We launched 9 of our NEW Ribbon Kits this morning, there is one more to go online, but for some strange reason the photo was not where it should have been.  I have never been very good at filing - paper or electronic!

Meet Daisy the Cow.....

...a little bit of fun with ribbon embroidery.  You can find all the NEW Ribbon Embroidery kits HERE

Poor Rachie and Mollie have been ill today, some sort of tummy bug, so the office was very quiet!  Half term, so I saw no little ones this afternoon either.....no one to pick the numbers from my "Bingo" bag.... Oh dear.....Bev!

So all on her own Bev managed to pick 4 numbers, the winners of this weeks Friday FREEBIE prizes of Bev's bags are.....

Number 3 = Kara
The forecast is for snow at the end of the week, so to recieve a little bit of spring would be lovely. Glad Paris went ok and you got home safe.
xxx

Number 34 = Craftygranny
fab ribbons . spring ribbons would be fab. weather man reckons snow for us. lol not very spring like.

Number 39 = Ros Westcot
your project section is great for ideas  and does not involve buying lots of templates etc usually needed for card making! I just love the little ruffled ribbon idea and will definitely be using that one.
Regards Ros
P.S.  I have just made a super bow to go on a celebration bottle of champagne.  I used your red, wired ribbon, got three layers and finished off with a red stick- on flower jewel in the middle.   Used the ribbon to make a loop to hand round the neck of the bottle.  It looks fabulous.

Number 47 = Misti
they look so cheery amd colorful Love fridays......

To claim your Bev's bag, just email us at craftyribbons.com with your address.  Thank you to everyone that took part, 62 comments was the most we have had in a long time - maybe it was down to Facebook or Twitter?!

Lots planned for this week, Syd and I are playing with buttons tomorrow so looking forward to that.

Get well soon Rachie and Mollie, we missed you today.

We have certainly had a busy week at the ribbon warehouse.  Our Christmas rush has truly started, it caught us slightly by surprise and we had to extend our despatch date of orders to 2 days.  We all put in an amazing day yesterday, we even had poor Tony pulling orders, yep he was measuring away!!! 

Fridays are becoming harder for me, what should the Friday FREEBIE be this week?  We have launched so many NEW ranges over the past few weeks that it is difficult to choose. I have just looked out of the window and it is cold and crispy - decision made.....

....two of the NEW Autumn Leaves Collection. There are some wonderful autumnal ribbons in delightful shades, and 3 colours of the jumbo ric rac!  If you would like a chance of winning this seasonal Friday FREEBIE just leave a comment.  We will pick the winners on Monday.

If you are having a problem leaving a comment due to our spam filters please email it me at craftyribbons@gmail.com and I will add it for you.

I was allowed to rip open all the Challenge parcels that arrived after the Exeter show yesterday for their photo shoot.  Not sure I needed to add the fake snow it was soooooo cold outside.  I looked like fagin with my fingerless gloves!

First out of the pile was Rosemary's envelope.

What a joy it was to feast my eyes on the card, the detail is staggering Rosemary.

Tilda Santa Claus, I love the cross over bow effect you have created Rosemary.

I got called a star yesterday by a customer, made me feel really good! This bauble ribbon is just perfect for the glam Tilda.

I do not know how you girls can bear to part with your cross stitch, she is perfect Trisha.  I like the way you have cut the baubles from the ribbon.

I have called this "Snow Girl", I want those gingerbreads Trisha.

Look at this little lot, they are just wicked.  But they do hold a surprise......

....yummmie.

This card intranced me.  Trisha explained that the Snail was designed for the Ear Trust Charity, look a little harder at the card, it is not just a snail.

It also held a suprise.  Some very creative goodies Christmas goodies Trisha.

These hair grips have come all the way from America. They are certainly very festive Misti and I know a certain little girl who will be quite happy to give these delights a good home. Hope your Friday FREEBIE prize has arrived.

Poor Maggie has been unwell ever since her challenge ribbons arrived.  We do hope you are feeling much better. This card would make anyone feel special.

This is a bit clever.  Maggie has cut the snowman from the very wide ribbon we sent everyone (HERE) and used it to decorate her tag.

