Thursday, December 31, 2009

Still here

Just a quick note to say Happy New Year Year and I'm still around. We have been on vacation in PA with the in-laws and I will be back tomorrow with pics and this weekend with projects. Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Christmas Lights 2009

Every Christmas the local fire department escorts Santa through the neighborhoods to spread cheer and throw candy canes to the good little boys and girls lining the street. Here the boys are on our front porch anxiously awaiting "Santa" to make it down our street as we listen to the sirens and horns getting closer.

And here are a couple of shots of the Christmas lights that my husband did such a wonderful job on.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Last Minute Gift Idea

I so love the holiday season, but I can not believe that Christmas is in 5 days! I really look forward to it all year, and then it feels as if I blink and it's gone. But if you love to savor every moment of that warm fuzzy holiday feeling, then no doubt you are still busy shopping and baking and wrapping...and of course, crafting! If you still have a few friends to make/buy for, here is a very cute and inexpensive gift that looks (and tastes) like you spent hours slaving over it! Shhh...we won't tell anyone.

Candied Pecans
Now I can't give you my recipe, as my dear friend would choke me. I promised her that I would not tell anyone her secrets if she gave me the recipe years ago. But I can give you a link to some that are similar and very good. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sugar-coated-pecans/Detail.aspx

Now, of course you have to have a cute little package for gift giving, and there are tons of ways...but this year I made these little guys.

Now these are super fast and let's face it...the faster the better these days. You will need the following supplies:

Supply List
1 6x6 piece of patterned paper
sticky strip
12 in. disposable decorating bags (the ones used for cake icing)
and your choice for embellishing: ribbons, buttons, twine, etc...

Cut off the top inch or so of the decorating bag and fill with pecans. For embellishing I kept it simple as I was giving these as office gifts for myself and my husband. I just tied the bags off with ribbon and then added a button with baker's twine.

Now certainly this could stand as is, but if you wanted to up it a notch, wrap it with designer paper. I turned the paper so that the points were at the top and bottom (like a diamond). I put sticky strip down the lower left outside of the diamond, and another strip on the lower right inside of the diamond. Then I folded the right over the left into a cone shape. This is much better visualized than explained. LOL See pic below.

Now all that is left is to slip the bag of pecans into the cone sleeve! I told you, easy and classy. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, I will be back soon with some pics of our Christmas lights. We were suprised with winning the Christmas Spirit Award for lights in our neighborhoood today and my hubby is so proud. He works so hard on them every year and he loves doing it. I told him it was the 30 something poinsettias he added this year that did it! LOL Have a great night everyone.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Double Duty: Mr. Twigster

I finally decided on the design for my Christmas cards this year and sat down last weekend to crank them out.

OK, so I actually decided on two...but they are the same layout, so mass production was still super easy. I used my Circle Scissors Plus to cut out all of the circles for the matting for the images, and my paper trimmer for everything else. Once I had everything out it was time to start stamping.

I used PTI's Polka Dot Basics II in SU!'s Whisper White for the background panel, and a couple of the images from SU!'s Mr. Twigster set for the focal images. I just love this set, I forgot how fun that little snowman is. Here I used the tree image from the set, stamped first in Whisper White, and then again in Close to Cocoa (both SU!) and punched them out.

Then I stamped the "joy" sentiment from PTI's Signature Christmas in SU! Real Red, inked the edges of the circle, and added some SU! glitter in red with a Martha Stewart glue pen.

After they were all glittered and matted, I matted my polka dot background with matching cardstock and tied Martha Stewart baker's twine around the lower half. If you have not discovered this stuff yet...get some! It has become a staple in my stash. I find myself turning to it again and again.

And last, just assemble. So quick and easy. I kept them simple and flat for mailing, much better to make sure they arrive in one piece. I was able to crank out about 10 an hour (that includes stamping and cutting). That's an average of 6 minutes per card. Not too bad, huh? Or is it. Hmmmm...LOL. Here's a shot of the finished card and a close up of the snowman...isn't he too cute!?

As always, thanks for stopping by! Hope you are caught up on all of your holiday activities and are enjoying your time with loved ones. Cause lord knows I'm nowhere near caught up! ;o)

Monday, December 14, 2009

Mini Tags (xmas) Template

I finally found the file! Sorry it took so long, and I guess that means I really need to clean up my hard drive. So here is the pdf file for the mini tags featured here and here.

