Wire-edge Roses and Rayon Trim

This small collage features RibbonSmyth hand-dyed 13mm Vintage Rayon Tape twisted over and under other rayon tape. Rat tail cord is twisted among the tape and tacked down with RibbonSmyth Vintage Japanese Mother of Pearl Discs. Then I made two small wire-edge burgundy rose buds and tacked them among the rayon tape. I added 7mm silk ribbon Ribbon Stitches in color # 1201124 and finsihed with beads and RibbonSmyth small gold brass dragonfly and bee charms.

RibbonSmyth Rainbow Dyed Lace Motif

I love dyeing lace! This wall-hanging features bits of RibbonSmyth Rainbow Dyed lace through-out the wall-hanging. The lace adds dimension, texture and color on top of printed or solid fabrics. The piece featured here was probably dyed 10 years ago. I dye scraps, bits, yardage and then keep them all in a plastic bin to use someday! This little piece would have been dyed with Antique Gold, Cinnabar and Topaz, undoubtedly some of my favorite dyes color combos. Love this color combo on top of purple, maroon, hot pink or magenta fabrics.

Mother of Pearl Button Collage

This collage features a 1 1/2" Mother of Pearl button that I make at the Studio. This button features vintage Kimono fabric and then I anchored it with sequins and seed beads. I stitched a few rows around half of the button using sequins assorted beads I found at a Puce (French flea market) in Paris. To create movement in the wall-hanging I used a variety of rat-tail cords knotted, and RibbonSmyth Rococo Lace in Victorian Rose Gold.

Mini Collage with Sequins

I am a huge fan of sequins! After seeing the use of Sequins while earning my Couture embroidery certification at the House of Lesage in Paris, I became intrigued on how sequins enhance any piece of embroidery. This is a small collage using a turquoise crystal "fish" (marquis rhinestone) a turquoise glass Czech button, Asian enamelled bead, button, lampwork flower gifted to me by Leonie Hartley-Hoover and then a few bronze glass nailheads all tied together with little flower sequins meandering among the grouping.

Silk Ribbon Stems

Here is a quick and easy method for creating stems for our silk ribbon flowers. The flowers are "fantasy flowers" meaning I make them up as I go! I used RibbonSmyth 7mm variegated silk ribbon color #1201124 and just created a few straight stitches. This ribbon color is one of my favorites, as this color goes with everything! I selected a moss green silk ribbon in 4mm for the stems. Make the two flowers, then bring the 4mm green silk ribbon up through the fabric at the base of the flower and twist the ribbon tightly. This creates a great stem. Couch the stem with champagne Nymo and take the ribbon through to the back of the fabric and tie off. The pic of the silk flowers are a bit "squished" by the scanner, so the dimension cannot be seen. I added small metallic seed beads at the top of each flower. I made the little metallic rose medallion out of polymer clay and tinted with pearl expigments and then added a bit of our gold glitter on top of the pearl-ex. I placed that inbetween the two flowers to create the collage.
Sprayed the polymer clay with a light coat of acrylic spray.

June Blog Give-Away ! Sign up now!

June Blog Give-away ~Simply leave a note to say "hi" and be sure to include your email address in the comment section of this photo. We will select three winners and announce the winners the first of July!

May Winners - Noel, Di and Sandy! Packages will include: ribbons, fibers, trims, buttons and bits of fabric - Compliments of RibbonSmyth! We will do a monthly blog-give away for the remainder of 2009! It's our way to let you know how much we appreciate your visits to our Emporium! www.ribbonsmyth.com

This is a photo taken at Tinsel Trading featuring bits of German glitter pieces.

Rayon Tape and Rococo Embellishments

This is another WIP waiting for more silk ribbon embroidery!

The seam treatments for this block feature RibbonSmyth's hand-dyed rayon tape and rococo lace. Our inexpensive $1.75 combo packs offer fibers that can be used in a variety of techniques. In the center of the block, I ruched the hand-dyed rayon tape and tacked it to the fabric seam. In the top right corner, I gathered one edge to make a flower and added some small buds made with the same tape. In the bottom left corner, I covered one seam with the rococo lace and then added sequins on top of the lace. I gathered one side of several rococo lace pieces to make small rosettes and then added seed beads to the center of the rosette. Among the floral bouquets, I added vintage brass dangles and vintage czech peridot glass flowers. I worked with purple and moss silk fabrics and added apricot variegated silk ribbon, color #112 and ivory 4mm silk ribbon. Sequins were added throughout the block. Now to add more silk ribbon work to tie all the elements together and to create movement among the block. It looks a bit sparse!

