My Memorial Day weekends for the past 11 years have been centered around my husband and/or my son. They were both born on May 26th, so this weekend is particularly special for our family, and this year was no different.
It's weird, even though I haven't been a workin' girl lately, I still haven't had the time I need to accomplish my crafty projects. Last week was spent shopping for interview clothes, going to interviews, the zoo, errands for the birthday party, and on and on.... But I've had this idea in my head for a birthday wreath/sign/banner thingy that I wanted to execute, I just didn't have enough free moments all at once to put adequate thought into it. I also wanted to have it done well before May 26th so that it could hang on our front door for at least a week. The procrastinator in me is laughing uncontrollably at myself for even thinking it an option; I really should know myself better than to expect something to be completed ahead of time!
In my head, I have been playing with the idea of taking stencil letters or numbers and filling them in with different colors/patterns/media, so I thought I'd give it a shot with a birthday sign. I started out with a gigantic number 5 with NOAH underneath in smaller letters. It was simple and didn't scream I'M A BIRTHDAY SIGN! I typically like to be a little more subtle. I was able to design my idea in Silhouette Studio over a week ago, but I stopped short of cutting it out because I didn't know what paper I wanted to use. Eventually, I settled on a zig zag paper by Colorbok, which I cut out on Friday and set aside because I still didn't have time to complete the project.
Fast forward to Sunday morning (the actual birthday) and I decided to make time to complete the sign, even if it meant waking up with the chickens. So, at 6:50 AM, I found myself immersed in the October Afternoon Midway paper collection, finding it hard to decided on which wonderful designs to use because I LOVE all of them so much. These papers were perfect for a birthday celebration and worked really well in each segment of the 5. I then pulled out some cloud washi tape by Ki Memories that I used to fill in the N-O-A-H letters.
The next step was to cut and attach the balloon fringe. I cut off the narrow part of the balloons and glued them onto a piece of cardboard. I then took a piece of pattern paper and glued it on top, kind of making a balloon sandwich. My plan was to then layer the "5 NOAH" part on top. It looked ok, but I was bothered by the sight of the patterned paper next to the cloud washi tape. Both were turquoise and white, and the background paper border made the washi tape words fade away. Two options: 1. Just go with it or 2. Incorporate another color. Since I hadn't glued the two pieces together, there was hope. I ended up taking a solid red washi tape and creating red stripes on the background. It wasn't my ideal solution, but it definitely solved my problem.
Up until this point, I was extremely happy with what was appearing before me. The lettering was exactly what I wanted and the balloons were quirky and festive, but then I stood back and looked at it as one whole piece.... Was it a latex and paper cluster, or was it still quirky and festive???? Like, love, or loathe? Probably loathe.
But in the end, I think it is perfect for my five year old!
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