Oh, Oh I got very excited when I say Maggies napkin ring.  That's my bow - my tutorial had been followed! Sorry but I have no idea whether they are being read and tried, or I am just writing for myself!!!  I then read maggies note and yes she followed my instructions - thank you Maggie, this bow has made me feel really good.  If you missed the tutorial you can find it HERE.

That's it I have no more Ribbon Challenge goodies - well that can mean only one thing........

......and I have just the ribbon waiting to share with you all. 

See you sometime over the weekend!!

I know I am being a very busy bee at the moment and you may feel as if I am bombarding you with NEW ribbons and goodies all the time, but there is a reason.

From Tuesday of next week I am away from the office, my precious computer and the internet for almost 2 weeks, although I hope for some connection at the hotels - going on holiday.  HOLIDAY! If only.  No, Tony and I will be exhbiting in Dublin next week at The knitting and Stitching Show at the RDS and the following week we will be at Hobbycrafts at the NEC - anybody coming to see us??

So I thought, if I got my skates on I could get lots of NEW goodies on the site before I went away.  I had not planned to put this item on until after we had returned from Hobbycrafts....

Jumbo Ric Rac

.....but several of you had spotted a few colours in the Autumn Leaves Collection (HERE) that I launched yesterday and wanted to know if we had other colours. "Oh Yes" Tony replied "Ali will be putting it on this week".   He knew I had taken the photographs as he had steadied my washing line for me! So here it is Jumbo Ric Rac - enjoy.

 I am way behind on launching the next set of goodies. I designed these Christmas Ribbon Kits for Christmas 2009 but sold all the stock at the Paris show in November!

This is called Surface Ribbon Embroidery because the ribbons do not go through the fabric, very easy to do. I am holding one of my rare Ribbon Embroidery Workshops in Dublin next week, there are only 14 places each day and I normally sell out, so please book early by clicking HERE.

If you want to have a dabble with Ribbon Embroidery then give these kits a whirl, they really are very easy and you can find them HERE.

Carrying on with the Christmas theme I have another selection of Ribbon Challenge goodies from Karen and Beryl - have a look and grab some inspiration.

Karen I think your card single handed sold all my stock of this ribbon at Exeter and Aly Pally.  It is stunning and everyone believes so easy to replicate.  We are limited on this Snowflake Ribbon (HERE) and we can no longer provide it on 20mtr rolls - sorry the stock is almost gone.

Notebooks, I love notebooks!  I have lots, way way more then I could ever use - I do not smoke, drink or eat chocolate, but stationary and ribbon - oh boy!  Karen you have fed my addiction it is wicked and the colours, wow they are scrummy.

You would feel very welcome indeed, if you found this little package when you arrived at Christmas. Look what Karen has done.....

....ooooh. Can I come and stay!

Beryl has also hit the mark with this card, I (and many others) love the way you have cut the poinsettia out of the ribbon.  This ribbon is being bought to go round christmas cakes!!  I have been reliably informed that you need 75cms to go around the cake and then 25cms for a fake bow.  This ribbon is sold in a 1mtr length PERFECT!! You can find it HERE.

Beryl this was gorgeous, I am sorry to say that it was stolen off our exhbition stand in London.  It must have been by a very tall person that stole it, as it was pinned to the top fascia of the stand.

Thankfully I took this close up picture so you can all enjoy Beryls work. Stunning Beryl - thank you.

Beryl you must have put hours of work into this card.....

......delightful Beryl.

I still have more for tomorrow but I must leave you and head to the warehouse.  I have been trying to think of others things I could do at home today, but alas I have given the job of checking orders again today. "But Ali you know all the ribbons, you are so much quicker then us" yeah crawling will get you nowhere.  The warehouse is cold and I do like my warmth....better go and find my thermals!!!

We are showcasing Wilma's goodies from our ribbon Challenge - Strawberry Shortcake today and she has cooked us up some yummy creations.

Clump Farm Strawberry Jam - is that somewhere down Tin Pot Lane Wilma? Very clever.  Not only do we have the jam pot but....

