Ribbon Mania

Hello blog friends. Ok so have you ever realized that you have a "slight" addiction to something only after you have run out of plastic containers to hold your stash of that 'something'?

Well I had such realization not a long time ago and that said 'slight' addiction to something was for RIBBONS!!! I say slight because I still think that I could be worse (that's me rationalizing my addiction. Every addict seems to do that. Right?! LOL).

So before my ribbon stash grew into immense proportions, I decided to make a big dent on them by making three projects focusing on the use of ribbon. Read on to see what fun things I created with ribbon in mind. :)

I love you more than anything

This first project is a layout and that beautiful title is what my dear daughter have been saying to me right afte I tuck her to bed lately. So sweet, right? That's why I decided that now is the time to document it before the memory flies away.

For this layout, I decided to create a weaved background accent with ribbons. I paid close attention to my daughter's shirt in the photo and grabbed colors that would either match or compliment the colors in her shirt. I still wanted the focus to be on the photo so I opted to leave an open/white space on the top left side of the page where my picture will be placed. I used a vellum for my circles because I wanted them to hold my title, journaling and cluster of embellishments BUT I still want the beautiful ribbon weaved background to show. I created a purple embossed frame around each circle to ground it but at the same time so I'll have a spot to lay my dimensional/foam adhesive on the back of the vellum without it showing through.

So here's a quick tutorial on how I made my weaved background...

First, I went through my stash (note: this is just a partial photo of my ribbon stash. Like I said I have a TON and because of space I couldn't show you all of them here *wink*) and picked the ribbons I wanted to work with. I didn't have a number in mind but I did want them to be varied in sizes, styles/textures and design.

 Next, I layed them on my white cardstock in the order I wanted them to go. I laid them with the edges hanging outside of the cardstock and taped the ends temporarily on my work table. This way, while I'm weaving the ribbons, the trims won't move so much on me.

 After I've taped two ends of it, I started weaving them in and out of each one. This one was the part which was most fun for me.

I trimmed the top and left edges of the ribbon weave into angles and adhered the unweaved portion of the ribbons with adhesive.



Then I lifted the page off of my work surface and took off the tape on the hanging edges. I applied a new piece of tape on the ribbon edges and turned it over so that I can secure those parts on the back of my page, creating a clean and finished look.



 Here's the look of the ribbons on the back of the page with the tape....

 So here's your page with a weaved ribbon background ready to be decorated some more with pictures and words.....

So after I've made my layout, I decided to play with the ribbons some more, after all they were already out and I still haven't made much dent on them. For this project, I decided to make my own ribbon flower. Here's how I created it...

first I cut my ribbon into 6 strips. The size of the strips will depend on how big you want your flower to be. I wanted mine to be the focal point of a card so I measured my longest strips to be 6" (so that when folded in half it'll make for a 3" flower) and the smaller one was about 4" in width.

 Then I used adhesive to secure the ends with folded in half and then I added a glue dot on the center of the strips as shown in the photo above.

Then I laid my ribbon strips on top of each other, overlapping them and adhered them in the center.

 I finished off my ribbon flower with a button threaded with some twine. And here's where I placed my handmade embellishment...

Thank You Card

 As you can see I placed my ribbon flower in the center and I made a frame for my card using more ribbons. I then placed a simple sentiment on the bottom right corner and now it's ready to be used to brigthen someone's day. :)

and finally how about ribbon to decorate a plain canvas purse?

Altered Canvas Purse

I've had this purse from Maya Road for a while now just waiting for the right moment and inspiration to play with it. The ribbons still laying on my work table was just what I needed to finally personalize this purse.

Because the canvas was already made, this project only took me a few minutes to put together. All I did was add some strips of ribbon on the bottom and made a ribbon flower to go on the center of the purse flap/opening.

Because I didn't do any machine sewing for this project, I made sure I added some ribbon anti fray liquid on the edges of my trims so the ends would have a finished edge.

For the ribbon on the top, all I did was add some hand stitching on one edge of the ribbon, pulled it to curl the trim and rolled it to create the flower. I finished it off with a button threaded with twine.

So now me or my daughter have a cute altered little purse to accesorize our outfits.

And there you have it, three different ideas to use your ribbon stash today. I know I'm not the only one with a 'slight' obessesion with trims. :)

Happy Crafting!

Till next time,
Grace