Night before Christmas - New England style
11/10/2011
Emma has really captured the feel of the night before Christmas in her card. All those little stockings hanging up on the fire place. When I designed this range of ribbon -New England Christmas here, I had this vision of Christmas's past as a child, just like Emmas card.
A perfect Santa Emma. I think this is called a step card (not sure, so please forgive me if I am wrong). Santa is hiding a secret in his steps.
Little hearts, that is fantastic Emma, very clever.
Emmas last card is very stylish, I love the simplicity of it - super cards Emma.
Tracey and Paul have captured the simplicity and elegance of this ribbon range with a super card. Love the tree motifs - fantastic colours
I think this second card from Tracey and Paul is great fun, the way they have added the extra parcel and a little bag (of sweets I hope) to the ribbon design. With the simple tied ribbon knot and the bright gold merry christmas message, this is a wicked card.
I am still away on a little island with Tony, I pre wrote this post before leaving, hoping to catch up with you all at the weekend.
Take care
Heard nothing from Ali
10/10/2011
We have heard nothing from Ali all day, not a phone call, text or email. Can she really last the whole week without contacting us. She has left the hotel number but with strict instructions not to call unless the warehouse burns down! Nice.
It was down to Bev and myself to pick the winners of this weeks Friday FREEBIE voucher, who is going to be spending £20 in our store for FREE?
Number 33 = Gill
Ooh I'd just love to win that voucher and fulfil my wish list of more gorgeous ribbons from you. 500 bags?! Wow what a great day! Hope the weekend is still going well. 
Well done Gill the £20 voucher is all yours. All we need are your details, please could you email them to me at rachie.craftyribbons@gmail.com DIFFERENT EMAIL ADDRESS TO THE NORMAL ONE.
Thanks to everyone that left us a comment, Bev and I enjoyed reading them all.
We wish Tony and Ali a wonderful holiday, but we are taking bets to see how long it will be before Ali contacts us on the QT!
Rachie and Bev x x
Not forgetting Mollie, Sydney and Sam x x x
Away on an island
10/10/2011
By the time you read this Tony and I will be on our way to a small island. I have had enough and run away!!!
No not really, it is Tony's birthday tomorrow and I arranged a little secret holiday for us. The only information I gave him, was that we were going to a small island that had no cars.........I think he guessed. First stage is by plane and then by boat, I do hope the sea state is going to be good, as it is only a small boat!
Tony asked for nothing for is birthday apart from me..............aaaah. What I believe he means is no laptop, no website, no intenet, no telephones. So I am being very brave and going cold turkey, and leaving my treasured gadgets behind. I will be a nervous wreck by the weekend. I hope he realises what a sacrifice I have made!!!!
But before I go here is another selection of wonderful creations from our new England Challenge.
I do think this collection of cards from Cath very ingenious. The way she has used the ribbon parcels as her inspiration for her wire work.
Super cool Cath.
This is pretty unique Cath, I love it.
Just in case you could not see the trees, they have been sewn. I do like your style Cath, hope you had fun playing.
I have written a few posts for the next few days, which the girls will hopefully remember to post for me. If you do need any help then do contact Rachie or Bev on the office number 01258 455889 or by email rachie.craftyribbons@gmail.com
Have a super week and I will catch up with you all at the weekend.
Friday FREEBIE - 39 Oops!
07/10/2011
Rachie published the Friday FREEBIE post for me this morning as I am away, but for some unknown reason it did not send out the normal email to everyone.
So if you have been wondering where the Friday FREEBIE is this week then just click here
Friday FREEBIE - 39
07/10/2011
Another Friday, but tell....how can it be the first Friday of OCTOBER. Where has this year gone?
As it IS the first Friday of the month then it must be voucher Friday.
A £20 voucher up for grabs for just leaving us a comment, that's not bad is it.
It was great to meet so many blog followers yesterday at Ally Pally, there are so many of you. We hope to meet more of you over the next 3 days. Our stand does become very busy and we are sorry if we are unable to talk to you for as long as we would like to. We have no till to record how many transations we make in a day, but yesterday we went through over 500 paper bags!!! And not everyone wants a bag. That is a lot of mental arithmetic, hello's and goodbyes so I am sure you can imagine Tony and I are shattered by the time we get back to the hotel. We were almost too tired to go out for a meal, but eat we must.
Please do come and see us if you are coming to Ally Pally this weekend, give us a wave or say "Hi", it makes our day. We are on stand E34.
Have a fantastic weekend.
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.
New England cards and tags
06/10/2011
First day of The Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally, we are on stand E34 if you have time pop on over and say "Hi" or give us a wave.
I am in full swing of sharing all the wonderful New England Challenge goodies with you, today we have makes from Linda and Gem. All the ribbons the girls have used can be found here or on our exhibtion stand at Ally Pally!
We are really happy with the way this ribbon has been received, it has exceeded all our expectations - we have already gone for a reprint on the Happy Christmas saddle stitch ribbon with hearts (above). We had trouble keeping this ribbon stocked on the Exeter stand so we have re-jigged the stand for Ally pally so that it is closer to the demo table, easier to re-stock.
Linda has made this stunning card (I think it is your card Linda - it was the only one without a name on!) Three strips of ribbon, yes the green strip in the centre is 63mm grosgrain that Linda has embellished with a sticker. The tree and parcel ribbons stand out beautifully from the card colour Linda has chosen.
I have said before that the little rocking reindeer was my favourite and I just love the way Linda has used it to make the gift tag. Great tags Linda.
