"Creativity" for Once Upon A...Sketch November Challenge featuring Really Reasonable Ribbon

Nadia has created another fabulous challenge for our November Once Upon A...Sketch Challenge. This month's theme is "My Happy Place." There are a number of happy places in my life that I share in my journaling. One of those special "places" is expressing my creativity. Creativity has always been an important part of my life. Even as a little girl, I could be found sewing up doll clothes, crocheting little book marks, crafting gifts for family and friends . . .  Paper crafting has been a fabulous creative outlet for me. This layout is about how creativity is my happy place and features ribbon, flowers, and adhesives from the Really Reasonable Ribbon Store. 

"Creativity"

Journaling Theme: "My Happy Place"

You are free to interpret our theme ANY WAY you like. It is for your inspiration and this theme word DOES NOT need to be part of your title or journaling. But please make sure your layout is based on the sketch below and includes journaling (hidden journaling is fine). Acceptable journaling is MORE than just a sentence, or generic writing such as date/place etc. It need to be present and at least 3 lines long. Remember, hidden journaling is perfectly fine but please DO let us know in your post where your journaling is!

Tips and Techniques:

Here you can see the cluster with the Grungy Wrinkled Ribbon bow. My tutorial for this ribbon technique can be found here. I started with White Seam Binding and used my Zutter Bow-it-All to tie the bow. This tool is quite handy and if you are interested in learning how to use it, the best videos I've seen are by RRR owner, Bonnie Garby. And you are in luck, Zutter has provided a Bow-it-All for her to give away. You can find links to her fabulous videos and enter the Bow-it-All giveaway drawing here. 

You can see my mixed media background where I've stenciled, misted, and brushed with gesso. The gorgeous Dusty Attic Ornate Gate chipboard is simply painted with white spray gesso. 

I used a mix of flowers from Really Reasonable Ribbon and my stash. Here you can see the 20mm White Open Rose and Chrysanthemum. I dry brushed most of my flowers and metal flourish with gesso. 

More Really Reasonable Ribbon Flowers ~ Chrysanthemum, Cottage Rose, and Open Rose. I've been trying to use up items from my stash and here you can see these sweet epoxy stickers that I tucked around this cluster. I tucked in some White Crochet Lace below and above my photo. Scor-Tape works beautifully for adhering lace and ribbon!!

I recently went to an auction with a friend. Oh my, there were rows and rows of odd lots and boxes of stuff. One of the things that caught my eye was this basket of old paint brushes. I've been seeing some pretty cool decor projects using old used up paint brushes and thought these would be perfect for decorating. They got grouped with some other odd boxes and I lost the bid, however, the woman who purchased the lot was delighted to sell them to me for a dollar. When I saw this month's OUAS challenge, I thought this rustic basket of brushes would be the perfect object to express the idea of creativity. The old weathered chair and gorgeous fall mums are a perfect backdrop for this charming basket. 

I painted this butterfly chipboard piece with metallic paints and dry brushed with gesso. The metal piece is also brushed with gesso. This cluster features WOC Chrysanthemums, Cherry Blossom, Cosmos, and a sweet Open Rose from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

Here is what my journaling says, "There are many things in my life that bring joy . . . my Lord, my family, the beauty of God's creation . . .  Something that has always been a happy place for me is creativity. Pulling out mixed media supplies to paper craft brings joy to my day."

Really Reasonable Ribbon Products: Seam Binding ~ White 1/2" White Crochet Lace ~ May Arts 3/8" Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ 20mm Open Roses - White Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ 25mm Cottage Rose - Mixed White/Cream Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Cherry Blossoms - White/Cream Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Chrysanthemums - Mixed Pink/White Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Cosmos Daisy Stem Flowers - Pink/White

Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Sweetheart Blossoms - White Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Sweetheart Blossoms - 2-Tone Baby Pink Zutter Bow-it-All Scor-Tape 6" x 6" Other Products: 7 Dots Studio ~ 9th Wave Collection Prima flowers, stencils Dusty Attic chipboard Heidi Grace Epoxy word stickers Momenta metal flourishes Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Mister Huey Color Mist Gesso Light Molding Paste Clear epoxy circles Be sure to stop back by tomorrow (Friday) afternoon for some exciting news I'll be sharing!!

