Flower Power

Spring is finally here, and sometimes the weather even seems to realize it (though not lately with chilly rain and winds). So I thought I would do a little flower tutorial thingie here on my blog. Well, low-and-behold, that crafty Lolly has a flower week going on at her blog right now, and it is AMAZING! So, as I see it, she's doing all the work coming up with the fantabulous ideas and pointing us in the direction of all the how-to's and we can just sit back and create all the fun projects, like these two little beauties I made from her post for yesterday.

Felt flower made with the Sizzix circles die

Wire ribbon rose

Oh my golly, jump on over to Lolly's and check out what she's got blooming!

Method Playground

This week's Method Playground challenge is to use ribbon for your title. There are SO many ways to interpret this challenge.

For my LO, I ran some wide ribbon through my Big Shot, and handcut some into letters. Go check out what the Playground Girls did for their pages, then give it a try on your next layout. Don't forget to leave a comment at MP with a link to your page to be entered into a drawing for a RAK.

Ribbon Bookmarks

I saw an idea for these bookmarks somewhere in my blog travels. They make great little gifts, or a summertime craft project (with some help from an adult).

The how to:

1. Cut a piece of ribbon (wide works best) to about 12". Fold the bottom about 1/2" and iron; fold over again and iron. Repeat on other end.
2. Sew across these hems being sure to backstitch at the beginning and end.
3. Use an eyelet tool to set an eyelet in the center of one end (go right through the hem).
4. Thread the beads onto a piece of wire. Leave plenty of wire on both ends. My six-year-old helped arrange the beads on this one.
5. Using a needle nose pliers, turn the bottom wire into a small spiral 3 turns. Slide the beads down to the end.
6. Thread the top of the wire through the eyelet and continue wrapping it four times pulling it snuggly with the pliers each time. Snip the extra wire and squeeze to get rid of the sharp end.

Next up: embellishing a journal cover.