The Artful Ribbon: Ribbon Flowers

This is the best book on ribbonwork. It incorporates many beautiful pictures of vintage and some contemporary work. The entire book is instructional (no silly projects to fill the pages!!!). The instructions are excellent and this is as close to a "beginners" introduction to the subject as I have been able to find. At first I was disappointed that there were very few photographs of instructions. Often the instructions use drawings and often drawings are the only examples of the completed piece. But, what I have come to love is the lack of pictures for instruction. This book achieves something many art/craft books fail to. It requires you to practice, to use a variety materials and to create your own color combinations. It makes the "copying" of another's work no concern, because basically, you cannot. The subject is so well covered you will have an understanding of it: from foliage, to flowers, to stabilizing your work for wear on clothing, hats, and pins, to stems and buds, to flat and dimensional, to texture and how to preserve your work, etc. I haven't found a better book and I do not expect to. I thank the author for covering subjects like the movement, or "dance," of the work and for challenging me with the drawings - to try it and then see how it looks. Last but not least, the author introduces a great way to figure how much ribbon you will need to make any project using any ribbon width! So you can make ANY size flower you want. Ms. Kling makes your journey an unexpectedly easy fall - into a creative medium more satisfying than anything I've dabbled in besides beads - which one can incorporate too, of course.

I have several books on the subject of ribbon flower crafting and most do a good job of teaching the basics, including this one. But what puts Ms. Kling so far beyond the others is her exquisite color sense. Speaking as a colorist painter, I can promise you that you will see subtle color relationships at work in her arrangments that demonstrate a very sophisticated understanding of value,tone and key. Her choices of which color next to what color (which is more important than just color itself!)are either exceedingly well thought out or dazzlingly intuitive -- an accomplishment made all the more complicated by working with ombre and two or more toned ribbons. Ms, Kling delivers not only the information you buy the book for, but also page after page of visual delights.

If you want to try your hand at textile Arts this is a good book to start with. Page after page of beautiful ribbon flowers are demonstrated meticulously with diagrams, stitching instructions and photos. As the author says in the Introduction, "For this text, I've tried to develop a fuller and more consistent instructional language both in illustrations and in words, giving the techniques easy nicknames where possible. The 'Invitation to Use this Book,' which follows, will get you started easily, answering your most basic questions. But don't skip the technical sections; they're filled with tips and tricks."The first chapters after the Invitation chapter start out with simple projects. You'll practice creating simple baby rosettes and thereafter the projects introduce more intricate and ornamental flowers, stems, leaves, stamens and buds. There are plenty of diagrams on each page as well as photos - many of them full-page. For example, you'll start making a basic scalloped rosebud. From there you'll learn to embellish it such as a Scalloped Rosebud with Knots or create a Hatpin Rose, Flatbud or Carbochon Rosebuds with One or Double Rolled Edges. You'll learn to create a Dahlia. Or create full bloom roses with variations such as budded finish, off-center, off-center w/ zig-zag ruffles, internal petals and separate petals. And these are only a select few flowers and techniques you'll learn. Other chapters show various ways of attaching your finished flowers to fabric with other chapters on creating pompoms, knots or various lazy daisy designs, pansies, fushias and daffodils. Leaves, stamens and buds receive just as much treatment as the flowers and help fill out the designs. There are chapters on textured finishes such as ruffled edges, hand pleating, scrunching, wet look and tips on getting your flowers into final form as well as knowing when they're finished. There are tips on collecting ribbons, buying them, washing and ironing them as well as a chapter giving extra tips and techniques on the various stitches used throughout the book. The final chapter discusses the meaning of flowers and inspirations for creating your own ribbon flower artwork.Beginning and Advanced ribbon crafters alike will find this book full of easy to understand instructions, diagrams and photos. For convenience there is a list of mail-order sources for ribbon in the back as well as a Suggested Reading and an index. If you have any interest in this type of work at all don't miss this book.

This ISN'T a ribbon embroidery book, its a book that demonstrates how to create dimensional (3D) flowers with ribbon.AND WOW!, WOW!, WOW! - WHAT A BOOK! The Artful Ribbon is worth buying just for the gloriously beautiful photos which are high quality. BE WARNED though - you won't be able to resist having a go at one of those gorgeous flowers once you have even peeked at the inside pages.Beginners this is definitely a book for you, but any skill level will enjoy this book. Candace Kling's ribbon width formula (if you can call it that - recipe perhaps? ) is wonderfully and excitingly simple. Rik Olson's deceptively simple illustrations are just fablous, depicting the subtle differences between flowers - Yep, you can even count the number of folds! WOW! I usually prefer photo demos, but Rik's 'pics' are extremely accurate and contribute to this book being the easiest to use, understand and actually create something from of all the craft books I have read, and I have read have read quite a few!Definitely a book worth having!

The book was so beautifully written and photographed that it inspired me to take a class from Ms. Kling. The class was elegantly and intelligently taught. I have passed along the skills I learned from Kling's book and her class to several delighted friends, with whom I have spent many entertaining hours (that SPED by) creating the most gorgeous ribbon works of art. This kind of activity is deeply satisfying and reminds one of the best aspects of the ancient art guilds formed by craftsmen in the Middle Ages (and before), where artistic knowledge was preserved, shared, enhanced and passed along to the next interested party. The artistic and conversational processes begun by this book have lead me to some of the most rewarding moments I have spent with my women friends. I have planned another "ribbon day" for this coming weekend and it promises to be as refreshing and productive as the last several were. Thanks to Kling for being courageous enough to develop an almost unknown and almost exclusively female art form to unimagined heights.