kraf*T*y mama: Valentine's Day Banner and Decor

It's February! How did that happen?

I am thrilled to be inching closer to Spring even if it doesn't feel like it right now with the snow in the forecast.

Today I am sharing with you my February Banner!

This is another simple banner made mostly by cutting shapes on my Silhouette Cameo.

I added handmade paper rosettes for another layer, some dimension and visual interest.

I am using MME Cupid's Arrow Papers for the banner and my framed decor this month.

To start I cut the 4 base pieces using a cut file from the Silhouette store.

They all fit on one piece of 12x12 paper with scraps leftover that I ended up using for the circles behind the letters.

As you see in the above picture the base piece left a negative image that I decided to flip over and use for some more color.

Here are the four base pieces - no holes to punch a nice pennant shape like last months but with the cut out at the bottom. This time I used a patterned paper for a base instead of cardstock.

Here are the base pieces with the negative pieces flipped and glued on.

Next we need to make the rosettes (or medallions) to put the letters on.

This is how I learned to make rosettes, there are cut files and dies to cut the base and there are other ways I am sure but this way works pretty well.

To start you need to cut paper strips. For these I used 2, 12x1 1/2 inch strips for each rosette. You can vary the width and even use a border bunch to add visual interest.

Next you need to score the pieces every half inch and tape them together into one long piece.

Did you know you can use your daughter's play knife when your Scor-Pal tool goes missing?

Works great! #don'tjudge

Next you will accordion fold the piece of scored paper following the score marks.

Until your paper looks like this - all nice and folded.

Next up is the hard part! And it's hard to photograph as well so I will do my best to explain.

You want to make the folded paper into a circle and press it inward making the circle in the center as small as possible. It will want to flip up though so keep a hand on it.

It will look like this.

It is a good idea to have your circles to go on top pre-punched. If you are not adding the rosette to another piece of paper you will want two circles for each rosette, if not one is enough.

You will want to put glue on your punched out circle (I used a blue Marvy punch if you are wondering about the size) and then place it in the center of the rosette and press down firmly holding it to the rosette making sure the rosette doesn't try to expand. Hold until it doesn't pop apart. Then I like to set aside and place something on top to hold the circle to the rosette until it dries.