Hello wednesday - Tea Towel Aprons
20/04/2011
Don't you just LOVE wednesday's? Say hello to wednesday "hello wednesday" It's all downhill from now on to the weekend - yippee!!!
I do, I do, I do love tea towels.....not for drying up silly!!! Look what I have made........
I promise you, these aprons have been made from Tea Towels. They come in such wicked colour combos now and are still relatively cheap. I picked up this pack of three when I went shopping with Bev the other week. Three tea towels £3.20 - from you guessed it- Wilkinsons. Sadly I went back with Rachie last Thursday to get some more but they had sold out......but they had some fab NEW ones in......and according to the sales assistant they have some cupcake ones coming in for May.
I folded each tea towel in half lengthwise, and cut off 15cm from the bottom - this makes the pocket section on the other aprons. With the tea towels still folded I cut away the curve for the arms, don't throw away the cut out bits, they are used to make the hearts!
I also cut away the tea towel seam on the sides and the top edge of the aprons. Next I laid the pockets on top of each apron and pinned in place.
I drew a few hearts and cut them from the waste arm sections and also pinned in place. I like hand sewing, so using 3 strands of embroidery thread I sewed around the hearts with running stitch.
For the hearts on the pockets I used blanket stitch, once again using three strands of embroidery thread. To jolly things along, I hand stitched the top edge of the pocket and then the vertical line to divide it into two pockets. All of this could be done by machine to save time.
It is a long time since I have used bias binding (if you ever ring the warehouse and are speaking to Rachie, ask about the Bias Binding - she wants to call it Boris Binding and gets real tongue tied trying to work it out!!!). As I had not used Bias Binding (you can find Bias Binding HERE) for so long, I thought I should tack it around the edges of the apron before sewing it on the machine.
The bias binding went around all the edges like a dream. By the third apron I didn't even bother with the tacking stitches, just pins.
For the apron strings and head loop I used our NEW Twill which can be found HERE. It comes in some really fun colours and were perfect for my aprons.
Our three little ones are not very keen on things being put over there heads, so I made a simple loop in the end of the webbing and attached a few coloured buttons for the head loop.
That's it - three little aprons from 3 fun tea towels, a few lengths of webbing, colourful bias binding and a couple of buttons. I did enjoy making these. Sam was not toooooo keen on his but Mollie and Sydney love theirs.
Really excited going on holiday tonight - catching the night ferry from Harwich. A executive cabin awaits us.Tony pushed the boat out so to speak and upgraded us, think it means we get a kettle, sorry that should read Tea and Coffee making facilities!
Have fun while I am away, don't be surprised if you hear from me - i'm sneaking my computer into the car.
Cotton Ribbon & Twill Tape
19/04/2011
I have been busy trying to clear all my loose ends before my hols....as you do.
New 100% Cotton Ribbons - in some super cool colours.
You can stamp on it and use your promarkers or copics. As it is woven from 100% cotton it does take dye like a dream. If you want to have a good old play then why not try the WANT IT ALL Collection - find them all HERE.
I have also added a NEW Range of Twill Tape - I know it is not technically a ribbon but it is something we have been asked for. Not just plain boring colours but some really zangy fresh bright colours.
I love the way Twill Tape has the extra detail from being woven. You can find it all HERE. I have a WANT IT ALL of both the Cotton Ribbon and the Twill Tape all 1mtr lengths of each colour to the first 2 emails I receive to craftyribbons@gmail.com - please put your address in the email so we can post them out today for you. First email will get the Cotton, second the twill - the ribbons have been used for photography!! BOTH OF THESE HAVE BEEN CLAIMED! SORRY
If you read the Making Cards magazine this month, you may will be able to spot this ribbon on the front cover - whooo eee!
Inside the magazine you will find projects made by Sarah Hurley using our ribbons - fantastic.
Lucy has sent in this really wonderful card for the Seam Binding Challenge.
Look at the detail....
.....WOW Lucy - I believe it is a Spiders Web Rose. I love all the jewels surrounding the rose.
Bonnie sent in this gorgeous paper bag.
Side view so you can see the paper bag open.
Did you make the bag Bonnie?
