Hello wednesday - LOVE
06/04/2011
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 have been wanting to make one of these cushions for ages and when our NEW Button Boxes arrived I knew I had just the right buttons for the project.
I didn't want to phaff around making the cushion cover I am not very good with piping and zips! I spied this cushion on my shopping trip with Bev last Thursday, cushion cover with cushion pad for £3.50 it quickly found it's way into my basket. I only wished I had bought the other colours - they would make perfect presents. Head over to your nearest Wilkinsons store and grab a cushion for this project.
When I had this project in my mind, it was going to be a long LOVE cushion but I think this square version has worked really well.
The word LOVE is in capitals and is a Font called Arial Black (I think it is a standard font on most computers), the letter size is very large at 480. These will fit onto a cushion 40cm square. I just printed the letters out on plain paper and roughly cut away the excess paper. I pinned LVE onto some toning felt and cut them out, cutting through the paper and the felt at the same time.
I arranged all the letters onto the cushion trying to make sure they were central, I pinned the paper O in place just to make sure it all fitted. With 6 strands of embroidery thread I stitched the letters to the cushion, L and E were straight forward running stitches. I used blanket stitch for the V. Sewing them down was a bit fiddly to start with, until I slipped a magazine into the cushion cover. It meant that I did not have to worry about catching the back of the cushion cover by mistake. I had this all completed by Thursday evening!
For the O I tacked around the inside and the outside shape of the O with some thread so that I would have a clear outline to fill. I unpinned and removed the paper template. I was ready to play!!!!
I used 2 strands of embroidery thread to sew the button on with, I wanted the thread to stand out. The NEW button boxes are filled with assorted sizes of buttons, some with two holes others with four. I sewed buttons all the way round the outside of the O, making sure I choose different sizes and colours. I then filled the space with more buttons until the O was complete. It was so much fun, picking the buttons. I found the magazine inside the cushion a great help again.
I will definitely be making this project again. If you have not seen our NEW Button Boxes yet you can find them HERE, I used the Delphinium Crush box.
Button Boxes
05/04/2011
Who likes buttons?
Lots of yummy buttons?
We have buttons and lots and lots of them!!!
I have been so excited about these button boxes, we commissioned them weeks and weeks ago, how I have managed to keep a secret for so long is beyond me! They finally arrived into the warehouse last week, and Bev and I had great fun unpacking them......oooooh the colours are dreamy.
There are 19 different colour themes and they all come with their own button box. The button boxes are exclusive to Crafty Ribbons and are made from high quality gloss board with a slide on lid - just like our ribbon Selection Boxes, just smaller!!!
The white boxes have been left totally blank so that you can decorate them. I read with joy your Friday FREEBIE comments last week about what you would spend the £20 vouchers on - many of you said buttons, buttons and more buttons!!!!! Our button boxes are only £4.50 each or any 3 boxes for £10 - WHAT A BARGAIN! and you can find them all HERE
Join me tomorrow with our Hello wednesday to see what I have created with this Delish box of Delphinium Crush buttons.
Your wish is granted
04/04/2011
That's right Leslie your wish has been granted....I have added Mini Button Towers to our website!
Each Mini Button Tower has 16 buttons, 1 of each colour in the range and you can choose either stripe or spots. These buttons are our small 18cm ones and you can find the stripes HERE and the Spots HERE. Thanks for the idea Leslie.
There was only one person that could pick this weeks Friday FREEBIE winners......yes our Rachie!
The numbers pulled from our "Bingo" Bag were 36 and 18
Number 18 = Carol Ellis
Happy Birthday Rachie, Naughty Forty, what a lovely age.
Have a fab day and hope you have lots of fun during the day.
Kind Regards, Carol xx
Number 36 = Antonia
Cheer up Rachel its not all down hill from 40, only the b**bs and b*m go south. Have a wonderful day 
x
WOW Carol and Antonia you have a fab £20 voucher to spend on our website, all you have to do to claim is send me an email to craftyribbons@gmail.com and I will then send you all the details to start spending!
