Gathered Ribbon Flower Tutorial and Sneak Peek

I'm really honored to be a guest designer for the August kit of Freehand Scraps. The new kit is chock full of yummy goodies, which I can't reveal quite yet. But I can show you a few sneak peeks.  Today, I am going to show you how I used a few products in the August kit to make a gathered ribbon flower.

One of the items in the Freehand Scraps kit is this Crate trim from the "Neighborhood" collection. Love Crate trims! I used the shell-colored ruffle ribbon to make my flower. This trim is perfectly suited for flower making because it has the nice elastic at the bottom, which is easy to run a needle through.

I used orange embroidery thread here so you can see my stitches. The stitches won’t show so you can use any color thread you have on hand. Make sure you tie a good knot at the end of your thread because you will have to pull on the ribbon to gather it.

Use your needle to make long running stitches on the elastic part of the trim. After you’ve stitched the length you need for your flower, use your fingers to gently gather the trim. The ribbon will naturally curl into a circle. You can make your gathers tight or loose, depending on the look you prefer. Once you have your circle, either backstitch or tie a knot in the other end of the thread to secure it. Then stitch the two ends of the ribbon together to hold the circle. Don’t worry about stitching neatly because none of the stitching will show once you add a decorative center.

The ribbon was a little too pink for my project, so after I had gathered the flower, I misted it with Tattered Angels’ “Peach Delight.” I love the way you can use mists to color ribbon and trim.  I always mist lightly first, then again if I want more color. The photo above shows the flower after a first spray with mist.  To give the flower a deeper hue, I misted it again.

The last step is to embellish the center. I used a small circle sticker from Basic Grey’s “Out of Print” collection topped with an adhesive pearl. Both the sticker sheet and adhesive pearls were in the August kit.  After my flower was completed, I used it as a decorative center on a die cut butterfly to mimic the butterfly wings in my photo.

Now you have a sneak peak at one of my Freehand Scrap projects. I'll post the full layout next week. 

Echo Park Projects

I spend a lot of paper-crafting time on projects for my little boy, so it’s a treat for me whenever I have a reason to make something pink and girly. A friend asked for ideas for an elephant-themed card to welcome a baby girl and I knew right away that I wanted to do a shaped card. I don’t have a die cut machine, but since an elephant shape is pretty basic, I figured I could draw one. I practiced on scrap paper, then drew an elephant shape on a 5x7 note card.

Once I had my shape, I selected pink and floral papers from Echo Park’s Country Drive collection. I covered the shape with patterned paper, then added a floral blanket with pink trim, a felt cheek, a rhinestone eye and a little butterfly cut from patterned paper. To finish the card, I attached a pink ribbon tail, border punched toes and a floppy ear. A little machine stitching all the way around was the final touch.

She’s pretty cute, I think:

Echo Park supplies

Country Drive collection: Flutter By and Clover Meadow pp

While I had the Country Drive papers out, I noticed that the B side of Daisy Fields looked a bit like tiles in a swimming pool. So, I grabbed that paper and paired it with a few sheets of Echo Park’s Splash line to make a summer page.

This layout, called “So Hot Even The Cars Go Swimming,” is about my toddler’s deep and abiding love for his cars. As you can see, he and his cars are rarely parted, even at the swimming pool. And to be perfectly honest, it’s been so hot here that the cars probably appreciated it!

Echo Park supplies

Country Drive collection: Daisy Field pp; element sheet; alpha sheet

Splash collection: Mini Stripes, Fish and Diecut pp; element sheet; alpha sheet

Little Boy collection: element sheet

Here’s a closeup of the title work.

It’s not unusual for my son’s cars to show up in my paper crafting projects. Sometimes quite literally. As in this case, where his white convertible became an integral part of the project.

Echo Park supplies

Summer Days: Element sheet and journaling cards

Playground: Element sheet and journaling cards

Springtime: Journaling cards

Little Boy: Element sheet

For details on how I made the shadowbox, please see the blog post here:   http://writesnapscrap.blogspot.com/2011/06/i-am-primarily-layout-maker-but-i.html

　

Guest Designer for Birds of a Feather Kit Club

I am so excited to be a guest designer this month for Birds of a Feather Kit Co. The July kit gave me joy! It was filled to the brim with summer fun from Cosmo Cricket's "Salt Air" line and vintage goodness from October Afternoon's "Five & Dime." Plus added embellishements from Webster's Pages, K & Co. and Kaisercraft.  I had a really wonderful time playing and creating with all the goodies.



Here is a picture of the kit and the patterned paper add-ons:

 These are the projects I created:

12x12 layouts

                                

Cards

Altered Frame and Mini Album

For more information on BOAF kits, follow the link below and be sure to check out the projects by fellow guest designer, Janet. The site also has a great message board. The posters there are warm and inviting and oh, so smart. It’s a great place to hang out, meet new friends and get some crafty inspiration:  http://www.birdsofafeatherkitco.com/  I just saw a peek of the August kit and it looks fab!