What's cooking?

This weekend I got a wild hair and set my mind on sewing a cupcake bag for Madelyn.

 She absolutely loves it!  So much that it went to bed with her last night.

Even the lining looks like cupcake batter!

These will be coming soon to etsy with the addition of a magnetic snap closure.  Perfect for any little (or big) girl in your life who loves purses and cupcakes!  Colors can be customized a little based on availability of fabric.

Email fourribbons@gmail.com to pre-order yours today!

Not on Facebook?

For those of you not on Facebook (*gasp* I know!) here are some of the pictures we have up over there. 

Mother/daughter aprons.  Mom's apron is a half apron with 2 pockets.  Daughter's apron is a full apron with one large pocket.

Long ties make a pretty bow!

Bibbed dress

Matching bibbed dress and flutter sleeve shirt.

Decorative blocks, side 1

side 2

Side 1

Side 2

Wow...

When I started sewing I never thought I would be creating such fun, beautiful things.  I always looked at fabric because it was so pretty, but never felt that I would ever be able to create anything more than a mess with it.

Seven years ago I attempted to make throw pillows for our living room.  I knew nothing about sewing except the very basics of thread, needle, fabric.  I bought some really cheap polyester stretch material because it was soft and the right color.  It was such a pain to work with!  I never got them done.  Then I wanted to cover new cushions for a chair I inherited from my grandfather.  I spent a lot of time picking just the right fabric and figured that I could sew a "cube" without a pattern.  I ended up with a mess, one cushion is mostly handstitched and the other is missing the back.  Yeah.  Not so hot.  I also did it without the right size needled or strong enough thread so it was a long hard sew with a machine that was tempermental to begin with. From that point on the only thing I did with fabric was done with a hotglue gun and wood for valences.

Fast forward 7 years and now I have a baby.  I'm a bit more patient and would love to make her things, or decorations, or something because baby crap is expensive and there's lots of cute baby fabric.  I got a sewing machine the Chistmas after Madelyn turned 1 and pulled it out and promptly hemmed 6 pairs of cotton knit pants cause my baby had a fat booty and short legs.  Sewing machine went back in the box for almost another year.

In January I pulled my machine back out and started sewing with Denise.  I made a flutter sleeve dress for Madelyn.  6 months later I am contributing items I have made and created to a boutique in NC and opening a store with my dear friend so that people can buy the stuff I make with pretty fabric.

The first flutter sleeve dress  I made

It's amazing.

Welcome!

Welcome to FOUR RIBBONS!


We are so excited you are joining us! Please, come on in, look around and have a glass of champagne. Before we get into introductions, let us show you around. Over there on the left is all about us, our facebook page (you should become a fan if you aren’t already!), followers, and a link to the store. We hope to do some adding on to that side with buttons for all of our friends.

It was a dark and stormy night in southern California. Oh wait. That’s a different story. The story of Four Ribbons begins on a typical sunny day here in SoCal when Denise and I were just totally minding our own business, neglecting our ThreeGs craft blog (but still sewing and creating, just not blogging it) and we got a phone call from our friend Amber telling us that she had a friend opening a boutique. Several conversations, lots of excitement, and creative ideas later…Four Ribbons was born.

The name Four Ribbons comes from the fact that we have 4 girls between the 2 of us (Denise 3, Katrina 1) and Ribbons is a play on our last names combined.

Our vision for Four Ribbons is to share our love of fun, playful, beautiful things with the world! You think we are kidding. We are not. There are only so many flutter sleeve shirts our girls can wear, so many bibbed dresses they can outgrow, so many places we can stick pretty blocks, and so many purses we can carry. Not to mention, our addiction to pretty fabric and paper costs money, so if we can share with you and make a little money doing it, our husbands are less likely to groan at the site of shopping bags full of beautiful stuff.

The things listed in our etsy shop are things we have made to date. We love to create, so if you have a special request for a color combination, sizing, or something you’ve seen and want recreated, please email us for pricing and availability.

Meet Denise

My turn to tell you a little about me...

I am a WIFE first and foremost.  I love my husband dearly.  He has been my best friend since we were in the 6th grade.  SCARY.

I am a MOM to three beautiful little girls that keep me going ALL the time.  I love every day with them.

My dream job still eludes me, I want to be paid to test cook book recipes.  I love to COOK and eat, who wouldn't love to get paid to do both?  In the mean time I will sew for the girls, our home and for you if you will have me.  :)

I can not wait to harvest some vegetables out of our garden, everything is growing like crazy.

I think it is silly that Katrina thinks that she isn't good about talking about herself.  You are so Kooky Kat.

My current FAVORITES:

Right now my favorite thing about my oldest daughter is that she gets so excited telling me stories and I just can't help but WATCH her, she is amazing.

Right now my favorite thing about my middle daughter is her big hugs, she squeezes SO tight she about chokes me, and I just can't bring myself to tell her to ease up.  I love them.

Right now my favorite thing about my youngest is our quiet times in the evenings when the big girls are in bed and she is playing alone on the living room floor,  I will catch her laying on her belly just looking up at me on the couch with her sleepy eyes.  She gives the best little grins.

Right now my favorite thing about my husband is that he is HERE.

Right now my favorite drink is WATER, I know so boring but I am going back to drinking it more and here in So.Cal. I just need it so much more.  It has to be ICE cold. 

I am so in love right now with any Damask fabric. 

I am so happy you are here to see what Katrina and I have to offer.  I am so excited to be on this Four Ribbons adventure with her.

D :)

Meet Katrina...

Hey all! Katrina here. It seems that we are embarking on this beautiful journey that is Four Ribbons. It is amazingly exciting. I think this is the part where I’m supposed to tell you a little about myself, but I’m no good at that, so I’m gonna do a list of entertaining facts about Katrina.


1. I scoff at instruction. Until I can’t figure it out on my own and I go crawling back.

2. I am very organic in my creations. There is no set way to do something, just do what looks and feels      
    good.

3. In addition to an addiction to pretty fabric, paper, and thread, I LOVE shoes.

4. I have more ideas that I can possibly finish. But I’m pretty sure I can start them all.

5. I could eat anything with tomato sauce, cheese, and bread or pasta for every single meal.

6. I love the smell of my daughter’s stinky toes.

7. I make a lot of faces in my day to day activities. I’ve made about 10 just trying to think of this list.

8. Now I want to webcam my facial expressions as I blog sometime.

9. I would rather scrub the bathroom than fold laundry.

10. I still sleep with a teddy bear.  I'm thinking of sewing him some pajamas.

Now that you know all about me, I hope you can look around and really enjoy what we have to offer. We have so many great ideas and I can’t wait to continue to create and share with you. I love a challenge, so if you have seen something, have an idea, or just want to see me struggle to try to make something, let me know and I will do my best to entertain…or, you know, make you something beautiful.

-K