Cricut Banner Contest Entry #2 (My Favorite But Don't Tell #1)

I had originally planned to wait to share my Cricut Banner Contest entry until closer to the contest date, but it seems many of us are sharing on the Cricut Message Boards.  So once I shared this project on the MB on Tuesday, I decided I should post it here also. 

I used two Cricut machines and five cartridges to complete this banner:  Cricut Imagine and the Imagine Black & White cartridge, Cricut Expression with Straight From the Nest, Elegant Cakes, Calligraphy, and Everyday Cricut.

I had such a good time making this banner; it just seemed to all come together for me.  I began by printing sheets of cardstock in my Imagine machine.  Using the Black and White cartridge I printed the cardstock for the back layer using white cardstock with black print.  Next I printed the pink and black cardstock by printing on pink cardstock. 

I had previously created a cut file in Cricut Design Studio.  I used Calligraphy to cut the base pennant layer using the black and white I cardstock I printed.  Next I cut the solid pink pennant layer.  And finally I cut the black and pink pennant layer.  I used my ATG and adhered all three layers together.  

Next I cut the white scalloped pennant tops.  At this point I moved on to the Elegant Cake cartridge cuts.  I started with the elegant scroll cut at the top of the pennant pieces.  I used a Xyron to apply adhesive to the scrolls and then attached the scrolls to the pennants. 

I cut the two piece elegant scroll frames with the Elegant Cakes cartridge.  I used solid black and solid white cardstocks for these cuts.  Again I used the Xyron to apply adhesive to the scrolls before attaching them to the white base layers.

Using bright pink cardstock and the Everyday Cricut cartridge I cut the word "Cricut".  I also cut to green, white, and black Cricut logos.  Using liquid glue, I glued the Cricut Logo pieces together and glued them onto two of the scroll pieces.  I glued the Cricut letters to the remaining scroll pieces.  I used pop dots to affix the scroll pieces to the pennant sections.

Using diamond bling, I added highlight of bling to the letters and scroll pieces.  I did not want to over do with diamond bling as I planned to add the pink crystals.

I am going to admit that I had to go on-line to find the pink crystals.  I knew what I wanted to do with this pennant, but had trouble finding the right crystals.  Finally I got lucky and found the pink crystals on ebay!! 

The crystals came with gold tone hardware to attach them to the pennant.  Sadly, gold tone did not work with my color scheme.  Then I remembered that I had a silver leafing pen!! Woo-hoo for the silver leafing pen.  It completely covered the gold as simply as coloring with a marker.  I will use this technique again!!  After the coloring, I pierced the pennant tips and attached the crystals.

The last step of the project was to add ribbons.  I used 1.5 inch wide white organza ribbon to tie the pennant pieces together.  I then added solid black ribbon as well as pink and white ribbons to the pennant.

I will admit that I am quite pleased with this pennant.  I viewed some fabulous banners on the Cricut MB, but I still like this one.  And while it may not win the contest, it made me happy to create it!!