Bonnie has carried through her natural colour theme. She has also threaded the seam binding through holes on her second project. I love the way the seam binding is so soft and moulds it's way around the circle on Bonnies card.
Gemma has created something that I have wanted to have a go at for ages...
....korker curl ribbons....
....look how the ribbons curl. Great card Gemma, colours are wicked.
How did you get this detail on the seam binding Gemma? It is awesome.
How simple and effective Gemma.
This effect is also wicked, it looks like denim Gemma. Do tell how you achieved it?
A big thank you to Lucy, Bonnie and Gemma lots of different ideas and techniques to get us playing.
Don't forget we have lots of FREE Love Spring ribbons ready to go into orders over £10 (excluding postage)
Hope you are all enjoying the wonderful weather.
Wicked Easter Egg Hunt
18/04/2011
Oh Beryl you are so right, I do think I have hit my second childhood. I had so much fun on Saturday with my Easter Egg Hunt - it was simply super. All three children had never been to a egg hunt before, but they soon picked it up. We had all agreed that we would share our finds with each other, so they all went home with the same number of chocolate chicks and bunnies.
Sydney had come as the Easter fairy and we all thought Sam looked like Denis the menace!!! How could a few bits of chocolate create an afternoon of fun.
"Show me what to do Sam"
It was also a busy weekend........I launched our NEW Challenge - Button it! Sorry to everyone that missed out, I know it was a lovely day and you were all out enjoying yourselves..........but.........there will be another one soon.
For all those 15, no 20 lucky readers that joined the challenge your button boxes have left today. We hope you enjoy your play time.
Did you join in with our Friday FREEBIE this week? Which of the 3 prizes did you pick -Lush 3mm Velvets, Easter Bundle or Bev's Bag of Regal Ribbons. From reading the comments I think the lush velvets and Bev's bag were the popular choices. so lets see whos comments were picked from our "Bingo" bag......
Lucky comments are...
Number 14 = Jenny
Sounds like you have had a great week I would love to win the new velvet ribbons
Number 26 = Angela Styles
Haveing a great time getting inspired by your button projects!
would love to have some 3mm lush velvet though I'm spoilt for choice
Number 44 = Ali (not me!)
Lovely jewellery from Claire and would love to see your bracelet Ali, what a great compliment to get!
Hmmm, now I'm feeling inspired to make some jewellery myself and I think the velvet ribbons would be perfect, so that would be my choice if I'm lucky enough to be picked.
Hope you've had a great Easter egg hunt, been fab weather for it.
Ali xx
Cor 3 out of 3 for the NEW 3mm Lush Velvets, you have some super ribbons coming your way girls - all we need are addresses please to craftyribbons@gmail.com. Thank you to everyone that took part - super comments.
Sorry no pics of my new bracelet - I had planned on using it as a Hello wednesday idea, but I have had so many comments about it that we (that's the royal we - as in Tony, Bev and Rachie) have decided that we (not the royal we, as it will be all down to me) should turn it into a NEW kit. So you will hear more about it after my hol's, getting excited only 2 more sleeps!
Todays Seam Binding goodies are from Ruby.
What a delightful bookmark Ruby I love the colour combo.
Clever how you have written on the Seam Binding Ribbon - give us a clue Ruby what pen did you use?
Ruby also sent in this sweet little friendship bracelet, the gold little charm is divine - "Made with Love".
Seam binding appears to be perfect for jewellery making - Ruby also crafted a Butterfly necklace. Were your jewels stick ons Ruby? Or what glue did you use.
Super makes Ruby, thank you for joining in.
Ribbon Challenge # 23 - Button it! is FULL
17/04/2011
Sorry our NEW Challenge - Button it! is FULL
You can find all the Button Boxes HERE
Ribbon Challenge # 23 Button it!
17/04/2011
SORRY THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW FULL.
Is it time for a NEW Challenge?
Do you fancy a Button Challenge?
We are well on the way to sharing all the makes from the current Ribbon Challenge # 22 Seam Binding - so lets get a NEW Challenge started!!!!
I have spent the last two evenings playing with a fab colour combo - Tornado.
