More Cuteness

These are my newest creations that will be sold on my website.

These hair bow holders have 3 ribbons 40 inches in length to help you organize all your hair pretties.

The Pink/Blue Elephant

 No more squished bows, and pairs can stay as pairs.

The Pink/Green Turtle

The Purple/Green Caterpillar

Glitter Tulle Bows

Miss Sailorette

Lost Tooth Collage

  What fun this week is joining May Arts with Petaloo.  Have you ever had one of those ah-ha moments?  Well, I did the other day, and I'm going to share it with you.  My youngest lost her first tooth so of course we need to make some memories of it.  I love the versatility of art canvas, but I've never thought to turn it around and use the back side until the other day when I had some things laying around and set them in the back side of the canvas.  So, here we go. 

I got thinking about fairies since when you lose a tooth who else visits but the tooth fairy.  What could be better suited for this than Graphic 45's Once Upon a Spring Time collection with an assortment of fairies,   some delicious embellishments from the lovely Petaloo, and gorgeous May Arts ribbon.

Supplies used include:  10X20, 4X4, 4X5 art canvas, 5X5 wooden frame, small open square and circular frames, acrylic paint, fluid chalk, distress ink, glue, hooks, Petaloo embellishments, 

and May Arts Ribbon...

Q71 1.5", UK32 1.5", 389-18-46 1/8", 372-1-06 1"

 First I cut a fairy to fit in the frame.  I then used fluid chalk and distress ink to color my frame.

 Next, I tore some of the scrapbook paper and used the distress ink to age it some.  I tore it at an angle as you can see above.

 I painted my art canvas pieces and on the bigger one I used the distress ink again around the edges.  On the smaller two I used glitter spray mist over my paint.  For the wooden M, I used some brown fluid chalk and then used the glitter spray mist to coat over it.  I embellished with flowers and ribbon and glued every thing in place.

 Here are a few close up views.  It's a little hard to see but I trimmed the small oval and square frame with the 1/8" velvet ribbon.  I also put ribbon over the scrapbook paper, under the picture on the 4X5 canvas.

 A close up of the wooden M.  No paint, just fluid chalk and glitter spray mist.

I love how it turned out.  My thoughts are to possibly add wooden flowers underneath with pictures as she loses her other baby teeth.  We shall see.

I hope you enjoy this tutorial and it inspires you to think backwards at times!  Wink, wink!!

Ta-ta!  Andrea
Project made for http://www.mayarts.com/blog/

My Latest Hair Bow Design

This is my latest Hair Bow Design using May Arts 

ED10 1"Reversible polka dot ribbon

and 

Some really sparkly black tulle.

Check out the cuteness!!!  

 These will be sold on my website, along with some other gorgeous colors very soon.

I hope to see you back soon!!

The Bow Lady

As a Design Team member of May Arts, we had another blog exchange week with

 Creative Imaginations and May Arts?  These two companies make a great pair, if I do say so myself.

Check it out!

Growing up in a patriotic family, going to parades etc., and being a military wife, I have to admit I love all shades of Red, white and blue. 

I was more than excited when I received my box of Creative Imaginations goodies only to find that the papers and stickers were patriotic.  Yippee!!

I hope this project inspires you to get in the mood for Red, white and blue, Creative Imaginations ( which I know you all have, wink wink) and of course the LOVELY MAY ARTS!!

 Check out this classy ensemble of Creative Imaginations paper and stickers!  Oolala!!

 I've had these larger clothes pins, that I think are so cute and decided to make a miniature patriotic clothes line.  

I first made some adorable clothes by finding some free printable pictures on line.  I wanted them to look realistic.  Some of them I colored with water color pencils, the striped dress was a patterned piece of C.I.'s paper, and later will embellish them with some darling May Arts ribbon.

 I cut some of C.I.'s other patterned papers to fit my clothes pins and glued them on both the outside and the inside of the c.pin.

I then took some fluid chalk, ( love this stuff ) and went around the edges of the clothes pin and paper to give it a nice finished touch.  I also went over the bare wood which gave it a stained look.

 I used some mini-eyelet screws and then tied some May Arts  363-28 red twisted burlap for the clothes line.

