Ribbons & Flowers Inspiration

Ribbon & Flowers inspiration

When I need to add that something “extra” to a layout that is lacking, the first thing I reach for is my ribbon and flower stash. They are an effective way to add colour, texture and dimension to a layout, quickly and easily! They can be girly, bold, sheer, colourful, or elegant, funky, sweet or just the perfect addition to that masculine page as well. The most versatile of embellishments, they come in an infinite number of colours, sizes and designs, which means you’re bound to find the perfect one for your next project. Use them to create a subtle accent or add that extra elegance. Just check out the DT work below, for some awesome inspiration.
Tips & Techniques
How to deal with fraying Ribbon? Trimming the ends of the ribbon tails at an angle will keep the ribbon from fraying. You can simply cut the end of the tail at a straight angle, or cut an inverted “V” into the end for a sophisticated look.
Ribbon to wide for that hole? Try making your own threader with a thin piece of wire, bend it in half insert it through the hole backwards, thread the ribbon through the wire loop, and then pull the wire back through the hole with your ribbon with it.
How to print on ribbon!

1. Print words onto scrap cardstock. You need the heavier weight of cardstock to support the ribbon. (I prefer to have my printer set to landscape so that the ribbon is running in and out of the printer – not across the page.)
2. Use double sided tape to adhere ribbon, directly over the top of the words you printed on the cardstock. Only tape around the edges.
3. Feed the cardstock back thru the printer in the same way again. The words will print in exactly the same place on the sheet, which means you have printed on your ribbon.
4. Carefully peel the ribbon off the cardstock. If you peel carefully the tape will stick to the cardstock not the ribbon. You can then discard the cardstock scrap.
5. Use your ribbon word strips, as borders, tags, or even as journaling.

by Paula Perry
When Sonia said that this month’s inspiration was to be on ribbon & flowers, I could not have been happier...I love them both. They are such an easy way to add colour & dimension to a page from a hint to the full on array. They come in such a variety of colours, patterns, & sizes that they can suit any layout. Ribbons can be attached in various forms like staples, brads, & glue but I use 6mm 'Xpress it' double sided tape, though with the Queen & Co. red felt I used 'Xyron' adhesive runner.

'Essence of U' - Bazzill cardstock; Pink Retro Series 1; FTI mini stitched ribbon in ruby, cerise, dusty pink & lavender; FTI stitched 10mm in ruby & lavender; Heidi Swapp - sweet ribbon, clear corners love stamp, white paint; Autumn Leaves journaling stamps; Stampin Up markers; MM beach red rubons; dimensional magic.

'Perfect Girl' - Bazzill cardstock; Autumn Leaves flourishes clear stamps; Bubble Gum VersaCraft ink; Petaloo lge daisy flowers; Queen & Co. Fab flowers kissy fit; MM bling brads; FTI Ric Rac white & pink flowers; Heidi Swapp fuzzy rubons; flower centres created with chipboard painted with HS pink & dimensional magic.

'Bloom' - I was one of those admiring this felt ribbon at the retreat...very excited to use it...wanted to keep it simple to not take away from this gorgeous stuff! - Bazzill cardstock; Queen & Co felt red ribbon; Basic Grey mini monograms painted red with American Crafts rubons & dimensional magic; Stampin Up stamps; black brad.

by Michelle Winston
Ribbon and Flowers...what to do with them? There are many creative ways to use ribbon and flowers, and here's just a few. Use them to frame a picture, as I have in my ‘J_Dreams’ LO. For extra pizzazz, I also machine stitched around the ribbon edge. You can also use ribbon and flowers to make things look pretty...my ‘gift bucket’ looks bright and funky, courtesy of the many pieces of ribbon tied to its handle, and its matching blooms on the front!
‘J_Dreams’:- Bazzill; Chatterbox Decorative Ribbon – Chocolate; Petaloo Flowers; Lil Davis Chipboard Alpha; Machine Stitching
‘Gift Bucket’:- Small Metal Bucket ($2 shop); Assorted Ribbon - FTI Ribbon Braid, FTI grosgrain & Mini Stitched grosgrain; Paint, Sandpaper; Paper Flowers, Bazzill Bitty Blossom, Brad

by Gab C
Here are a couple layouts from a while back but they fit this topic so well. ‘songs of my heart’ shows that Jenni Bowlins Rub-ons work really well on to the ribbon. ‘2 cute’ shows the versatility of ribbon as a background – strips of different patterned ribbons form a striped space, and by using the Queen & Co white flower as a template Gab has kept to the same shade of red when hand cutting the flower.

by Amie Taylor
Flowers and Ribbon...... How lucky are we this month!! I love using flowers and ribbon and normally have at least one or both on all my LO's I do. I find the easiest way to attach ribbon is using staples or double-sided tape. Staples are definitely the quickest way. You can do so much with ribbon, I am always checking out new ways to use ribbon in magazines and on blogs I read.