Have you decided what your favourite button box is - refresh your memory and look HERE
What can you do with buttons? show us by joining in with our NEW Challenge - Button it!
Send me an email to craftyribbons@gmail.com we have 15 FREE button boxes to give away. Have a think about the colour box you would like to play with.... there are 20 in the range. The first 15 emails I receive will be in the challenge, all we ask in return is for you to send us two projects made with our buttons - anything from cards to bags, ATC's to ABC's!
Come on lets - Button it!
Friday FREEBIE - 15
15/04/2011
Sydney and I had a wonderful morning on wednesday, a trip to Hobbycrafts, walking up and down the aisles, seeing all the wonderful things on display. We had a giggle over "Mod Podge" - what a funny name. I nearly bought some to have a play but we decided on some gold long pipe cleaners and some stickers. Syd has the idea of making bunny ears from the pipecleaners - we will see. She did paint a wonderful bunny sun catcher when we got home, it was going to be for me, but once she had finished decided she liked it too much to give away!!!
I took yesterday off as well - shock horror a day off! I took Rachie and Mollie to lunch in sunny Weymouth, a little cafe overlooking the beach. If you ever need to buy a bucket and spade head to Weymouth - I have never seen so many different colours and sizes in my life, they were everywhere. I came back all charged up with ideas, a quick "Hello" to Tony then off for a good old play, I am still playing this morning. Weymouth has a Wilkinsons you see.
Hope you have all had a good week, thanks for all your wonderful orders - the FREE we LOVE Spring ribbons are going down well. Have a play and enjoy them.
Friday.....Friday FREEBIE......ummmmm.......I normally have everything planned........but too much play has sent me in a spin....... is it too late for a last minute bundle of Easter ribbons? Or do you want to have a stroke of the NEW 3mm lush Velvets? Or have you got plans for the Royal Wedding and need some red, white and blue ribbons?
What do you fancy this week? Take your pick? We will pick 3 winners on Monday from our "Bingo" bag.....lush 3mm velvet, Easter surprise or Bev's bag - Regal, you name it and we will send it!! All you have to do for a chance to win is leave us a comment.
I have really enjoyed opening the parcels from the Seam Binding Challenge, you all worked so hard on finding different ways to use the ribbon.
Clare from Fairy Crafts has been busy making jewellery with the seam binding ribbon.
First she made a necklace from buttons, threading them onto the seam binding. All in natural toning colours with extra lengths of ribbon tied between the buttons and frayed at the edges.
Next a bracelet with some beautiful buttons (looks like you love buttons as much as me Clare!). The yellow Seam Binding has been scrunched and dyed with blue ink. The colour combo is very soothing....ummmm maybe this bracelet needs a little holiday to Holland! Talking about bracelets, I was wearing a new creation yesterday (I put it on to see if Rachie would spot it) and a sales assistant wanted to know where I had got it from - "I made it last night" - NO can I buy it from you please. Cor that made me feel good.
When I opened this Clare I got that little guilty feeling (you know in your tummy) I have several of these pins that I have done nothing with. I like the way you have scrunched the ribbons, it gives them a vintage look.
What inspiration you have given us Clare, we will all be jewellery making this weekend, thank you for sharing your ideas.
I have my Easter Egg hunt planned for tomorrow afternoon, I know it is a week early, but I am going to be away for Easter, and I am sure the little ones will not object to some early Easter chocolate! I have 18 chickens and 30 bunnies to hide in my small garden, I am hoping that Syd will not find all the easy hiding places. I have printed off a stack of bunny foot prints (Tony thinks I am mad) which I will cut out tonight. I plan on putting them around the garden laying a trail to the hiding places. Not sure who is more excited me or the kids.........me I think!!
Have a awesome 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.
Hello wednesday - T shirt blooms
13/04/2011
Don't you just LOVE wednesday's? Say hello to wednesday "hello wednesday" It's all downhill from now on to the weekend - yippee!!!
I am really sorry but I have caught the "Button Bug" - it is highly contagious, and this weeks project is another idea to use buttons. It is sooooooo simple - honest.
