This is maybe a little early for some, but for others it will not come soon enough!

Apples, bookworms, pencils and rulers in ribbons and buttons.  A little bit of fun to add to your school projects. You can find them all here.

I opened some more of the Colour Create ribbon Challenge parcels today - from Niina and Laura.

Niina sent in the yummy duo of a cupcake and macaroon, she wanted to make something a little different with added yumminess.

This white cupcake is covered in frosty icing, drizzled with ric rac and with a spot or two of buttons looks really yummy Niina.  

As for the macaroon, well I am not sure one will be enough for afternoon tea Niina.  I tried designing a ribbon with macaroons on, but.............it looked like squashed flies! So I gave up.

When I opened Laura's box it seemed to be filled with sunshine.  This little gift box is a delight.

As you all know I am a fan of ribbon flowers, these will be happy with my collection Laura.

I think this is brilliant Laura and what a perfect way to mark your page, it would make me smile when ever I opened my book.

Very neat petals Laura.

Laura also sent a delightful star ribbon brooch.  This would cheer up a winters day.

Finally Laura sent me an email with a photo of a scrap book page, I have just tried to retrieve it.  But................ I think I have misfiled it Laura - sorry.  Please could you send it again to me, so that I can share to all.

EDITED -Laura has just email me her scarpbook page so thought I would show you all tonight.

Lots of rays of sunshine this time Laura, keep grining it makes the world go round.

This is my second attempt at writing this post today, the first got deleted (by mistake) by the best person in the world!!  Fingers crossed this one makes it to the publish stage.

Ooooh nearly forgot, have you seen our NEW sliding front page on the website.

That's it, we are on our last week of advent ideas, only 7 more to go!!

As children we always had a table present, very strange you may think.  As we sat down for our family Christmas lunch there would be a plate of presents waiting for us, just something small but enough to keep us focused throughout the meal!  It would take pride of place towering over our meal.

I can not claim this idea as my own - all down to my mum.  I have just updated the idea with white tissue paper parcels and red and white ribbons.....

....a little country check, fresh stripe, chantel, snowflake, swiss dot and not forgetting gingham.   Thanks Mum!

There are no rules or guide lines when you take part in one of our ribbon challenges - you can do what ever you fancy with our ribbon. The creation that Lucy sent us was stunning.  A full size advent Gingerbread calendar, a different gingerbread man or biscuit for everyday.  Sadly several of the biscuits were broken, a shame the post office didn't treat it with more care.

I tried to repair what I could.......

but I am much happier with a needle and thread then an icing bag! - Sorry Lucy.

I took these photos when I returned from Paris, we were very busy in the office and I had left the advent hanging on the wall while I quickly went to check that the photos had come out ok. I must have left it longer than I thought because on my return to the warehouse I captured this....

.......ummmmm that is gingerbread number 1!!!

Lucy, I can say your creation went down well with all the team.....yummmie.

An idea for using up those odd christmas buttons you have and a little bit of ribbon!

I had real trouble photographing this beauty, there were so many shadows.  Finally with the glass removed I took it outside, not perfect but better then the others. 

Just buttons to form a heart shape - simple. our christmas buttons can be found here.

Wow we had lots of comments yesterday, thank you all.  But I think the winner should be Chrissy.

I bought one of these cones a couple of years ago to make one of these and by the time I had got it home it was in bits!!!!1

So would love the chance to have another go I think they are fab.

Loving the gingerbread goodies well done challengers.

Chrissy

Hi chrissy just pop us an email to craftyribbons@gmail.com with your address and we will get the ribbons straight to you.  I promise Tracey it was really easy, the only trouble I had were my pins.  They were normal household pins and were a bit thick and i got a sore finger from pressing them into the cone.  Next time I would use lace pins which are much finer and I believe would go into the cone with less finger preasure.  My cone was made by Rayher who I think are German and the stock number is ART.-NR. 33010 00, I got it at the Paris show but I am sure you can get them over here.  I have a smaller one that I planned to cover with buttons - maybe next year!!

A couple more gingerbread makes.

This one from Dorothy is wicked, pull a little thread and the snake rises to the top - very clever.

Carols adorable bag would hold lots of choccie coins, just the thing for Christmas.

Since making my button frame my mind has been buzzing around with different shape ideas.....Christmas Tree......Star.......Snowflake ummmm maybe I will have time for a little play later.  Would you like to have a play with some buttons?  Leave a comment today and we will announce the winner tomorrow.

No snow here.....so far! 

Please note:  We are closing our warehouse from 5pm Monday 20th and will reopen on 9am Tuesday 4th January.