‘Kiss’- Bazzill Cardstock, FTI Flowers, Scenic Route Paper Co (Berkley alpha stickers), Finishing Touch Ideas 6mm Braid ribbon hot pink/lime & hot black/white, I have hand cut the Arrow and then painted with francheville paints.

‘even girls love playing in Mud’ – Crate Paper (Crush Crate Ribbon) – attached by using double sided tape, FTI flowers, Bazzill Cardstock, Doodling in lead pencil.


‘isn't she Beautiful’ - BG Infuse PP Salt, Stew & Concentrate, BG Infuse alpha stickers, Queen & Co Felt Flower Ribbon, Fancy Pants Designs (Dapper Flower Jar), HS Kiwi Flower, Crate Crush Ribbon, FTI Brads, Grey Felt, Red Button

‘sisters!’ - This is a very simple easy LO using flowers and ribbon, I have attached the felt ribbon with brads, I have only used four as I only had four of this colour left but you could use as many as you wanted..... I have attached the ric rac and flowers with a staple and threaded the black ribbon underneath the staple and tied it in a bow. Very very easy and simple. - Pink Bazzill Bling, Scenic Route Paper Co (Alpha Stickers), FTI Flowers, FTI Floral ric rac, Queen & Co Felt Ribbon, Brads.
How beautiful is this Queen and Co felt ribbon!!, I just loved it as soon as I open my DT Pack.... I couldn't wait to use it!! It is very easy to use and just looks gorgeous on any page. I found it very easy to attach using the brads and on my other LO I actually used double sided tape and a piece of grey felt stapled on and a button covering the staple. I am definitely going to invest in some more colours : o)

by Kylene Hickey
"Ribbons and flowers are right up there on the top of my list of "must haves" in my scrapbooking supplies. I love their versatility and the wide variety of colours, textures and designs available. It is probably pretty hard to find a layout of mine that doesn't have at least one of these items. Flowers -Stamp them, stitch them, cut them, punch them, dye them, buy them, make them, and draw them. Whatever way you like, you've just gotta have them. And yes, they can be used on boy layouts too!!"
‘My Brother’- Kraft cardstock, Li'l Davis Designs chipboard alpha, Crate paper ribbon, Fancy Pants flowers, Jenni Bowlin Studios rub-on, Other - silver brads / staple / embroidery thread. For this layout I have used the ribbon to make a border for journaling tag which is hidden behind the photo. The flowers have been attached using brads. (Completed 7/07/)

‘My Precious Girl’ - Bazzill cardstock, s.e.i patterned paper, Queen & Co chipboard alpha covered in Kelly Panacci papers, Ribbon, Foam mounting tape. I have cut the flowers from patterned paper and layered using foam mounting tape to add dimension. The ribbon has been used to frame photo. (Completed 7/07)
‘Altered item -ribbons case’ - I bought this suit case from local discount store for $1 and very easily altered by painting, and embellished with ribbon, flowers and painted Queen & Co chipboard alphabet. Too easy!!

by Guest Designer Debbie Benefield
When Sonia asked me to be a Guest Designer I was both excited and terrified, until she told me the theme of flowers and ribbons - "aaaaaah, now that I can do!"
My 1st layout ‘ME?’ was inspired by a LO I saw quite awhile ago that just stuck in my memory, This is a great way to utilise your ribbon stash. Products used: Bazzill c/s, various ribbons including the gorgeous Crate Baby bee collection, brads, and Delish bikkies chipboard letters coloured with ink/chalks and dimensional magic to top them off.
I loved the Crate Baby Bee ribbon collection and just had to use them in a ‘cute Baby boy card’, so easy to do. Products used - Bazzill, Crate Baby Bee ribbon collection and buttons. On my 3rd item ‘every little girl

deserves a castle of her own’, I was inspired by Louise's lesson on how to add a painted border last newsletter, I just had to try it out. I chose to keep the chipboard flowers raw to tie in the cardboard castle feel. Products used - Bazzill, making memories chipboard flowers, prima flowers, various making memories brads including retreat # favourite product (we all had to have them) polo buttons, Cosmo letters. Thank Sonia for such an amazing opportunity.

