Random Points, Pennants, and Presents

A little friend from church was turning seventeen this week and I wanted to make her something.  The amazing part of this story is that I:

#1 actually thought of it in advance
#2 actually decided on something and
#3 actually finished it.

I know!!

I'll give you a moment to be impressed with that astonishing news.



And may I interject right here, purely for my own satisfaction, that I did  banners before they were cool.  Or hot, as the case may be.  Back in the day when I was trying to come up with an original idea for an art challenge, I dreamed up a pennant swap (here, here, and here) and looked high and low across the webisphere to find examples to show the participants what I had in mind, and only found a few.  Now they are everywhere! Do I think I started them?  Ha! Ha! Har! Har!--that's me laughing a preposterous snort--of course not!!  I just want to state for the record (my own personal one that no one else cares about) that I did banners when banners weren't cool.



Thank you for indulging me........... I feel so much better with that off my chest........My one and only claim to cutting edge and all......

And you are quite welcome for that song.  :)



Moving along...... I had bookmarked this little pretty the other day and used it for inspiration.

I knew I would be working with a pink and black palette. This is what I came up with.

I must say, the gift was well received.  My backup plan was to lop off the last three letters and just use it myself,  but I could tell right off I wasn't going to get a chance at it!  Enjoy, Lisanne!

Eggs & Bunnies & Banners, Oh My!

Variations on a theme.

Playing with embossing powder

Easter ATC's

Decorating eggs and bunnies

Behold! What lovely pennants!

Eight of us arty blogging gals recently got together to do a pennant swap. The theme for this one was "fragrance names". Here is a sample of the incredible pennants created. If you were in this swap and have posted your completed banner, leave a link to your post in the comments.

Thanks Ariane, Amy, Barbara, Cindy, Linda, Lisa M. and Ruby Mae. You ladies are what made this a great swap!!

Pennant Swap!

Let's do another pennant swap, shall we?

First we had the Dream Pennant Challenge.
Then we had the Spring Pennant Challenge.
In March, we had the Hats, Handbags & Heels Pennant Swap.

I think it's past time for another, how about you?

When I tell you the theme, you may laugh or furrow a puzzled brow--but hear me out.

Take a look around your house at the fragrance names for your shower gel, body lotion, even dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent and fabric softener. Have you ever noticed how lovely the words are that are used to describe them?

Dancing waters
Moonlight path
Rain-kissed Leaves
Ocean Breeze
Pure Rain
Tahitian Renewal
White Rose
Renewing Rain
Mountain Spring
Meadows & Rain
Amethyst Mist
Moonlight Garden
White Tea & Pearls
Summertime Showers

Don't those sound positively inspiring? Because that will be the inspiration for our pennant swap! Look around your house or the supermarket aisles and choose a fragrance phrase for your pennants' theme. This is to be from the products mentioned, not perfume, but everyday household items.

Here's how it will work:

Everyone that wants to participate will create 5 coordinating pennants in the fragrance phrase theme of your choice When your pennants are finished, you will mail 4 of them to me and keep one for yourself. Get them in the mail by September 2. After I've received all the pennants, I will randomly select 4 new ones to return to you. We will each have work from 4 different artists with which to create a unique banner!

To keep the size uniform, I have prepared a template that I will email to you. Let me know via comment or email if you want to participate. In the same email with the template I will also send you my mailing address.
My email address is: elsie_lisa(at)hotmail(dot)com

I am very excited about the swap and hope you decide to play along. Please consider this post your personal invitation!

Hats, Handbags, & Heels Finale

TA-DA!!

I didn't get too fancy with my assembly.

I'm hoping you will impress me!

Can you tell I enjoyed playing with them?

Enlarge and find the set you received.

They were all fantastic--no "wrong" combinations--but oh...the decisions, girls!!

When you get your completed banner posted,

leave a comment and we will all come see!!

One more peek.....

Why is this woman stepping in the middle of my dining room table?

Taking pictures of all the pennants of course!

Here is another little peek to tide you over:

It will be hard letting them go--they are all so beautiful!

