Merry Christmas Banner

I've always loved making things with my hands but when I decided to go back to school and earn my degrees, my creative side took a back seat to textbooks, papers and reflections. Like many others, I returned to college when my children were young. My girls have been amazing and such wonderful supports as I pursued my educational dreams. In 2006, I started working on my bachelors degree full-time. In May 2008, I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education with a K-8 teaching certification. 11 days later, I was offered my first teaching job and began my adventures in the classroom that August. The state I live in requires teachers to obtain a Professional Certification...which means, back to school. I knew I wanted to get a Masters degree also so I decided to bite the bullet and do them at the same time. Why not!? As I've said in an earlier post, I'm a glutton for punishment.

August 2010, I started working on both, my Professional Certification and my Masters degree in Educational Leadership. One CRAZY BUSY year and I'd be done! Well, this meant every minute of my time was used for homework. I realized that I am capable of accomplishing  A LOT when I put my mind to it. While finishing my educational degrees, I worked full time, still had my daughters, husband, house and dog to take care of too. Ah-che-wa-wa, it was quite the journey!

I was completely done with all of this in August 2011. It took me awhile to realize I could relax and do stuff for my family and myself again. It would take until December before I truly started to believe and practice this fully.

I decided to start little when I came across a Christmas banner inspiration at Silver Boxes. I started planning it out in my brain right away. What Christmas paper do I have? What about coordinating ribbon? I have a new Cuttlebug, what embossing folder could I use to add texture and dimension to it? What about Cricut cartridges for cutting the shapes? Honestly, I couldn't answer these question in my mental planning. It had been so long since I had used any of my materials, I truly had no idea what I had or didn't have. So...a trip through my supply storage and a trip to the craft store. Then, a few hours with my Cricut, ATG gun, scissors, pop-dots and voila!

I love how it turned out! I can't believe I forgot to tell about the project that brought me back in touch with my creative side. A few weeks later, I decided to start blogging, which is why I do not have process pics but you get the idea. Tootles!