You Are Loved

Hello fellow crafters! I hope you are having a marvelous summer! For the July theme at Die Cut Diva's we have chosen Anything But a Card, sponsored by

Dies R Us - all you have to do is enter for a chance to win a $10 voucher to the Dies R Us store {and if you haven't been to the store lately, you need to go take a look! Dies R Us now carries paper, bows, inks, and basically everything you could need to craft}! It's been a while since I have made something other than a card.  One of my past Design Teams was on a blog dedicated to {and aptly named} Anything But a Card but, unfortunately, the challenge closed and I haven't been creating as many projects other than cards.  A friend was having a tough time and I made this banner for them; my intent is that no matter what is going on, they will remember that they are loved.

What I Used to Make my Banner:
White Card
Black Card
Grey Card
Lawn Fawn Louie's ABC's, #LF688 {any of these would work}
Sue Wilson Australian Collection, Melbourne #CED8105
Sue Wilson Atlantic Ocean Collection, Azores, #CED13005
Ribbon {I used a .99 cent roll called Nicole in Black Nylon}
Black Bows {stash}
Handheld Rectangle Punch, 1/4"

Since the alphabet I chose to use is fairly large, the first thing I did was cut out all the letters I needed to spell out my sentiment using white card.  Then I made

sure they fit onto the shape I used as my first layer.  It was then I realized that "loved" was a wee bit longer than I had thought, but I smooshed the letters together anyway - the charm of handmade, right? I then chose one of the dies in the Sue Wilson Melbourne set that I felt fit the letters and cut out 3 of them in black card.  For the back of the banner pieces, I used grey card and cut out three pieces using the Sue Wilson Azores set.  

Once all my pieces were cut, I began to assemble each word of the banner.   I glued all the letters onto the black die cut, then

attached the black card onto the grey card.  It was then I decided, while I was pleased with the way the banner looked, to add black bows onto the bottom of each section.  While I chose the black and grey colors to make the banner gender neutral, the bows gave it a bit of femininity. 

Lastly, I punched out two rectangles at the top of each piece and threaded the ribbon through.  The ribbon actually "attached" itself to the card, so I didn't need to knot each side, or put any sort of stopper.  Now the recipient can adjust the banner to suit their needs.

The banner was received wonderfully! They loved the banner and hung it right up in their bedroom so they could see it first thing every morning.  I had lots of fun making it and I'm so happy that my friend also liked it. Everyone should know that they are loved!  I hope you have gotten some time to make an Anything But a Card project to join in the July Die Cut Diva's Anything But a Card challenge!  A huge thanks to Dies R Us for the July sponsorship. Thanks for stopping by.  Christi 

PS: Challenges for Days is celebrating our 5 year anniversary - all kinds of goodies and prizes available for you to win! Check it out here!

I'm entering my You are Loved Banner in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Scrapy Land - #94, Anything Goes with Products they Sell
Not Just Cards - July Challenge Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies
Crafty Catz - #426, Anything Goes OPTION: Dies or Punches
The Corrosive Challenge - #7, Anything Goes
Unstampabelles Challenge - How Edgy Can You Be?
Use Your Stuff - #322, Anything Goes with a Title or Sentiment