Now this is not a new idea, but it is the first time I have made one.

....but it was sooo easy and fun to make.  I used all 15mm width ribbons and cut them to about 6cm, folded them in half and pinned to a polystrene cone - simple.  The star was made of gold ribbon and mounted onto a pin.

Rachie has already claimed this for her Christmas table, as I was mean yesterday and would not make her any newspaper crackers!  Sorry there was no tutorial for the poinsettias I will work on one and get it posted. I was a bit short of time yesterday, we thought we had cracked the orders situation only to receive a last minute rush and several valentine orders!!!!  I have some new valentine ribbons, but thought it was a bit early to add them to the site, so I have now added that to my "to do" list.

If you would like a collection of these ribbons to make your own tree, just leave a comment and we will announce a winner in tomorrows posting.

I have a collection of gingerbread goodies that i can find no names for - are they yours?  Please leave a comment a claim your creations.

A perfectly tied bow, I love the beaded detail.

Someone must claim this delightful card it is wicked.

Another wicked creation with our gingerbread girl ribbon.

Wow a really cheeky gingerbread, this card is double sided and a super texture.

Not sure if these tree decs have been made by the same crafty person, but they are both wonderful.  The one on the right hides a secret......a choccie mint!

Hope you have a good day before the snow arrives tomorrow!

Please note:  We are closing our warehouse from 5pm Monday 20th and will reopen on 9am Tuesday 4th January.

Bev came into work with this the other day and said "Can you do something to jazz this up for me please Aliiiiiiiii"(why does my name get longer when my sisters want me to do something!)

All it need was a a little ribbon magic - a simple pom pom bow.

I used my new Bowdabra (here) for the first time in proper work mode, it's brill but my poor bowmaker that Tony made me is starting to gether dust!

I thought the red snowflake ribbon worked really well with the garlands berries it comes in red (here) or silver (here).  If you need a reminder on how to make pom pom bows just click here and you can make them with the bowdabra bow maker.  Don't forget the magic cord (here) it makes the twiddles in the centre of the bows.

 Anybody want to make these pom pom bows?  If you do, just leave a comment today and you could win a Bowdabra, magic cord and snowflake ribbon in red or silver.  We will announce the winner in tomorrows post.

More gingerbread delights to tantalise your tastebuds!

Karen your gingerbread man is gorgeous, I will give him a very Merry Christmas.

Debbie has a wicked surprise hiding in the wallet.

Somebody put the kettle on.

A couple of thes biscuits from Margarets card would go down a treat as well.

With so many different gingerbreads on display could I really eat one! Ruby's one is far to good to eat.

That's better lets move away from food, feeling a bit peckish and it is still too early.  Fairy Crafts made these two adorable cards, I love the heart, is it fimo?  Something else I have never played with.

It's all hands to the pumps again today despatching orders.  We are being held up by some of our supplers, it is amazing how the snow is causing a problem EVEN in areas where it did not snow!!  We are waiting for a new PDQ (visa machine) it left London on a overnight delivery to Dorset on Monday but it has been held up in the snow.  Maybe they watch a different weather channel to me!!!!

Tony has decided that he would like to be a piece of ribbon!  Every evening I go home and play with ribbon and he is feeling a little bit left out.....but Tony this is ribbon season.....everyone plays with ribbon this time of year.

While at Ally Pally in October a really nice lady tried to impress on me the fun and joy of knitting....I would rather crochet then knit.  Knitting takes so looooooong and I can not do it while watching telly!!! Anyway I listened and I tried (I really did try, I promise), all the way up the motorway on our way to Dublin I knitted my heart out. 

I thought it looked a little bit "plain" for the little girl I was making it for, so last night I added the ribbon detail.

Do you think Sydney will like it?

Thanks for such kind comments about my christmas cards, I am not a card maker and would much rather have a needle and thread in my hand then a punch or sticky pads! There was one comment that I think really needs our bag of snowflake ribbons and that was Yvonne.  Does it snow in Austrialia?  Please email us your address Yvonne, not sure we can promise the snowflakes to arrive for Christmas, but I promise they will not melt!!!

You are all enjoying the Gingerbread makes, they are all fantastic.

Carol these two guys are great fun, I love the detail.

Oooh I like this idea from Fairy Crafts, a 3d card very clever.

I have always wanted to have a play with these beads Karen, but thought I would have to wait until Syd was a little older.  Maybe I could buy her some for Christmas and we could play together, great card.

This caused a bit of a stir (sorry!) in Paris Karen, we had to cable tie it to the stand so many people were picking it up!

Look at Karen's detail, isn't it wicked.