Mother of Pearl Necklace

This Mother of Pearl Charm Necklace was fun to make using RibbonSmyth 1950's Vintage Japanese Mother of Pearl Disks strung onto a crocheted collar. Barbara Blankenship graciously crocheted the collar and then I added the Mother of Pearl disks using all the shapes we carry on our website. When I finished, I decided to add more of the small round disks in-between each of the larger shapes. I made the focal button using a 1 1/2" Mother of Pearl button and a piece of vintage kimono fabric. I mostly use the Mother of Pearl disks as embellishments on crazy quilt blocks, purses and wearables, but this application really shows off these great buttons. And when this is worn, it makes a soft tinkling sound, just like wearing a charm bracelet!

Blog Winners

All you have to do to enter ---is leave a comment, even to say hello is great, but leave your email addy in your comment, OK? Good Luck...

We have blog winners from the April Give-away. I've selected three email addresses and will continue to offer a blog give-away each month. Please be sure to leave your email address with this posting for the May give-away. We will announce another blog winner May 25th.
Again, really need those email addys to enter the drawing.

The winners are Patricia Morello, Tatting Chic and Gail M. You all will receive private emails requesting addresses. Your packages of goodies will ship the week of May 5th. This is a small way that I can express my gratitude for your visits to the RibbonSmyth Emporium.

The block featured in this posting was designed to be visually pleasing no matter what direction the block was placed. It is still a WIP needing silk ribbon work and additional embellishing but I really like using Taupe, Burgundy and Cinnamon together. I've used as a centerpiece, a beaded lace sample from a Paris Couture house, that was scavaged by dumpster diving. Or that is the story I was told when I was in La Bourboule. Again I used raw edge applique and burned the edges of some of the silk pieces. At the farm, in our farmhouse, we have a new two-story back staircase that is in need of major decorating. Never met a wall filled with vintage pictures, that I did not like. An empty wall is an unhappy wall. And I also fill every bathroom wall with vintage photographs and textiles. I have painted the staircase walls mocha and now am assembling fabrics to create a horizontal wall-hanging and a vertical wall-hanging which will be hung on two walls. The horizontal wall-hanging will be hung 12 feet above the balcony landing and the Vertical wall-hanging will be displayed ascending the staircase. And so far my sketches feature no binding. The edges will be finished but with fibers and beads and will have movment in each block. Will post the progress of each block on the blog.

Blog Give-away

This is a block using some of my favorite color combos ~ raspberry, purple, lime green. These are fabric samples from a Paris fabric salesman. Ah, wished I could have bought all his sample books. Even with the Euro being equal to the dollar, when I was in LaBourboule, the fabric swatches were pricey. The fabrics were purchased in small swatches. Hope to come up with companion blocks, so this actually will turn into a wall-hanging. I don't piece with the flip'n sew version. I cut out shapes as I go and baste them in a puzzle fashion. I don't care for straight seams. I try to incorporate "flow" into all my designs. The five-sided piecing method seems to draw too much attention to the geometric, static shapes, for my tastes. Great as a learning cq piecing tool or for just doing seams, but I prefer to work with more embellishments other than thread. I "raw-edge" applique when I can, since I know I will cover the seams with embellishments. In this block I a used wire-edge ribbon gathered flower as a focal point. I took green wire-edge ribbon and twisted it tightly for a stem to cover a seam and tacked the ribbon into place with Nymo. Alas, the wire-edge ribbon sources in France are all disappearing. Now it will be more difficult to get French wire-edge ribbon.

The small millinery flowers were taken from a 1950's hat, as I hoard those hats for the flowers! Soon I will be selling vintage fabric kits with 1950's vintage fabrics and flowers for accent pieces.

I pieced this block in New Mexico at my parents home, and had a small stash, which forced me to work with what I had on-hand. Found a crochet hanky at a New Mexico junk shop and used that trim in the top right corner. What bliss! To be sitting on the cabin deck in that gorgeous New Mexico sunshine, covered with a blanket, a hot cup of coffee nearby, with the fragrance of Pinon pine and the view of watching deer graze a few feet away from my chair. Those times are never taken for granted and this block will always be a reminder of a few hours of peaceful creating. Mom always reminds me that in future trips, she will find a sequin here and there and she saves them in a small dish, as a memory of our times at the "Adams Treehouse"; where her daughter always shows up with "stitching stuff"!

Each time we send a newsletter, we will select via a random drawing, an email address from our blog posts. Even if just to say "Hi", we will have your email address to enter into the drawing. The package will be filled with RibbonSmyth trims, bits, buttons and ribbons. The winner will be notified via private email for address details. Anyone can enter and we will ship to any global address! The next drawing from this posting, will be April 5th.

Thank you!

Vickie

http://www.ribbonsmyth.com/