This week on our blog, we showed you one way to jazz up the Fourth of July with ribbon!   But there is more than one way to make this celebration pop using ribbon.  We want to hear yours!   Post a comment with your ideas & enter for a chance to win free ribbon.   Feel free to send in photos to sales@mayarts.com, we will happily post them all!  Details are listed below:To enter: Post a comment.

• Start date:  Monday June 29^th, 2009

• Deadline: Sunday July 12th, 2009. 

• The prize:  6 - three yard spools of May Arts Ribbon.  Your choice!

• We will select one entry.  The winner’s name will be posted on Monday July 13^th.

• The winner will have 2 weeks to contact us & claim their prize.

• Domestic & International entries are all welcome.

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Like snowflakes, no two of my cards are alike. Oh, a lot are similar with the same attributes, sentiments and papers-- But each card I make is individual and unique. Not sure why this is…I guess it helps me use my supply and not get upset if I run out of a certain item.  I just substitute something else and go on my crafty little way. In order to keep my card ideas flowing, I often use a BASIC RECIPE.  I am going to share this secret with you.

For my FIRECRACKER cards I used the following recipe:

• one line of paper (Basic Grey Boxer line)

• one color cardstock (Bazzil Kraft)

• the same embellishments (buttons and tickets)

• coordinating ribbons (May Arts solid two tone ribbon in two sizes and a solid/stitched center ribbon.  Bittersweet AF38 and Navy Royal Blue AF03 light blue/black BT94.)

• same simple card design

*I am calling these FIRECRACKER cards because the 3 ribbons together looked to me a little like a firecracker.I started with one ribbon—looked good.

A second ribbon was added…oooh.  Looked FESTIVE!!!

With three to get your FIRECRACKER!

*Add envelopes and tie with a ticket tag, and BANG!  A festive set of cards--For the next July BBQ you already have the perfect hostess gift.

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Happy Independence Day from May Arts!!!

Click here for details on this week's Fourth Of July contest!

Blog Posted By: Leah Farrar-White

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Once again, we want to thank you all for participating in our blog.  Everyone’s ideas are truly inspirational!  We have enjoyed reading your comments & look forward to more in the future. 

This week’s winner is Melissa Burnette:

"I like to stamp monograms or related images and use embossing powder to raise the image on the ribbon. It's a great way to personalize the page."

Melissa, this sounds like a fun & creative way to use your ribbon!  Congratulations!  We always love to see pictures, so please feel free to send us some photos at sales@mayarts.com!  We will gladly post them for everyone to see!  Please forward your shipping information & your ribbon selections to the email address above!

There’s always a new contest running, so be sure to keep on coming back each week for a chance to win!

Click here for details on this week's Fourth Of July contest!

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In this week’s blog post, we show you embroidered ribbon on scrapbook pages.  There are so many interesting ways to use ribbon with scrapbooking.  We want to hear yours!  Post your ideas and methods for scrapbooking with ribbon.  As always pictures are welcome (sales@mayarts.com), but all you have to do to enter the contest is post a comment. 

The details are listed below:

• To enter: Post a comment.

• Start date:  Monday June 22nd, 2009

• Deadline: Sunday June 21^st, 2009. 

• The prize:  4 - three yard spools of May Arts Ribbon.  Your choice!

• We will select the most creative entry.  The winner’s name will be posted on Monday June29th.   

• The winner will have 2 weeks to contact us & claim their prize.

• Domestic & International entries are all welcome.

To enter our contest & post your comment, click here! 

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Alright, it’s true.  I only passed Jr. High Home-Ec because they gave enough points for having a good attitude to make up for my misshapen apron.  I was sew-phobic for years.  (still am!)

About 3 years ago I decided to give it another try... on paper.  I love the extra texture and character I had seen sewing add to paper crafting projects in the magazines. For Christmas, I asked for a sewing machine “for the purpose of sewing on paper only.” I explained to my husband.  With cardstock, patterned paper and adhesive in hand, my husband and I went to a store called SEW SASSY and took a Janome machine for a “test drive.” Right there in the store, when I experienced what it looked like and how easy it was…I was HOOKED.  We went home with my new machine, wrapped it and put it under the tree.

After months of sewing scrapbook pages, mini books and cards, I realized that maybe, even I could actually sew on FABRIC.  I was a little timid at first, but I actually went ahead and used my beloved sewing machine to sew FABRIC! It worked!  I didn’t break my machine.  I went to the public library and checked out every book on machine sewing I could find.  With the library books near-by I created a few simple projects -  a few pillows, some bean bags for the Brownie Troup, and I even made a blue jean quilt for my son! 