I happen to have some mini, and I mean mini, clothes pins in red, and blue to hang the clothes with. 

 I used SM14 string burlap and stitched it with a needle on the top above.

 I used some word phrase stickers and added them to the C.I. stickers I received.

The other ribbons I used were:

AKB03 7/8" 

KB03 3/8"

RG33 3/16"

AF03 3/8"

NX01 3/8"

Thanks for joining me today!!

Ta-ta, Andrea.

More Roses

I decided to play around with ribbon today, go figure, and see what other style of roses I could come up with.  Check this one out.

A cute head band I made for my neighbor's daughter to have their family pictures taken.

C-ya later alligator!

Andrea

Ribbon Roses

Hello fans!  I'm thrilled to be able to share this project with you today.  It has been absolutely delightful to be part of the May Arts Design Team.  I have a deep passion for ribbon.  Having my own hair bow business and being part of the May Arts Design Team, I have ribbon from my top floor to my bottom floor and still find myself looking at ribbon when I go to the store. May Arts ribbon however is in a class of it's own.  Let me show you just how real ribbon roses can look using some of their extraordinary ribbon. 

First, I will show you how to start your ribbon rose.  It really is pretty simple.

 This stick is a slightly smaller version of your ordinary Popsicle stick.  You can find these at your local craft store. 

Start with the stick at an angle and begin to roll it towards the bottom of your ribbon until the top of the stick is covered by about 1/4" of ribbon. This measurement is only an approximate.  You'll get the hang of it after trying it a few times.

At this point you will fold the top of the ribbon down to cover the stick.

 After folding it down, continue to roll the stick a couple of times to give you the look of the center of a rose.

 While holding the stick you will fold the ribbon away from you as shown above and continue to roll the stick. As the ribbon begins to wrap around, this fold begins to give you the petal look.  You will continue to fold and twist the ribbon back every half to full turn of the stick.

  You will begin to see your flower take shape.  Continue this pattern until desired size of flower.  For this project the ribbon length ranges between 30-48 inches of ribbon for one flower.

You can use sequin pins to pin the flower underneath as you create your petals to help hold the flowers shape.  You can leave the pins in since they won't be seen or you can put glue in between some of the layers and take the pins out.  You can also stitch it with some thread.

The stick and sequin pins help you hold the ribbon and keep the flower more uniform.  Once you have formed the flower you can take the stick out, which is what I have done, or you can leave it in and wrap it with some green floral tape for an arrangement.

 Begin placing the flowers on the wreath to decide how you want to organize them.

This sheer loop ribbon is absolutely adorable and will add a nice elegant touch to your roses.  I definitely want to get more of this ribbon!

 Make 3 bunny ears and wrap some floral wire around the bottom.

For wreath bows I use this wooden "EZ bow maker" I picked up years ago.

 Wire the layers together and cover you wire with some more ribbon in a smaller size.

Now fluff those loops and you'll be set.  You can use fabric stiffener on your bow if you choose to or, what I like to do with my bows is bake them.  Yep, I said bake.  All you have to do is line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil, turn you oven to 250 degrees and once it's Pre-heated stick it in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  The heat will set the shape of your ribbon without discoloring it.

Place everything on your wreath until you have it where you want it.  Then begin to hot glue everything in place.  Wire your bow to the wreath and there you have it.  Isn't it darling?  Using different ribbon materials gives the flowers different character.  I love making these with the EN satin/scalloped ribbon.  The scallop gives the flower such a delicate look.

The Ribbons I Used Were:

EN 09,14,17,22  1.5" 

HA 01,09,14,17,22 1.5"

QH 01,09,14,17,22, 1.5" 

367-58-01,09,14,17

XB 17,22 1.5" 

I have often thought a wreath like this would be nice for a funeral in place of real flowers.  This is something that will last forever.

Supplies:

Wreath, ribbon, wire cutters, scissors, glue, sequin pins, sticks, lighter, greenery, other embellishments, and ruler.

I love being able to share my ideas with you and hope you like them as much as I do.  I love hearing your comments too.  I hope you enjoy this week and all the projects of the many talented women.

Cheerio!!  Andrea

Project made for http://www.mayarts.com/blog/