There are two sizes, the one shown in the examples is the smaller one, and 5 colors; hot pink, maroon, green, brown and blue. Click on the image below to download the file.

Let me know if you have any questions, any problems, or requests!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

december 25

So how is your holiday prep going so far? If you are anything like me...you are way behind as usual! I always feel like I'm running full speed and somehow still going backwards. But I do love to put the special touch on everything, so easy cards are my choice of creation for Christmas. Keeping that in mind, here is another simple but fun Christmas card. Again, I am stepping out of my comfort zone and using a colored card base, but I think it's that extra kick of color that keeps it fun.


I won these Hiedi Swapp calendar months stamps over the summer, and actually opened them for the first time for this card. I don't know about you guys, but I wasn't impressed with the stamping of this set. I noticed that the stamps had some bubbles in them that were messing up the stamped impression. I had to go so far as to trimming them down and cutting the tips of the bubbles off with a pair of scissors. I don't know...maybe I had a "bad" set. But in spite of that, I still managed to make it work.

For that delicious candy cane striped paper I used PTI's Faux Ribbon set...again. (Can you tell I love that set? Seriously, if you don't have it...you need it.) I stamped the fat lines in SU! Real red on a diagonal. Then I went between each line with the narrowest line in Versamark, sprinked some SU! Heat and Stick powder, did a little heat tool action...and covered with SU! red glitter. What do you think...are you wanting that set yet?

I will be back later with my Christmas cards that I am sending out this year. I finally settled on a design, and cut everything for mass production. LOVELY! Have a great night!

Project Supplies

Stamps
Heidi Swapp
Ink
Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Real Red; Versamark
Paper
Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Whisper White
Punches
Fiskars corner rounder punch; Martha Stewart border punch
Other
ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Heat and Stick powder (Stampin' Up!); candy stickers (Martha Stewart); Shimmer Alpha Stickers in red (Making Memories)

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

CARDS Blog Challenge - Tags

OK, I promise, after this tag, you won't see anymore from me for a while. But hey, you know the challenge this week on the CARDS blog is to create a tag...I couldn't refuse, now could I?!

Sorry about the photo quality. It gets dark so early now, that there's no way I can get home from work in time to photograph in the natural light. Bummer, but this little number still makes me smile.

I LOVE the pink...and that brown polka dot ribbon (American Crafts) is one of my favs. I can't get enough of it. I used a lot of Stampin' Up! on this one. Super simple, but I like how the ric-rac ribbon ending up looking like the wavy lines from a postmark. It plays off of the "sending you love" sentiment nicely, don't you think?

I know some of you would like the pdf for the little tags, I have misplaced them on my mess of a laptop. As soon as I locate the file I will post it here. Sorry about that and thanks for your patience. Hope you are having a wonderful week. And a great big thank you for all of the wonderful comments, it really makes my day!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Inspire Me Challenge #4: CASE

Wow how the time flies when you are under the weather! Sorry I have been away so long, I was sick all week. My husband knew it was bad when I did not blog or craft at all! I meant to post this earlier this week...but now I am finally feeling better and just had to get back to my crafty buddies!

I loved looking at all of the tags and pulling bits and pieces from them. Seriously, I could CASE everyone of them. However, one really spoke to me in terms of inspiration.

CASE Card

Inspiration Card

I loved the tiny tag that Laurel added to the front of her card. And it caught my eye, so off to Photoshop I went to create a little tiny tag and added my sentiment while I was at it. I used PTI's Giga Guide Lines set to create the background paper and American Crafts ribbon for the bow. Does that ribbon look familar? It's the same ribbon that I ruched to use on the Christmas wreath for this card. I LOVE that ribbon.

There were 2 others that I just have to highlight as well. Lynn used a tag in a way that I had not ever thought of...as a gift card holder! And Elise's...sweet, crazy, chatty, lovely Elise, paper pieced the heck out of some tags! You just have to look at them if you haven't already.

I printed out the little tags in two sizes and a few colors...so you just might see more of 'em on here soon. ;o) If anyone is interested in having a set, just leave me a comment and I'll post a pdf that you can download and print your own.

