Where Have All the Eyelets Gone?

I've been hard at work making another holiday banner. You may remember the "Merry & Bright" banners I made last year. I loved the one I kept, but for some reason I couldn't get past the color scheme. It didn't really go with my holiday decor, so I gave it to Smashley. I have a lot of reds and greens in my Christmas decor, so I set out to make myself a new banner with more traditional colors this year.

Apparently it's a little late to be looking for Christmas paper and stickers because the selection was pretty horrid. And eyelets? Forget about it. It seems eyelets have gone out of style. I scrimped and scrounged through my eyelets to put this thing together.

I ended up finding enough paper that I liked, so I spent a large part of a day cutting out letters and backgrounds on my Cricut. Since I was making one banner already, why not make four?

So that's what I did. I made one for me to keep, one for my Student Teacher, Natalie, and two to give away to two of my lucky readers. 

I heart Natalie. She started the school year with me back in August, and she just finished her student teaching. Natalie has made my life so much easier this fall. She's scary smart, quick, motivated, and she has an amazing work ethic.

I'm going to miss her.

I need an emoticon.

Who can give me an emoticon for my sad face?

Changing the subject so I don't cry.

You know how I like to glitter my letters, right? Well, I asked the Renaissance Woman to help me decide what color of glitter to use on this banner, since she is the Renaissance Woman, and she suggested that I use several colors.

What? More than one color of glitter? What about matchy-matchy?

I had a hard time with that suggestion. I just wasn't seeing her vision initially, but she explained to me why I should do it. Some blah blah about complementary colors and making the colors pop, so I did it.

I figured she was the one with the art background and she knew what she was talking about. I'm just some Josephine who likes pretty things that sparkle.

I'm so glad I listened to her.

I didn't use any glitter on Natalie's banner because she's allergic to glitter.

THE HORROR!!!

I'd be a walking hive if I was allergic to glitter. It's very nearly my middle name.

I needed something to make Natalie's letters pop though, so I tried this stuff that I got from Melanie-Who-I-Almost-Killed-With-Pie. It's supposed to give your paper a raised epoxy look. I really like how it turned out.

If you could possibly squeeze this banner into your color scheme, leave me a comment telling me the one gift you are giving this year that you cannot wait for the recipient to open and why.

Please make sure your e-mail is attached to your Blogger profile, or leave your e-mail address in your comment, so I can contact you to tell you that you've won.

The contest ends on Thursday, December 8th, at midnight in Siberia. May the Force be with You.