Ribbons and Fiber

Ribbons and fiber are a great way to decorate your scrapbooking pages or other projects. Take a look at the variety of options.

Fiber fabrics, in different forms, I have used in many different projects from the scrapbook page to a shadowbox scene. To remember my sisters bridal shower, I created a shadowbox with three good shots of the shower, dried rose flower heads and a spool of ribbon- rosebuds, all in shades of pink. She loved it!

In the early days of scrapbooking, I would use different colors of embroidery floss to frame and decorate my pages. When my husband and I were married, we had received many gifts. From those packages I saved every piece of paper, ribbons and fiber that had adorned those gifts. All these I used on the pages of our wedding scrapbook album.

One thing I liked to do was to take the different colors of floss and twist together for a multiple color design effect. The use of embroidery floss, as well as ribbons and fiber became a theme in several of my earlier albums.

Uses of ribbon and other fibers:

Whether you want to tie, hang, weave or attach, most often there is a length of ribbon, fiber, thread, floss, twill tape, raffia or jute that will go well with your layouts color and style.

Use thinner strands in hand-stitching and thicker ribbons and fiber to be printed on or stamped. They can be colored too with chalk, ink, dye or paint.

Use ribbon or other fibers to add interest to a border. Start by cutting two strips of coordinating patterned paper or colored cardstock. Put the two strips of paper next to each other on a visually pleasing place of the page.

Use these embellishments to stretch across the width of the paper and cover the seam of the two strips of paper.

Cut the ribbon slightly longer than the width of the paper and wrap the ends of the ribbon around the back of the scrapbook page. This allows for a cleaner look.

Use yarn and fiber to accent a child’s photo.

Tie raffia or organza around a die-cut letter or a chipboard letter in a title.

Decorate a strip of cardstock with eyelets and pull your favorite fiber textile through them and tie together.

Use ribbon, floss or similar embellishment to tie a charm or other accent to the page.

Punch two holes and attach eyelets. Thread ribbon through the eyelets and knot on the front of the layout.

Use these fabric fibers to anchor a title block to your page.

Additionally, keep an eye out for your embellishments. Purchasing is not the only way to come by them. Maybe someone is tossing out a vase of flowers, for instance, and around the vase is a pretty ribbon. Don't toss out that ribbon. Stash it for use later. You never know.

Variations of attaching ribbon and fiber:

For a flat finish, attach long strands by stringing them across the layout and tape the ends down in back. Ends can be threaded through slits cut with a craft knife or bound around brads and other fasteners.

For an additional element, wrap ribbon around the back of the project or bring it up through the two holes set with eyelets and knot in front. To keep your chosen fiber from shifting, tack it down with adhesive dots or dabs of liquid adhesive.

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