My Thrift Store Ribbon Find

I found a roll of satin-type wire-edged ribbon at The Discovery Shop for only two bucks (Costco brand, normally priced about $6) with barely any gone off of the roll. I cut them to about 1-1/2” wide so they’d go through my Xyron sticker maker (thank you, Dawn!) and used them on the backs of some envelopes for a few cards I made. It's very pretty up close and personal.

I used this same ribbon to doll up a package I wrapped with plain brown craft paper. I am so getting my two-bucks worth!

Playing Around With Wrapping Paper

I found an interesting roll of wrapping paper at Savers for only 99-cents. I thought some of the images would be great to use with some of the dies I have for my Sizzix Vagabond. I tried three different shapes using one both vertically and horizontally for two totally different looks. I love the results. The odd piece in the lower left-hand corner was torn and smooshed up, aged with ink and colored to look like leather. I'm thinking of using this method to cover a photo book or journal of some sort.

Instead of sticking this one in my Smash Book, I decided it was good enough for a card for my awesome mother-in-law.

The paper has the texture of a very thin grocery bag and the images are so lovely. It’s been fun playing around with it. I aged it up by inking it with a color called Brown Sugar (by Jenni Bowlin) and did a bit of pencil coloring, something I haven’t touched in years. I’m not an artist, so the coloring is a bit child-like, but I still like it. I added real pressed flowers at the bottom and in the hand of the woman on the left, no small feat for my clunky ol’ hands.Thank goodness for tweezers.

 

On the inside I stamped the corners from part of a set of Halloween stamps and added some nifty pins, vintage ribbon, and the same pressed flowers as I did on the front. (I hope it makes it through the mail okay.)

 

This is my favorite card I've ever made. I'm sure there will be more, there's still several other images on the wrapping paper I have yet to use. (P.S. My mother-in-law loved it and said "I'm keeping this one!")

Paper Lace

We have rolls and rolls of this paper lace (don’t ask) and I was playing around with it the other day to see if it could be made into rosettes (my present obsession). The answer is yes, and they’re not only quite lovely, but they’re quick and easy to make.

I folded them back and forth where each circle meets, accordion-style, glued the ends together then hot glued the center to hold them in place. I haven’t attached anything yet, but as the photos show, I did play around with how they could be put together.

I experimented with the super wide purple paper lace, which made HUMONGOUS rosettes (about the size of your hand w/fingers spread wide), perfect to party-up a place. I could see these hanging on the wall or from the ceiling, patio-area or even trees.

They’re big suckers with a fine line between pretty and gaudy. (I’m always having to reel in the gaudy side of my taste, I get it from my mother.) These are on the delicate side, so they would be perfect for gift-wrapping, and with the paper lace used in place of ribbon, would make for a very girlie package