What a wicked pair of festive shoes Gem, they look to be "killer"heels! What a super colour combo, I would never have been brave enough to use the lime, but it looks awesome.
Oh Gem I do like note pads, and this one is extra special with the glitter. Could be used to write my Christmas list!
Many thanks Linda and Gem for joining in with our challenge, hope you had lots of fun.
Hello wednesday - tag it
05/10/2011
Don't you just LOVE wednesday's? Say hello to wednesday "hello wednesday" It's all downhill from now on to the weekend - yippee!!!
This is a classic style of card, I have made it several times, normally using our Alpha tags here. But why not use our wonderful EXCLUSIVE New Christmas Tag ribbons.
I made this card while on the exhibtion stand in Exeter, so it must be easy, I have such a small demo area to craft on! I used the matching Happy Christmas ribbon to make the tied parcel effect and bow. I stuck the Christmas Tag ribbon onto card as I have shown you before here and cut out. With a hole punch I made holes in the tags and then threaded them onto the matching 3mm satin ribbon. Mounted all the tags onto 3D foam pads and stuck in place. You can find all the ribbons here .
Sticking and stickers is something that children love to do, none of our glue tubes ever have lids on! Yesterday afternoon the children were in a sticker mood, give them a sheet of stickers and it will keep them quiet for ages, we have stickers all over our shelving units. Tony put some new luminous poles around our parking places the other week - yes, you have guessed it they are covered in Winnie the Pooh stitckers!!!
But sometimes their sticker mood can be very beneficial........................
Mollie and Sam hard at work putting the "I'm FREE" stitckers onto bags of ribbon. Look at the concentration, so next time you receive an order from us and you find a little surprise gift inside and the label is not quite straight..................you will now know why!
Set up day for Ally Pally today, if all goes to plan Tony and I should have a few hours spare to play. We like going and finding conkers, we have a wonderful collection from around the world.
New England Angel
04/10/2011
Dorothy has created our very own New England angel.
Dorothy's Angel was one of the super creations she came up with while crafting with our New England ribbons.
Dorothy has embroidered little seed beads to the swiss dot ribbon to make it extra special.
I think Dorothy has a soft spot (no pun intended!) for this swiss dot ribbon. It is one of our EXCLUSIVE ribbons as the dots are the same colour cranberry as the rest of the New England collection. The ruffled ribbon has really added character to this card Dorothy. I love the way you have used a "vintage" style Santa, with his cranberry coloured suit.
Classic card Dorothy, i like the additions of the gems on the top of the trees.
Wow Dorothy where do you get your inspiration? These baubles are unique, a super idea.
As you all know, I do like my boxes and this one has been decorated to perfection by Dorothy.
A perfect ribbon bow topping Dorothy.
Thank you so much for all your hard work Dorothy, you must have spent a very long time crafting for us.
We will have many of the New England Challenge goodies on display this week at Ally Pally, come and visit us on stand E34. Not only do we have a super collection of ribbons and buttons to show you but come and have a look at what we have done with them - our inspiration is FREE!!!
Enjoy
Halloween or Gingerbreads
03/10/2011
Ooooh it sounds as if I gave you a hard time on Friday, some of you had trouble picking between our Halloween ribbons and our Gingerbread ribbons. It was rather mean of me....sorry.
Glad to hear you liked them both.
We have been busy re-stocking the exhibtion stand for Ally Pally and I only just remembered to grab the little guys for the Friday FREEBIE prize draw from our "Bingo" bag.
Everyone wanted to be in the photo, even Sydney's school friend, but I only had one number for them to pick. So the winner of this weeks prize is...................................
Number 24 = Karen J
Team Gingerbread for me Please and as for the assistants job where do I apply?!!!......bit of a long way to drive from Wales everyday, but I can dream can't I!!!xx
Hi Karen from the team Gingerbread camp!! - all we need is an address please to craftyribbons@gmail.com. Glad to read that you were all busy having fun this weekend, thank you for taking the time out to leave us cheery comments. What a fantastic weekend, I confess that Tony and I went to the coast but NOT in the sea!!
Get in early
03/10/2011
Thought I would get in early with a showing of some of the fantastic creations from our current New England challenge.
This is Janets second challenge with us, Janet lives I believe somewhere at the back of the warehouse, no not in our warehouse but behind Clump Farm. Janet always makes her creations look fantastic, presentation is the key.
See what I mean. This box was delivered by hand, it was delayed by a day as it rained and the greenery was all wet and soggy. Seeing something like this puts me in two minds....ooooh whats inside.........but it is too beautiful to open. The second never lingers very long and I plunge straight in!!!
Janet had created a festive treasure trove - where she got the crackers from in Blandford I have no idea. Hasn't the addition of the ribbons made these crackers look stunning. Brill idea.
Janet has carried the idea through to her festive table. Wow what wicked napkin rings. I love them.
Ooops! This photo is slightly out of focus, I would normally retake it...but...........well..........they looked so tempting..............yes I did. All gone! Janet I can assure you that this little jar of sugar almonds would be a super present.
Slip knot braiding is such a super use of ribbon, I keep meaning to show you all how to do it. It is on my list (by the way it has not got shorter!). I can imagine that the grosgrain 3mm is easy to work with Janet.
The last item out of Janets box was this sweet little bag holder a finger of fudge. What a perfect little table gift for Christmas Day, or make up several and hang on the Christmas tree.
Thanks for all your super creations Janet, opening your box was a real delight.
my basket