Technique Tip - Wide Grosgrain Ribbon

I love our wide grosgrain ribbon! It adds such impact to a card so easily :) In the Summer Mini late last year/beginning of 2008 we had a few colours to choose from, but with the new 2008/09 Idea Book and Catalogue we have 8 gorgeous colours that match our cardstocks of the same name.

But - here is a trick I discovered when making the card in the picture..... The card used Always Artichoke and So Saffron cardstocks, and the Very Vanilla ribbon just didn't look quite right as it was. So, I grabbed a section of Stampin Sponge (I cut the large sponges into at least 4 slices) and my So Saffron Classic Ink pad and dabbed away. The ribbon accepted the colour beautifully, and while I was wanting a stippled type effect, you could build up the colour to a solid if desired. (You can also use reinkers if you have them handy) Ta Da!! A perfectly co-ordinated colour to match my card. Now I want the wide grosgrain in white so I can match ANY colour! Something to add to the (never ending, always expanding) wishlist!

I also thought I would share how the ribbon is tied to look like this, a little trick I learned from my lovely upline Cass: The back of the ribbon has SNAIL adhesive placed on it, leaving a section of about 1.5" free where I want the tied section to go. The sticky ribbon is then attached to the card. A shorter separate section of ribbon is then threaded behind the adhesive-less (is that a word??) section, and tied into a simple knot. You can twist the knot to have the flat part showing on the top. Then trim the ends and your're done!

This card is one I made for a dear friend, the best neighbour we ever had, who recently moved to warmer climes and semi retirement. Very sadly, he has since been diagnosed with terminal cancer, but knowing him, he will make the most of his remaining time, living life to the full as he has always done. We miss you!

The stamp set used is one called "Natural Beauty" and it is a set where you can easily combine lots of the elements, or choose just a single stamp and build a card around it. Here I have used the large text stamp, colouring it with my Earth Elements Markers to give a multicoloured effect. It is stamped onto Naturals Ivory, and matted with So Saffron, and the edges have been sponged with So Saffron and Always Artichoke. The base of the card is Always Artichoke, and I have stamped the leaf from the set randomly over the background in Always Artichoke ink. The card is finished with my custom coloured wide grosgrain and a piece of Hodgepodge hardware in Antique Copper.