Here’s the thing, while looking for books on machine sewing, I was drawn to all of the books on embroidery and stitching on the same shelf. Sooooooooo I threw a few on my stack, which led me to attempt embroidery (as if I need another hobby!!!)  I fell in love!  I taught myself the stem stitch, the back and chain stitches, and even the split stitch.  My favorite stitch of all is the French knot.  It is a little gem of a stitch and it didn’t take too long to become proficient.  I made French knot flower centers.  French knot borders.  French knot clusters…What can I say, French knots just make me happy (sigh). Wait!  What if I combined the happiness of French knots with my love of paper crafting! A-ha!  We have come back full circle---sewing on paper! 

I invite you to pull out that box or bag of embroidery floss…I know you have some somewhere!  Are you a past cross stitcher? Maybe you have some left from friendship bracelet making days? (At summer camp I knew a girl who made a friendship belt! Seriously.) Find that floss and put it to use with your May Arts ribbon!

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The Olive faux suede leaves ribbon. (XL16) is a beautiful ribbon.I loved it paired w/ the joyous picture of my son and his tiny plant.  To the center of each leaf I stitched a French knot. This ribbon can add whimsy to any nature Layout.

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The Amazingly fun Parrot Green/Raspberry Sheer/Print (wired) ribbon (355) with bright yellow French knots in the center of the design created a fun embellishment that tied the colors of my photo and papers together.

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The Royal Blue floss I used matched the color of the stitches in the Parrot Green/Royal Stitched/Grosgrain ribbon.I liked the ribbon paired with the bright, fun-orange /yellow grosgrain/ horizontal lines ribbon (333).

Click here for details on this week's scrapbooking contest!

Blog posted by:  By Leah Farrar-White

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* SUBLIME STITCHING has a step-by-step instruction for FOOL PROOF FRENCH KNOT:   http://www.sublimestitching.com/frenchknot.html

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*(Supplies: SPROUT-Papers by Bazzill, October Afternoon, Jilly Bean Soup. Alphabet Cloud nine. Colored pencil.   MISS MAKEUP-papers by Bazzill, Basic Grey, Sassafras Lass, embellilshments Sassafras Lass, Kaiser.  Alphabets Jenni Bowlin, American Craft, black Pen.  PARTY!-Paper: Prima and Scenic Route, Alphabet Basic Grey.)

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Some ribbon, some glue and you can easily give an old frame a new lease on life.

Imagine the many ways you can personalize the following covered frame design.  I have illustrated the project using a standard 5” X 7” X 1/2” frame, but any ½” frame will work as well.  Simply increase ribbon lengths and rosettes. 

I selected an especially colorful 1 ½” ribbon to bring happiness to this tired old frame.

MATERIALS:

• May Arts Ribbon, item # TR47  -  3.5 yards

• Frame  -  5” X 7” X ½”

• Tape measure

• Scissors

• Permanent glue stick

• Hot glue gun

• Tooth picks (not colored)

• Permanent spray adhesive

• Small white buttons  -  10 mis-matched

TO DO:

• Measure the sides of the frame for the exact lengths. 5" X 7" could mean the outer dimensions or the size of the opening.

• Cut 2 pieces of ribbon the exact length of the 2 long sides plus ½” and the same for the short sides.

• Fold under all eight ribbon ends as shown in ILLO. #2a. The angle is approximately 45 degrees measured from the edge of the ribbon to be placed on the frame’s inner edge. 

• Finger press these folds and secure with a scant bit of glue stick – applied with a toothpick.

• Fold, press & glue the remaining raw ribbon ends as shown in ILLO. #2b these folds will prevent any fraying at the corners.

• Working with one ribbon piece at a time, coat lightly with spray adhesive following the label’s directions.

• Carefully place ribbon on frame.  Wrap the ribbon’s inner edge slightly around the frame’s edge.  (NOTE that since this ribbon is an asymmetrical plaid, care must be taken to position all four sides with the same colors innermost and to keep lines as straight as possible.)

• Wrap the remainder of the ribbon’s width around the frame – smoothly and firmly.  If there are small areas that don’t want to stick, correct this with a bit of glue stick, using a toothpick.

• One-at-a-time – repeat these steps for the opposite side of the frame and then for the 2 remaining sides.

• Now the frame should be securely covered, showing no raw edges.

TO MAKE RIBBON ROSETTES

• Cut 10 pieces of ribbon 7 ¼” long.

• Fold ribbon piece in half, ends together. Thankfully, this ribbon has no right or wrong side to be concerned with.

• By hand or machine, stitch the 2 ends together, with a ¼” seam.

• Fold the resulting ribbon loop in half – seam inside. 

• Very close to the folded edge, using long hand or machine stitches through both ribbon layers, sew completely around the loop.  Be aware that the 2 sides of the folded ribbon are different.  Keep this in mind when making rosettes.   Gather these stitches as evenly as possible by carefully pulling the thread, then securing the gathers with several strong back stitches on the back of the rosette.

