Day 15 - Budget Stocking
15/12/2011
In one of my magazines I saw that Tesco were stocking a value stocking for 50p...........................oooh I wonder what I could do with it. That was way back in November and I totally forgot about it, until we ran out of milk last week. I wanted a few minutes away from the warehouse so popped to Tesco and look what jumped into my basket and reduced to 33p......Billy Bargain.
Ok - it did not look like this. To be honest it was misshaped and rather sad looking. It was actually stuffed in with the santa hats (before I have comments from the team, NO the milk is not in the Christmas aisle). I forgot to take a before photo but I left the Tesco label on to prove it was a value stocking.
To turn my 33p stocking (sorry but you can not make a felt stocking for 33p) into a bit of a WOW effort.
I turned the stocking inside out and cut away the excess felt from the seam, and snipped into the curves and turned it the right way round. This suddenly gave the stocking a bit more stocking shape!
Next I embroidered aound the outside with 6 strands of white embroidery thread with blanket stitch. Making sure I pulled the seam as tight as poss to create a better shape. For the tree decoration I used scraps of ribbon and pinned them in place (slide a rolled up newspaper inside the stocking so you do not pin through to the back). Once I had a row of ribbons I drew a pencil line through the centre which I then back stitched on top of.
The gold star is also ribbon, stuck on top of some card and cut into a star shape. I am very pleased with my value stocking and it gave me an evening of play.
Leigh has been playing with our ribbons too.
I am sure I have told you before but Leigh helped me make my first ever card, a few eons ago!! Up until then I was a classic embroiderer, spending hours ribbon embroidering pictures. Within a few hours we had made a box of cards and what a giggle we had. We do not meet up as much as we would like, as Leigh lives over the other side of the country but we hope to see each other between Christmas and New year for a good old catch up. Leigh your bow card is a classic, and yes I did fluff the holly bow for you!
When Leigh and I met in the summer, I told her about all our new ribbons, but only had drawings to show her - they were so TOP SECRET! She was the first I sent the pre samples to, to get a reaction. She LOVED them especially this ribbon (sorry sold out). How simple and elegant is this card.
Ummm I think I have photographed this card the wrong way up, no wonder it would not stand!!!! It was blowing a hoooly that day. Sorry Leigh -great card.
I am going back to school today - wish me luck!!
Day 14 - Add a RED bow
14/12/2011
It is amazing what ribbon can do. This wreath had no focal point and looked rather sad. So out came my bowdabra here and a roll of red ribbon here - bowmaker and ribbon to the rescue!
Four ribbon loops either side of my bowdabra some magic cord here in the centre and the bow was complete. I simply attached it to the wreath with some wire. What a difference it made,
I was in a bit of a rush, running late on Sunday. I had promised to decorate two wreaths by adding some ribbon. But I was due for a family meal 150miles away in Oxfordshire with the wreaths and I was still in Dorset. So my assistant came to the rescue and took the photos while I completed the second wreath. Thanks Tony.
Tracey and Paul like their red ribbons, here are the two cards they made for the Top 5 Christmas ribbon Challenge.
I do love all the embellishments you guys use. they make the cards so tactile and fun. This washing line ribbon has been a top design over the years. Super dupa santa Tracey and Paul.
Very stylish card, I love the little red bow that compliments the little bows on the silver tree - clever idea Tracey or Paul. I do think that red has been the top selling colour of Christmas 2011.
It was great to catch up with Tracey and Paul at the Hobbycraft show back in November - wow that feels a long time ago. We hope you both have a fantastic Christmas and that you will join in with our challenges next year. DO NOT panic I am not going to launch another challenge yet. I have one in mind but not until Christmas has past.
That will get a few of you guessing!!!!
Day 13 - Raffia the natural way
13/12/2011
I can not bear waste, and keep almost everything..............just in case it is needed at some point in the future!
I have had these spare orange slices knocking about my kitchen since making the fragrant door hanger a couple of Sundays ago. I have already rescued them from the bin once, Tony decided they were rubbish. So I knew that unless I used them soon they would disappear again.
Mollie and I were doing facetime the other evening and I spied several rolls of raffia ribbon by Rachies fire place. Rachie borrowing stock again - tut tut.
Anyway it gave me an idea to use up my overs of oranges and cinnamon.
That is one present complete, I have decided not to wrap my presents the same way this year, but be a little different with each one. This one sure does smell good!