Thanks for stopping by tonight, I'm off to catch up on all I let fall behind this week. (Like the giant 9 foot tree waiting to be decorated!)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Some Christmas Goodies

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I LOVE this time of year! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the best family in the world and the most FABulous food. I had the honor of cooking the turkey this year. My very first time, and as scared as I was that I was going to ruin it...it was wonderful. You would have peed your pants laughing listening to my phone call the night before asking my mother why on earth she dropped that turkey off at my house?! Thank goodness for foodnetwork.com. LOL! So in all, I did the turkey, stuffing, and potatoes...and as usual, all of the pies. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

It's tradition for us to put up our Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving, and this year was no exception. Jason got all of the Christmas lights up and they are FABulous, he always does such a great job. I will post some pics tonight or tomorrow. I just love coming home after work, turning the corner onto our street, and seeing that winter wonderland all lit up. Well as close to a winter wonderland as you can get in Florida. ;o) Today we will put up the tree and I will do some more decorating in the house. That always seems like a never-ending job. I hate when it's time to take it all down. But for now, I will enjoy it...and I will leave you guys with a couple of goodies we did at club last week.

You guys know I don't do too many scrap book layouts...I just don't feel like I'm very good at them. They are always a struggle for me, but hey, everynow and then I give it a go. ;o) The picture is actually a bit old, of my oldest, when we were visiting PA for x-mas one year. I've always loved the set of photos we got that year while walking through the woods at my in-laws.

And this little tile uses Stampin' Up!'s Glassy Glaze Enamel and the Dasher stamp. Simple and elegant. I stamped the image, covered with glassy glaze and baked in the oven. There are a ton of tutorials on various blogs if you've never seen this technique. It's been around quite a while.

And finally, another fun tag. Check out that layout, it is just begging to be used over and over to make a set. Don't you think?! And...it's not too late to join in the Tag It Challenge. There are such great ideas out there for tags!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are having fun decorating for "the most wonderful time of the year"!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Cards Blog Challeng: Buttons

Sorry I was so quiet this weekend. I did make a lot of progress, but not on anything I can share just yet. ;o) So the challenge this week over on the Cards Blog is to use buttons, at least 5, the more the merrier. Now I snuck in there just at 5. I'm telling you, I tried to fit more in there, but it just kept throwing it off balance. So I left well enough alone.

I created the wreath using a wide ribbon and using my ruching technique. I found a little variation however...instead of doing a running stitch straight down the middle of the ribbon, I did it in a zig zag from side to side. What do you think? I was really happy with how it turned out. I added some buttons and a bow to the wreath, and a sentiment in a vintage font.

Here's a close up of that wreath so you can see the detail in that ribbon. Dreamy I tell ya, just dreamy.

As always, thanks for looking!

Project Supplies

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Greetings Galore
Ink: Papertrey Ink in Vintage Cream
Buttons: Papertrey Ink; Stampin' Up!
Cardstock:Stampin' Up! Kraft, Real Red; Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream
Ribbon: American Crafts
Other: Stampin' Up! scallop border punch, Sakura Gelly Roll pen, corner rounder

Monday, November 23, 2009

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #19

I'm back with more plaid! Maybe I will give ya'll a break with the plaid after this one...maybe. ;o)


But seriously, just look at that...how can you not LOVE it? It's just so classically simple and fun. This is a super simple 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 card for Dawn McVey's color challenge using the colors aqua, raspberry, lavendar, moss, and brown.


I created the plaid pattern using PTI's Faux Ribbon set (a must have staple set) in MS aqua and moss, and Colorbox chalk ink in raspberry and lavendar. Sorry, but I can't remember the exact colors and I never added the little color labels to the inks. Oops. I've learned now and don't accidentally throw them away. Anyhow, then I used a MS punch for the butterflies, double layered them and added a button to the fourth one. Notice the little anntennae?? That's my ode to Ms. McVey. Just love it when she does that. To finish the card off, I added some faux stitching and attached with Stampin' Dimensionals. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for stopping by. Don't forget, there's still time to play in the Inspire Me Challenge.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Lucy's Cards Challenge 1 - Colour and Cards Blog Challenge: Ribbon

OK...so I got a little carried away. I actually ended up with 2 cards for Lucy's challenge using the colors aqua, pink, and kraft; and combined it with the challenge over at the Cards Magazine blog to use ribbon, the bigger the better. Oh you know how I LAAAUUUV kraft! So this was right up my alley.

