Hello Wednesday - Seam Binding Rose
02/02/2011
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 told you I had been playing....
I have said it before and I will say it again - this seam binding ribbon is AWESOME!
This card is made with ribbon and card, I button and a piece of twine. When I saw Dorothy's ribbon cupcake it created a "light bulb" moment. The idea popped into my head and was completed in under 15mins!!! And me the non cardmaker, but to be honest I did use a needle to make the rose and the ruffle. I walked into the warehouse yesterday holding the card and bumped into Rachie, "I like that, can I have it for Martens Valentine card?" - No make your own it is coming to Paris with me, what a cheek!!!
Dorothy will know how I created the Seam Binding Ribbon Rose - it is an embroidery stich called a Spiders Web Rose or a Cartwheel Rose, but rather than sewing on fabric I have used card. I put together a quick tutorial of how to make these roseS.
Gather the bits you need around you, scissors, large needle, tape, card and about one and half metres of seam binding ribbon.
On the card mark a five pointed star and the centre point. Thread the large needle with some thread, secure the thread on the back of the card with a piece of tape. Sew through the holes to create what will look like Spiders Web or a Cart Wheel.
Secure the thread on the back of the card with another piece of tape.
Thread the seam Binding ribbon into the big needle and sew through the centre hole leaving a small length at the back of the card that you can stick down with some tape.
This is the front view. Ribbon has come up through the centre hole, pass the needle under one of the threads.
Allow the ribbon to cover over the next thread then under the next. IMPORTANT - you continue working in a clockwise direction at ALL times.
Pull the ribbon so it is tight in the centre, but not too tight that it puts strain on the threads. Continue with the weaving technique of over one thread under the next thread. As you have an odd number of threads (5) you will go round in a circle.
Keep going round, if you can still see the holes you need to continue. Allow the ribbon to twist, this will create more interesting shape rose petals.
This rose is almost finished, it requires no more petals.
To finish, carefully take the needle back down through one of the holes. Secure the ribbon on the back with a piece of tape as before.
One finished Seam Binding Ribbon Rose - Simple.
You can find all the colours of our Seam Binding Ribbon HERE.
You want more Sweet Treats...
01/02/2011
Everyone wants more sweet treats, you had lots of comments Dorothy about your amazing creations yesterday. That's why I think our blog is loved so much. It is not just about what Crafty Ribbons do with ribbons, but what crafters do with our ribbons as well. I hope you all agree.
I have another collection of masterpieces to show you, also sent in by our Challengers. For all the newbies - we hold ribbon Challenges (we have two running at the moment "Sweet Treat" and "Bunny Easter Hop"). We launch a Challenge with a collection of ribbons. The first 15 or so people that reply to the challenge (normally set on a Sunday) will be senT a bundle of ribbon to play with, in return we ask for 2 creations to be posted back to us so that we can showcase them, here on our blog and also display them on our exhibition stands.
This is the promised retake of Claires card, I had not realised that it was an easel card - wow looks good enough to eat! Thanks for the email Claire.
This card has come all the way from Sweden, made by Charlotta, she tells me it is called a cross over card. It looks way too technical for me to make, quite stunning Charlotta.
I love the colours on these cards Charlotta, and the taggie lollipops. You may have noticed that I am into ribbon tags at the mo, so simple to do but very effective. Perfect Charlotta they will be coming to Paris with us next week, I just hope nobody asks how to make them!!!! Your other card has arrived safe and sound and will appear later in the week.
Now this is an unsual idea, a boxed frame of ribbons - wicked. We must be on the same wave length Lucy, I have some small blank canvases tucked away to do some ribbon art on. Mmmmmmm food for thought!
Ooooh this had me intrigued. A ribbon box - what could be inside? It was from Lucy and we know she spends a lot of time in her kitchen playing with icing sugar, and she made the Gingerbread advent for us.......
A box of sweet treats, yummie. Sadly it was Bev's day off when these arrived, and we thought that they may go off......so welll......there were none left for Bev. Oooops!!!!
Everything is ticking along nicely in the warehouse, my proof arrived from the printer for our NEW leaflet - so they should be rolling off the machines today and tomorrow. The January Pack Sale is over, we all hope you are enjoying the bargains, the last order for packs was processed at 23.45 yesterday and the sale ended at midnight, talk about to the line just in time!!
Rachie and I are re-stocking the exhibition stand again today, trying to find room for all the new ribbons - not an easy job.
Busy Ribbon Bee
31/01/2011
I have been a very busy ribbon bee this weekend and have completed a lot of items on my "To Do List" - oh yes I am a list girl!
We have 5 NEW embroidery kits to take to Paris next week. I started a couple of them before Christmas, but I think I had lost my embroidering mojo, they were all wrong and nothing flowed. But this weekend everything fell into place, here is a sneak peak.
Fingers crossed everyone will like them and we will sell out in Paris. It is a year since I launched any NEW kits so maybe I will have lost my touch.
By the way I have been experimenting with our NEW Seam Binding Ribbon - WOW what fantastic ribbon. You can embroider with it - yeh! Making wonderful large full blooms, perfect for cushions, and because it dyes you will be able to match it to any colour - whooopie!