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Thanks A Bunch for Donna Salazar Designs and Really Reasonable Ribbon

There's something so special about a handcrafted thank you card. I've created one to have on hand featuring Donna Salazar Designs products along with Ribbon and Wild Orchid Crafts Flowers from Really Reasonable Ribbon for this girlie grunge card.

Be sure to check out my tutorials included in this post. I show how I create my Bitty Blossoms Roses. They are so easy to make and can be used on any kind of paper crafting project from layouts to cards and altered pieces. I cut my paper scraps with the Bitty Blossoms dies and use spare time riding in the car or watching television to make them up to have on hand for my projects. I've also included a tutorial for the Grungy Wrinkled Ribbon I used for my bow using seam binding. 

"Thanks A Bunch"

Tips and Techniques

Here's a close-up of the flower cluster featuring my Bitty Blossoms Roses. The tutorial on how I make them can be found later in this post. I dabbed my flowers and the edges of the card with Clearsnap Glue Gloss, then sprinkled with Clear Fairy Dusty Glitter. I love the sparkle Donna's glitter adds to this card!!

Really Reasonable Ribbon carries a wide selection of gorgeous Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers. Here I've used Chrysanthemums, Sweetheart Blossoms, and Open Roses along with some hand crafted flowers using Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms and Carnation Creation dies by Donna Salazar. 

You can also see some of the mixed media background behind the flowers. I stamped the top corner with Donna Salazar Designs Dear Sir Stamp by Art Gone Wild with Jasmine Mix'd Media Inx, then heat embossed with Jasmine MMI Embossing Powder. I spritzed with Clearsnap Smooch Spritz in Tea Party. Then in the bottom corner I used Donna's Brass Corner Stamp again with Jasmine MMI and then embossed with Clearsnap Top Boss Clear Embossing powder. Here I rubbed Petals MMI CHOX over the embossed image. 

I die cut Donna's GCD Studio Natural Beauty paper from the 6" x 6" paper pad using her Spellbinders Pockets and Swirls die set. I adore the design printed on the denim paper and placed the smallest pocket die so that the design would go across the top of the pocket. I embossed the pieces while they were still in the dies. Once I removed the die cuts, I highlighted by rubbing MMI over the embossed areas.

The smallest pocket die pierces holes around the design which I used to hand stitch using blue embroidery floss.

 

Can I just say how much I adore the seam binding from Really Reasonable Ribbon? It is so versatile. Bonnie carries a huge selection of colors. I have collected my share of them, but my go to color is white, and I had to buy an entire spool!! In my tutorial below, I show how to color, wrinkle, and grunge it up - so perfect for those shabby chic projects!! 

I finished my sentiment inside the card using Donna's GCD Studios Family Jeans Chipboard Alphas highlighted with Denim Mix'd Media Ink, which I also rubbed around the inside card edge. 

Bitty Blossoms Tutorial

Supply List

Spellbinders ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Bitty Blossoms Dies

SpellBinders ~ Artisan X-plorer

Large Tip Stylus and Foam Pad

Glue

Quilling Tool (Optional)

Round Nose Pliars (Optional, but very helpful)

Step 1. Die cut one Medium Bitty Blossoms Flower with your die cut machine. I used my Spellbinders Artisan X-plorer. 

Step 2. The next thing you want to do is to cup your petals so the flower will look more natural. Use a stylus with a large tip and use a circular motion to cup each petal. Start on the small end on the right side and cup the first two petals. 

Step 3. Turn the flower over on your mat so that the back side is showing. Continue to cup each petal with the stylus. This photo shows how your flower should look when all the petals are cupped: 

Step 4. Starting on the end with the larger petals with the right side facing up, use a round nose plier to roll the first 10 petals back as shown. You could also curl the petals around a skewer or something similar. However, if you own Bitty Blossoms and plan to make them regularly for your projects, the round nose pliers will make things go much faster!! 