I just love how the ribbon weaved down the side turned out. I used a border punch by Martha Stewart that punches little rectangles side by side. It just screamed to have ribbon threaded through it. And how about that butterfly?! I told you I was a plaid junky lately. I used the faux ribbon set by PTI to create that loveliness in SU! Pretty in Pink and MS aqua ink on cream cardstock.

I told you, I'm plaid crazy! Here it is again this time reversed. (oh and don't worry, I have plenty more color combos to post :0)) I just love naked chipboard, there's just something about it. All it needed was a couple of cross-stitches and some inking around the edges.

Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to check out Lucy's site to see the other fabulous creations. Oh, and if you're looking for another challenge, don't forget there is still time to play along in my Inspire Me Challenge #4.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Look who's here!

LOOOOOVE those owls! I mean, how friggin' cute are they?! This set is by Hampton Art, and I just have to put it out there...I really like their stuff. Some of my favorite images are from them.

So this one is about as easy as it gets. A 3x3 card, cut a little short in the front to accomadate the border punched trim. I stamped the image, colored the baby owl with Stampin' Pastels, inked the edges with cream chalk ink (love how the cream looks on Kraft!), and adhered with some dimensionals. Oh and added a little button with faux thread in So Saffron to match the trim and baby owl. That's it, see, easy right?

Project Supplies

Paper
SU! Cardstock in Kraft and So Saffron
Stamps
Hampton Arts
Ink
SU! in Chocolate Chip, Colorbox liquid chalk ink in Cream
Other
Vintage button from Papertrey Ink, SU! scallop border punch, Stampin' Pastels

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

{h}appy {b}irthday

Oh just look at that yumminess disguised as a card!

So simple and so fun. This one's a bit different from my usual style. I tend to stay away from dark card bases, but maybe I should embrace them a little more often. I've had those letters for some time now, and then found these little cupcakes from Martha Stewart last week, and it was a match made in heaven! This is a fun little 4x4 card. I stamped the top and bottom with the second to largest set from PTI's Polka Dot Basics II. Then I popped the letters, and the cupcake, and finished it off with a fun little ribbon from American Crafts. Oh yes...and you can't forget to round those corners. ;o) Now to find the perfect recipient!

Project Supplies

Paper
Stampin' Up! cardstock in Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.
Ink
Stampin' Up! craft ink in Whisper White
Stamps
Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Basics II
Ribbon
American Crafts
Other
Alphabet die cuts from Colorbok, Cupcake embellishment from Martha Stewart, Stampin' Up! corner rounder.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Inspire Me Challenge #4

Ok ladies, you know I'm obsessed with tags lately...and it's no fun to obsess alone. So let me see what you've got! You know you'll need them anyway with Christmas just around the corner. Even a cute little tag to add to that bread your going to bring to the Thanksgiving dinner. The more the merrier! If you don't have any tag die cuts...feel free to download my template from this post.

Challenge Details: Post your tag to your blog and then leave a link to the post (not your homepage) via Mr. Linky below, and be sure to link back here from your blog so others can play along. Feel free to use the image above, just right click on it, and select "save picture as", save it to your PC, and then upload as usual.

Inspire me ladies!

This challenge is now closed. Thanks to everyone who played!


Saturday, November 14, 2009

Inspire Me Challenge #3: CASE

Thank you to all of the ladies that joined in the challenge. Boy, choosing just one to CASE was difficult. I think I subconsciously CASEd a little something from each. But mainly, I chose Pam Spiedel's as my inspiration.

CASE Card

Inspiration Card

Now at first glance it may not look like Pam's card was my inspiration. But...that is the beauty of finding your inspiration. The result is not an exact replica, but more of a "nod" to the original inspiration. So here's the breakdown: I love the subtle stamping on the front panel with the border punch below, the script font on her sentiment, and the large snowflake as an accent. These are the ideas that I incorporated into my card. I still think it may need some faux stitching though...hmm, what do you think?

Here's a close-up of that yummy flower. I really, really had fun with this one. I used PTI's faux ribbon set to create a plaid pattern then punched out various circles, scrunched and roughed up, stacked, and tied it all up with a bow. I had so much fun stamping that plaid pattern that I created quite a few more sheets in various color combos, so you'll be seeing more of it here soon. ;o)

Thanks for looking ladies and congrats to Dana, who's entry in this challenge was also featured on the CARDS Magazine blog!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Thanks for Everything

Sorry I have been MIA this week. It has been a really busy one for me. My youngest had an eye appointment and we discovered that he has 20/30 vision in his right eye and 20/100 in his left. So now we have to get him glasses and he also has to wear a patch over the good eye for 6 hours a day to strengthen the weak eye.

