Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge

(Yes, the post for folding that cute organizer will be up later today, lol!)

The Cricut Circle certainly knows how to keep me busy!  They have a new blog up & running and have their first weekly challenge up.  The challenge this week is to use at least 2 cuts from our French Manor cartridge (Circle Exclusive), along with gems or pearls.  As luck would have it, I had another home decor project that I been needing to get done.

My mom gave me this awesome HUGE sconce from the old Home Interiors - she used to be a demonstrator and this was one of the pieces she didn't want to keep for herself.  I've had it for QUITE a while and just couldn't decide where to put it.  I finally decided the other day that it would look perfect right next to our front door, but it really wouldn't look right all by itself because the design is so simple.  I didn't want to clutter up the smallish space with other stuff, and this contest gave me just the inspiration I needed. 

I pulled out some decor vinyl (woo-hoo that I had some great colors on hand to match the room), and decided on my designs.  Here's what I came up with:

I resized the shield shape background with my Gypsy to stretch it a little longer so it is more in proportion with the sconce base.  I was a little upset at first that I only had one sheet of the deep red vinyl; I had thought I'd place this behind the entire sconce.  But I think it turned out rather nicer just adding the accent behind the base.  I added the layered peacock on top in black and silver vinyl.  It took me the LONGEST time to decide on that silver, lol.  The room is mainly golden yellow, deep red, and black.  I could have used white, but I thought the contrast would be too stark.  The silver matches a light fixture at the other end of the room, so it works for me.  What Ireally love, though, is that if I get tired of this, the whole thing just peels right off!  (Who'd have thought that vinyl would become my favorite home decor item, lol?)

Want to see a little close-up of my golden-yellow gems?  Here it is:

It's a little hard to tell in the picture, but I used two size of gems.  The larger size went at the points of what would be a larger diamond, then the small ones filled in for all of the smaller diamonds.  Then I added a little adhesive pearl to my peacock's eye.  Voila!  French Manor home decor accents!  I'm really loving this cartridge more every time I use it.