Who is going to be the lucky lady, nope nearly forgot, you all wanted to share this weeks prize. So there are 4 winners who will be playing with this awesome ribbon soon. 31 different colours to each winner, it is going to take me ages to select each of the 4 bundles making sure they all tone. I have a better idea, I will cut all 124colours then ask Sydney to count out 4 piles of 31 this evening, she will enjoy doing that, although she is almost as particular with colours as I am!!!!! How she gets on at school when her teacher tells her to use "purple" paint, I can almost hear her saying "That's not purple, it is lupin". What have I done.
So who are the winners? 4 winners requires 4 numbers pulled from our "Bingo" bag. I have been having a problem of late, getting the gang to pick the numbers each week, it has become a battle of wills. This week I had it all planned - lollipops from the sweet treat photo shoot, it worked a treat!!
The winners are.....
Number 9 = Yvonne
My vote is for sharing the fun and the seam binding goodness. They're too beautiful not to share.
Some ideas I've seen people use on their cards and other papercraft projects which I think would be fun to try are to add colour to the seam binding with Twinkling H2O's or Distress inks. If you want to spread the colour you can also spritz with water... looks amazing - perfect for vintage cards or projects with elegance.
Number 24 = Kathleen
It would be wonderful to share these new ribbons...and try them on crafty projects.
Number 26 = Louise
would LOVE some of those please. Ivory is always a good colour for me because this ribbon is made from rayon so I can dye it for the miniature dolls.
Best wishes,
Louise.
Number 39 = Anne
Happy Friday all, if the ribbons were shared you could have more winners.... Good Luck everyone x
Well done girls, all you have to do is email us your address to craftyribbons@gmail.com and we will be sending your awesome Seam Binding Ribbon bundles.
Sweet Treat time, WARNING these next photo's could damage your diets, they are full of sugary sweet treats!
Dorothy always sends in a Pandora's box of goodies, but this time her grandchildren came to visit on the day the Challenge was launched and she missed it. But as you all know I am not very good at counting, so managed to persuade Rachie to make up an extra selection of ribbons so Dorothy could join in - hugs Rachie.
A ribbon cupcake - now no calories there Dorothy.
A little bit more tempting with these favour boxes, filled with iced gems and decorated with cut outs from the cupcake ribbon.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is called a gate fold card - perfectly tied with cupcake ribbon.
Oooh I have seen large framed pictures of the ribbon crinoline ladies, what a clever idea Dorothy to make a miniature version.
If only it was that easy Dorothy. But at least our cupcake ribbon is ZERO calories!
This is a clever card, the centre cupcake slides up and down along the centre line. I had a sneak peak at the workings and i am sure it has something to do with two 1p coins, is that right Dorothy.
We took this muffin ribbon to Paris in November, it also comes in pink and brown - we sold out! We knew it was a winner.
Thank you Dorothy, once again your pandoras box has enchanted and pleased us all. If you want to induldge in some Sweet Treat Ribbons you can find them all HERE.
Friday FREEBIE - 4
28/01/2011
The last Friday of January, where has the time gone? This month has just flown by. I have completly lost track of the weeks and started to panic earlier in the week. I thought our first show of the year in Paris was ages away in February.....but that's next week! My new embroidery designs are not finished, our Spring leaflet had not even gone to the printers, the stand looks like it had been ransacked in the January Sales (which it has!!!), and, and....... Calm down, deep breaths... that's better.
Bev and I decided that we need to start a Crafty Ribbons night shift - the phones will not ring at night and we can get more done!!! Although we are not that keen on being in the warehouse in the dark, rather spooky around here.
We created quite a stir yesterday with the launch of the Seam Binding ribbon. It is Friday so we do need a Friday FREEBIE prize, Would you like some? Would you like of all the colours in the range? Could you find a use for 124 colours? Or if you prefer we could split the prize into 4 and do a bit of sharing, it is up to you...
To win our Friday FREEBIE prize all you have to do is leave a comment, it is that easy. Charlotta wanted to know what to do with this ribbon - from what we gather it is a huge trend in the card making world. It can be used to create different style bows, it as soft as silk (I am itching to embroider with it), it takes dyes - if anyone has any further tips for Charlotta please do share them.
Have a fantastic weekend, I will share some more challenge photos over the 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 a we draw a random number 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.
Seam Binding Ribbon
27/01/2011
You asked for it........
....we found it!.......
American Seam Binding Ribbons
Not 1 colour, not 10 colours.....
but.....
....124 awesome colours...
....see them all HERE
If you still can not find the colour you are after, then just dye your own. This ribbon is 100% Rayon and takes dyes beatuiful, not only special dyes but you can use ink pads and promarkers.
One ribbon two styles - Modern or Vintage.
To create the crisp, clean Modern look, just leave the ribbon as it is or gently iron it. As for the crinkly, aged Vintage look, just spray the ribbon with a little water and scrunch up into a little ball. Leave overnight, open up the ball in the morning, fluff up and allow to air dry if needs be - simple.