We stock raffia in only three colours - emerald, shiny gold and dull gold. I used the dull gold as it was perfect for my natural look, you can find them all here. They are £10 for 100yd rolls - so perfect for all that wrapping that still needs to be done!
I have another collection of cards from our Top 5 Christmas Ribbon Challenge this time from Kelly.
I adore the strong purple theme you have used on this card Kelly. It is a perfect match for the let it snow ribbon. I have to thank everyone that purchased this Let it snow range, it was so popular we had a second production run. Although we had some super colours printed, we are almost sad to say the RED out sold all the others. There are far more traditional crafters then we thought!
Oh what a sweetie Kelly although I would not want to be outside in the snow with shorts on, and look at that list for Santa! This a fun card Kelly and truly special. We hope you enjoyed the challenge and have been following the advent inspiration.
I still have more challenge goodies to share, so please do not worry if yours have not appeared yet.
Hope you were not blown away yesterday and stay safe today.
Day 12 - My Christmas cards
12/12/2011
Boy was I having a bad morning. I have a very busy week ahead, so I decided to try and sort out the balance of the advent ideas that have been whizzing around in my head. The next minute the computer started publishing my thoughts, the curser was acting on its own, and I was locked out of the blog. It must have been bad because the office called to ask if I was ok!
Anyway - my Christmas cards. I confess I do not make very many, but they have to be easy and quick to make, oh and they must use ribbon. Being part of our Challenge blog here, I am having to force myself out of my comfort zone. So stamping! Ummh stamping! Scares the life out of me! I do not own any stamps, inks or anything like that so................ I borrowed a set of ink pads and some stamps from Rachie to create these. Please do not all laugh at once, I do have feelings.
Simple - elegant - yes? - maybe? i used our NEW sketch Trees and Stars Ribbon here. After the row going on between Kirstie and I can not remember her name, I will have to be very careful who I send them too! Nahhh I like love crafting, so will send them to all with a little kiss. If they do not like handmade creations, they can always put them in the bin. Rock on Kirstie, as she has brought crafts to TV without being on a shopping channel, she gets our thumbs up.
Without crafting we would have no challenges. These creations are from Sandie, and boy has she come up with some super ideas.
Decorated milk carton with little choccy snowmen, hope they are milk chocolate Sandie!
Little tiny snowmen all having fun.
A perfect little album for those special Christmas photos.
Great combination of colours Sandie, it all works so well together. I love the little December insert.
It took me a while to realise the little white hats on the side of the tag is our ribbon. Cor I really am having a durrrrh day.
Beautiful Sandie, I do hope you enjoyed crafting with the ribbon, you really have created some super ideas - thank you.
One last thing before I sign off for the day...................our Friday FREEBIE winners.
Winners are...................13 and 29
Number 13 = Sarah Eatwell
oh my lord that is just amazing, love it love it love it.
Number 29= Rachel
Love Judi's filmstrip card with icicles over black - stunning. Well done Judi!
And love your new cupcake too, especially with the eyelash ribbon. Guess what? Change to subtle pink and lilac and I've got yet more inspiration for my daughter's bedroom!!!
And... thanks for a chance to win another voucher. You're too good to us!
Big hugs,
Rachel xx
Congratulations girls you have 20 smackers to spend in our shop. All we need is an email from you to craftyribbons@gmail.com so we can send you details. Thank you to everyone that left us a super comment, they have been much read and enjoyed.
Hope you are all safe and warm, take care.
Gremlins in the advent
12/12/2011
Sorry everyone, gremlins have got into Crafty's advent over the weekend. I think they have set off the party poppers, posts keep popping up.
Will try and send them away....................
Day 11 - Table Tags
11/12/2011
We had our Christmas party yesterday, a cross between an office meal and a childrens party! Although we had crackers I wanted to make a little extra to put on each plate, so I came up with these.
I have called them Table tags!
Shop brought brown parcel tags that I have made two slits in with a craft knife. A little bit of faux stitching around the outside and of course some RIBBON! You could jazz them up more with by turning them into place names - just an idea.
Crafty Ribbons team having fun - you can find more photos here.
Have a wicked day.
Day 10 - Bling your door
10/12/2011
It is that time of year when you hang wreaths on your door - so how about this little idea.
Add a bit of bling to your front door. I made this gold bow wreath a few weeks back for the Hobbycraft show at the NEC. We had a bucket of single bows and you could fill a bag for £1. Tony and I did get the giggles watching people stuffing the bows into their bag - what a bargain.