Step 5. For the 10 petals you rolled, go back and this time roll back each side as shown:

Step 6. Using a quilling tool on the small end, start rolling your flower. The design on the right side will be on the inside as you roll, so in the photo below I will be turning the quilling tool in a counter clockwise direction. I have found that it helps to use my fingers to help mold and wrap the paper around the quilling tool to keep it from tearing. 

Hint: If you don't own a quilling tool, don't worry, you can just roll the flower with your fingers (which is Donna's preferred method of rolling.) For me personally, I've found I can roll the flowers up more quickly using the quilling tool.

Step 7. Continue rolling with the quilling tool until you reach the petals you rolled back in steps 4 and 5. Remove the quilling tool and hold the rolled flower in place. 

Step 8. Continue to roll with your fingers to the end. Bend the glue flap into place. Release the flower and it will uncurl/loosen up just a little: 

A view of the back. You can see how the back looks in this shot:

Step 9. Pull the flap open and apply glue to it. Fold it back into place and while the glue is still wet, arrange your flower making sure the outside petals are offset. 

Here you can see a finished Bitty Blossoms Rose.

You can use Bitty Blossoms Roses individually in clusters or as flower centers for larger flowers. I have used them both ways on my card:

Now for my second tutorial of the day:

Grungy Wrinkled Ribbon Tutorial

Supplies

Supply List

Really Reasonable Ribbon Seam Binding in white

Mix'd Media Inx, Jasmine

Mix'd Media Inx CHOX - Petals

Water in a misting bottle

Heat Tool (Darice)

Nonstick Craft Sheet (Ranger)

Tweezers (EK Success)

Step 1. Measure out the length of ribbon needed for your particular project. Remember there will be some shrinking during this process, so you will want to add some length to account for this. I used 23 inches of ribbon for the triple loop bow on my card. Notice how nice and smooth this ribbon is coming right off the spool. It won't be that way for long!! 

Step 2. Rub ink color(s) of choice onto a nonstick craft sheet. This pink was a little darker and brighter than I wanted for my ribbon, so I also put down some Jasmine (white) ink to mix with the pink. You can use any color of water based ink for this technique.

***Hint*** If you would like to keep your rayon ribbon the original color, you can spritz the ribbon with water and skip the coloring part of the tutorial. 

Step 3. Spritz the ink(s) with a light misting of water. 

Step 4. Rub the ribbon through the inks - blending and mixing the two together as you go. I didn't mix them together first, because I wanted the ribbon to be blotchy with darker and lighter pink areas and even some small areas that were left white. 

Step 5. Scrunch the ribbon up and hold with a pair of tweezers. Don't over think this step and don't try to make it pretty - just randomly scrunch. Also don't worry if some of the edges get a little frayed looking. That's part of the grungy, shabby look I was going for. You could also do this with ribbon that is already colored to add wrinkles. Skip the coloring/ink steps and just spritz the ribbon with water and follow the remaining steps here. 

Step 6. Dry with a heat tool. To get the center of the bunched up ribbon dry, you may need to take the ribbon out of the tweezers and bunch it up again to expose more of the damp section. Repeat until it is all dry. It just takes a couple minutes for this type of ribbon. Also if you overheat the ribbon, it will singe and turn a little yellow. Again, that was fine with me. If you don't want any yellowing, you could allow the ribbon to air dry over night scrunched up in the tweezers or keep the heat tool further away from the ribbon and keep it moving. 

Here is a photo of the ribbon once it is dry. You can see the color variations and the wrinkles that result from this process. 

I tied a triple loop bow on my fingers using Ginny's tutorial found here. You could also whip out one of these bows in a jiffy using the Zutter Bow-it-All, now carried in the RRR Store. 

