I wanted to share two ways I color rayon seam binding – I bought the 100 yard roll of white seam binding on etsy so I could customize the color using my own inks and dyes (if you're not into dyeing, it does come in a bunch of other solid colors, too). I use about 2-1/2″ feet of ribbon for a triple bow.
For the first method of coloring, I swipe my inkpad(s) directly onto the ribbon, then spritz the ribbon with water and squish it around in my hand several times until the colors blend the way I like. While the ribbon is still damp, I tie it and shape it, then let it dry. It will stay in the same form that you give it when it’s damp. I've used chalk inks on this piece, but you could use any other ink that's water soluble with this method.
I used the ribbon on the card below - these are stamps from Flourishes'
Berry Sweet set. I watercolored the image using
Inktense and
watercolor pencils, and added dimension to the berries using the technique described
HERE. The image was cut out using circle dies, trimming some areas so they could hang outside the cut edge. I created a layered frame using circle dies and foam tape.
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For the second method, I use my Touch markers, and color directly on the ribbon using 2-3 colors. Alternatively, you could use alcohol inks or reinkers for this step.
After I have the color and coverage that I want, I spritz the ribbon with rubbing alcohol until the colors blend.
I usually give it a good squish with my hand - you can probably tell that wearing gloves would be a good idea for this step!
Here's my final product. The colors will fade slightly (but again, that could be from them bleeding onto my hand...?!) The alcohol stiffens the ribbon a little, which helps it hold its shape.
Here's the card where I used this ribbon:
You can read about it
HERE.
Seam binding ribbon can also be colored using dye ink mists… I also like to drip several drops of reinker into a wet sink, then drop the ribbon into them until the colors look blended. I tend to like a variegated look, rather than a solid color. With 100 yards in a roll… there’s plenty of ribbon to experiment with!
This is Soaking Up the Joy – it’s a digital image from illustrator Maurie Manning (better make sure I give her proper credit, since I covered up her signature!!)… I love the expression on her face - it just says “What a wonderful world!” to me. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils. The flowers are made with Spellbinders’ Daisy Head dies – each flower has 3 layers of diecuts and 2 small punchies, that I attached together then misted and ‘scrunched’. The focal image is layered on a Blossoms 2 diecut, then layered over the negative space left by die cutting (hope that makes sense!). The sentiment is from smARTworks.
Hope this brightens your day!
