Kimono & Butterfly Bow Obi

by Heather Taylor

1. Stamp image (Stone House Stamps) on fabric with Black Versacraft pigment ink; dry with heat gun.

2. Stamp image on coordinated cardstock with same ink, emboss with clear embossing powder. Cut the cardstock with an Xacto knife so that you have the outline of the kimono where the fabric will show through. Trim the cardstock so that the image is centered; run through a Xyron and edge with gold Krylon and heat set.

3. Cut out the piece of fabric so none of the edges show from under the cardstock, and place the cardstock over it so that the lines of the kimono line up exactly. Layer onto another layer of cardstock and then onto your card base (mine is standard A2, 4.25" x 5.5" folded). You now have a pretty nice card, but it might need some oomph.

4. Make an obi with ribbon. I used a slightly metallic, transparent mesh. The metallic factor enabled the ribbon to stay in place after I folded it, which was pretty convenient.

a. Take a small piece of cardstock, about 1.5" x .5", to use to hold things in place until you're through. Take a long piece of ribbon; you might need to fold it in half so it's not too wide. (In my defense, I'll say that my workplace is "well-used"!)

b. Wrap the ribbon around the cardstock twice, finishing with a right-over-left tie. Make sure the bottom end is plenty long enough.

c. Fold the bottom end over itself (Z-fashion) so that you have the complete width of your bow. The knot is going to go where my finger is. (Sorry about the blur!)

d. Wrap the other end around the middle of the Z-fold a couple of times.

e. Tie it off behind the bow, but in front of the original flat part (or whatever looks good, or whatever works). The cardstock has escaped by now, but that's ok.

f. This is the back of the bow. Take some EP6000 or other glue you trust and glue down the ends to the middle of the back.

g. Glue the whole shebang down to the card. Open the sides of the bow so they're nice and fluffy. You're done!

(PS: I know, this kimono is open and shouldn't really have an obi around it. Uhm, artistic license? Thanks for your indulgence!)

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