BoBunny's Ribbon Week!

Have you been visiting the BoBunny blog? All week long the design team has been posting FABULOUS projects - think outside the box when it comes to using your ribbon!! Today wraps the week with "anything goes!" Wait until you see the adorable Easter decor made by Kristen!  For my project I chose to create a layout of Abby on the first day of school - our big first grader.

If you like the look of the ribbon frame, let me offer some tips. First, use a circle frame underneath which you can stitch the ribbon to. My circle frame is from chipboard, but of course cardstock works well, too. 5/8" wide ribbon is easier to work with than the more narrow width - but the key is to cut the width of your frame less than the width of the ribbon.

One thing I learned, the hard way, when stitching looped ribbon frames and strips for embellshments (and I must say I have been doing this a lot in the past 6 months!) is that taking looped ribbon held in place with adhesive gums up your sewing needle terribly, and will eventually cause the thread to break. I discovered that paper clips work WONDERFULLY for holding loops in place, and allows you to ensure the spacing is pretty even. I just pull them off as I would a straight pin, but paperclips are much easier to maneuver when creating such a piece.

Create "pom pom" flowers with various widths, stapling onto punched circle, and shaping underside of circle with mod podge to give lift. I used punched circles from my scraps stash, but it measured about 1.25". Once complete the circle is not seen. Layer your ribbons, making the pieces in the top layer a bit shorter. For the largest flower in the layout I actually layered two completed ribbon layers together, for a total of 4.

Arrange your pieces and carefully and position in the stapler to be secured together. Then take a good sharp scissors and fringe the ribbons towards the center. Be certain not to cut ribbon from the layer underneath.

To give the ribbons some lift, I used a glitter bottle as a molding base, set the ribbon flower upon the bottle upside down, and pressed down on the circle punch to encourage the sides to create a dome shape. I then spread a thick coat of Mod Podge on top, and once dry, the paper circle maintained the shape.

 

 

 

To finish off the flowers free-hand cut leaf shapes. I happened to cut out leaves from green Bee Mine from the Love Bandit collection, and stamped with BoB Sunburst acrylic stamps using Cactus Green Staz-On, and coated with sparkle Mod Podge.

 

 

 

 

Another idea for using ribbon is to simply create a few loops,secure with glue dots, and make a butterfly shape. Use a piece of contrasting ribbon for the center, or simply use gem stickers on their own to create the body.

Lastly, I painted BoBunny's blush alpha chipboard letters with a topcoat of translucent paint called Lumeire by Jacquard. This paint gives a beautiful pearescent sheen when applied, and Pearlescent Magenta was a perfect color match for the pinks in Abby's vest. Once dry I traced around the edges with a Sakura black glaze pen to define the edges. Note the small blooms from the patterned paper cut out and added to the center.

BoBunny Supplies:

Double Dot Ribbon in Pink Punch and Licorice, both 5/8" and 3/8"

Love Bandit Nuts 4U and Bee Mine, Persuasion Cut-Outs (inside

journaling frame) and Dot (green grid side - punched border)

Chunky Chipboard Swirls and Brackets, Alpha Blush

Boo Crew Buttons, Alissa So Cut iCandy Brad, Delilah Buttons & Bling

Sunburst Acrylic Stamps

Other:

Rub-ons: Making Memories

Inks: Staz-On by Tsukinko in Cactus Green and Fuschia

Pink Pearls: Hero Arts

Rhinestone Flourish by Zva Creative

Pearlescent Paint: Lumiere by Jacquard

Pens: Sakura Glaze Pen, Zig Writer

Thread

Sparkle Medium: Sparkle Mod Podge by Plaid Entr.