Christmas in July Paper a la Mode Challenge at The Outlawz.... a Christmas wall banner

Happy Saturday, everybody!  This sweltering summer heat is about to do me in so today, I'm bringing you a project with a winter theme.  In keeping with the promotions that many businesses are currently doing, the theme of this week's Paper a la Mode challenge at The Outlawz is Christmas in July.  I was looking forward to this one as a means to provide a little mental relief from the unbearable heat wave and drought we've been experiencing.  It has been over 100 degrees for the past 21 days and I think I may melt if we don't get some relief soon.

This wall hanging/banner is made of chipboard plaques covered with scrapbook papers in different holiday patterns and embellished with felt flowers, pearl flourishes and paper shapes.  The basic pieces were a kit that I won as candy from a blog hop last year (I can't remember who the sweet blogger was who sent it to me but if she sees it, I hope she'll refresh my memory!) and I only recently put it together and added my own personal touches.

I think it turned out very pretty and has a bit of a vintage feel to it.... not 1800s vintage but maybe mid 20th century, if you know what I mean.  I love the colors.  After making this one, I'm in the mood to do some Christmas crafting and I'm thinking I might make more like this using different shapes, holiday words and paper patterns.

The individual panels are attached to one another using Hang-It-All connectors from Zutter, the company that makes the Bind-It-All.  These little do-dads are aresome and sooo easy to use and I think they give the piece a finished appearance.  Plus I like the fact that it can be easily taken apart and stored compactly.  The paper ornament haning from the bottom is a cut from Cricut's Christmas Solutions cartridge, which is now retired and is attached to the bottom connector with a red velvet ribbon bow.  I'm considering taking this back off and glittering it to make it look more like a tree ornament.  I colored the pearlflourishes on the "J" and "Y" panels with Copics to make them pop.  I also used the chisel tip end of a W-5 Copic to enhance the shadow created by the letters, which are embossed using the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder.  I added a thick layer Crystal Glitter to the branch on the "J" panel to give the effect of snow.  It's hard to see in the photos but it's very sparkly!

I hope you'll visit The Outlawz to see what other cool challenges are going on right now and perhaps even to enter your own creations.  You have to be a member to enter but it's easy to join and you can quit if you ever decide it's not for you.  There is a different challenge for each day of the week and the prizes are awesome!  We'd love to see you over there.

So, that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  As always, your  comments are welcome and appreciated.  Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to enter the JustWordz Stamps giveaway!  Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee