Christmas Card Class & Faux Bow Tutorial

Last night I had a really fun class with 5 new ladies that I met for the first time.  None of them had ever stamped before so I wasn't completely certain we would make it through 3 cards.  There were a lot of new things to learn with these cards.  First off, I have to give credit to Vicki Wiznuik, a Canadian consultant shared her fabulous card ideas on the consultant board.  My changes are ever so slight.  Here is what we did:

The first card we created had lots of glitz glitter!

Next we moved to something that had a little texture.  I also demonstrated that with CTMH's white core card stock that you could sand the texture ever so slightly to make it pop even more.

And finally, we got to make a faux bow which makes a lovely gathered bow.  Doesn't it look like the most perfect bow?

So, how do you make this lovely faux bow?  Note that any picture (above/below) you can click on it to see more detail.

1.  For this ribbon (which is 1" wide) I started with a 10" piece of ribbon, a button (2 holes is easier to do this), and some hemp or waxy flax (I prefer the waxy flax).

2.  Take the left end of the ribbon and cross it over the center of the ribbon and take the right end of the ribbon and cross it over the center:

3.  Through the top of the button insert the waxy flax and come up through the second hole but leave the waxy flax loose forming a big loop.

4.  Insert your ribbon (for pix #2 above) through the loop.

5.  Now tighten the waxy flax forming a bow but leaving the waxy flax just loose enough so you can adjust the bow:

6.  When the bow is adjusted the way you like, tie a single knot in the waxy flax or if you are using hemp you will have to tie a double knot to hold it.  Trim waxy flax down to about the width of the button.

7.  Trim the ends of the bow and voila, you have the perfect faux bow!

Now if that isn't the easiest bow I ever didn't tie!