....we have the reciept too. Wilma there is NO WAY I can cook in my NEW kitchen! I have only just worked out how to turn the oven on without the manual!!! But Tony is very partial to Victora sponge with strawberry jam, so it will definately get used.

Oh!  This is scrummy, please correct me if I am wrong, but I think it is "Tea bag" folding.

I love the way you have woven the strawberry ribbon Wilma, looks stunning.

Not sure I have confessed this before, but I am a "Note Book Girl", I have hundreds, all shapes and sizes, so this little sweetie will be finding it's way into my private stash! Wilma has stitched the ribbon to create the pleats, then stuck them dowm, ingenious.

Ooooooh and its got room for lists, the girls will tell you all about my lists!

This is rather special too, what a clever use of the ribbon. You have excelled yourself Wilma, some great treasures, we hope they have inspired you to do a little bit of crafting with ribbon.

 I will let you into a little secret, only if you read this posting will you know, we are not telling the "world" until tomorrow.

OUR CHRISTMAS RIBBON SALE IS ON THE WEBSITE - CLICK   HERE   FOR SOME SUPER BARGAINS

All Christmas ribbons in the SALE have been in our main range, but are now retired and we only have small amounts of them left. When they‘re gone, they‘re gone!!  Have a good old rummage and be the first to enjoy some great bargains. The prices are fantastic, £1 ribbons down to 20p, 20mtr rolls were £14.00  now only £4.00

We have also started to add the back log of NEW ribbons to the site - NEW 13mm silk ribbons in 10 soft muted victorian colours have joined the range view them HERE

Phew, it has been a busy day.

You all seem to get a little nervous when I mention these next two little words  - Ribbon Embroidery.  Calm down, calm down, it really isn't very scary.  Tony can do it with his big fingers, so if he can so can you!

I made these tags to go on a project that I will show you later in the week.  I can tell you no more as they are little prezzies I am making for the girls.  I have photographed the tags on the ribbons that they will be combined with, just so you do not think I am a little mad! Working with ribbon for so long, you curl a little!!!

Believe it or not, but the ribbon forming the letters is Ribbon Embroidery.  These tags are for Vicky and Sarah.  Are you brave enough to follow the tutorial? I hear so many strange comments while on the exhibition stands about ribbon embroidery - "Far to fiddly" - "No, can't do that, haven't got enough patience" - "It will take me way to long".  I have always thought they are rather strange things to say, but ho hum everyone is different.

Here goes - Ribbon Embroidery the Crafty Ribbons way.

You need 3mm Satin ribbon, lots of colours HERE, embroidery needle and thread.  If you are going to try the tags then the only extra bits you need are felt tags!  I cut mine using a Sizzix machine and a large tag die.  Write the initial onto the felt using a felt tip pen.  You will cover the ink with the ribbon so don't worry.

Secure the thread on the reverse side of the tag, and bring the needle and thread to the front. I am using a cream thread, so that you can see my stitching on the black satin ribbon.

Cut the 3mm satin ribbon into 3cm lengths.  I normally make a pile of these and pick them up one at a time. Put the needle into the centre of one end of the ribbon, as close to the cut edge as you can without it fraying.

Take a stitch to the bottom edge of the ribbon.  Do not pull your needle through the ribbon after each stitch.  Keeping it on the needle is much easier.

Take the needle to the top edge of the ribbon, so you are sort of zig zagging from bottom edge to top edge.  Do not sew straight down the middle, it will not give the same effect.

Continue to the end of the ribbon.  Bring the last stich out in the centre of the ribbon (like how you started).

Push the ribbon off the needle and all the way down the thread until it sits flat on the felt.

Push the needle back into the start of the ribbon where it originally came up, so it goes through the ribbon and through the felt.

Pull the thread so that the ribbon loops over.

Keep pulling until your ribbon scrunches up to make a stitch.  In my work shops I call the the "Oh, ARRRH" momment!!!  Congratulations you have completed your first ribbon embroidery stitch.  Was that easy or what?!  O.K. it is not traditional ribbon embroidery, they didn't have polyester satin ribbon when it was invented, they only had pure silk ribbon. This is Surface Ribbon Embroidery which is quick and easy to do, it uses polyester 3mm satin ribbon and can be embroidered on anything - even card.

