Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A 'Colleen Bow' Tutorial

Last week I was featured for Whoo Hoo Wednesday on the  Inspired By Stamping blog but was only allowed to show you a sneak peek of my project here.  Now, I can share the whole thing with you!  

Hello there!  Today, I'm showing you "How To Make A Colleen Bow."  There's no great magic trick, but I'd love to share my technique with you anyway.  ;-)


First, get your card base ready.  I used two patterns from the Vintage Digital Paper pack.  Sigh!  Love them.


Seam binding is my favorite ribbon for making my 'special brand' of bow.  It's very flexible and soft and drapes well.  Cut enough ribbon to go around the front of your card and begin to tie a bow, then STOP.   Set it aside.


Cut another length of ribbon (I used approximately 8-10") and make a bow using the Bunny Ears method.  Make two loops.....


Action shot here!  Sorry for the blur.  The camera was set on a timer.  Fold one loop over the other, and pull through the resulting hole.


Tighten the loops and adjust each one until they are a length you like.  Now, take this bow over to your card and......


....lay it on top of the half-tied bow.  Hold the Bunny Ear bow in place until you can grab the ends from the half-tied bow.


Finish tying that first bow, right on top of the Bunny Ears bow.


The tails are pretty long at this point, and will need trimming.


The four tails are visible best in this photo below.  Trim each one as needed, and place a small dab of craft glue under the bow's center to adhere to card base.


Here's the finished bow, on a Christmas card.



Because the papers and colors are so non-traditional for Christmas, I added some snowflakes -- with pearls -- to make it feel more festive.  Snowflakes and roses?  Sure, why not!


For my sentiment panel:  on a piece of white cardstock, I stamped a frame from Festive Frames in kraft ink, then laid a Fancy Labels 2 die over top of it.  Pink Gingham Washi Tape helped hold my die in place while I ran it through my Big Shot.


The sentiment is also from Festive Frames.  I used shiny gold foil cardstock with the next largest die to create a panel behind it.  Love how that turned out!



And that's it!  Thanks for your visit!

19 comments:

Sindhu said...

Beautiful card Colleen! Lovely bow!! will give it a try!

krcmasterpiece said...

I have always wondered about your bows! Have been tempted to ask-but hadn't.
I'm so glad you shared that! Now we can all make Colleen Bows!!
Beautiful card!

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Gorgeous! I loveeeeeeeee the snowflakes!! Thanks for sharing how to make the bow!!!

Lisa Elton said...

Loved it then and I love it now!! The roses and snowflakes are simply charming together and the gold label is beautiful!

Benzi said...

The card is beautiful and the tutorial is easy to follow. Glad I tried it....even if I did use twill ribbon, making it much harder. Ugh!!

Benzi said...

Oh, and my dil loved her card using your Colleen Bow. :-)

Ann Schach said...

Gorgeous, Colleen! I will definitely have to try out the bow!

CraftLein* - enjoy creativity said...

Colleen, i love this bow!have to try it in one of my next Cards!! Thanks for sharing.

Love from THE netherlands,
Leintje*

Marisa said...

What a wonderful Christmas card :) Love the snowflakes on it.

Emily Keaton said...

What a great tutorial, Colleen! Makes me wish I had some seam binding. I have no idea why I don't--you'd think with all of the ribbons and trim I own that I'd have some!!! Anyway, I think this card is fabulous!! So pretty--and I LOVE the snowflakes and roses together. Nothing wrong with that!

Holly AKA KopyKat said...

Wow that is so beautiful

Jill Norwood said...

Thanks so very much for sharing this! Much better than my current method!

Karen Davis said...

Really gorgeous card Colleen. Thank you so much for the bow tutorial.

lisa808 said...

Oh so lovely. Thanks for the step-by-step directions.

Maria said...

Such a beautiful elegant card with snowflakes and roses, Colleen! And, thank you for the tutorial regarding tying ribbon!:-)

Leslie Miller said...

Thanks a bunch for sharing how you make your pretty bows, Colleen! This sounds much easier than anything I do. Such a gorgeous and feminine card. Absolutely lovely for Christmas!

Unknown said...

SQUEEEEEEE! How gorgeous! I mean, I love EVERYTHING about the beauty, especially that gold touch!
Hugs
Ellen

Shea said...

I am SO glad you posted this on your blog! I love this type of bow and use it a lot now! I'm giving you a shout out tomorrow on my blog with the link to this page! Hugs!

Janis said...

Followed this link from Scrapbook & Cards Today. Thanks so much for sharing your technique. Bows are something I have trouble with!! Your design is wonderful!!!
<3 J

jwoolbright at gmail dot com
HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

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