We did have some fun reading your comments, thanks for joining in with us. I thought at one stage Rachie was going to beat our record number of Friday FREEBIE comments! And a extra BIG thank you for all of you that emailed your comments to us as you have been stopped in the past by our spam filters. Your email will have registered on the sysytem and you should be clear to leave further comments without any hassle - fingers crossed.
Rachie did arrive in the warehouse today with her head hung low - ALL her Chocolate Birthday cake had gone.....but........what about elevenses?! And to think she didn't even save you all a slice.
Have fun.
Fantastic 40th
03/04/2011
It was a big mistake going on holiday the week leading up to my birthday, it meant that Ali and Bev could get up to all sorts of tricks. Having a birthday on Aprils fools day has been somewhat entertaining over the years, my two horrid sisiters have even sent me cards wishing their BROTHER a happy birthday. I have had to look for presents in the dustbin.....oh it was awful as a child.
I do believe they got me this year. They hinted that there were big photos of me as a baby on all the roundabouts in Dorchester.....no they would not do that....yeh they would. So I had to go and have a look....nothing. But when I phoned they were adamant that they had put big photos out, Ali even told me how they had made them. Bev then suggested they could have been removed by the council. Did they or didn't they, what ever I think I was had. First time in years they have got me.
We had a party planned for the evening, but I was rather surprised to see that Ali and Bev had got to the venue before me.......and yes they had decorated it with banners and balloons. I almost bust out crying it looked wonderful, until i looked at the banners more closely. Oh no... there were photos of me as a child all over the hall.
This banner was stretched right across the dance floor, nobody could miss it!!! Where did they get those photos from, Ali had cropped everybody else out of the photos so I then had to guess where they were taken - talk about testing my memory!! I couldn't even remember some...what a laugh.
I must share the present that Ali gave me, I have been wanting one for ages and keep going on about it in the warehouse.
an apple and a ipad notebook
What is she like!?
I had a queue for my birthday cake, everyone wanted a slice...
Vicky had made it for me, where did she find the time? A moist chocolate cake, edged in Chocolate fingers with milk and white chocolate maltesers....ooooooh it was yummmy. And yes that is little Syd - she was first in the queue for the cake!
A big thank you to everyone that took the time to leave a birthday comment - it has been wonderful reading all of them. I had a totally fantastic day and I have some super memories and certainly will not forget my 40th Birthday.
Lots of love
Rachie xxxx
Friday FREEBIE - 13
01/04/2011
No April fools joke it really is Rachie's 40th Birthday today. She has been away on holiday all week, trying to run away from today. She thought this birthday would never come! Oh boy she has no idea what we have planned!!!!! I have been waiting for my revenge, she gave me a tub of Anti wrinkle cream for my 40th - thinking it was very funny...............
Another Month gone - wow I will have to start to think up Christmas ideas soon!
1st of April already, as it is also the first Friday of the month it must be voucher Friday.
Once again we have a £20 voucher for our Friday FREEBIE prize this week but as it is Rachies birthday we are going to give an extra one.......so 2 x £20 vouchers - all you have to do for a chance to win it is to leave us a comment. I gather several of you are still having a problem with our spam filters. We are so sorry about this, we are constantly being attacked by such unsavoury types that our spam filters have to be turned up full.
I gather some of you are able to leave a comment but when you go back and check on it, the comment is not shown. Please do not give up, email the comment to me at craftyribbons@gmail.com and I will add it for you. This should then clear the process for you to leave further comments.
So who wants £20 to spend in our shop? What goodies would you add to your basket? You can buy an awful amount of ribbons and buttons with £20!!!
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.
Woodland to close
31/03/2011
Our Woodland Collection of ribbons are being discontinued
reduced by a massive 50%
Grab them while stocks last HERE
No codes need - it will be reduced once items added to your basket.