Continue with another stitch, following your drawn line.

Keep going, stitch by stitch.

I finshed the tag by sewing straight stitches around the tag, and adding two shades of 3mm satin ribbon to the top of the tag.  Because I used cream thread, you can just see one or two of my stitches, by using matching thread this wont happen.

You will have to click back later in the week to see what I have done with these.

Happy sewing

Phew.... what a busy weekend, it was almost a relief to get back to work this morning!!

I managed to finish my embroidery project, without too many late nights.  It was Mollie's Christening on Sunday and I have been working on a little jacket to go over her christening gown.

Rachie really wanted me to embroider the Christening gown, but as it is a family gown, Rachie being the last baby to wear it (does this make it an antique!!) I was reluctant to do so. The jacket seemed to be the perfect answer.

I used silk ribbon, 2 shades of pink and antique white for the flowers and the French Knots in 7mm and 4mm for the leaves.  I wanted it to look fresh so made it quite a simple design. I only used 3 different stitches, five petal ribbon stitch flowers with french knot centres, french knot roses and ribbon stitch leaves.  I also scattered a few single french knots around the design to "fill" any gaps.

The jacket had small shell buttons, but they looked rather dark and heavy, so I embroidered a french knot rose to the centre of each button.

I embroidered a matching card for Mollie. After all this hard work, Sunday was a scorcher and Mollie only needed the jacket in Church!  Well never mind.......

It was also my birthday over the weekend, the girls made a surprise birthday party for me today, with a cake and candles.  It was lovely, thank you.

My Nan taught me how to sew, and it is still a passion of mine today.  We used to make dolls clothes and little blankets together.  Blanket stitch is the first stitch I remember learning, and it appears to be back "in fashion" again.  This is Rachie's favorite picture of Mollie.  Her dress has a form of blanket stitch on the sleeves, and the little house embroidery is finished in blanket stitch.

I had the layout all planned, but all the pink paper I had was too PINK, and all the white was too WHITE.  I am miles away from any craft store, so I had to do a bit of combining!  I used a pink pearl card for the base then overlayed it with a white hand made paper.  I think this has made it rather delicate, suitable for "Miss Mollie".   The border and the photo have both been hand stitched.

I do love the flowers and they are sooooo easy to make!  There is a lot of sewing on this layout (which I enjoyed - all down to you Nan!). The flowers are made from 15mm sheer with a knot of ribbon to form the centre, 6mm grosgrain for the stalks and the leaves.

You can not see the little house embroidery in the main photo, but it was just too cute not to include!

In France you can have photographs turned into stamps. Rachie brought this one to show me this morning - so thought I would include it in the layout, that's what scrapbooking is all about!!!!

Have a fantastic weekend, don't forget the change in the clocks...... I lose an hour of scrapping!!!!!

Crafty Ribbons is in Paris at the L'aiguille en Fête (Festival of the needle) exhibtion at La Vilette in the Grand Hall.  La Vilette has been recently restored to its former glory, it is a iron structure with a glass roof, the building is surrounded by original Parisian cobblestones.  It is set in a park, which is part of the Cite of Science, also in the park are two restored working watermills powered by nearby canels.  

This ribbon embroidery design - Paris en Fleur is on display on our exhibtion stand.  It uses our New Hand Dyed Silk Ribbons as well as a new wooden button of the Eiffel Tower.

If you are unable to see this embroidery in person, then you can print the chart for FREE from our website.  Just click the picture below.

Have fun with ribbons!

It was Sam's 1st Birthday today and his card was shown on "Milkshake" TV - yeah, well done Bev x (Our ribbons have been on telly!)

With the bad weather coming, I decided that I needed to finish my scarf that I had been crocheting for ages.  But it looked rather plain and not very jolly!!  So I embroidered these little red tulips using our NEW Hand Dyed Silk Ribbons.  The ribbons are a delight to work with and so easy to make these tulips.  Tony and I are off to Metz in France this evening, so this scarf will keep me extra warm.

 

We have snow in Dorset!  We never have snow here!!!!!!