I used about 60 of these single bows to create the wreath, you can find the Bows in our Bargain Basket here. A polystyrene wreath shape covered in gold ribbon and then the bows pinned in place.
It was a planned tutorial for a Hello wednesday project but..............little Sam......................had other ideas!
I had left my spare blank white wreath in the office, but when I went to use it I could not find it anywhere...............................and then I saw Sam..............................he had been doing a bit of crafting too. He had broken the wreath into several bits and painted it green, "Sam that is my wreath"..........."No Ali, my dragon".
What could I say?!
So sorry no tutorial, but I think you can get the idea of how it was made, my wreath that is and not the dragon!
Day 9 - Christmas Cupcake
09/12/2011
Hi everyone I am really sorry if I am making your to do lists longer each day with my new projects. I will stop if you want me to? Joanna I got into a lot of trouble for launching our Christmas ribbons in August, if I started a Christmas advent in June I think I would get blacklisted!!!!!! It is bad enough designing Christmas ribbons while the sun is shining let alone dreaming up Christmas projects - tell you what........... these ideas are not for Christmas 2011 but I am way ahead of myself and they are projects for 2012.....there you go, that makes us all feel better, thanks Joanna.
Do you want to see what I have made for today? If I want to keep this for myself, I think I am going to have to keep it under lock and key! I took it into the office yesterday and I nearly had it ripped from my hands.
Rachie suggested I should make a Christmas Cupcake. Will do Rachie..........with lots of fluffy white icing..............and little holly and berries........sound OK?
I have to say so myself, this cupcake is divine. I used 15mm wire edge taffeta ribbon here in Antique White, bling eyelash here in white and then for the holly I used this Holly Cluster ribbon here. The only others items you will need is a polystyrene ball (8cm) and pins.
Gather the ribbon using the wire, (same as the carnation video in the side bar) just gently pull the wire on one edge of the ribbon until it gathers up. Gather loads, this cupcake took about 5mtrs. Once gathered, place the end of the ribbon just below the centre line of the ball and pin the ribbon gathers in place so they circle the ball. Before you start the next layer of gathers, pin the eyelash just above the gathers. Keep pinning the gathers and the eyelash around the ball, you will start to spiral towards the top of the ball. Cut the ends of the ribbon and the eyelash and hide amonsgt the gathers, secure with a few extra pins.
The Holly Cluster ribbon is a very fine sheer ribbon and frays when cut. But Janet (she brought us a yummy chocolate cake this week to keep our spirits up - all gone sorry) showed me a new trick using jigsaw glue. Cover a piece of ribbon with the jigsaw glue, not too much that it is dripping but just enough to make it damp, and hang up to dry. If you do not have any jigsaw glue, we both think that a little watered down PVA glue would do the same job. The glue drys totally clear and makes the ribbon slightly stiff, but the main job is to stick each of the woven fibres together, so when you cut the ribbon it does not fray - wicked. So I managed to cut these little Holly and berry clusters from this..........
Using red glass headed pins I placed the holly clusters around the cupcake. What do you think?
It is FRIDAY - Friday FREEBIE day...so here is another chance to win one of our Special Advent Vouchers for just leaving us a comment.
A voucher each for 2 lucky commentors this week - could it be you?
Just leave us a comment and we will pick two winners on Monday from our "Bingo" bag. If you are having trouble leaving us a comment due to our spam filters, please just email to craftyribbons@gmail.com and we will add it for you. Remember you have to be in it to win it!
Judi made these two delightful cards for our Top 5 Christmas ribbon challenge, she confessed she struggled to start with, as the ribbons were slighly wider than she would normally work with.
Judi you passed the challenge, this Santa is unique, I love him. I also know a little girl that will want to take him home. Sydney was helping me tidy my craft room yesterday, well I was cleaning up while Syd was crafting! She spied my little green tree and told me "She would give it a good home" - what could I say. I am in awe of card makers like you Judi that create such wonderful layers - eight layers to Santa, super work and the Ho-ho-ho ribbon works a dream.
My film strip ribbon was a little bit of a "pet" project. I just loved the idea, the concept of photos on a film strip, and Judi you have set it off superbly, what a brilliant idea. Glad you enjoyed the challenge and we took you a little bit out of your comfort zone.
