Ribbons & Stars

I have my final Guest Designer post up over at Really Reasonable Ribbon today, so stop by and take a peek.

Here is a little teaser.

I used a great ribbon that RRR carries called Textured Two-Tone Ribbon in Gold/Antique Gold. It is double-faced, which I love because I don't have to worry about turning it front to back like I needed to on this card.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Tied up in Knots - Really Reasonable Ribbon Tutorial

I have a post and tutorial up at Really Reasonable Ribbon today, so stop by and say hi and maybe do a little holiday shopping while you are over there.

I had a couple of questions about how I tied the ribbon on tag 18 for my Snowflake & Ribbon Tag Advent Calendar you can see here.

This ribbon wreath is made by tying 5 simple knots in the same direction. If you are a visual learner like me, head over to RRR and take a look at the step by step photos I have posted there.

The simple knot is a great way to manipulate ribbon into shapes on your cards. This same technique is used to create this heart out of the double-faced hot pink satin ribbon. A few more details and the steps are over at RRR.

The designer paper is from the Basic Grey Kissing Booth line, The sentiment panel is made up of a Spellbinders Label Ten, Fiskar's heart punches and a PTI sentiment and die.

Just to really demonstrate the versatility of this technique, I knotted a piece of the red diagonal stripe ribbon into a chevron for this card.

I want to highlight the chevron shape, and knew the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge this week is to feature scoring, so scored another chevron line below & above the ribbon. A piece of red cardstock is also rough cut with the chevron shape to border the bottom of the card. The sentiment is created with LilyBee Alphabet stickers and a punched heart.

CFC82: Create a CAS project that features scoring...

                                        and no, the fold on your card does not count *wink*

You can really see the score line here.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge - Anything Goes

There is a new challenge up over at Really Reasonable Ribbon and this time RRR #62 Anything Goes plus Ribbon. You have until December 29th to play along - add ribbon(s) to any project, link it to the challenge and be eligible to win a great prize!

As the Guest Designer this month, I created a Christmas card. Yes, I still need a few more.

Look at that luscious, shimmery, silky ribbon!! I love that the photo captures the translucency as it extends past the card base. This is Silky Crush Champagne Ribbon and is a generous 1.5" wide.

This ribbon is sturdy enough to hold it's shape and thin enough to easily knot or tie into a bow. Trust me, you will not be able to stop adjusting and playing with it!

I didn't want to add to much else to the card - seriously, why would I want to cover up that ribbon? - so I took a few flowers from my stash and used them to anchor a sentiment from My Favorite Things Inspired By Christmas stamp set.

The designer papers are a scrap from an older Basic Grey Christmas line and Authentique Enchanted (yes, that is technically Halloween paper on a Christmas card - I refuse to be limited by labels when I find the right piece of paper). A Cuttlebug embossing folder adds texture to the larger panel.

Just because I can, I'm going to share another photo of the ribbon.

Now it's your turn - head over to Really Reasonable Ribbon and link your project up to the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by,


Jacquie

edited to add: 
In response to Marcie's question, I really think this ribbon will survive being mailed. I usually make my square cards 5x5 and mail them in a 5.5x5.5 envelope to give a little extra room for any bulk. This size does require extra postage, so I take it to the post office to be hand franked anyway (meaning it doesn't get stuffed through the automatic franking machine and squished). This specific card has been sent to my mother-in-law, but was sent in a bigger package.

Really Reasonable Ribbon December Blog Hop

Welcome to the Really Reasonable Ribbon December Blog Hop! I am thrilled to be the Guest Designer this month.

You should have come here from Bonnie's blog, but if you got lost on the way or want to go back to the beginning, head over to Really Reasonable Ribbon Ramblings.

The Design Team is featuring projects made with the ribbon selection from the Monthly Ribbon Club.

Just look at the gorgeous assortment of colors & textures we had to work with!

I have been wanting to make a non-traditional tag Advent calendar for a while, and when these ribbons landed in my mailbox I immediately went to work.