The ribbon comes in 5mtr bags for £1.00 but we have a special offer - pick any 5 colours and you can choose a 6th colour FREE. So any 6 colours for £5.00, that works out at less then 17p per mtr
This is an amazing ribbon to work with, same ribbon, same bow, two totally different finishes.
Thanks for all those emails and calls requesting us to stock this ribbon, we hope you have fun playing with it as much as I have.
Hello Wednesday - lots of ruffles
26/01/2011
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 project may not be for everyone, BUT the idea can be used in so many different ways......
I treated myself to a new toy, It looked rather daunting to use.
Tony wanted to know if I was going to be doing open heart surgery with it........no silly, it's a ruffler. Ooooh play time. Once I managed to fit it to my sewing machine it was all a breeze.
You can turn any flat ribbon into amazing ruffles and pleats. This was my first play item and no unpicking was involved. Think I will be using this gizmo over and over again, just think what you can put ribbon ruffles onto.......
Everyone loves Polka Dots, so we think you are going to like these NEW Ribbons.
They will be on the site soon.
Have a fantastic Wednesday.
Sweet Treat Ribbons
24/01/2011
Hope you all have a sweet tooth - because ALL our Sweet Treat Ribbons are on the website look at them HERE.
Ribbons with ice creams, candy lollies, muffins, cupcakes, birthday cakes all filled with sugary sweetness! Four different widths from 10mm to 40mm so hopefully you can find something suitable for your projects. The first selection of challenge goodies are below but first the winners of our Friday FREEBIE.
Who is going to have a Bev's Birthday Bag dropping on their doorstep this week? Four winners so it could be you. I hi-jacked Sydney as soon as she arrived back from school to pick our winners for us, she could only just managed to hold them all!
The winners are.....
Number 1 = Carol
Oh what i would give for some of them birthday ribbons...there brill...xx
Number 17 = Kathleen
Hope you'll soon feel better, Ali.
Birthday ribbons when it's not even your birthday... what a lovely prize!
Number 38 = Julie Shaw
Bev's bags, my favourite, would love to win the first new bag of the year!
Number 44 = Noreen
Awww, hope you're feeling better now Ali
Girls you have a super collection of ribbons, all we need are addresses please to craftyribbons@gmail.com Thanks to everyone for leaving wonderful comments, they are well read!
The first two envelopes I opened this afternoon were from Claire from Ireland and the dragonlady, so here are their fantastic selection of sweet treat goodies.
We love this muffin ribbon and it comes in 3 different colours, perfect to tie round muffin holders like claire has done. The added little gem is a perfect finishing touch. Sorry Claire, i have just realised this is an easal card, so i have photographed it all wrong, will re take it tomorrow to show it's full glory!
Oooooh Claire cupcakes with a cherry on the top - yes please.
What a lovely plates of petit-fours Claire.
The Dragonlady has sent in this scrummy collection of cupcakes, love the ribbon bow.
Wow this is a delightful card, the colour combo of blue and lilac is wicked - thanks Dragonlady.
Remember this is only the start of the Sweet Treat Challenge goodies, I have a big box in my studio to photograph, so stay tuned in all week!
Ribbon Challenge # 21 - Full
23/01/2011
Sorry our "Easter Bunny Hop" Challenge is FULL.
The New Easter ribbons will go onto our website soon.
Ribbon Challenge # 21
23/01/2011
SORRY THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW FULL
Did you miss out on the "Sweet Treat" Ribbon Challenge? Then this NEW Challenge is for you....
We have launched this NEW Ribbon Challenge "Easter Bunny Hop" for those of you who were not lucky enough to get into the current challenge 'sweet treats'.
Do you fancy playing with some brand NEW Easter Ribbons? We have 15 bundles of "Easter Bunny Hop" ribbons to give away, so just send me an email to craftyribbons@gmail.com and a bundle of easter treats could be coming your way for free - in return all we ask is for you to send us 2 projects using the ribbons.
Thank you for all your wonderful get well comments and emails you sent me. After a visit to the Doctors, 6 magic pills and a wonderful cream I feel much better. My face has almost returned to normal, I will no longer be mistaken for a navigation buoy in Poole harbour!!!!! The Doctor believes it was a sudden allergic reaction to nuts. I have eaten nuts all my life and never had a problem, he suggested I test it in a few weeks time - naarh I will pass on that one.
Have fun today.
Friday FREEBIE - 3
21/01/2011
No Ali today, she is feeling pretty poorly, she has an allergic reaction to something (it could be me but definitely not ribbon) and it is making her unwell.
Bev and I got our heads together and decided that todays Friday FREEBIE prize would be four of Bev's Birthday Bags.
So if you would like one of Bev's bags all you have to do is leave a comment and we will pick the winners on Monday. There are oodles (as Ali would call it) of different ribbons in Bev's bag.
We hope you get better soon Ali, I am sure she will read this at some point today. She was still in bed when I left for work which is very unlike her - she must be ill.
Have a great weekend, I think Ali had planned some sort of challenge announcement on Sunday, but to be honest I can not remember. I know I should pay more attention, but I am only a man!!
Tony x
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 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