• Distribute gathers evenly around the center of the rosette.  If it appears too open or too loose, make small adjustment stitches on the back.

• Stitch a small button neatly over the gathered centers of each rosette. 

• Using a hot glue gun or other fast-acting adhesive, consult the original photo for placement and secure the rosettes in place.

Your finished frame can hang from an unseen wire across the back, a showy ribbon hanging on the wall, or poised on an easel.  Remember, it looks good, coming or going.

Food for thought:  A decorative ribbon like this plaid can be manipulated into different designs. Below, notice the color and size variations determined by where the ribbon is folded and where it’s gathered.

Blog Posted By:  Ellen Highsmith Silver

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Thank you for all of your encouraging comments this week.  We are happy to know you are all enjoying our new blog!  There is more to come each & every week. Remember to keep coming back for new posts, the sharing of ideas and, of course, a chance to win free ribbon!

This week’s winner of the recycling contest is Stacy Smith:

"I have used scraps to spell out letters on the front of cards like "hi" or "hello" or even "love". It's fun to see what kind of letters you can make."

Stacy, congratulations & thank you for entering our contest!   If you have any photos of your work, please send them in to sales@mayarts.com for us to post here. We would love to see them!   Please contact us at the email address listed above with your ribbon choices & shipping information.

Be sure to check out this week’s contest, click here for details!

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We have all been thrilled to see such a wonderful response from everyone!  All of your comments have been inspiring to read.  The ideas that were posted seemed to be practical & imaginative all at the same time!   That being said, there must be a winner.  There was one comment posted that seemed to stand out as undeniably creative & original!  This was posted by Judi Slingerland:

"I use ribbons everyday in my business of custom invitations. Storage has always been a major problem. To solve this, my husband bought four eight-feet lengths of rain gutter from Home Depot. I attached the end pieces and sprayed them black and he hung them on the wall of my studio. There are four of them that hold the bolts upright and the ribbon ends hang over for easy selection. An inexpensive and perfect solution!"

Judi, we love this idea!  So much in fact that conversations have been overheard here at May Arts of trying this out ourselves!  We would love it if you could send in some pictures for us to post!  Please contact us at sales@mayarts.com with your ribbon choices & shipping information.                  

Congratulations to the winner of our first contest!

For those of you who did not win last week, fear not!  There is another contest already posted!  Again, thank you for all of your comments & keep on checking back for the latest & greatest that May Arts Ribbon Blog has to offer!  We truly hope that we are all just beginning to share in each other’s ideas & love of ribbon!

-The May Arts Team

Judi,

Thanks for sending in a photo for everyone to see...

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Too pretty to throw away? Our scrapbooking post this week is all about reusing something old.  There are always scraps of ribbon, used bows & leftover yardage from your last project.For this week’s contest, we want your ideas for reusing your ribbon.  Prizes will be awarded for the most original entry.  Again, all we want you to do is post a comment.  Feel free to send in photos to sales@mayarts.com…we will be happy to post them!
Here are the details:

• To enter: Post a comment.

• Start date:  Monday June 15^th 2009

• Deadline: Sunday June 21^th, 2009. 

• The prize:  4 - three yard spools of May Arts Ribbon.  Your choice!

• We will pick the most original entry.  The winner’s name will be posted on Monday June 22nd. 

• The winner will have 2 weeks to contact us & claim their prize.

• Domestic & International entries are all welcome.

To enter our contest & post your comment, click here!

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* Featuring May Arts chenille center dot ribbon.

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Little Yellow Box

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(Materials: scrap of pattern paper, yellow box, orange chenille dot ribbon WP28, adhesive.)

Instructions-

Measure paper to fit top of box.

Adhere with adhesive.

Wrap ribbon around top edge of the box. Adhere.

Ends should meet in the back of the box.

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Turquoise And Purple Stripe Box

 (Materials: recycled box, purple WP47 and turquoise WP34 chenille dot ribbon, adhesive.)

Instructions-

Measure width of the box.

Cut ribbon in strips.

Adhere w/ scrapbook adhesives.

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My Stuff Box

(Materials: red box, red chenille dot WP14, 2 kinds of alphabet stickers, adhesive)

Instructions-

Frame the edge of the box with the red chenille dot WP 14 ribbon.

Add alphabet stickers for title

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Ticket Box

(Materials: recycled die cut box, tickets, turquoise chenille dot WP 34, adhesive.)

Instructions-

Anywhere product information is listed on the box…add tickets.

Tie bow with the ribbon.

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Blog Posted by: Leah Farrar White

Click here to view details on our "Recycling Ribbon" contest!

(Other materials used: 3L Scrapbook Adhesive tape runner, Sassafras Lass paper,  AC thickers, Jeni Bowlin Alphabet, Tim Holtz adage tickets)

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