But they are all packaged and ready to go in the mail tomorrow.

Just a peek.....

....of the yumminess that's coming your way!!

Bits 'o Pennants

from the Hats, Handbags, & Heels Pennant Swap

I am waiting for the last set of pennants to arrive.

Your new pennants should be on their way to you

early next week!!

Then we can all post our completed creations!

Spring Banner - Letters "N" & "G"

Spring Banner Week 5:

the "N" & "G" pennants

The challenge is to incorporate needlework

into the "N" pennant

&

use gems on the "G" pennant

&

post your completed banner

I hope each of you have enjoyed working on the spring banner as much as I have. It is such a pleasure to see your beautiful, creative and unique art work!

I doubled up on the last two letters to get you in shape for this:

Hats, Handbags & Heels

Let's do a swap! Some of you have been involved in swaps before, but some of us, including me, have not. It would be so exciting to share a bit of ourselves with each other.

Here's how it will work: Everyone that wants to participate will create 5 coordinating pennants with the theme "Hats, Handbags & Heels" When your pennants are finished, you will mail 4 of them to me and keep one for yourself. Get them in the mail by March 31. Be sure and write your name on the back of each pennant. After I've received all the pennants, I will randomly select 4 new ones to return to you. We will each have work from 4 different artists with which to create a unique banner!

This theme should inspire a lot of glitz, glamour and fun!

Since this is my first time to do this, I will have to figure it out as I go along. Maybe some of you seasoned swappers can give me some pointers.

To keep the size uniform, I have prepared a template that I will email to you, as I do not know how to make a pdf file. Let me know via comment or email if you want to participate. In the same email with the template I will also send you my mailing address. My email address is: elsie_lisa(at)hotmail(dot)com

I am very excited about the swap and hope you decide to play along. Please consider this post your personal invitation!

Hats, Handbags, & Heels Swap

Let's do a swap!
This theme should inspire a lot of glitz, glamour and fun!


Here's how it will work: Everyone that wants to participate will create 5 coordinating pennants with the theme "Hats, Handbags & Heels" When your pennants are finished, you will mail 4 of them to me and keep one for yourself. Get them in the mail by March 31. Be sure and write your name on the back of each pennant. Do not punch holes for the ribbon. After I've received all the pennants, I will select 4 new ones to return to you. We will each have work from 4 different artists with which to create a unique banner! I will ask everyone to post their completed banners so all participants know where their pennants ended up.

To keep the size uniform, I have prepared a template that I will email to you, as I do not know how to make a pdf file. Let me know via comment or email if you want to participate. In the same email with the template I will also send you my mailing address. My email address is: elsie_lisa(at)hotmail(dot)com

I am very excited about the swap and hope you decide to play along. Please consider this post your personal invitation!

Spring Banner - Letter "I"

Spring Banner Week 4:

the "I" pennant

The challenge is to incorporate inchie(s)

into your pennant.

Ok, girls, get ready.

I don't know if it's the time change, spring fever, or what, but I'm ready to spring forward with the banner challenge. The possible source of my impatience may have something to do with a new idea I have for us to try! Oh, it's good, girls! That's all I'm going to say about it for now because you have work to do.

*The challenge for next week will be to use

needlework on your "N" pennant.

AND

use gem(s) on your "G" pennant

AND

string the whole thing together!*

That's right, we're moving on!

Are you curious? Are you excited?

Can't wait to see the completed banners!

Can't wait to share my idea!

Are you in?

Spring Banner - Letter "R"

Spring Banner Week 3:
the "R" pennant
The challenge is to incorporate round
into your pennant--polka dots or circles.

**The challenge for next week will be to use

an inchie(s) on your "I" pennant.*

Spring Banner - Letter "P"

Spring Banner Week 2:

the "P" pennant
The challenge is to incorporate pattern
into your pennant, specifically

plaid, checked or argyle.

**The challenge for next week will be to incorporate round into your "R" pennant: polka dots/circles.**

Spring Banner - Letter "S"

Spring Banner Week 1:
the "S" pennant

The challenge is to incorporate sparkly

into your pennant.

