Sew Easy

Technique Thursday is back after a short vacation to spend time with my son who stopped by on his way from Guam to San Diego. He’s a corpsman in the Navy and I am so proud of him!

Anyhow, today’s technique is an easy way to add ribbon to a card or layout. Here is an example I created a few months ago of my nephew … notice the ribbon along the bottom of the photo mat? It is applied with the Sew Ribbon tool from We R Memory Keepers.

It is very easy to use. The tool includes three parts, like this …

You simply slip your paper between the two templates (strong magnets hold them perfectly in place), insert the punch into the template and push.

Then, you remove the sticker paper from the “needle” and wrap it around the edge of your ribbon, like this …

The needle makes it easy to thread the ribbon through the holes made with the template.

I wrap the ends of the ribbon around the back side of the paper and secure them with a bit of adhesive. It couldn’t be easier!

Here is a layout I did of my daughter, using new paper from Graphic 45 … I used the leaf template, here.

(click on the photo for a larger version)

And a card I made with the leftovers … I used the Shoelace template on this one.

Want to try it out for yourself?

I’ll be at Capture A Memory from 2-6 p.m. today with Sew Ribbon for you to try. Hope to see you there!

When we visited the Butterfly House at the Detroit Zoo, we got some amazing photos of the butterflies and the foliage they live in. I wanted to pick up the bright colors in the photos on my scrapbook page, but I didn’t want it to look like a child’s birthday party with primary-colored cardstock. So, I used Copic Sketch Markers to airbrush a design that was as elegant as the butterflies and I added homemade 3-D butterflies as an accent. Here’s what I came up with:

Click on the images for a larger view.

SUPPLIES:

Cardstock: American Crafts (white textured & Black), DCWV (orange), Paper Accents (white smooth)

Copic Sketch Markers: G14, YR18, N9, Y35, colorless blender & Multiliner

Copic Airbrush System

Letters, stamp: Tim Holtz

Corner Rounder: Creative Memories

Thread: We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy system

Punch: EK Success

Mini Glue Dots

Other: Brads

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Airbrush butterfly flight path on cardstock.

2. On a smooth sheet of cardstock, airbrush with multiple colors then spritz with Colorless Blending Solution and let dry. (The Colorless Blender gives a pitted design where it lands on the airbrushed paper)

3. Cut into strips and round the edges with a corner rounder.

4. Adhere to page and then use Sew Easy to stitch edge.

5. Add letters for title.

6. Crop photos & use punch to crop small pictures

7. Mat large photo with black and then orange. Use N9 Copic Marker to edge orange mat.

8. Adhere photos to page as shown.

9. Add journaling block and brads.

10. Stamp butterflies, cut out (cut off antennae) and airbrush.

11. Use a Mini Glue Dot to attach just the center of the butterfly to the page. Ink just the antennae portion of the stamp and stamp them on each butterfly. Then, bend the wings slightly to create a 3-D image.