Ribbon Techniques, Part 1

I've been looking forward to sharing my favorite ribbon techniques with you.  Today, I'll begin with the first of a 6-part series on ribbon techniques, using my Ribbon Techniques Album.  I hope this will be a good reference for you and maybe even inspire you to create your own album.  I'll feature 4 pages per post, so you can see all the techniques I've included in my album.

I wanted the album to be a valuable resource and look nice, too, so I coordinated each page by using the color story from our Eastern Elegance DSP.  The color story includes Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate, Crushed Curry and Whisper White.

First up, before we get to the album, here's an idea of what to do with extra ribbon scraps.  The boys and I stuffed them into a bird suet holder.  The birds come along and pull out strands of pretty ribbon for their nests.  Now, if they'd just leave the wreaths alone on my front porch!

Now, for the album.  Let's start with the cover, which features several ribbon techniques before we even open the album.
- I've tied 3 ribbons strips to each of the binder rings holding the album together. 
- I've pleated a curved row of ribbon and actually stitched it on using my sewing machine. 
- I've tied a sprig of ribbon and attached it to the top, right corner with Liquid Tombow.
- I've pinched a short piece of ribbon in the middle and tied it with Baker's Twine.
- I've added a little tag of ribbon sticking out from under the album label.

Now, let's start through the album pages!  I'll share several pages each post, until you've seen the entire album.  Remember, we made our albums with Eastern Elegance DSP and its color story.  The little odds and ends of embellishments and punched pieces are added to make it all look nice together as an album.

Page 1 ---
Left:
Wrap a piece of ribbon completely around your project layer.  Take a second piece and form it into a 'bow' in your hand.  It's just a loop, tied in the middle.  Tie Baker's Twine around your 'bow' and then around the first ribbon piece to hold it in place.
Right:
Make a ribbon accent, using a 'sprig' of ribbon that is attached with Liquid Tombow.  This is like the 'sprig' on the cover of the album.   This time, instead of doing a v-cut on the ribbon ends, I angle cut them.  It's a good look and also helps with control of fraying.

Page 2 ---
Left:
Wrap a piece of ribbon completely around your project layer.  Add a button accent.  Super simple.  Super cute.  You could add a bow of Baker's Twine on top of the button.  We were focusing on the ribbon.
Right:
Slip a piece of ribbon through the slit opening at the top of the tag.  Do not tie it at all.  Tie a piece of Baker's Twine around the ribbon, close to the tag, to hold it together.

Page 3 ---
Left:
Let 3 pieces of skinny ribbon hang over the edge of your project, securing them in the back.  Add punched pieces to encase the bottom ends of the ribbons.  Because these are in an album, I secured the ends of the punched flowers in place on the page, so they would stay secure in the album, even with lots of page turning.  On a card, you could choose to leave them loose.  This technique looks nice with little punched stars, as well.
Right:
Cut a long piece of seam binding ribbon.  Ball it up in the palm of your hand and spritz it lightly with water, while still holding it in your hand.  Relax it, roll it tighter again and keep repeating this process several times.  Set aside to dry, while still crumpled tightly.  Check it from time to time, adding more 'crumples' in places that may still need it.  This is a good vintage look.

In my next post, we'll see 4 more pages, so be sure to check back soon.

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