I hope you have better luck getting the sparkle to show up in your photo. Speaking from experience, I know it is much prettier in person.

Should you need some inspiration, be sure and see the slide show of all the beautiful Dream banners we did in January.

I hope you don't miss Mr. Linky this time. Just leave your perma-link in the comments.

**The challenge for next week will be to incorporate one of these patterns into your "P" pennant: plaid, checkerboard or argyle.**

Banner Inspiration

Banner Month - week 5:

This week: the "M" pennant

and

The COMPLETED Banners!
(Are you as excited as I am?)

The optional directive for this Week 5

Incorporate either a clock or a key into your design.

And now.........

My completed DREAM Banner!

I can hardly wait to see all of yours! Anticipation has been building since Week 1!

I really hope everyone had as much fun with this challenge as I did! I am truly honored that all of you played along. Based on your comments and emails in response to the hints I've dropped, I think we should do it again! Let's take a couple of weeks off and begin a SPRING banner on Wednesday, February 20.

I hope to see all of the January participants return. We would also love to encourage some new players to join us!

As usual, sign in with Mr. Linky and please leave a comment.

Banner Month - week 4

This Week: the "A" pennant

for our Dream Banner

The optional directive for Week 4
Incorporate bead(s) into your design.

When you have your post up,

sign in with Mr. Linky

and please leave a comment.

Banner Month - week 3

This Week: the "E" pennant

for our Dream Banner

A place I like to dream about is the coast. The optional directive for Week 3

Incorporate lace into your design.

When you have your post up, sign in with Mr. Linky and leave a comment.

Praise the Lord--my grandson was moved
out of ICU yesterday! (16 days)

Banner Month - week 2

This Week : the "R" pennant

for our Dream Banner

The optional directive for Week 2:
incorporate a ribbon(s) in your design.

You're not behind!!

You can jump in now just by posting "D" & "R" this week.

You will find more info here.

When you have you post up, sign in with Mr. Linky and leave a comment.

Banner Month - week 1

Happy New Year!

Welcome to Banner Month:

January edition

The theme for this month will be "DREAM"

The post will be up each Wednesday

Week 1 will incorporate the letter "D"

Week 2 will be "R"

Week 3 will be "E"

Week 4 will be "A"

Week 5 will be "M"

also Week 5 will feature the completed banner

The optional directive for Week 1:

incorporate a dragonfly in your design.

When you have your post up, come here, sign in with Mr. Linky then leave a comment.

(In case I didn't do Mr. Linky right....just leave a comment)

January is a Banner Month!!

Wow! I have had great response about the January Banner Month. We are going to have so much fun!
Now to answer the questions about pennant specifics.

The pennant size will be up to you and how you plan to use your completed banner. My template is 6 "x7 1/2" x7 1/2".

It seems specific instructions are preferable to generalities, so our theme for the month will be "Dream". The first week's pennant will feature a "D", the second week an "R" and so on. For those that want more prompts, there will be an additional optional element to incorporate each week. On the last week, we will post the final pennant and the completed banner.

The pennants will be posted each Wednesday in January. After you have posted your pennant and a link to this site on your blog, come here and leave a comment for all the other participants to find you.

After I decided to host this banner challenge, I went in search of illustrations of what I had in mind. Lucky for me, I found some great links and pictures!

This link is one you absolutely must go to!
http://krislhurst.blogspot.com/2007/12/believe-banner.html


Below is great banner done by Cris at welcome to my world of crisp art.

These banners below were featured in the July/August 2006 edition of Somerset Studio.

Below is a celebration banner from Salmagundi Express:
And finally, one last link worth visiting:

http://simplymein.typepad.com/simply_mein/2007/12/holiday-goodies.html

Hopefully these links and pictures have answered your questions and inspired you to create works of greatness!

**The optional prompt for the first week is dragonfly. If you choose, incorporate a dragonfly somewhere on your "D" pennant. I'll post my entry on January 2. See you then!