If you have been here before, you now that I like a sense of order in my projects, so all my tags are white and limited to three shapes (in a deliberate sequence LOL) and tied with a pink Baker's Twine. The numbers are die cut with an ancient Sizzix Alphabet die, Block Party, in two colors. 

I also had on hand numerous die cut snowflakes in various shades of pink and blue cardstock, vellum and felt.

For the first dozen or so tags I just pulled ribbon from the package and tied bows, knots, twisted and layered without too much thought.

For remaining tags, I paid a little more attention to balancing the colors and decided to work with only the ribbons I had already used. In the end, seven of the nine ribbons from the collection are on the tags. I LOVE that they co-ordinate with no effort on my part!

Just a few close-ups of my favorites.

This is seriously like trying to pick a favorite child - I just can't seem to narrow it down!

OK, I'll stop now LOL!

All the tags are doubled up for extra stability, which also allowed the ribbon ends to be hidden on a few of the tags.

I would love to hear which is your favorite and why!

There is still plenty of ribbon left and, with two nieces and a cousin expecting in the spring, don't be surprised if you see these ribbons on baby cards in the near future.

Now it is time to head over and see what beautiful project Cheryl has created for us this month.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Edited to add:

The wire card hanger came from a local scrapbook store (Paper Tales in San Diego) and was very reasonably priced (under $15?) - this time of year I would keep an eye out for a holiday card holder on sale.

Gift Wrapped Cards with Really Reasonable Ribbon

First, I have to give a huge thank you to Bonnie at Really Reasonable Ribbon for asking me to Guest Design this month. Head over there to check out my first blog post!

My eye is always drawn to clean, graphic design, so it isn't any surprise that I used the Chevron Striped Twill to make a few holiday cards.

My biggest challenge was deciding which colors to use, but I was able to narrow it down to three: red, turquoise and celery (what, you thought I was just going to pick one?).

I wanted to create cards that looked like they were gift wrapped packages, with the sentiment on a tag. Just like the packages under our tree, each ribbon is tied a different way.

The red Chevron Striped Twill is folded back on itself to form a ruffle.

The celery Chevron Striped Twill runs along the top and right side of the package, with a bow added where the ribbon intersects.

The turquoise Chevron Striped Twill also runs along the top and right side of the package and is knotted off where the ribbon intersects.

This card is also being linked to the CAS-uals Fridays Challenge to feature knots.

CFC81: Create a Clean And Simple project that features a knot or knots.

Each packages is finished with a Papertrey Ink sentiment and tied to the ribbon using Really Reasonable Ribbon's solid color Baker's Twine, along with a few jingle bells.

The designer papers are from Studio Calico's Wonderland collection.

Really Reasonable Ribbon has a terrific sale going on right now through until December 11th. Check out the details here and fill your shopping cart!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Make It Monday - Detail Glitter Technique + CAS-ual Knots

This was a super fast & easy card. I have been playing with ribbon quite a bit this week and had the idea of knotting ribbon to form a wreath. The CAS-ual Friday challenge to use knots on a card prompted me to actually do something with this idea.

CFC81: Create a Clean And Simple project that features a knot or knots.

Because I was keeping it clean & simple, I adhered the wreath to a white cardstock panel and finished it off with a Think Big sentiment from Papertrey Ink. It didn't feel finished to me, so I decided to take Erin Lincoln's advice on her Make It Monday video tutorial and added a little glitter detail.

 I cut a piece of 1/8"score tape to fit under the word "wishes" and sprinkled green glitter over it. Amazingly, I did not get glitter everywhere else!

The sad truth is it took me longer to decide which color glitter to use than it took to make the card.

Here is a close up of the wreath, made with a 1/8" red diagonal stripe ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

Really Reasonable Ribbon just announced a 4-day sale on their already great prices - details are on their blog here!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Retro, Colour Q, CAS-ual Snowflakes

I hope you don't mind if I combine a few challenges - time is at a premium these days and I really wanted to play along.