Supplies:
Paper
GCD Studios ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Natural Beauty 6" x 6" pad, Wall Vines A, Rosy B
GCD Studios ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Family Jeans Heirloom B, Family Clouds B, Family Dots B
ChipboardGCD Studios ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Family Jeans Chipboard
AlphasColors/Inks/Mists

Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mix's Media Inx: Jasmine, Denim
Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mix's Media Inx CHOX: Sparrow, Petals
Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mix's Media Inx Embossing Powder: Jasmine
Clearsnap ~ Top Boss Embossing Powder - Clear
Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Smooch Spritz: Tea Party

Dies

Spellbinders ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Bitty Blossoms, Carnation Creations, Pockets and Swirls

Stamps

Art Gone Wild ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Dear Sir, Brass Corner
Bling
Want2Scrap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Build Your Own Bling 1

Embellishments

DMC Embroidery Floss ~ #823
Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers 

Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Chrysanthemums - Mixed Pink/White

Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Sweetheart Blossoms - 2-Tone Baby Pink

Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ 15mm Open Roses - White

Ribbons/Fibers

Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ White Seam Binding

Mixed Media

Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Fairy Dust Glitter: Clear

Tools

Zutter ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Distrezz-it-All Spellbinders Artisan X-plorer

Heat Tool

Adhesive

Clearsnap Glue Gloss

Helmar ~ 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, Premium Craft Glue

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Fall Leaves for RRR Fall Leaves Challenge

Fall is in the air here in northeast Ohio. We live atop a large hill in an open field completely surrounded by forest. As I look out my kitchen window each fall day, I see such gorgeous colors that change day by day. The photos on this page were taken just last week, and my view is much different only a mere week later.

These photos are just perfect for the Really Reasonable Ribbon challenge starting today ~ Fall Leaves. I got to combine some of my favorite products on this page including ribbon, lace, cording and WOC flowers from RRR, Clearsnap Smooch Spritz and Mix'd Media Inx by Donna Salazar Designs, 7 Dots Studio 9th Wave collection, Prima Stencils and Helmar Adhesives.

Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #82

Fall Leaves 

And of course include some ribbon, lace or cording on your project! 

"Enjoy Fall"

To enter this challenge, create a card, layout, or any handcrafted project. Just be sure to follow the theme and use ribbon, lace, or trim somewhere on your project. 

Really Reasonable Ribbon Products

Seam Binding, White, 1/2"

Jute Rope ~ Natural

May Arts Netting ~ Champagne, 1.5"

Chloe Natural Crochet Lace, 5/8"

Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Sweetheart Blossoms, White

Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Cosmos Daisy Stem Flowers, White

Wild Orchid Crafts Mulberry Flowers ~ Cherry Blossoms

Tombow 3D Foam Tabs

Scor-Tape 6" x 6"

Zutter Bow-it-All

I used the Dusty Attic October Sketch as inspiration for this layout:

Tips and Techniques

I created this beautiful five-loop bow using White Seam Binding and the new Zutter Bow-it-All. this new bow tool is so handy and Bonnie has put together a fabulous video tutorial on making basic bow which can be found here. The Bow-it-All is so easy to use and creates tiny to large bows. I love how quickly I can put together a multi-loop bow and know that all the loops will be nice and uniform in size. There are a few hints to using this tool which Bonnie does a wonderful job explaining. 

After tying the bow, I brushed some Sea Breeze Smooch Spritz across the bow, heavier in some spots than others to get a mottled appearance. Then, I dry brushed the bow in spots with gesso. 

I also dry brushed many of the elements like this metal piece and flowers with more gesso. All the pale blue flowers tucked in around the larger orange flower are white WOC flowers tinted pale blue. A close-up and details follow. 

Bonnie sells a wide variety of gorgeous Wild Orchid Crafts flowers in the Really Reasonable Ribbon Store. I like to keep white flowers in my stash so that I can color them as I did here on this layout. I had a mostly used bottle of Donna Salazar's Sea Breeze Smooch Spritz. I added a little water and poured the colored liquid out onto my craft mat and with a fine tip paint brush, applied to these flowers. (I always save those nearly used up bottles of mist until I get every last drop from them. lol) Of course when dry a bit of gesso was brushed on. 