A joy of tags from Linda, very elegant.

Another smashing display of goodies, thank you all.  Please do not worry if we have not shown yours yet I still have loads to share.

Keep warm.

I have started making my Christmas cards.  I know most of you finished them ages ago, some of you even started in January.  Me, I am a last minute girl, the ideas do not seem to flow until I am under pressure.

As you know I am loving the new fresh colours we have this year in our Christmas ribbons - the pink and limes are just wicked!

Simple and very quick!  I could not find the shade of pink card I wanted anywhere, but I did find a roll of pink kraft paper, so I simply covered blank white card with the paper.  An old fashioned parcel tag, punched a snowflake at the bottom and a couple of bits of ribbon and that's it - simple.

I used 3mm plain white satin (here) and my favorite christmas ribbon this year, Go Grosgrain pink snowflakes (here).

I know most of the country is still covered in snow, but if you would like some of our snowflake ribbon then leave a comment today and we will put a collection of flakes together for you.  We will pick and announce the winner in tomorrows posting.

More challenge goodies to inspire you.

I really like the way you have threaded the ribbon through the card Wilma, I did have a try but my lines were not straight!

Tracey and Paul another fab collection of treats, these ribboned clothes pags are extra special, they have little magnetic tabs on the back.  Perfect for on the fridge reminders. What a great idea.

A perfect little gingerbread house Ruby, it is adorable.  Clever to put it onto acetate and then decorate the back, adds that extra dimension.

These tags from Natalie are really special, I would love to receive them on my prezzies.

Margaret this little creation of yours caused me so much stress in Paris - everyone wanted the calendar tab.  I could have sold boxes of them, we finally found out that they had never seen this type of thing in France - surely not, as children this was the staple parents present made at Sunday School. All I can say is it went down a storm Margaret. I am sorry to say we are sold out of the little red gingerbread ribbon, but we still have the white colourway in stock.

We did not quite make Amazons level of orders yesterday but it was still a record day! 

Thanks everyone.

All our snow has gone, every little bit! Everything is just frozen solid, have you heard that all the brussels spouts have frozen in the fields and there will be none for Christmas.....YIPPEE!!!

We have a little gift idea today, something you can make from something else!

I have been keeping my eye out for white frames for ages, and I finally found this one in Wilkinsons for only £5.00, it had a print inside that I didn't need, it was just the frame I was after.

The back came off with ease, I kept the print it may come in handy one day.  The backing board was a bit flimsy so I cut a new piece from some card and covered this with some wadding, every notice board needs a little padding.  Believe it or not but the gingham fabric was a tea towel, just the colour I was after.  That was layed over my padded board and stuck in place, trying to make sure it remained straight.

I ooohed and aaahed a bit as where to put the ribbon, but decided that a straightforward cross from corner to corner looked best, then added the other ribbons to dissect it.

As I was only using a card board backing it was easy to "sew" the buttons on, pulling the thread slightly, just so it would indent the fabric a little.  I wanted a country look so I knotted the thread on top of the buttons.

Finished but lacking something......

.......so I made a few hearts to hang from the side.

I used grosgrain 10mm for the board (here) and 6mm for the hearts (here), most of the buttons came from my secret stash but we do have the red tags ones (here).

We thought our "Bingo" bag needed a bit of festive fun so we gave it a quick make over today - just ribbon tinsel and a few bells. Three lucky numbers had to be picked today - was it you?

Number 8 = Trish Lucey
Whoo Hoo Tony thanx for getting in the christmas spirit  3 advent vouchers plus the Friday freebie how fab is that, i,m keeping my fingers crossed.I hope molly enjoyed her crafting yesterday.
(hugs)
Trish (-:

Number 13 = Leslie
 brought some pine cones home from my Father-In-Laws house a few weeks ago and have been wondering what to do with them - now I know, thanks for the great idea. Now all I need is to win one of your fab vouchers so I can buy the gorgeous Velvet ribbon. The velvet ribbon was on my wish list too so even better.

Enjoy the snow!

Leslie x

Number 39 = Carol from Cyprus
A voucher would be great to win! I would have to give some thought as to what to spend it on, but that's not hard to do while I am sitting in the sunshine in Cyprus feeling very pleased that I am not in the UK!

Well done girls you all have £20 festive smackers to spend on our website, please email me at craftyribbons@gmail.com so i can send you all the details.  Sorry to everyone who left wonderful comments, there will be mini FREEBIES throughout our ribbon advent, so stay tuned!!!

Gingerbread men are so popular this time of year, and you did so like the little gingerbread girl yesterday, here is another joyful selection from our gingerbread ribbon challenge.

