Today, we have a very special guest on the May Arts Ribbon Blog!  Please help us welcome Karen Hanson!  She will be doing a series of posts with us, so we hope you enjoy her work as much as we do.  Don’t forget to post your comments at the end!

Hi everyone!  It’s Karen from ScrappyCanuck Studios, and I cannot tell you how honored I am to be here as a guest designer for May Arts, one of the most supportive and generous companies in the industry! 

Today, I wanted to share a little ”Love is in the Air” project for Valentine’s Day that was inspired by the beautiful (TG34) blue, red and purple grosgrain striped ribbon.  I thought it might be fun to play with some unusual colours for Valentine’s Day, and while this ribbon has a hint of pink and red, it is also has some fun blues and purples that I thought would be a modern take on this holiday.

So, I got busy sewing, baking and crafting, and the result was a few cupcakes, a cupcake stand and a ruffled apron that are perfect for Valentine’s spent having tea with my two little gals.

This little cupcake stand was a breeze to pull together.  Made out of some cardboard and half a Pringles container, it was as easy as covering these recycled materials with textured paper, and then wrapping some beautiful ribbon around the edges.  

One of my favorite components is this simple ribbon daisy that adorns one side of the tray – simply five pieces of ribbon with a rounded edge sew together and topped with a button. Easy peasy!

And who said that Valentine’s Day has to be all about chocolate and strawberries?  Personally, I think vanilla cupcakes topped with blueberries and a little , satin heart is just as pretty as can be!

Finally, I hit the sewing machine to create a fun ruffled apron.

The grosgrain ribbon made this project a breeze!  Not having to worry about creating and sewing the waist band took at least an hour off of this project.   Oh, and I left lots of extra ribbon so it can tie in the front, because as I realized last night, I cannot tie things behind my back. Who knew?

So there you have it – a little unconventional Valentine’s project!  Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!