I know it is a busy time of year but I hope you all have a few spare moments this week to create. Cupcake - card or even wrapping presents - have fun.
If you are unable to leave a comment due to our spam filters, please email it to craftyribbons@gmail.com and we will add it for you.
All the comments go into our "Bingo" bag and we draw a random number(s) on Monday.
Please check back to see if you have won, it is up to you to claim your prize - we do not contact you.
Day 8 - Door stop!
08/12/2011
I can not believe it is time for another challenge over on our Ribbon Challenge Blog - but it is. Thank you to everyone that took part in the last challenge, such wonderful creations.
Our new Challenge has been choosen by Pinky and her theme is Traditional Colours for Christmas.
Ooooh......ooh........here am I jumping up and down, I can do this challenge, just up my street as they say.
Not just any odd Christmas Tree...............oh no...................this tree is special.................It is a Christmas Door Stop Tree.
I made a sheet of fabric by ironing lengths of the New England ribbons here onto iron-on vilene then simply ironed them in place. Next I drew a tree shape onto some paper, making the branches fit the widths of ribbon. I cut it out and refined the shape slightly, it had rather a big bottom. I placed cream felt, then the ribbon fabric and finally the template on top, pinned it all together and machined around the paper shape. Removing all the pins and the paper shape, I cut around the tree, snipped and clipped the corners and then turned it through to the right side.
Using a knitting needle I poked out all the tree shape, to give it the rustic feel I embroidered some straight stiches to look as if it was holding the ribbon together.
I wanted to make the stitches uneven. I had to keep unpicking it as I realised they were all neatly lined up - no Ali, messy and rustic! I part filled the tree with toy stuffing and the balance with rice so it would be weighted down. Not sure it would hold a door from slamming in gale force winds, but it does look sweet sat on the floor.
We hope you can join in with our New Challenge, if you have a spare moment pop on over here and have a look at what the talented DT girls have come up with. There are some super ideas. Must not forget the prize for the lucky winner. Mulberry Crafts are our sponsor this week and Bev has given a delightful selection of flowers.
Bev writes - MulberryCraftsUK online shop is a Home-Based business run by Bev .At the moment we are focusing on providing miniature flowers made from genuine mulberry paper for crafts use - although we have a small selection of non -paper crafts too. Why mulberry papers? Because they are robust, look realistic and last longer than ordinary paper and provide a sustainable income for people in the cottage industry. In due course we will be introducing more of other craft materials not related to mulberry paper. Website - mulberrycraftsuk.co.uk
Did you see our ribbons on telly last night? Channel 4 - Kirstie's homemade Christmas. The parcels underneath Kirstie's tree were wrapped in our ribbons. Crafty Ribbons on telly!
That's me for today, see you all tomorrow.
Day 7 - Gingerbread Tags
07/12/2011
Christmas would not be complete without at least one gingerbread man or biccy man as Mollie calls them!
I wanted to create a parcel that was a little bit different and full of fun for the children. What a parcel looks like is not that important to children, they are only after what is inside. But this one did make Mollie stop in her tracks yesterday. So much so she had to come and help me photograph it. She then asked if she could open it, not yet Mollie!
I crushed some red tissue paper into a ball, to create the crinkle effect and used our gingerbread ribbon to make the bow here and also a touch of gingham ribbon here.
For the gingerbread tag I used the same template I used last year for the felt gingerbread men I made. You can find it here, I just reduced it in size slightly.
I stuck the brown felt to some thin card and cut out the gingerbread man shape. With a normal needle and thread I sewed around the edge with normal running stitches. A few red buttons from our Christmas Berry Button Box here and a Bow Tie style bow finished it off. Just one thing left, to hole punch him and thread the 5mm red gingham ribbon through. Ummm I had a little problem, I could not bear to put a hole in his head.............it was bad enough punching his hand!!!
As there is card on the reverse of the felt, I will have no problem writing my Christmas wishes.
Look someone has followed my tutorial of the Love Cushion here
Catie is 11 and made this totally on her own. Catie it is fab, did you make it for yourself or as a present? I love my LOVE cushion so much that I was reluctant to display it on the exhibition stand this season. After a bit of ooohing and aahing I decided to pin it to the top of the back wall of the stand..............that way no one would be able to touch it. Naughty I know, but it normally sits in my spare bedroom.
Well done Catie and I hope this Christmas Advent has given you a few more ideas.
Do you have rain like us in Dorset or snow today?
my basket