Then he started breaking out in hives, and in my inspection of his body I discovered 15 ticks! 15! Poor little man. They were so tiny, about the size of the tip of a ball point pen. Jason and the boys went camping this past weekend and I checked him from head to toe when they got back, but didn't see them. The only thing I can guess is that they were microscopic before they started to feed.

So of course we had to take another trip to the doctor's. I wanted to make sure there wasn't a relation between the ticks and the hives/rash. Doctor says it's most likely an allergy to something. So now the great elimination hunt is on to find out what he's allergic to. It's so crazy. It's one thing after another with Carter and he is the sweetest boy. Now my oldest, Hunter, never has any issues...but behaviorially, he's a pain in the rear! LOL

Add work to that, and I didn't get any time to craft this week, but I still wanted to share with you guys. I thought it would be appropriate to say a great big "thank you" to those of you that leave sweet comments here and to those that have been participating in my challenges. This one's for you guys.

I made this one awhile ago...and I still LOVE it. I was saving it for something special. ;o) As always, thanks for looking, and I will be posting my CASE from IMC#3 soon.

Project Supplies

Stamps: Hampton Art
Ink:Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip, Colorbox Cream chalk ink
PaperStampin' Up! Kraft cardstock
Twine: Papertrey Ink

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Have A Seat - Cards Blog Challenge

Over on the Cards blog the challenge is to create Thanksgiving place cards. I drew my inspiration from my fall centerpiece on my kitchen table. I love the warm colors and the stained glass panels. You should see that thing glow in the evening with the candle lit. So comforting.


For my place card, I used Illustrator to draw my leaf, then printed it onto cardstock and cut it out. I did some sponging around the edges to give it that variegated color and then added some faux stiching around the edges as well. To finish, I wrote in the name with an SU! stampin write marker and added a button. Super simple! (and now I have a leaf template that I can print in any size or color I want! ;o) Bonus)

Project Supplies

Ink:Stampin' Up! Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Stampin' Write Marker in Dusty Durango
Cardstock:PTI Summer Sunrise
Other:White Gel pen, twine, and PTI vintage buttons

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Tag It Template

I'm having so much fun creating tags that I thought I'd share my template. I don't have any of the fabulous tag dies out there, so I created my own template. I simply print them out onto cardstock and trim. I've created various shapes and sizes on separate pages so you can print and cut multiples at a time. For the straight edged ones I use the paper trimmer and cut along the lines.

If you lack a die for tags like me...feel free to use the templates below. Just click on the image to download the pdf file. There's 4 pages, a little something for everyone!

Have fun and I hope you enjoy!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Tag It "With Joy"


With Christmas fast approaching, I thought I'd create a stash of tags. I LOVE tags! Who doesn't? They are so fun to create and you can bust out a ton in no time. Does that color combo look familiar? It should...it's the current color challenge for Inspire Me #3. If you haven't played along, you should, these colors are so fun to play with.

For this card, I used Papertrey Ink's Vintage Cream, SU!'s Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, and Bashful Blue. Aren't those ornaments fabulous! They are from SU!'s Tree Trimming Trio. I just love them. I cut them out and popped them with some dimensionals, and finished the tag off with some Rich Razzleberry ribbon. To save time, I created some tag shapes and printed them onto cardstock and mass cut them with my paper trimmer. Unfortunately I don't have and dies for tags, but this works well for me.

Thanks for stopping by and hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Inspire Me Challenge #3

Time for another challenge! I figure I'll just keep posting them, maybe someone will want to play along. ;o)

Here are the details: Use the colors above to create a card, tag, scrap page, whatever. I have named them with SU! colors, but feel free to use whatever brand you have on hand. Post your creation to your blog and then leave a link to the post (not your homepage) via Mr. Linky below, and be sure to link back here from your blog so others can play along. Feel free to use the image above, just right click on it, and select "save picture as", save it to your PC, and then upload as usual.

The deadline for this challenge is Sunday November 8th, at 9:00 p.m.

Inspire me ladies!

Sorry, this challenge is closed. Check back soon for the next one!