I have been trying to find time all week to use retro-sketches #40  - I love the linear, graphic design and really wanted to play with it.

I had a number of blue snowflakes hanging around my desk - they are leftover from another project I can't show you until next week, but when I saw the Colour Q Challenge #166 palette, I was happy to use them up.

The Simon Says Stamp challenge is to use snowflakes, so I am linking up there as well.

Finally, I saw the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge this morning to feature a knot.

CFC81: Create a Clean And Simple project that features a knot or knots.

I just have to point out that this is the first time I have successfully masked and inked 2 colors with a wood block stamp (yes, I know a few out there just gasped hearing I actually own a few wood block stamps knowing about my aversion to them LOL).

The card is pretty simple with a couple of sizes of Martha Stewart punches, a Penny Black stamp, Color Box Blue Lagoon Chalk Ink, Memento Nautical Blue ink, Fishtail Flag Die-namic, Really Reasonable Ribbon blue Baker's Twine, and a turquoise jingle bell rounding out the supplies.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Really Reasonable Ribbon Anything but a Card Challenge

Since 90% of my crafting time lately has been card making, the Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #60 - Anything but a Card made me stop and think.

In the big November 2012 purge of things we don't need cluttering up our house, a few small jewelry boxes were discarded. My first thought was to try alter these, but really the only thing worth saving in one was the cotton pad lining the box.

I decided to make a new box that would fit the cotton pad, so pulled out a piece of heavyweight white cardstock, red double sided adhesive tape & my score tool.

I quickly made a simple 8x2x1" box and cut & scored the lid 1/4" bigger and only 1/2" deep. Before putting together the lid, I decided to use three of the ribbons from RRR's Christmas Diamond Satin Ribbon Assortment to create a woven design on the box lid.









I finished one end of the lid and didn't even measure or cut the ribbons to start. Using the adhesive tape, I adhered the end of the ribbon under the lid and then again on the outside of the lid.

Once the ends were secure, I could easily see how much ribbon I needed and trimmed the pieces.

Finding the center of the long side of the box, I repeated the same method of anchoring my ribbon, adding a piece to alternating sides, until 7 short pieces of ribbon were lined up.  Again, I could see how much of each piece was needed and trimmed the lengths as I went along.

             


Once the ribbon was anchored at one end, it is easy to weave the pieces. A length of adhesive at each end keeps the long ribbon pieces from moving and is all that's needed to keep the woven piece in place.

I finish anchoring the ribbon in place the same way I started, taping it on both the outside and inside of the lid.

For a little extra decoration, I formed a bow with a couple loops of ribbon scrunched together with a red bakers twine. A few bells are attached and a piece of the green ribbon is layered underneath.

This is a perfect little gift box for a piece of jewelry, chocolates or other small treat!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for stopping by,


Jacquie

RRR59 Winter Holiday Ribbon Challenge

My square punch is still sitting on my desk, so I've been playing around with it and a pad of American Craft glitter paper that I picked up at Target earlier this week.

I wanted to spell out the word "merry" and back each letter with a glitter square, but because my smallest square punch is 1 3/4", I would end up making a 10" wide card. I could fit 2 letters on one square, so cut out "ho ho ho" and mounted the words on three white glitter squares, rounded opposite corners and then left them sitting on the desk for a few days, not sure what to do next.

Yesterday my order from Really Reasonable Ribbon came in with a few gorgeous red and white ribbons. Once the ribbons were here, it didn't take long to put together this money holder card.

The card is 7x4", which allows plenty of room for my sentiment glitter squares to spread across the top of the card.

The 5/8" white satin double ruffle ribbon is adhered first and then the 1/8" red diagonal stripe ribbon is adhered on top. A strip of 1/8" adhesive tape is perfect for holding this ribbon in place. I trimmed the ends and then slipped the extra pieces under the knot. A button tied with Baker's twine is added on top.

A Nestabilites Label die cut and sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Santa Stationery stamp set finish the inside of the card.

Another piece of the red diagonal stripe ribbon runs along the edge of the money pocket.

