Valentine's Day Project with Offray Ribbon

Hi Crafters!

Today some of us on the Designer Crafts Connection are participating in a Manufacturer's Challenge.  On this project, we are working with Offray® ribbon and creating a design for Valentine's Day.  If you've done any sewing or crafting in your life, undoubtedly you have worked with Offray's fine selection of ribbons and trims!  I was delighted to participate in this challenge and received a generous supply of ribbon with which to create.
Here's the ribbon I received in colors of Apple Green, Shocking Pink and White.

Offray®

I love these colors!  They remind me of high school and the bright colors I wore then.  We were to create a Valentine's Day project, and with these bold colors, I decided on some wall art.

Love Wall Art by Terry Ricioli

Here's how I created this:

To start, I painted a 12x12" scrapbook mount from Smoothfoam™ with Sour Apple acrylic paint from DecoArt®.  Smoothfoam™ has a smooth, easily paintable surface so it makes a great surface for any wall art you want to create.

Shocking pink chevron ribbon (1 1/2"):  Five 5 1/2" pieces

Shocking pink grosgrain ribbon (5/8"):  Five 6" pieces plus shorter pieces for each letter

Apple green grosgrain ribbon:  60"

Pink Baker's twine

Buttons

Double-sided tape or tape runner

Mark off a 1" border around the edge of the scrapbook mount.  I used pins to mark off the border along the outside edge of the foam.

To create the L, turn under the ends of the chevron ribbon.  Add a grosgrain piece over the chevron ribbon.  Tape this to the board and add another grosgrain piece for the other part of the L.  Turn up the end to miter it and trim.  Use tape to adhere the ribbon to the board.

For the O, use two chevron pieces, two grosgrain pieces and cut small pieces of grosgrain to fit between the chevron pieces.  For the V, use one chevron piece and two grosgrain pieces.  For the E, use one chevron piece of ribbon, one 6" piece of grosgrain and smaller pieces of grosgrain.

Use the photo as a guide to create the letters, turning under the ends at an angle or straight across according to the photo.

You can find all these ribbons on the Offray® website or in your favorite craft store.  You can sign up for the Offray® newsletter for more great projects with ribbon.

For more Valentine's Day projects with Offray® ribbon, click on the Designer Crafts Connection logo on the side of my blog.

And, here are more Valentine's projects from the Offray® site.

Burlap Valentine Wreath, Burlap Love Banner, Burlap Table Runner, Love Birds Centerpiece and Silverware Sleeves.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love Birds Centerpiece

Burlap Love Banner

Happy Crafting and Happy Valentine's Day!
Terry

Designer Crafts Connection: Etched Jewelry

Hi Crafty Friends!

It's the first Monday of February and time for another round of the Designer Crafts Connection!  This month we're working with our favorite product, tool, craft or technique.

One of my favorite crafts is making jewelry.  And, a new technique that I've tried lately is etching.  I've been wanting to etch some glass beads and make jewelry with them, so it seemed the perfect time to combine the two.

Here's what I created with beads I etched with etchall® dip 'n etch:

Snow and Ice Bracelet by Terry Ricioli

For this bracelet, I bought two sizes of crystal beads.  I etched half of them and found they made a nice contrast with the un-etched beads.  The etched beads looked like snow to me and the crystal ones like ice.  

Here's the process.  String your beads loosely.  I used the plastic string that they were strung on and tied a loose knot in between the beads so they would be exposed on all sides while etching.  Tie the string to a skewer.

Pour some etchall® dip 'n etch into a plastic container or use the container itself and dangle the beads in the liquid.  With beads, you'll need to check frequently to see how the etching is working.  Different sizes and qualities of glass will yield different results.  

Remove the beads when they are etched and rinse well with water.  I also washed mine in some soapy water to remove the etching medium.  Here's how they look after the etching.  Etchall® dip 'n etch was so easy to use, and there was no odor at all.

Now, you can use them in your jewelry designs.  I made a wrapped loop dangle after adding silver bead caps to each end.  I added a clasp to a 7-inch length of chain and arranged the dangles next to them to get an idea of how many I needed.

Then, I connected the dangles to the chain with jump rings.  I used a total of 21 dangles on the bracelet.  

Here's the finished bracelet:

Snow and Ice Bracelet by Terry Ricioli

I love the look of the frosted glass beads in this bracelet and I'm looking forward to trying etchall® dip 'n etch in future jewelry designs.  If you would like to try this product, the Etchall Ambassador on the side of my blog will direct you to the website (and, I'll get a small percentage of the sale.) 

 Happy Crafting!

Terry