Olympic Fever takes over

It happens every two years, the Olympics!  We love watching them, especially the summer games.  I'm beyond excited to watch the opening ceremonies tonight and see all the events.  I just know London will put on an impressive show!  I also hope that Simone will enjoying watching some events, we especially want her to watch the swimming events and I know she'll love all the gymnastics too.  Wouldn't it be awesome to see them live in person!  Since we couldn't be there in person, what better way to share in the fun than Olympic themed decor!

Wednesday Simone and I were playing around with the Cameo cutting out a Nemo fish and I came upon a super cute Union Jack Mini Cooper print and cut.  I decided to print some out thinking I would decorate our guest room for my sister in law who's coming to visit next week.  She has a Mini that looks just like it.  It turned out super cute and it got me thinking about the Olympics so I went searching for other Olympic themed cuts.  I found a few that I really liked and the next thing you know I was a cutting like a mad woman. 

My cuts evolved to this a cute banner for our family room to keep up during the games.

Here's a closer look at the pieces.

I cut this Team USA piece last because I didn't have the right glitter cardstock so I had to run out yesterday to pick some up.  The top Team USA piece is the original cut file.  I traced it and made an offset for the silver glitter paper.  After I did that I did an offset of the silver cut file to make another larger offset for the blue glitter paper.  They layered exactly how I was hoping it would look.  I ran all the pieces through my Xyron 500 Create-A-Sticker so I could stick them down really well.  The back of the glitter paper can be tricky to stick down since its so slick.  I absolutely love this!  This is a prime example of being super happy I didn't toss that Xyron ages ago, its been sitting collecting dust for years not getting any use!

Next is the Olympic Torch.  I cut the handle from bronze POW glitter paper and the flames from regular cardstock.  I needed to stick the handle to something else because the POW paper is so thin so I assembled the torch pieces as they would look when it was finished, traced around the edge and created an offset.  I then cut that file out of plain white cardstock and stuck the pieces down to it.  It helps give it more rigidity for hanging as well.

The Union Jack Mini Cooper was the only print and cut.  This one was super easy but so cute!

The Heart was a bit of a pain.  I'm still learning the Cameo so I believe my issues with this one were just not having enough experience with the machine.  It took a few tries to get it right and I had to piece it together more than I was hoping to have.  One thing I thought about after I had finished was I should have just colored in the pieces and turned it into a print and cut and it would have been much easier.  It looks great finished so I guess that's all that matters.

This London Games Logo was a challenge as well.  I had to separate all the elements to cut them in the right colors and when I was finished and started to assemble the pieces I knew there was no way I could hang it from a banner, it was just too delicate.  I had to have a base of some sort so like the torch I assembled the cuts the way they would look finished, traced around it and made an offset.  I also ran the pieces through the Xyron to make sure all the small bits were stuck down.  I did this one first so by the time I got to the Torch, I had my system down.

Here are a few more shots of it hanging.  Simone made that super cute Olympic Torch during craft time at our gym, I thought it was the cutest thing and goes nicely with my banner.

Let's hope the good ole USA brings home lots of Gold, we'll be rooting all of the athletes on from our own little Olympic Village!

Enjoy the games!