I made this for Mollie Monday night - think I needed a bigger T-shirt but ho ha. All you need are buttons, I used the large ones from our Tutti Frutti Button Box - HERE
I picked four buttons 2 slightly larger then the other two. I placed one of each size button onto some scrap paper and drew round them. Then I drew loops to form a flower, all different sizes so they looked a bit wacky. Next I cut the paper flowers out and cut a hole in the centre. You can see the template below.
I then pinned the template onto the T-shirt.
I placed the button on top of the t-Shirt and sewed it in place using white 6 stranded thread.
I then started to sew around the template with running stitches. You are just using the paper template as a guide, so do not worry if you go offline. Continue sewing all the way round the flower.
Unpin and remove the paper template........Button blooms are created....simples!!
I love these blooms, I want to sew some more........
Sydney and I are off out on a little play this morning - thought we would head on over to our local Hobbycraft. There are a few bits and pieces I need....yes I do mean need, NOT want!!! There is a garden centre next door with a coffee shop (with a play area), so I think most of the morning will be taken up!
Do try these button blooms, they are so easy and look fantastic. Oh I forgot to tell you yesterday, I slipped in a NEW Button Box flavour - Allsorts. A little mixture of ALLSORTS! Have a look here.
Must go, I have a little girl waiting to be picked up.
FREE Spring Ribbons
12/04/2011
We LOVE Spring at Crafty Ribbons and we want to send you some of our LOVE, Spring Ribbon Love that is - place an order of over £10.00 between today and Easter Monday and you will receive a bundle of Spring ribbons FREE.
Ladybirds - Bunnies - Chicks - Plains - Wire Edged - Sheer - Satin
10 different ribbons all 1mtr long
FREE Spring Ribbons from today until Easter Monday - Have fun and play with some FREE Spring Ribbons.
A FREE bag of Spring Ribbons will be put into every order over £10 excluding postage (£12.75 with postage) - no codes needed or special vouchers, the girls have been busy making Crafty Ribbons LOVE Spring Ribbon Bags ready to add to orders!!!!
Look what you can do with a few lengths of Seam Binding Ribbon........
Leslie this is a really wonderful card, the butterfly effect is wicked. The amount of different techniques you have used is awesome - painting the wavy lines with Pearl-Ex paints, bleaching the two ribbon tags to give a tie dye effect.
Yes the blue stripes are Seam Binding Ribbons and I believe that Leslie stamped onto the ribbons and then seperated them for mounting.
Leslie you really took my words to heart - you have tried so many different methods with this ribbon, twisting for the stems, gathering and layering for the flowers, stamping for the border and then even changing the base ribbon colour by bleaching it!
Leslie you have truly thought outside the box with this ribbon - thank you. We hope this will give others the encouragement to do something a little bit different with ribbon. Leslie said she loved working with this ribbon as it lends itself to so many things.
I just had to share this image with you - Mollie has started potty training and had a little accident (well a few) and Rachie had run out of spare trousers.......
.......ummmm so I lent her a pair of jeans that is work in progress!! Spot the difference......
.....maybe not one of my best ideas....needs more thought.
So don't forget - if you have been oohing and aahhing about buying some ribbon or buttons, place your order before the end of Easter to get some EXTRA SPRING Ribbons for FREE!
Button Boxes arrived
11/04/2011
Yeh!!! Our NEW Button Box delivery arrived this morning - so all colours are back in stock and all delayed orders have been posted out today. Fingers crossed they will arrive with you tomorrow.
From your comments it sounds like buttons are loved as much as ribbons - music to my ears!! Ooooh they do work so well together.
So who were the lucky two winners that will be getting their dream 3 boxes of buttons? Rachie and Mollie did the honours this week - spring must be here the deckchairs are out.
The two lucky numbers are....
Number 15= Judi B
Ooh! These buttons are all absolutely delish, but if I had to choose my top three would be:
Delphinium Crush
Mini Choc Chip
Dandelion Delights
I DO hope I'm lucky, as buttons is something I'm really short of in my stash box.
Have a great and hopefully sunny weekend
Judi x
Number 32=corey and samantha.. and mum!
nice buttons!!!! I am entering for mum and my sister this week as samantha would lovelovelove the buttons and mum would get a lovely huge smile on her face seeing all those buttons just for her and samantha. samantha loves the ice cream and the delfinium ones and we would like the third one to be the ones with the black and white as they look very posh. thank you very much!fingers crossed..corey...