Bev and I are taking a day off together. It is our little sisters (Rachie) BIG birthday tomorrow......you know the big one that ends with a big fat 0!! Yes her birthday is on the 1st of April....we have been so rotten to her over the years. For her 18th I gave her a loaf of bread. I had cut a hole in the bottom and scooped out all the bread and put a camera inside.....but it took her ages to work this out.
So Bev and I are going to be extra special (as only sisters can - tee hee) to her this year and buy her something really fantastic.....yeah dream on Rachie!
Hello wednesday - royal colours
30/03/2011
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 mentioned last week that I was playing around with some red, white and blue ribbons on the exhibition stand - well I made a few flowers but had nothing else to play with, paper card glue etc.......but yesterday......oh boy did I play......
It is less than a month to the Royal wedding, and although I will not be here to see it, I have very fond memories of Lady Diana's wedding. We had a massive street party in our little village in Oxfordshire and we had lots of fun. Bunting was hung between the houses, tables and chairs were carried from houses and everyone joined in with making the food. A wicked time.
We sold out of Union Jack ribbon by Friday afternoon at Hobbycrafts, so there must be a large interest in all things Royal.
I have shown you how to make these Shaggy Ribbon Flowers before (HERE), I had no plain white ribbon on the stand, but thought the red polka dot was just perfect for what I wanted to create. It was quite frustrating to have the card planned in my mind but not to be able to make it. All these ribbons are in Bev's NEW Regal bag here and you can find the spotty buttons here.
You can not have a Royal Wedding without some bunting....
I made it using the same idea as my Christmas Bunting (HERE) but a little bit smaller. I only used 40mm ribbon, this time grosgrain and sewed it straight onto 3mm satin with bold red stitches!
I have saved the Union Jack background paper as a jpeg, so if anyone would like me to send them a copy just email me at craftyribbons@gmail.com and I will be happy to forward it to you.
This card is not my normal cup of tea, it has lots of colour but when I showed it to the girls it got the WOW factor!
A right Regal bag
29/03/2011
Well, what can I say - your support overwhelmed me. You left such wonderful comments and sent delightful emails of encouragement after yesterdays posting, THANK YOU.
As they say in France "on y va" - lets go.
Bev has a right Regal NEW Ribbon Bag!
Quite spooky to think that Bev's NEW Ribbon Bag is all Regal in Red, White and Blue when I was only playing around with the colours at the weekend. We must be on the same wave length. Lots of plain simple ribbon in the royal colours, as well as a few with gold edges. And of course she had to put a polka dot in! Foiled hearts to say we love you and the Regal bag would not be complete without the Union Jack Ribbon. Bev's NEW Regal bag could be yours for only £5.00 - bargain! The union Jack ribbon on it's own is £1 a mtr. To buy Bev's bag just click HERE
For the first time in weeks I felt as if I had time to myself today, I have even completed tomorrows Hello Wednesday project! Not something I normally do until wednesday morning. Nope I am not going to tell, you will have to check back tomorrow to have a looksee.
I finally took the last photos from our Easter Bunny Hop Challenge - they had come all the way from Australia. So without further ado let me show you Yvonnes and Annettes scrummy goodies.
All aboard the Easter Train. Wow that is truly wicked Yvonne, what a simple clever idea.
Is it a bird? Is it a card? No it is.........
....a concertina photo album. Magic Yvonne, this will be just perfect for what I have planned this Easter. An Easter Bunny hunt for the little ones, I have been telling them that I have been growing baby chocolate bunnies, so that they can find them in my garden. The bunnies are not very big and needs to eat loads before Easter, so they will be nice and fat and chocolately to eat. I did not think any more about this little story until Rachie phoned me to say that Mollie was in a state, crying her heart out - they had gone round to Bev's house to feed her bunnies while they were at Disneyland and Mollie was adamant that we had to go to Ali's house to feed her bunnies. But Ali doesn't have bunnies, sorry Rachie.
A perfect Easter tag from Annette.....just think of the size of Easter egg this would look good on.
