Make a Perfect Bow!

Hi everyone, Bonnie here!!  I've made a few cards today using one of my favorite ribbons - Satin w/Grosgrain Edge from Really Reasonable Ribbon. 

I used 7/8" Satin w/Grosgrain Edge Ribbon and Pearls on each of my cards.  I used sketch SSS142 from The Sweet Stop Sketch Blog for my first card and Mailed My Heart Digital Stamp from Whimise Doodles.  This is a digi freebie, so head on over to Whimsie Doodles and take a look around and pick this cutie up.  As a newbie with Copics, I'm always looking for tips and there are some terrific video tutorials on coloring hair (among other things) at Whimsie Doodles, so be sure to take a look.

So, I spent hours happily coloring away and I ended up with 2 finished images that I thought came out really good (if I do say so myself - lol).  Of course I can't ever just be done, so I went ahead and stickled the wings on both images and set them at the edge of my counter on my little stand up clips (you can see what I mean below).  I left them over night to dry.  The next day I am happily working away and I nudged something and one of them falls over DIRECTLY ON AN INK PAD.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....  I let out a scream, but apparently screaming is a regular thing coming from my craft room because nobody even comes to see what happened!!  It was one of those slow motion things when your mind is screaming Noooooooooo - but you just can't stop it from happening.   Of course it was the one that came out best too.  Here's what I got:

I decided to make the best of it and use the part that I could.  It was a little too big of a problem to fix with a well placed button.  :)   I would have needed one HUGE button!

Here is a quick tutorial on how I make most of the bows for my cards:

Instead of trying to wrap the ribbon around the card and then tie a perfect bow, I cheat a little.  I use my Bow Easy Tool to make a bow and attach it to a strip of ribbon as shown below.

1.  For the ribbon stip that will go across your card, cut a piece a bit longer than the card.  Take a needle and thread and do a quick running stitch where you want the center of the bow to be. (I suggest using a thread color to match your ribbon.  I used a dark thread here to make it easier to see.)

2.  Pull the thread to neatly gather the ribbon and wrap the thread around a couple of times.  You can pull the gathers tight or leave them slightly loose depending on the look you want.  I left it a little loose.

3.  Take your bow that you've made using your Bow Easy Tool (or neatly tied by hand) and take a little stitch in the back of  the knot.

4.  Wrap the thread around the base ribbon strip and then take another stitch through the bow.  Repeat until you feel it is secure.

5. See how nice that looks!

6.  As a finishing touch you can use glue dots or your favorite adhesive to hold the bow loops and tails in place if they are not cooperating.

6.  There you have your perfect bow.

Give this a try and let me know how it works for you.

~ Bonnie ~