Bonjour Banner

My brother's birthday was coming up a while ago, so I wanted to figure out some fun decorations that would reflect his interests. He has always loved France, and he and his wife dream of travelling there some day. I decided that it would be interesting to somehow incorporate France into the decor, so I began earlier this evening by making a banner that simply says "Bonjour". My brother also enjoys nature and the French countryside, so I chose more natural colors and textures for the banner.
This banner has almost the same layout as the one on my "Spring Banner" post, so I actually used that post as a guide to create this one!
I began by printing the letters on some textured brown paper, and cutting them out. I used a dark brown pastel on the edges of the letters to create more definition, before gluing them down. I found out that this is a lot easier and less messy than using pastel after you have glued the letters down.

Then, I cut the background pages down from 12 x 12 to 10 x 12 rectangles. I glued the leftover 2 inch strips of paper onto the bottom edge of each background.

To give the banner a bit more texture, I added strings from burlap to the center of each 2 inch strip. I simply sat down with a piece of burlap and picked it apart. 

I cut the strings to ten inches long, and glued four strings to each strip of paper, after the strips of paper were glued to the backgrounds.The easiest type of glue to use for both of these things is hot glue. It dries incredibly fast, and isn't too bumpy when you're working with thick pieces of paper. For the burlap strings, I just added one drop of hot glue to each end of the paper and pressed the strings into the glue (wait a bit before pressing them down, because otherwise you'll end up burning your fingers).

Since I wanted green to be the only bright color, I went through our buttons and picked out all of the green ones (hopefully I won't regret this later, when I can't seem to find any green buttons for other projects). I randomly added these to the banner.

Once everything else had been laid out and glued down, I finally glued the letters down. It's easier to add them at the end, because then you can center them according to what you already have on the backgrounds. 

The glue that I originally used for the letters didn't hold very well, so I went back and used hot glue. 

That was pretty much it for the design! All that was left to do was to hole punch the top two corners of each background, and put string through the holes. 

It's finished! Although it took quite a while to complete, this banner was very easy to create. Another great thing about it is the fact that you do not need a bunch of fancy supplies and tools to create it. At first, I had no idea what I was going to use to embellish the banner, but I was able to just use some old things that were leftover or in our craft room (buttons, burlap, scraps of paper)!

Jewelry

Designing jewelry can be one of the most relaxing things to do, especially on a rainy day, while listening to an audio book. I like to sit on the floor with my beads and tools surrounding me, and just put random pieces of jewelry together. Some of the time I end up irritated if I can't figure out a good color combination or a technique to put something together, but most of the time it's a fairly peaceful craft.
I started making jewelry when I was about ten or eleven, but I mainly used heavy string and chunky plastic beads. Fortunately, my family supported me in this by occasionally purchasing a piece of jewelry and encouraging me in my work.
Now, I use high-quality materials and create original pieces of jewelry whenever I'm in the mood. I have had a website of my jewelry up a few different times (called Designs de Cherie), but the cost of it was too much compared to what I was making. Eventually I got discouraged and lost interest in even making jewelry, because I had so few people purchasing from me. But then I realized that, seriously, I'm still young, I haven't advertised much, and I should't care so much about the profit. So, last month I got back into making jewelry, and I'm happy that I have time to do crafts like this! It's a great way to spend free time, and it's also a way of expressing your personality or emotions (just like painting or writing can be a way of expressing emotions). I like to use a lot of colors and patterns that remind me of nature, because I really enjoy spending time in nature. Here are some of the things that I have created.

Tri-Cities Trip

I recently went on a trip with my mom to Tri-Cities, for work purposes. We happened to drive out on the perfect day, because just a day before the snow was too heavy, and just a day after there was a mudslide. And, since the snow hadn't fully melted yet, we got to see some beautiful hills on the way that were covered with snow. The weather was quite fantastic, and I actually felt as if we were driving through a different country! Because it was so beautiful, I decided to take several pictures along the way, and now I want to share them on this post!

