Masculine Birthday Banner by Melissa

Good Morning! Thank you for joining me for my first post as a team designer here on the SBC Blog. I'm excited to be a part of this wonderful team, and hope that I can inspire someone with a project or two. :)

Tip of the day: If you're like me and have the attention span of a gnat, make a very quick sketch of how you think you want things laid out in the end. This could be as simple or as detailed as you'd like. I try and figure out my color scheme, patterned paper placement, etc. at this point. You don't have to follow it to a T, you can let your creativity flow, but it's nice to have a bit of a guide to keep you focused. I've found this to be really helpful in my creative process.

Here is an example of what I mean:

For my project today, I made a masculine birthday banner. I don't know about you ladies (and maybe some gents) but I often struggle with masculine projects. Here is what I've created:

Recipe:

• Cricut Cartridges used: Plantin Schoolbook, Winter Woodland, Stand and Salute, and Spring Holiday Cards
• Cardstock: White, blue, gray; Patterned paper
• Misc. Supplies: Martha Stewart scoring board, Martha Stewart circle cutter, Fiskars Paper Trimmer, Cuttlebug, Herringbone embossing folder, and some sort of ribbon, string, twine, etc. to attach your pieces together.

Cut measurements: 

• Star shadow from Stand and Salute - 7.25 inches
• Font for "Happy" (used font shadow) from Winter Woodland - 3 inches
• Navy blue postage stamp background piece from Spring Holiday Cards - 4.50 inches
• Font for "Birthday" (using Roly Poly) from Plantin Schoolbook - 3 inches

To make the stars 3D, I followed this tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Zm0wF3Pm8

Thank you for taking a look at my project! If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, feel free to leave them below! If you'd like to see more of my work, be sure to come visit me at my blog.

http://papershenaniganz.blogspot.com/

Hope you have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by, 

Melissa