ETA: A late entry...because I can do that! ;0) Maile Belles


Sunday, November 1, 2009

Hi! and a template

Today's card is one of my personal favorites as of late. I love the clean simple graphic style of this one. I've had those letters laid out for a while and everytime I would pass by them thinking..."I've got to use them on something". And Friday night, it came to me. I was inspired by Maile's paper tearing...she is just SOOO good at making it look perfect. And I just ADORE this color combo! Isn't it soothing?

The great thing about this card is it's actually a money holder.


And there is plenty of space on the inside to decorate as well. I may have to go back in and "finish" it before sending it to someone. Just have to wait for the right occasion. ;o) I've posted the template with dimensions below.


Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!


Saturday, October 31, 2009

Over The Top Award


I want to thank Daniela over at Purple on Paper for this award! She thinks I rock. LOL And you know what, I think she does! If you haven't visited her blog...you should, she has some GREAT stuff over there! Thank you so much Daniela, it's always great and very humbling to know that you inspire someone.

Here's the rule: I need to pass this award on to five people, post on their blog to let them know I left this award, and then I need to answer a list of questions in ONE word.

1. Where is your cell phone? hand
2. Your hair? blonde
3. Your mother? strong
4. Your father? colorful
5. Your favorite food? french-fries
6. Your dream last night? none
7. Your favorite drink? coffee
8. Your dream/goal? self-employed
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? crafts
11. Your fear? rejection
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? alive
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? organized
15. Muffins? yes
16. Wish list items? long
17. Where did you grow up? all-over
18. Last thing you did? sew
19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? LCD
21. Your pets? poodle
22. Friends? support
23. Your life? hurried
24. Your mood? stressed
25. Missing Someone? always
26. Vehicle? Jeep
27. Something you're not wearing? ear-rings
28. Your favorite store? Michaels
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? awhile
32. Your best friend? loving
33. One place that I go to over and over? Starbucks
34. Facebook? yes
35. Favorite place to eat? Thai

So some of those aren't technically one word...but that's what hypens are for, right?! ;o)

1. Elise @ Mamacow Creations
2. Jane @ (anything but) Plain Jane
3. Jessica @ Recapturing Wonders
4. Pam @ Stamping with {Serendipity}
5. Winter @ Winter Wonderland

Narrowing it down to 5 is hard! All of these ladies are constantly inspiring me and you should check them out if they are new to you!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Ribbon Flower Tutorial


As promised, here is the tutorial on creating flowers from ruffled ribbon. Hopefully you find it easy to follow. You can find my original card featuring these flowers here.

Supplies Needed:
Ribbon
Needle and thread
Scissors
Sticky Strip

This works well with satin ribbon (I haven't tried it yet with others, but would love to see if some of you try). I am using a satin 7/8" ribbon to create a large bloom. I am also using a contrasting thread color for some contrast in the tutorial. I would suggest using the same color thread as your ribbon.

This is actually really easy. The basic concept is something I learned from my mother a couple of years ago when she "bustled" the skirt of a costume for me. First, thread your needle and tie off a triple knot at the end, leaving about 2" of thread after the knot (in case the knot slips through the ribbon, you can pull it back). Then, using a straight stitch, stitch straight down the middle of the ribbon. The longer your stitches, the bigger your "ruffles" will be. Shorter stitches will create tight "ruffles", great for making buds.

After you have stitched a few, you can check your progress by holding the ribbon with one hand, while gently pulling the side of the thread with the needle with your other hand. This should cause the ribbon to bustle as the thread is pulled taught.

Continue stitching until you have reached the desired length. You can keep checking your progress by pulling the thread every so often.

Once you've got it to the length you want, pull on the thread to bustle the ribbon, tie it off, and trim. The tighter you pull the closer and tighter your ruffle will be. Play with it a little to get your desired look before you tie it off.

Now use your fingers to curl it up and shape it.

That is pretty much it! Now we just have to adhere it to a card. I use Sticky Strip as this much material really needs something strong to hold it. Line up a few rows of Sticky Strip on your cardstock in the correct size for your flower and add your flower. I layed mine out on the side first, and then picked it up in a little scrunch with my finger tips and then just sat it on top of the Sticky Strip.

You may have a little area where the ribbon overlaps that will need a little me adhesive. Just cut off a little more Sticky Strip and add it where needed. Below is a shot of where mine needed a little more.

Last but not least, add some leaves of your choice!

I hope you've enjoyed and I love to see what you've done with it if you decide to try it!

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