by Louise Nelson
'I am Easy to Love' - For this Layout I used the eyelets and ribbon to allow me to make a highlight fixing of the photo at each corner. I then cut out some of the flowers from the Queen & Co. felt border to embellish around the edge of the photo, which I fixed in place with brads. Products used - Doodle Bugs embossed cardstock, Queen & Co. felt floral border, Brads, Eyelets, Ribbon, American Crafts thickers – letters, Rub-ons and Machine stitching.

'Just Beautiful' - For this Layout I cut out some of the flowers from the Queen & Co felt border to highlight the edge of the photo and then used a contrasting rub-on on another border of the photo. Products used - Basic Grey patterned cardstock from the Gypsy range, Basic Grey Wholly Cow rub-on, Queen & Co. Felt border, Senic Route Co. Chipboard Letters, Folk Art Paint, Brads, Zig memory pen, Machine stitching

‘Photo CD Album’ - I figure we go to a lot of trouble scrapping our photos but not so much the CD's that we store our photos on. Whilst not overly practical, it is a lovely way of storing them, or you could perhaps use this idea as a gift when giving away copies of photos, as families do, when they share photos of special occasions. It is a little different to the pre-manufactured plastic and cardboard CD files and boxes that you can purchase. Products used - Doodle Bug patterned papers, Bazzill Pizazzil patterned cardstock, Hambly Studio's overlays, Flowers – Petaloo, Ribbons - assorted ~ all from the Forever Always on-line store, Jewel - Doodle Bugs.

by Guest Designer Fran Tynan

‘You mean stuff to me’ a Lo of Darcy and me. I love this photo as I'm rarely in a photo but didn't even know this one was being taken. It's not overly ribbony or flowery but more an example of how the ribbon and flowers can be the sole feature of the page. Products used Crate Paper Zoom Collection ribbon, Petaloo flower, and Finishing Touch Ideas chipboard alpha.
'sing star'- again not over the top flowery or ribbony - but "ME"!! The Crate paper ribbon gives a frame for the photos to stand out more on the page and the flowers add the girly touch, while still matching the natural type colours. Products Used Crate Paper Zoom Collection ribbon, Fancy Pants Designs Dapper Flower Jar,
- also check out these cards that fran has created…..so quick and clever!!!












How to use ribbon on a LO

• Tie onto a tag, photo mat, border, or photo as an accent.
• Use with a hole punch to make a fancy border.
• Tie onto clips attached to paper.
• Use as a tie up lock on hidden journaling.
• Staple along the edge of a photo for a border.
• Frame a photo, by attaching as a border around a photo.
• Tie in a knot and adhere with a glue dot.
• Attach a ribbon charm and use as a long border.
• Thread through eyelets and tie as an accent.
• Tie onto a slide holder for a small picture frame.
• Create your own patterned paper by using ribbons as stripes
• Tie onto each end of a metal label holder.
• Tie small bits of ribbon onto a larger piece of ribbon for a unique border.
• Attach diagonally along the corner(s) of a photo.
• Stamp words and sayings onto ribbons for titles.
• Make shapes with it – draw a star, then punch holes at the points and use thin ribbon to thread through.
• Place ribbon in a heart or circle shape to form a frame then stitch in place.

How to use flowers on a LO

• Make your own using punches, sizzix or hand cutting them out, from chipboard, foam, felt, transparency, ribbon or even fabric.
• Simply attach with a little bit of tape, or use a brad thru the centre.
• Stitch them on with a button centre.
• Want to make your blooms a little more personal, add some ink, chalk or even rub-on words directly to them.
• Try layering flowers of different sizes.
• Fold them in half to create borders.
• Create them using stamps, stitching, or masks.
• Layer flowers and foam tape to create a 3d effect.
• Use with chipboard shapes as centres eg. Smaller flowers / hearts
• Experiment with combinations of flowers eg. Felt, paper and silk on the same LO
• Use the petals to create other embellishments - butterfly and dragonfly wings / fish tails
• Use other shapes to make a flower - hearts, circles, paisley designs

And if you fancy a bit of a swap – why not pop over to our forum, we are just unleashing a flowers and ribbon swap. See forum for details..