I hope I have photographed this correctly Annette. I have never seen a corner book mark before - it is truly gorgeous.
Wow she is beautiful Annette.
I think I am 99.9% convinced that I have shown everyones creations - it has been a very long challenge, what with being away at the shows and then losing my SD card. If I have missed any, please do email me at craftyribbons@gmail.com and I will do a search.
With everybodys agreement can I start to open the challenge Seam Binding envelopes tomorrow....please.....pretty please!
Schools out
28/03/2011
Schools out for Tony and myself - no more shows until End September.........yippee!! We were both singing in the van as we left the NEC.
Please do not get us wrong, we love the shows and meeting our wonderful customers, but they are such hard work, especially the French shows and they take us away from the warehouse. We have all summer, almost 6 months to plan new ranges, new goodies and to get into tip top condition for our winter season. The first on the list is a massive warehouse tidy up, we are critcal on space, (we have thought about buying another unit, but......), so watch this space there maybe some wicked bargins appearing. Remember blog readers hear about them first.
Talking about the blog, I nearly closed it down Friday evening, I was so angry by the time I got back to the hotel. We use this blog to share ideas, tutorials on using ribbons and buttons, to interact with our customers and to have a bit of ribbon and button fun. From walking around the Hobbycrafts show on Friday afternoon it was apparent that some of our fellow stand holders, colleagues, companies call them what you want, also follow the blog. Come on guys use your own imagination, come up with your own ideas and STOP COPYING. It comes to something when customers tell you they have been sent round to our stand with the ribbons and buttons that they have purchased off another stand.........to ask Crafty Ribbons what to do with them!!!
Who ever said "Copying is the greatest form of flattery" was very, very wrong. It makes you feel robbed.
Onto much happier times, Bev and the family were in Disneyland in Paris over the weekend. They had a fantastic time, hated the queueing but Sydney and Sam loved it, Sam kept telling me he had been to Mickeys house and went flying on an elephant! It was a very tired Bev that picked this weeks Friday FREEBIE winners......
....are numbers
Number 9 = Chrissy
Mmmmm I can feel another addiction coming on!!!!!!
I would love to win a FIX of these gorgeous buttons.
Sounds like you are having a busy time at the NEC.
Chrissy
Number 44 = Annette
Gorgeous buttons towers, wonderful Friday Freebie, I think they would look beautiful just sat on my desk lol! Have a wonderful weekend at the show, take careX
Chrissy and Annette you have some awesome Button Towers on their way to you, all we need are your address please to craftyribbons@gmail.com I am sorry to Wilma and Beryl that your numbers were not picked. The sympathy card certainly worked on me, I would have picked you both!!! Hope you are feeling better Wilma and Beryl we wish you loads of luck.
I must thank every single one of you that left a comment this week - it was reading your comments on Friday evening that helped me to calm down. This email then popped up on my phone on Sunday, I really hope Jan will not mind me sharing it with you all.
"Loved your stand my daughter & I were in heaven, the selection of ribbons is amazing. My daughter made a corsages as soon she got back with ribbons purchased from you and wished she had bought loads more, she is hooked & said your website is fab too.
Hope I win the button towers to share with her
Jan x"
Why should your enjoyment and ours be affected by such thoughtless and unimaginative people.
Friday FREEBIE -12
25/03/2011
We only have a small stand at Hobbycrafts, so it was a bit of a squeeze yesterday at the NEC! But I found a little time to have a play with ribbons, I am thinking of something along the lines of red, white and blue for the royal wedding. Not there yet, so nothing to show - but watch this space!!
I made some more of these yesterday......
........our NEW Button Towers. We have four towers, two spots and two stripes for this weeks Friday FREEBIE, each tower holds 16 different coloured buttons. All you have to do is leave us a comment and you could become a Friday FREEBIE winner! We will pick two numbers from our "Bingo" bag on Monday and you could be a proud owner of both stripe and spot button towers.
Don't forget you have to be in it to win it!!
Have a great 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