In the Pink - Sunday 3rd March

Good Morning Friends!

I hope the sun shone for you wherever you were yesterday...it certainly did here and we were even able to enjoy watching the hens in the late afternoon sun, with a glass of wine whilst sitting on the garden bench!

Today is my March Design Team card for Fantastic Ribbons..our theme this month is Mother's Day...

  I chose papers from Tilda and Pink Petticoat..and some fuchsia satin ribbon from Fantastic Ribbons. I wanted the ribbon to be the focal point of the card and tied it in a criss-cross around the front panel, finishing off with a big double bow.

I also decided to make a small box with the left over card, tying it with a selection of ribbons..the fushcia, a pale pink satin and a white heart Grosgrain..all finished with an abundance of bows!

Friends, if you are looking for ribbon take a look at Fantastic Ribbons there a huge choice of gorgeous ribbons, buttons and wash tape.

Happy Sunday!

Love, Carole X

Ribbons & Bows - Tuesday 5th February

Good morning Blog Friends!

For this month's Design Team Projects for Fantastic Ribbons we were asked to create projects with bows. I love ribbons and bows on cards, so I chose to make three cards with different bows.

Most of us use ribbons on our cards..some of us all of the time, others less often. I think a bow, either big and bold or small and simple can really give cards that finishing touch and sometimes give them that 'wow!' factor.

I had some lovely red ribbons to work with, so with it being the 'Month of Love', I have made some cards with romance in mind!

For my first card I made a bow by gathering one length of ribbon in folds all meeting in the middle and secured with a brad..this is much like you would make a bow for a gift. This particular ribbon is also wired, which makes it easy to shape as you like.The brad is hidden with a glittered 3D foam heart.

For  second card I used the same ribbon, but this time made a double bow by using two lengths of ribbon and tying them together at the same time. Double bows have to be my favourite style tying a ribbon.

Finally I used a  heart motif ribbon, folded outwards from the middle each side, secured with extra strong tape and finished off in the centre with a button.

So come on, get out those ribbons and start tying...even your little off cuts can be tied in the middle to make a simple little bow!

Carole X

Ribbon Wreaths

Hello Friends!

Today's post is my design team project for Fantastic Ribbons this month..

We were set the task of creating Christmas/ Home Decor makes with ribbon.... well those who have been following my blog for some time will know that I love making seasonal door decor wreaths, so I set about creating a few from ribbon.

For my main project I used a  plain polystyrene floristry circle; it's a small wreath, I used a 4.5 inch/115cm one, but you can use any size.

I used the ribbon direct from the reel, so didn't measure the length, but the ribbon measures 10mm width, there is 4 metres on the reel and I had plenty left for other projects!

You will also need some ribbon and  a good wet glue.... simply wrap the ribbon tightly around the circle, glueing as you go. To finish I added a snowflake die cut from Spellbinders Snowflake Pendant 2012, some gingham ribbon, a button and some twine. I stamped the greeting using versamark and heat embossed with  snowflake embossing powder, then matted and layered on white and green card.

Both the snowflake, greeting and ribbon are attached securely to the wreath with needlecraft pins.

My second project is great for when you want to use up all those little scraps of ribbon, that if you are like me you keep in a pretty full box!

It couldn't be easier and is a good example (I think) of up-cycling...so what do you think I made it from? Well it's an empty one of these...

I actually used an empty red line tape reel and forgot to photograph it, but all you do is tie the little pieces of ribbon tightly around the reel...they are small enough to hang on a Christmas Tree, or to add some festive cheer to a door handle...Easter one would be nice too!

All the ribbons used in these projects are from the wonderful selection at Fantastic Ribbons.

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate you visiting and leaving a comment!
Carole X

Halloween All Sewn Up! - Fantastic Ribbons DT - 23rd October

Good Morning Blog Friends,

The theme given to the design team at Fantastic Ribbons this month is sewing with ribbon...October to me means Halloween! I love it and any excuse to make a project for this Spookylicious holiday and I'm there!

 The card itself is a black 6x6 blank, the front of which I embossed using a lattice mask and then coated with starlite black pigment ink for some sparkle and shine. The pumpkin and boxes are made using  Spellbinders dies and cut with Coredinations card, which I sanded back and added a little sparkle. But the important part of this card and box project is of course,the ribbon!

I used three different ribbons: Grosgrain Torrid Orange,(how fab is that name for a Halloween project??),  black satin and Kendra black/gold  ....

The sewing part was simple - for the rosette, I cut  a length of orange and a length of black. How much you use depends on how large a rosette you want and half as much black as orange is needed. I simply sewed a running stitch along the centre of each length and pulled it together, sewed the ends together and then pushed the small black rosette into the centre, before sticking to the card. For the ruched band, I just gathered the ribbon together and sewed along the centre. It really doesn't matter if you can't sew as the contrasting ribbon will cover it. I sewed this by hand, but you could use a machine.

The little 'bow' on the box is the same technique as the rosette, except it's not gathered into a circle. To finish off I stamped the words on to the ribbons.

This was a really fun project to make - hope you like it!









Materials used:

Card:
Black 6x6 blank
Orange Coredinations card
Ribbons for Fantastic Ribbons - see links above
That Special Touch of...mask
Purple netting from stash
Spellbinders Pumpkins Nestability dies
Frog die cut using Cricut
'Spookylicious' stamp from Chocolate Baroque
Starlite Silver and Starlite black ink
Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue
Orange thread

Boxes
Spellbinders Box die
Coredinations Orange card
Black card
Spellbinders Pumpin Accents
Torrid Orange ribbon as above
Stamps from Chocolate Baroque


Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment, I love to read them!

Carole X

Fantastic Ribbons DT Washi Tape Boxes - Monday 17th September

Washi Tape Month at Fantastic Ribbons!

I was thrilled when I was recently asked to become one of the new members of Fantastic Ribbons Design Team and as someone who loves ribbon, how excited am I to be bringing you a monthly project using this crafting 'must have'!

This month we are looking at ways with washi tape, something which I have to admit to never having used before, but now that I have, I am quite addicted and can't stop thinking up ideas.

 I decided to make a box for my first project: in fact, I made one box and gift wrapped another  - and wow! This is my gift wrapping sorted from now on!

 I cut out my first box using  a simple exploding box template and chose to work with two different designs of washi tape from Art Deco and Cranberry and Gold collections, alternating them around the sides of the box.

I decided to  cover the inside of the box as well, but covered opposite sides with stripes and script and used a square of black card on the base to strengthen it.

The  lid is covered in the same way as the base, but I laid the tape in the opposite direction to give contrast. 

To finish off I made a bow for the top simply by cutting several  lengths of tape about 10cms and folding them in half to make them double-sided. For the little rose on top I took a length of tape (about 25cms) and folded it in half length ways. It's easier if you start off by wrapping it around tweezers or a pokey tool. Once you've got it started, ease it off and then just keep folding  to form your rose. You don't have to be accurate, if you leave some 'sticky' it will help it keep together. You may need a little glue to hold it, but all I did to finish was add a little glitter.

 The second box is a gift box, wrapped in brown parcel paper; I used  washi tape from Candy Floss for the wrap, finishing off with a flower made in the same way as the bow, but with more layers and I snipped the ends with deckle edge scissors and scrunched it up a little. I topped this with a sentiment and button threaded with a washi tape bow.

Stamp: Lily of the Valley

Box Template: Billie's Craft Room


That's all from my first project, hope you like it!

Carole Z X