If you had a sneek peek yesterday then you will know what the Mystery Ribbons were that we sent to our challengers.  We had sent them one of our brand NEW Crafty's Selection Boxes

Not sure if the bows made it through the post looking quite like this, but we did try.  Each ribbonbox had 24 narrow christmas ribbons crammed inside and 2 ribbons wrapped around to make a parcel.  Everyone in the office thought they were fantastic, but no one else had seen them, so we were eager to receive comments!  It would appear that everyone LOVES THEM!!!  It has certainly brought out some wicked christmas crafting.

Part of the challenge was to decorate the sleeve of the box - these can be viewed by clicking HERE  - These are the goodies we have received back so far.

Beryl really got into the spirit of Christmas - all her goodies were wrapped up in Christmas paper, I had a great time unwrapping them!!!

You had the girls fighting over this card Beryl! I have to ask, where did you get the gingerbread men from?

5, YEP 5! Ribbons of course, are used on this card, love the scarves, and the colours, and the snowmen, well everything!!

Beryl said she used a plain, very plain christmas tree so that she could show the beauty of Crafty Ribbons Christmas Selection. It worked, this card is stunning.

All Beryl wants for Christmas - she said this was a little bit of fun.  Can you quess what the book is made from?

 Have you guessed yet - Nope, well neither did we, BEER MATS!

We will try for you Beryl, would you like him wrapped in Ribbon?!

I know this is not a christmas card, it's a thank you card for meeee.  It came with a little prezzie wrapped in Christmas paper, I opened it a few days early.

Thank you Beryl they are truly scrummy.

Poor Carol C had trouble parting with her cards, we can see why, this little guy is adorable, I even did a close up of him!

The ribbons look great too.

You may already know (by the different snowflake ribbons we stock), but I have a snowflake thing!!! I just think they are amazing, so this card is for me.  I promise to look after it well Carol.

This project from Carol is certainly "Thinking outside the box" and it smells good!

For some reason Carol sent back an empty box!  "Honest Officer it was empty".  Yummy thank you Carol.

Look at the dinky little parcels from Carol F.  Not sure they show up in th picture, but each tag has a letter on it.  It reads Crafty Ribbons.  I did the tweeking for you Carol!!!  Carol is making some cards for us, but wanted to get these parcels in the post for our launch.  Don't forget you can see the Selection Box Sleeves HERE

Dorothy said she used every ribbon in the box at least once!!  We think she liked them.

A new ATC to add to my collection and Dream Catcher - for the last few weeks all I have dreamt about has been Christmas ribbon!!

Oh I have done this with ribbon, very easy but stunning results - Iris Folding (but without the folding!!!)

Dont worry, Santa makes it out the bottom.

This little booklet is wonderful, and yes Dorothy Sydney loved it ( She sat by the side of me taking photos of all the goodies as well!!)

Inside the booklet - amazing.

I think Natalie likes to test my balancing skills while taking photos.  Once again another awesome card, the snow looks real.

These ATC's  are really sweet, the ribbon is just the right size to go with the little images. Natalie feels as if she has got into the festive mood really quickly this year.  Don't think you are the only one Natalie!

I had a big box from Wilma, I couldn't wait to get inside.  I have heard about these acetate cards but had never seen one up close - wicked, very clever. 

Not sure they are for me, where would I hide my mistakes!!!

This gate fold card is perfect (You may have guessed, I do like this snowman ribbon).

I would be thrilled to receive a parcel with one of these tags on, they are fun.

This calendar will look great on my desk - I am sure I can find a little bit of space for it!!!

BUT not sure about the photo - tee heee!!

The hanging is fun, think I would hang it on my door, wicked images.

Christmas would just not be the same without Crackers - hand made of course!

BOO HOO! There is nothing inside!  Wilma had a little incident with the box sleeve - her grandson tried to help, and planted it on a juicy black ink pad.  OOPS sorry grandma.

All the fantastic, wonderful goodies have been made by 6 talented ladies.  We have another 10 to arrive, I know I said 15, BUT well it grew!! Only by 1 this time, Leigh is back from holiday and is having a break from wedding plans, so I added her to the list.  She placed an order today for a roll of Santa's Laundry, she just HAD to have it for her parcels!!!!  Thank you, thank you for all these projects, we enjoy them so much.

As an "Early Bird Christmas Special" if you order christmas ribbons from the website before the end of August you get an extra one free.

Normally 6 bags of Skinny Christmas for £5 - "Early Bird Special" you can choose another one FREE

Normally 6 bags of 1mtr lengths of Christmas Ribbon for £5 - "Early Bird Special" you can choose another one FREE

You do not have to do anything to get this offer, apart from choose 7 ribbons for a fiver!

That's me done for a while, I am going on holiday tomorrow, a few days in Brittany and then Chateau hopping in the Loire Valley, can't wait.  Have a great bank holiday weekend, fingers crossed for the weather.  I have told Sydney it is going to snow........  She thinks Christmas is coming!!!

Our 2009 Christmas Shop is fully stocked and is now open!

We think this is our best ever Christmas Collection, we have worked really hard sourcing ribbons and putting the collection together, we even did Santa's Laundry for him!!  (Yes the cake in the photo is the one that caused all the trouble with my eye!) But isn't that ribbon wicked!!

