A Winner and a Giveaway ...

Hello, it's a cold and windy Sunday morning in our part of the world today - a perfect day for staying indoors and crafting I think!  We were 'blown away' (see my clever link there - windy day/blown away :) ) by all the entries to our 'Use Ribbon' challenge, there were so many beautiful entries and we are still getting around to leave comments on them all.  The winner for this challenge chosen randomly is ~

Suzi and this is Suzi's card

Please contact us Suzie so that we can arrange to send out your prize

So, onto this weeks giveaway.  Andrea has been crafting this week and she made a lovely Christmas card using some of our newest felt embellishments

Felt holly leaves embellishment

White cluny lace

Red 15mm gingham

Green polka dot buttons

Red and white bakers twine

Papers and sentiment  from Nitwit Collections

Martha Stewart border punch

Zutter corner rounder

If you would like to get started on a few Christmas cards and would like to win this prize of mixed Christmas embellishments and assorted ribbons then leave us a comment before next Saturday evening (UK time) and mention this giveaway on your blog.

New at the Ribbon Girl ...

The postman has been very busy during the last couple of weeks bringing parcel after parcel to the Ribbon Girl, lots of restocks and lovely new products. These are just a few of the new products we've added to the store recently

 New sparkly buttons - larger 18mm and heart shaped

 Silver and gold sparkly glitter mesh

 38mm gold and silver lame

 16mm gold and silver lame

 Gorgeous hotpink/silver glitter organza and new sizes of crown pins

Pretty mulberry flowers and Christmas charms

Of course as well as adding all of these pretty goodies onto the website we've had to play with them too, this card was made by Andrea

Made using lots of the new products and Andrea's new favourite ribbon - hot pink and glitter organza which she says is sparkleriffic!!

Party favours made easy by Andrea

Last Sunday was my Mam and Dad’s Ruby Wedding Anniversary. 40 years so it was always going to be special but I wanted to make it a bit more special so there was the usual stuff that daughters do for their parents – a cake, balloons, handmade card, spending the day doing the chores etc. being a taxi driver so that they could both drink at the party they hosted for their closest family and friends at their favourite Italian restaurant in the city where we live. As a last minute thing on Saturday morning I decided to make some party favours to put on the table at the restaurant, they were really quick to make and to be honest took hardly any effort but my Mam was thrilled and everyone who came to their party talked about them and generally enjoyed them. They added something a little bit personal to the restaurant meal and got everyone talking at the table which was a bonus as not everyone had met before. This is how I made the favours

Quarter of an A4 sheet of double sided paper

Tape on one short and one long side, wrap into a tube joining the short sides

Nudge the join over to one side and nip the ends together - no need for glue as you've already applied it before rolling the tube

Flip the tube over and pinch the ends together twising 90 degrees as you do

Punch a  hole in the end

Add in the treat

Tie with a ribbon

Add embellishments

So, what I really wanted to share with you is that it doesn’t take a lot of effort to Make It Special, just do something a little bit different, to the norm. I am so pleased I did this for my parents and they were thrilled – I guess what I could have done was to take a photograph of both of them but I forgot!!

Papers – Enchanted by Kristin Cronen-Barrow at sweet Shoppe Designs

Heart charm and 7mm ribbon from Ribbon Girl

Andrea x

ps don't forget that the aqua colour challenge closes on Sunday night, as does the red mini kit give away - see below!

Felt Hairclips ...

How to make a felt hairclip

 Cut a small slit in a rectangle shaped piece of felt, open the hairclip and push through the slit, fold the felt over

 Using coordinating thread and a small running stitch sew around the hairclip through both layers of felt

 Trim around the hairclip

 Diecut felt flowers and stitch around the edges

 Add a polka dot button and stitch the flower onto the felt covered hairslide

Woolfelt, hairclips and polka dot buttons

Love from Andrea x

Strawberry Molly Giveaway ...

Hello, we've been very busy this week with the arrival of the Molly Blooms stamps at the Ribbon Girl. We have a fabulous giveaway but first I wanted to share these gorgeous cards - all using the Molly Blooms stamps

By Jane

(Molly Bloom stamp, guipure lace)

By Mary

(Molly Bloom stamp, silk ribbon, ballerina shoes charm)

By Andrea

(Molly Blooms stamp, gingham ribbon, button twine, apple charm)

(Molly Blooms stamp, tea dyed gingham ribbon, small polka dot button, umbrella charm, button twine)

So, onto the giveaway - to enter simply mention it on your blog and leave us a comment on this post. We'll pick a winner at random next Sunday evening (May 8th, UK time)

The prize includes:

Strawberry Molly stamp

Saddlestitch ribbon

Large check gingham ribbon

Microdot ribbon

Organza spot ribbon

Satin spot ribbon

Polka dot buttons

Strawberry charms

... all in a felt strawberry bag

Have a lovely week, we'll be back tomorrow to announce the winner of the latest colour challenge and to bring you some more Design Team projects

Andrea and Mary

New Molly Blooms Stamps ...

The postman brought us a huge box this morning full of Molly Blooms stamps. They have all been uploaded to the Ribbon Girl shop and can be found here. There are oodles of designs and I really can't decide which one I love the best

 Strawberry Molly or Ballerina Molly?

Fishing George or Molly the Chef?

Schoolgirl Molly or Farmyard Molly?

There are more designs in the shop too so I think I shall be a happy cardmaker this weekend :) Of course I had to play straight away and after spreading all the stamps out on the table I chose to use Farmyard Molly.

I have had these beautiful papers in my box for a couple of weeks and I finally cut into the big sheets. They are absolutley gorgeous designs - double sided too! I've added stardust stickles to all the edges, the flowers and added little spots to the background too so it's a super sparkly card. The lovely turquoise pins will be in the shop soon

Stamp - Farmyard Molly

Ribbon - Sheer Ruffle Edge

Dewdrops

Stickles

Papers - Onirie from 3D Jean

Flowers - Wild Orchid

Dies - Spellbinders

Andrea x

Projects from the Design Team ...

Our Design Team (the ribbon girls) have been busy creating some gorgeous projects using products from the Ribbon Girl store

By Kath

(red ruffle gingham ribbon, dewdrops)

By Jane

(Molly Blooms stamp, oloroso seam binding, pale green polka dot button, button twine)

By Andrea

(Sheer satin band ribbon, diamante heart stick pin)

By Mary

(satin ribbon, twisted bead cord)

Remember there is still time to leave a comment to be in with a chance to win our latest giveaway (see this post) and our new colour challenge will start on Sunday