Banner Bonanza
Original post by Ravenskn, February 2014
This guest post is re-posted with permission from Brynn’s, award-winning blog, Lupus Interrupted.
Not going to lie…having to keep on the down-lo for the past couple of months has been difficult considering the magnitude of the emotional connection I made with a project I’d recently completed.
And by project, I mean commission.
The word “commission” is important here, because it signifies an idea that someone had, talked to someone else about said idea, and my name came up in order to make that idea happen. It is also, by far, the coolest thing that has ever happened in my crafting lifetime
Fast forward to March.
Literally. Fast. Forward.
I never saw February.
A very special woman wanted to gift to a very special man for his birthday a “Game of Thrones” type banner for each and every *department* of a very special festival that they both are the organizers for: Kaleidoscope Gathering.
Some of you may remember the banner I’d crafted for Raven’s Knoll itself. You can check that out: The Banner That Brynn Built.
Some of you may also remember the banner that I’d crafted for our family hearth: The Banner That Brynn Built, Part Deux.
This was for ELEVEN banners…encompassing various aspects of the volunteers (All hail the volunteers!!)
But wait! There’s MORE!! TWELVE banners, actually…because you cannot have eleven departments without having the Momma Banner of Kaleidoscope Gathering itself *GRIN* I made that one a SuperSecret…’cuz I’m badass* like that.
(*and by badass, I mean my OCD simply couldn’t process having all the departments and not one for the festival itself…*shifty eyes*)
Here’s a little bit’o’how it’s made:
Bring…it…ON.
Meet IronBoard…steel-like extension of my right arm…
Design, zoom image, tape to window…
The program I use to expand my images to print out over multiple pages is called: blockposters.com This is…by far…the most awesome bit of schiznit in making these banners!! \m/
Then:
Go, Go, SuperCraftersGloves!!!
Ya. That. Trace it up! Then? HAND PAINT IT UP!!
BOO-YA! Every little line…every title…every sub-title…every slogan…every detail of the images the departments chose to represent the tireless goings’ on of the volunteers in our community.
Funny story:
Shane (husband): Hey, Auz (birthday Dude) is coming over tomorrow to work on website stuff.
Me: Really. (Academy Award winning dramatic look around the room WITH arm flourish, for good measure)
No couch for over a month…
Sewing machine in dining room. IronBoard still up and out.
Shane: Oh, shit.
LMAO!! Boys.
“GET TO THE BANNERS, WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Okay, okay…I just wanted to ensure that the deets about how they’re created was, y’know…put out there:
Yagermeisters: Ye Auld Grubbe, fry truck
Word and Music: Entertainment and events
Vendors…Darth and an R2D2 with moustache, man! You…have to be there…
Trolls: Maintenance
Special Undertakings: Archives, special ventures
Raven Relay: Communications
Polka-dot-docs: Medics
Nefarious Bunnies: Registration
Munchkinland: Children’s Program
Flying Monkeys: Security
Fire Keepers…um…that’s what it is, actually
Back paneling of each banner with drapery…fringe at each bottom…
Banners slowly fill the rooms…people talking, planning, scheming?, laughing…
Trying to blend into the wall, all of my walking-pneumonia self…totally thought I could stay the night for my first “big person” sleep-over…but alas, my lungs said “No.”
And the Momma Banner, of course:
Kaleidoscope Gathering
There you have it. For over a month, I got to “live in my mind” at Raven’s Knoll during KG as I envisioned the people, the areas, the events…the community.
A huge shout-out to those whose events I could not attend, for the coffee-dates that can now be rescheduled…and for the faith and trust in me that my absence was for something oh-so-very important.
Kaleidoscope Gathering…Bringing community together for 25 years.
Can’t wait to see my family make memories for the next 25…