Ribbon Flower

Carrie Cudney demonstrated a beautiful ribbon flower at convention and I finally had time to experiment with making one. I used it on my August layout that I posted yesterday. I started with about 18" of Marina Mist Satin ribbon. I snipped almost to the edge about every 3/4" (you'll notice a lot of about's and almost's in this tutorial. It isn't an exact technique). After you snip the whole length of the ribbon, go back and round the tops. I folded it at each snip so I could round 2 sides at the same time.

Once you have the whole ribbon "scalloped" punch a circle of cardstock (I used the 1 3/8" circle) and cover it with adhesive. The new Mulitpurpose Adhesive Sheets are ideal for this step. It is sticky on both sides so you can stick one side of it to the punched circle and the other side you adhere the ribbon to. These adhesive sheets are in the new Holiday Mini Catalog and I haven't ordered any yet so I covered the punched circle with Sticky Strip. It needs to be a very sticky adhesive so Sticky Strip is the best I've found.

Take the end of the ribbon and start adhering it to the edge of the circle. Make a little pleat between each scallop and ease the ribbon around and around. I think I made about 4 rounds before I got to the center of the circle. You want your flower to be very full. Your flower won't look like much right now, don't get discouraged.



Hold the flower with tweezers or wire plyers while you heat it. It will take a few minutes for the petals to start moving and taking shape. You can hold the end of the heat gun quite close. You can keep heating it until you get the look you want for your flower. I've never had one catch fire but please be careful.



After the flower is "melted" to your satisfaction, poke a hole in the center for a brad or add a button with a glue dot. I love these flowers and think they make a great addition to a card or a layout. I hope you find some time to try this beautiful flower technique!