Rain

If you live in Washington, how often have you heard people complain about the rain? I've heard more complaints about it than I can possibly count. The problem is, a lot of people don't realize how beautiful (and beneficial) the rain actually is! It can be so incredible, especially when the sun shines on the rain drops. I just wanted to share these pictures that I took a couple days ago when it was raining. Hopefully these pictures will remind everyone (including myself) to appreciate even the rain.

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." -Genesis 9:13-15 (New International Version)

Fort Vancouver - Summer Adventures

It's interesting to think that though I love visiting historical areas, I hadn't ever visited the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site before my week of summer vacation! It's a wonderful historic site that consists of nine buildings, and I would love to visit again when all of the buildings are open. Most of the buildings allow you to enter, but have inner doors with windows that keep you from entering the actual rooms. However, some of the buildings are completely open and can be thoroughly explored. These are the buildings that I enjoyed most, because I was able to touch historic artifacts and imagine the lives of those who used to live inside (though the buildings are actually reconstructed, not the original ones).

Similar to when we visited the Aurora Colony, we took a self-guided tour at Fort Vancouver. Even though I might not learn as much, I've always preferred self-guided tours to group tours, because they allow you to go at your own pace and in whatever order you like. The site also offers audio tours at no additional charge, for those who want to learn a bit more information about Fort Vancouver.
In my opinion, it's definitely a better idea to visit places like Fort Vancouver on days that are likely to be less crowded. I'd happily walk between buildings in the rain if it meant running into less people within the buildings. We happened to go on a really nice day, so the area was a bit more crowded. Unfortunately, we ran into several immature people (like children who had to touch and destroy everything, and a father who left his girl crying at the top of a steep staircase) during our visit, which spoiled some of the atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate people, I just prefer to visit places like this on quieter days.

Some of the buildings have reenactors who tell you all about what the building would have been used for, and give you a taste of what it would have been like.

Overall, the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a very interesting and beautiful place to visit! The reconstructed buildings are great, and they really allow you to feel as if you've stepped into the past. I would definitely recommend this for everyone, and I can imagine that children would especially appreciate all that they have done to make the site authentic.

I really enjoyed their displays of artifacts!

 This was my favorite view of all, looking out from the tower.

 Here is a link to the website: http://fortvan.org/

 

Aurora Colony - Summer Adventures

The Aurora Colony was one of my most favorite destinations during my one week of summer vacation, because I was able to see actual pieces of history. I get this unexplainable feeling when I'm inside historical buildings, as I imagine the people that lived and walked within the buildings so long ago. History class was never my strong point, but I do enjoy the elements of history that don't involve memorizing hundreds of dates and reciting historical documents. I like to be able to feel history, to be able to see history with my own eyes.
Unfortunately, we were unable to actually touch anything (which I completely understand), because everything was so old and fragile. However, I was able to get some pictures with my cellphone (sorry for the poor quality) of what we saw!

For anyone who is interested in visiting the Aurora Colony, I totally recommend it (It's currently $6 for adults and free for children 5 and under)! Not everything fragile is behind glass, but it's still a great place for those who have children interested in things like this.
My mom and I took a self-guided tour, and no one else happened to be taking a tour that day, so we had the whole place to ourselves!
When you first enter the Old Aurora Colony Museum, you can watch a movie about the colony and will be given a map of the buildings. It's a five building complex, but the map will show other buildings that were originally part of the colony, but are now being used for businesses and other things (such as the post office that is now an antique shop). We visited most of the buildings, but had a difficult time understanding the map. It was also very hot outside, which made walking to each building and around the area somewhat tiring.
For lunch, we walked to the Colony Pub & Grille and sat outside. It was a bit odd at first, because though we knew it was family friendly, I felt as if I was walking into a bar full of old men (My pop was even served in a beer glass). Still, it added to our visit with its historical atmosphere.

Again, I definitely think that the Aurora Colony is a fantastic place to visit if you enjoy exploring and learning about some interesting pieces of history! 

Here is a link to the website:

http://www.auroracolony.org/