I want to tell you more, but we have a power cut here, and I am trying to load this using mobile broadband before my battery runs out!! 

If you have been following the Mystery Challenge then you can have a peek a boo HERE, but you must promise to log on tomorrow so you can see more wonderful creations.  Sorry computer beeping at me must go.

Ali x

Ooooh I got mail this morning!!!!

Not that I was excited or anything like that, NO not me!

I have been trying to think up some new words to express these projects - but I have resorted back to WOW!  I must have said that rather loudly while opening the parcels, because all of a sudden I had everyone poking their heads into my office - then they all joined in!!!

Many thanks for all your emails and comments about my eye, it is much better and yes Tony is giving me a lot of TLC.

Oh have we got a super week ahead, lots of new goodies to share with you.  I have heard on the grape vine or should I say blog vine that there are even some challenge projects arriving.  It would appear that the Mystery Ribbons hit the spot and several challengers have been busy all weekend.  I have a feeling its going to be a very busy week!!  We have been cooking up a big surprise, including a cake!!  Stay tuned.

It's Monday so it must be time to show you the new weekly additions to our Bargain Ribbon Collection.  So here they are.

We launched a wide sheer (56mm) in shocking pink a few weeks back, it only lasted a few days, the one this week is a delightful shade of violet.

I did a really, really silly thing on Saturday morning.  I had iced a cake in the office on Friday (more about that another day) and I had made a bit of a mess with the icing sugar.  Well to tell you the truth, I was having a play fight with Sydney and Sam, chasing them with white icing sugared hands.  Anyway, everything was sticky, so I cleaned the canteen area and only had the sink to finish.  I picked up the kitchen cleaner (you know the ones with a trigger handle) and gave it a really good squirt.  ARRRRGH!!! I had picked it up the wrong way and instead of going into the sink, it went straight into my left eye........ 

Tony, Tony HELP!!

He came to my rescue, my knight in shining armour (he is good, as long as there is no blood), he calmed me down, bathed and re bathed my eye, then made me a cup of tea.  According to the hospital I was very lucky, I have an abrasion on my pupil, which should heal with the aid of the ointment.  It is getting better, it is not as red or as painful today, but if some of my photos are slightly out of focus, please be gentle with me.

It's here, our ribbon delivery!!!  Well most of it.

Eight huge boxes, so heavy that you struggle to lift them, made it half way across the world - together. 

Eight boxes passed through customs - together.

Eight boxes made it to the Southampton Hub - together.

BUT......

Only seven boxes were deliveried to Dorset, can anyone tell me why? Southampton to Blandford, at the most 50 miles and 1 box gets lost.  So if anyone see's a sad, lonely, lost box on the side of the M3 making it's way to Blandford can you please stop and give it a lift.  Don't open it though, as it contains "Rainbows" and I do not want any to escape!!

The really good news is the Mystery ribbons for the new challenge were NOT in the lost box, so they are being posted out today.  I must go, as I have lots and lots of new ribbons to play with....

It would seem that several of you are "All of a Buzz".  I emailed the lucky 15 that made it into our new ribbon challenge and here are a few of the emails we got back.

We had several vistors to the warehouse today, they could not believe these ribbons were only 10p a mtr, so I said I would be happy to charge them 20p!!!!

SORRY THIS CHALLENGE IS FULL!

Have we got a Mega Challenge this time, BUT it's also a mystery Challenge!

You will not find out what the challenge is until the parcel turns up on your door step.  I will give you a few clues:

• You will LOOOOOVE the ribbon! 
• There are 26 Mega ribbons in this Challenge, and you will get 1 of them ALL!
• All the ribbons are narrow 3mm to 10mm!
• Satin, Lame, Taffeta, Printed, Plain - so many!
• The ribbons have been themed around ????? (Nope, Not Telling!)

So are you up to our Mystery Ribbon Challenge # 8? We have increased the free bundles of mystery ribbons to give away up to 15 sets.  The ribbons are not on the website, they are so NEW they are not even in the warehouse -yet!!  All we ask in return for these fantastic ribbons are two cards or projects that use the mystery ribbons PLUS we would like you to decorate the sleeve of the box (shown above) with the ribbons.  I will explain more in the letter I send with the ribbons.

If you like Mysteries and want to join in with this challenge and be the first 15 people to see these wicked ribbons, then send us an email to info@craftyribbons.com marked RIBBON CHALLENGE # 8!  The first 15 to reply will be sent an email requesting address details so we can send your free ribbons!!  Your finished cards and projects will be posted onto our blog and taken to our Exhibitions in the Autumn. 

The pitter patter of little feet

Leave behind something dear and sweet

A precious treasure for me to keep

The memories of your little feet.

These little forget-me-not flowers are one of my favourites.  They appear in my garden without me doing anything, although I love gardens, (Tony surprised me with a visit to The Lost Gardens of Heligan a few weeks back), I am not very good at it.  One of the legends on how this little flower got its name was as Adam and Eve were leaving the Garden of Eden the little flower cried out "Forget-me-not".

Why am I going on about forget-me-not flowers you ask  - we have a NEW collection of ribbons of course!

A 9cm wide single face satin ribbon printed with forget-me-nots.  Each ribbon is printed with two different shades of flowers, there are some wicked colour combinations. With 24 base colours to choose from, we are sure you will find a colour you love!