Linked Names Mixed Media Banner

Greetings! Scraps, here, wondering if you're still channeling the lovey-dovey vibes this month and looking for something sweet to make but not overtly Valentine's-centric now that the holiday has passed?

A couple year's back, when Todd and I were getting ready for our engagement photo shoot, banners were a popular prop and I decided why not make one for us. Trends lists might say pennants and banners are on their way out, but I'm thinking they'll stick around for a while longer. After all, what's more fun than seeing your name strung across your mantle or breakfast bar? (Okay, plenty, but it's a little everyday thrill and who couldn't use more of those?!)

(This project was originally featured on my wedding blog, and then Weddingbee.com, hence the Miss Road Trip tags)

I started by cutting out pennants from a fairly heavy canvas and then laying out die-cut letters and embellishments on each, layering and arranging several times before committing everything into place with glue.

But even that wasn't enough, so I embellished the edges with paint pens--I have a fixation on borders and think everything looks better with some edge details.

To join it all I set heart-shaped eyelets in the upper corners of each flag, then linked them together with binder rings. Those rings made it very easy to hang onto the banner during our photo shoot (we could just loop them over a finger or thumb) and it also worked well for hanging from push-pins on our mantle, where it stayed for many months and, yes, gave me a little heart-lift every time I walked into the room.

I just came across this banner from where it was stashed during our move last year and we have a lot of mantles to choose from in our new house, I just need to decide where it would look best!

Wishing you creative days and happy hearts,

Jennifer ~Scraps~ Vanderbeek