Carol has been doing a bit of cooking with our dancing Gingerbread men, fantastic.  Hope it has calmed down a bit at work for you, fancy work getting in the way of crafting!!!

We have a very festive Gingerbread Teddy from Claire, he even has the mistletoe ready!  We love him. It doesn't seem like it in the photo but this is a huge card, I have no idea what card sizes are but I would call this A4 square!

Fairy Crafts your card is a dream, good enough to eat.  We will have to keep it away from Tony, he has a passion for Christmas puddings!!

Karen the receipt sounds wonderful - Apple Gingerbread, but I couldn't find any in your parcel, it says it makes 12 bars!!!! Just perfect, great doily.

Margaret has made a book with the gingerbread story, oooh it is so sweet......

.....it is a long time since I have read the story.  Sydney is desperate to have a sleep over in our new house and I promised she could before Christmas, thinking she would forget - not our Syd, she reminded me over the weekend.  This will be perfect to read to her, I do not have many childrens things here - well none.

You may have noticed that I am showing your goodies a little different to normal, remember they have been on our exhibtion stands so have got separated - more goodies tomorrow.

Wow the days are slipping by, we are already on day 5.  I managed to remove the gremlins from yesterdays post, so you can find the project HERE .

You have seen todays idea before, but I have received so many emails, asking for the details, that I thought I would include it in our advent truck.

A pefect gift jar for teachers, neighbours, family and friends. It is really easy to put together - all the ribbons come from our Gingerbread Collection HERE. I have written the Instructions with a list of ingredients along with a printable copy of the tag with the cooking instructions all HERE.

I hope you have fun making them up, I gave mine to a friend who kindly waters my plants while we are away at exhbitions.  Sadly I did not get to eat any of the made biscuits but she said they were wonderful and did not last long!

Todays project over, but what you really want to know is who has won the two little Gingerbread men, it was a tough decision, you all left super comments.  I am so pleased that you all thought Sydneys crafting was great, I think she is a star and I love crafting with her.  She is only 5½ and her little face lights up when I suggest we do something, although she is not so keen when it is "Tidy up time"!!! 

Anyway I digress, so who is going to be giving my Gingerbread men a home this Christmas........

 Jan Marshall

Syd your makes are fantastic, how clever you are
Love the gingerbread men they are great, I cannot sew for toffee's, they would sure be made comfortable here
xx

 Hi Jan please email us your address to craftyribbons@gmail.com so your two new friends can come and join you for christmas!

They are HERE yes they are, the first batch of photos from our gingerbread challenge. Some have been on display at the Hobbycrafts show and most of them came to Paris with us.  Oooh I did have some trouble in Paris, the ladies wanted - the stamps, the kits, Margaret kindly made a calendar, they wanted the little calendar tab.......no, no they are all ideas to use our gingerbread ribbon!!! It was fun.

The little gingerbread girl is so sweet Beryl, I never think of making little girls.

Gemma this is so simple, but caused quite a stir in Paris, i had to show the ladies how to tie bows - it was basically watch my hands, I have no idea how to say it in French!!!

Leslie you only sent me two receipt cards, didn't you?  This was sooooo liked I had to move it to the back of the stand out of reach! 

Paola this card is adorable, the little tags were greatly admired, we sold out of all the Alpha Tag Gingerbread Men in the first day!  But you can still get them HERE

Wilma is that ribbon embroidery I see at the side of your card.  Fantastic card and the little key charm is so cute.

This is only the first 5 cards from the challenge, I have loads more to share all next week. 

Sweet delights everyday.

SORRY THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW FULL

Gingerbread Men

We got so upset in the summer, we could not find any ribbons with Gingerbread Men.  We searched and searched but no luck......

......so we commissioned our own Crafty Gingerbread Man ribbon.  He is a very happy Gingerbread man, dancing along the ribbon.

Our NEW Ribbon Challenge # 19 is all about Gingerbread Men - ribbons, buttons and tags.  If you also have a passion for these fun little guys then why not join in with the challenge.  We have 15 bundles of Gingerbread goodies to give away, so just send me an email to craftyribbons@gmail.com and these cute guys could be coming your way for free   - in return all we ask is for you to send us 2 projects using the goodies.

I have wanted to make one of these ingredient jars for ages, I planned on making one for the countdown to Christmas last year but ran out of days! Just fill a jar with the dry ingedients for Gingerbread Cookies.  Put half the flour into the jar and press it down firmly, then add the suger.  Finally mix the spices and ginger with the balance of the flour and fill up the jar.  Write the cooking instructions on to the tag and it makes a perfect little gift.