphabet stencils mean that the lettering and wording can be anything you would like it to be.


If you fancy having a go, I thought I would share some tips for working with the banners from my experiences:

• Make sure you protect your work area and surroundings so that you do not spray other areas.  
• Do not hold the spritzer too close to the project when spraying and move evenly across the project trying not to pause or hesitate in one spot for too long.  
• Trial on a piece of paper or card to get the method right first before trying one of your banners.
• Try a mix of 15 drops of coloured ink and then fill with water to approx the top of the stampin' up! logo on the spritzer bottle.
• I had kitchen paper towel to hand.  I found this helpful to be on hand for spills, but also placed a piece over my sprayed project and (keeping everything in place) I gently patted off any excess on the top of the stencil and project to stop any uneven colour or pooling of ink before removing the stencil.
• I laid the finished banner to dry with something weighty and flat on top to help stop any curling.
• Don't forget to order your ink refills with your kit and sponges if you need them too!

I you do want to have a go.......here's the main list of what you need, just add ink and sponges if you need them too:

Build a Banner Simply Created Kit (133507) 

Christmas Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit (132697)

Expressions Thinlits Dies (132171)

Gorgeous Grunge set (130514 Wood) - Optional 

Festive Flurry stamps (131778 Wood) - Optional

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.