The use of the square punch was inspired by the Square Punch Challenge at Moxie Fab World, so I am linking this card over there as well as the Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #59 Winter Holiday & Ribbon challenge.

I'm thrilled to tell you Bonnie at Really Reasonable Ribbon has asked me to Guest Design on their blog for the month of December! Their ribbons are gorgeous & I can't wait to get started!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

eek! this one's going to a few challenges

I wasn't sure who should get top billing, but a few challenges have been floating around,and they all came together today in this card.

First I saw the Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #58 Halloween & Ribbon, so I had in the back of my mind I wanted to use ribbon.

Next, I knew the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge was Over the Edge, so that influenced my card design.

CFC75: Create a Clean And Simple card or tag with an element that goes over the edge.

Then I saw the color palette for this week's Colour Q challenge, which fits perfectly with the RRR58 Halloween challenge.

I love the ribbon banner in the inspiration photo and decided to create my own version of it.

I was frustrated trying to get a good photo of the May Arts black pompom trim that is the base of my banner. Fibers and ribbon from my stash are tied to the base and it is adhered to the main panel.

A few bats were punched for the top corner of the card. Yes, I said punched because when I created bats out of a holly punch last week I should have dug a little further in the basket and I would have discovered an old EK Success bat punch hiding there.

The last challenge this card is heading to this one at Moxie Fab World to use Alphabet stickers. These are felt Thickers that have a nice texture for Halloween. The exclamation mark is finished off with another bat.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Take Two on Being Strong

The sentiment on this card might look a little familiar - did you see my post yesterday?

As I was perfecting my masking technique, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to use black or grey for most of the sentiment, so I did both and now am sharing the grey option.

The sentiment is from the My Favourite Things Vertical Greetings stamp & die set. I'd been using post-its to mask off the words I  did not want to ink, but discovered my temporary tape makes a faster & easier mask.

A couple of different size pink rickrack borders one of the designer paper panels (My Mind's Eye Indie Chic Saffron) and  a little "flag" of fibers and sheer & grosgrain ribbon is sandwiched between the two layers of the sentiment panel.

A trio of pearls colored to match with Copics finishes the design.


The card is based on the current sketch at the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge SSSC169,

and the current Colour Q Challenge palette:

keeping in mind the current Really Reasonable Ribbon challenge theme Pretty in Pink & Ribbon to promote Breast Cancer Awareness.

I'm also going to link this card up to the World Card Making Day challenge at Moxie Fab World.

Edited to add a Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians - I know most you enjoyed the turkey yesterday, so relax & enjoy the soup & sandwiches!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CAS-ual Friday & Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenges

Well, after a great start yesterday, I never did get back to the office on World Card Making Day. Mid-day soccer followed by the SDSU football game managed to take up the whole rest of the day, but we won both, so I can't complain.

My dear son planned to be up at 6:30 this morning to get his homework done - I heard him in the shower and then about an hour later realized he hadn't come downstairs to eat (extremely unusual behavior for the 13 year old bottomless pit). Further investigation found him dressed, showered and asleep on the couch LOL.

While he napped, I spent sometime doing this.

The CAS-ual Fridays Challenge 73 is to to celebrate the women in your life.

CFC73:  For The Girls- Create a Clean And Simple card that celebrates 
the women in your life.

mom~grandma~sister~daughter~aunt~cousin~friend~
co-worker~teacher~neighbor~etc.

The Really Reasonable Ribbon challenge RRR57 is Pretty in Pink & Ribbon to promote Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I spent way too much time masking this My Favorite Things Vertical Greetings stamp, but was determined to get it right. The pink text designer paper is from the Authentique Lively line and a few pearls and ribbon finish things off.

I made this double loop bow with the Bow-Easy I picked up from Really Reasonable Ribbon. This is seriously the most fantastic little tool and makes bow making a breeze!

I am also linking this card to the World Card Making Day Hello/Thinking of You Challenge at Moxie Fab World.


Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie