Finally!

Hello there!  I've had problems with uploading my photos on Blogger and I finally solved it by changing to Firefox.  I know, its almost a year later.  Whew - I have alot to say!  I've spent the past year making banners with my next door neighbor (Hi Kathy!) and learned a few things along the way, that I thought I'd share.  Technically its a rosette banner, like this:

 

Banner Instructions:

Select patterned paper or cardstock and cut 1.5" x 12" strips.  Each rosette will be one and a half of the 12" strips or 18" (minus 2 cuts - explained in a minute).  I use a Scor-Pal and score every half-inch.  Combine 1.5 strips by cutting off one score on each end of the short 6" piece - that will make attaching the ends to the 12" piece in sync (i.e. peaks and valleys will match up).  Attach with a hot glue gun and hold 15 seconds.  Make the rosette by flattening the 17" piece and add a small scrap of chipboard to the front and back (for stability).  This will take a little practice and you have to "work" with the rosette.  The center hole should be small, almost tiny.   

Print your letters (OH BABY) either in MS Word or using Martha Stewart's alphabet found here on white cardstock.  If you're using Word, change the font size to 155 and pick a nice clean font like Arial Black and allow enough space between letters to punch using the Marvy Mega scalloped circle punch.  You can decorate the punched letter different ways:  1)  rub some diamond stickles over the black letter.  Do this at the very end of the project 2)  drag different colored stamp pads across the edge and the surface of the punched cardstock - to match the rosette (patterned paper) 3) for the font,  print only an outline and color the inside with colored pencils - to match the rosette.  You can also add stickle dots on the scallops - again at the end of the project.  Attach the letters to the rosette with a glue gun. 

I use a grosgrain 1/4 inch ribbon to string the sign and attach it using two staples from Tim Holtz tiny attacher at the top of the rosette.  This takes some practice and will feel awkward the first 20 times - trust me.  Leave enough ribbon to hang from the ends.  I use a piece of cardboard as a spacer between each rosette. 

It really would be easier for me to do a youtube video but I've never done one so I've tried to be as explicit as possible - its all been learned through trial and error.  I first attached everything using redline tape and that just got expensive and didn't hold perfectly.  I've made a ton of these - its a nice gift for a girl's bedroom, especially if their name is unusual.