Super NEW Buttons Boxes are all yours guys, just email me with your addresses and the boxes can go in the post tomorrow, well done. Thanks to everyone that left a super comment, it is such fun reading them.
Look what Beryl has done with her 3 button boxes she ordered last week....they are amazing I want them!!!!! Honest Beryl they are cool, they look totally different to the white boxes that are packed with the buttons. This is what Beryl had to say "Of course you guessed it – I couldn’t just leave the button boxes plain could I. So I turned them into a mini chest of drawers – I am sure you will recognise the ‘tape measure’ ribbon and I added a button from each set to the drawers fronts so I would know what was in where. The buttons on the top are die cuts. Now all I have to do is decided which ones I want next."
Thanks for sharing Beryl. Anybody else had a play with button boxes - please do let us see....please....pretty please. Send pics to craftyribbons@gmail.com
An idea is forming Beryl...........a button challenge idea......mmmmmmum....leave it with me...........
Wow did we have good weather this weekend. I hope it was not too warm in Holland this weekend, Tony has surprised me with a trip to the Tulip Fields over Easter. I do not want to arrive and find no Tulips! Something I have wanted to see for years, but we have always been working at shows. Really excited when he told me, he is such a sweetie!!!!
Been busy putting more Bargain Ribbon Rolls on the site, another batch will go on tomorrow morning, and then our Spring Clean of the Bargain Roll aisle will be complete.........what aisle shall we do next?
Friday FREEBIE - 14
08/04/2011
What a busy week, I am pleased it is the weekend soon, we have all worked so hard in the warehouse - we started our BIG "Spring" Clean!!!! How do you stop ribbon rolls from unrolling? We have shelves and shelves of ribbons, all neatly stacked but there are always ribbons trailing from the shelves - drives us mad. Ribbon mad. We have completed the Christmas aisle and you will find several NEW bargains in the Christmas SALE HERE. We have almost cleared our Crafty Moments section and you will find some Ribbon Card Bargains HERE.
We started to work on the Bargain Roll aisle yesterday afternoon but the warehouse got too HOT, so we left early! So keep your eye on the Bargain Ribbon Rolls HERE as we will be adding NEW Rolls today. Remember these are full rolls of 10 or 20mtrs and only 10p per mtr - hence BARGAIN ROLLS!
A NEW range of Velvets have been added to the site, very narrow at 3mm - a smaller range than our 9mm collection but in some fab fresh colours - check them out HERE.
As you can see it has been all go at Crafty Ribbons this week.....ummmm....shall I mention the launch of the........Button Boxes........WOW! Do you girls like your buttons!!! Our first months stock of 5 colours has gone....SOLD OUT in 24 hours! We just could not believe it,
We have not removed the sold out colours, Cosy Brights, Delphinium Crush, Icecream Parlour, Tuttie Fruiti and Jelly Beans from the website because we have grovelled (yes, I got on my hands and knees- well almost) and we have fresh stocks coming in on Monday. PHEW!
SO WHO WANTS SOME BUTTONS?
What 3 colours would you pick?
Need a reminder of the colours we launched - look HERE .
Charlotta asked for our NEW Button Boxes to be this weeks Friday FREEBIE - so here you go Charlotta. Leave us a comment and you could pick your dream 3 boxes of buttons for FREE! We will pick 2 winners on Monday from our "Bingo" bag. Don't forget if you are having trouble leaving a comment, you can email it to us at craftyribbons@gmail.com and we will add it for you.
I started but I did not finish - taking photos of our Seam Binding Challenge. You are some awesome crafters.
This was the first parcel I opened.......
....look at the detail. Fantastic Claire - how could you bear to part with such a work of art?
Oooo Claire I have been itiching to make these flowers....
...any tips to get them as perfect as yours? Your two cards are truly amazing Claire, thank you for taking part - Did you enjoy the Seam Binding Ribbon?
Just a little taster of the challenge goodies - more will follow next week.
Have a fantastic hot Spring 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.
my basket