The rolled flower is created with Natural Jute Rope and the tutorial can be found here. Instead of dabbing with black ink, I brushed on gesso and dabbed with pale blue ink. You can also see the beautiful Chloe Lace I tucked into the layers surrounding the photos. 

 A side view of the focal cluster.

I adore texture and the May Arts Champagne netting was roughly cut along the edge and tucked under the edge of the painted corrugated board and photo. I added some blue ink under the tucked in flowers and butterfly, the netting took this color so beautiful giving a crackle appearance. 

This sweet butterfly came in a Bits and Pieces prize I won from C'est Magnifique earlier this year and is handcrafted by Cathi O'Neill. Yes indeed, I brushed it with the Sea Breeze Smooch as well. 

This Dusty Attic Foliage piece represents my fall leaves. I painted it with Super Heavy Gesso to apply a base of texture. I then brushed on several layers of ink in yellows, golds, orange, and red. It is raised and adhered using Tombow 3D Foam Pads. 

This Dusty Attic Wrought Iron piece is painted in metallic cobalt blue and dry brushed with gesso. Here you can see some of the mixed media background - stamping, molding paste, misting and paint. 

The title was created with the DA UPPER mini ABC chipboard letters on a background cut with Spellbinders Decorative Labels Twenty-Two, then inked. The letters were painted with DA Sunshine acrylic, then dabbed with Mix'd Media Inx. Finally, I sprayed them with Helmar Crystal Kote Glossy Spray to set the color and give a glossy shine. 

I hope you've been inspired to create a project for 

Really Reasonable Challenge #77 ~ Fall Leaves

Be sure to stop by the RRR Blog for all the details and prize information.

The Really Reasonable Ribbon Store is a fabulous place to find that special ribbon or fiber to fit your paper crafting needs! 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Pillow Gift Box for Really Reasonable Ribbon

What beautiful fall weather we are having here in Ohio with cooler days and gorgeous fall leaves. 

I have something a little different to share with you today. You know those clear plastic pillow boxes that some embossing folder sets come in? I decorated one as a pretty gift box featuring Really Reasonable Ribbon along with Donna Salazar Designs Antiquities paper.

Pillow Gift Box

Really Reasonable Ribbon Products:

Silky Crush Ribbon, Champagne 1.5" by May Arts

Juliet Natural Crochet Lace 5/8"

Wild Orchid Crafts ~ 15mm Open Roses, Deep Ivory

Wild Orchid Crafts ~ 25mm Cottage Rose, Mixed White/Cream

Wild Orchid Crafts ~ Chrysanthemums, Mixed Pink/White

Bow-it-All by Zutter

Scor-Tape 6" x 6"

Tips and Techniques:

Bonnie is now carrying the Zutter Bow-it-All in the Really Reasonable Ribbon Store. I used it to created this gorgeous double loop bow using Silky Crush Champagne Ribbon. I scrunched the ribbon and tacked into place using Helmar 450 Quick Drying Glue. The portion of the ribbon wrapped around the box is adhered with Scor-Tape. 

I trimmed the top of the gift box with gorgeous Juliet Natural Crochet Lace. This lace has a lot of give and curved around the "pillow" top beautifully!! 

I used my new Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Two dies. The slots in the sides of these dies is just perfect to thread this gorgeous ribbon through. 

I have a thing for beautiful jewelry findings and this beautiful black piece by Tori Spelling is a recent find. I love the dangling chain segments which add so much motion to this piece. 

These Wild Orchid Crafts flowers make such a lovely cluster above the bow. I added a berry sprig from my stash. I inked the edges of the die cut pieces to help them pop. 

I hope you've been inspired to pull out your stash of Really Reasonable Ribbon lace, ribbon, flowers, tools and adhesives to transform some packaging into a beautiful gift box. 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~