I have gotten quite a few emails asking me to share the technique I used for making the ribbon roses on the Aged to Perfection project I shared last week. I will share how to make the lace flowers in another post soon.
I have been doing ribbonwork for more than ten years. I am self taught through books. There are lots of ways to make roses, but this is by far my favorite. Once you get the hang of it, you can make a ribbon in under a minute. When I got married 10 years ago, I made every single one of my wedding flowers using this rose in various ribbons. It was quite a task, but a true labor of love because it was a real part of me and love of ribbon.
You can use pretty much any width and type of ribbon you would like. The wider the ribbon the broader the finished flower will be. I usually don't cut my ribbon to any set length, I prefer to work straight from the spool or length of yardage I have so that when I finish I don't have any scraps.
I like to work from left to right meaning that my length of ribbon is on my left and the end where my flower is built is on my right. To begin, fold the end of the ribbon forward over itself at a right angle as shown above with the end of the ribbon extending down below the bottom of the edge of the ribbon about 1/2".
Fold the point of the ribbon on the right back to the left as shown.
Fold right edge over to the left again. If you were going to use this rose in a wearable project, you would want to make some securing stitches with a needle and thread at this point along the bottom of the ribbon by the tail. If you plan to use the flower on a project that won't get handled much, you can skip it. Stitching adds durability but takes a few more moments. (In this example, I skipped the stitches.)
Next, take the length of ribbon to the left and make a fold to the rear. You can see that it makes kind of a diagonal line. What was the bottom edge of the ribbon is now on the top of the length of ribbon on the left.
Next, roll the rose in your right hand clockwise so that the fold in the length of ribbon on the left is wrapped around the rose. How much you turn and wrap is up to you. At this point, I would turn it about half to three quarters the way around.
Fold the length of ribbon on the left to the back again and then roll the center toward the left.
Simply continue to fold and roll until you are pleased with the look and fullness of the flower.
Bring the twisted length of the ribbon down under the flower and hold it to the tail. If you are stitching, you will sew the two together together.
Sometimes, instead of stitching, I use my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher and staple the twisted ribbon to the tail. If you plan to use your flower on a wearable, always go with stitching.
Trim the tail and excess ribbon near your stitches or staple.
Your finished rose will look something like this. Each one will vary a bit in look depending on the material used.
For this flower, I used Melissa Frances' white crepe paper that I colored with Glimmer Mist. You can also use paper strips, fabric strips, and of course the many different types of ribbon.
The colors on this pillow are Daphne and Chromite. I think it is a really classy combination.
I also finished a pillow this week for a local bride and actually finished during daylight hours so I shot some photos of her pillow. She chose Lime and Tourmaline which I think are really beautiful and fun together.
Like most of my other wedding items, it is available in other fabrics and ribbon colors.
I really love the handle on the basket. It is heavy gauge wire that is wrapped with green thread. Two strands of the wire are intertwined and then comes down onto the basket in curly tendrils. It also has ribbonwork leaves sprouting from the stem handle.
I really love how it turned out. I plan to make another basket in the same shape with silk ribbon embroidery on it also so look for it soon!
If you would like to see more photos of this item and read a few more details, you can find it in my shop 
I have been picturing this book in my head for a while and just had not gotten the time to sit down, draw out the pattern and then figure out how I wanted to assemble it.
The cover has heavy mat board inserts that have been covered in batting before being covered so it has a solid structure but is padded and soft.
I made the sample in white silk dupinoi but can make it in any of the other fabrics and colors I offer. The flower color can also be any of the 41 colors I offer.
The silk cording stem on the cover winds around to the back of the book with an additional leaf.
The inside pages are stitched together and then adhered to the inside book binding. The pages are blank and have a deckled edge and are slightly staggered from one page to the next. I left the pages blank so that the book could be used as a guest book, a journal, a photo album, or scrapbook. I like the idea of using blank pages for a guest book so that wedding guests can write messages to the bride and groom rather than just the traditional single signature line.
You can find the book and additional photos of it in my shop 
The design trails around to the back cover also.
The inside has a packet of cardstock pages that are sewn together and adhered to the inside spine.
I think it would be a lovely wedding guest book, journal or photo memory book.
I have a little tweeking left to do with the design, but you can look forward to seeing this offered in my shop soon!
