Awareness Ribbons (all)

Below is a photo of all of the ribbons that I have so far. I am planning to do them in yellow as well as green - I am just waiting for the beads to arrive.




Each ribbon can be done in an afternoon. They take me about 3 hours to do, depending on how fast I am working and what else is going on in the house.

If you are familiar with peyote stitch and would like the pattern that I used for these ribbons, please email me and I will send it to you. It helps if you already know odd-count peyote as the pattern does not teach the stitch itself. Once you know it, it is a fairly easy pattern to follow.

Awareness Ribbons - Black

I was born during the Vietnam War and a few of my uncles fought in that war. I wanted to do something for those that did not come home. As well as for my fiance who spent 9 years in the Navy and did 2 tours in the Gulf War.

The ribbon ends on this particular one are longer to allow for the POW & MIA lettering. When worn on a jacket the tail ends lay flat so that I don't have to worry about them being overly long.




Black Ribbon:
This color is a symbol of mourning, melanoma, and gang prevention

Awareness Ribbons - White

White Ribbon:
This color is a symbol of innocence, victims of terrorism, violence against women, peace, right to life, bone cancer, adoptees, and retinal blastoma

Awareness Ribbons - Purple

With this ribbon I chose to follow the original pattern when it came to where to place a small silver heart where the ribbon's tail ends crossed one another. The heart was stitched after the ribbon was completed and is sewn over it. Unlike the red ribbon that has the heart within the pattern.



Purple Ribbon:
This color is a symbol of pancreatic cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid cancer, domestic violence, ADD/ADHD, alzheimer's, religious tolerance, animal abuse, the victims of 9/11 including the police and firefighters, Crohn's disease and colitis, cystic fibrosis, lupus, leimyosarcoma, and fibromyalgia

Awareness Ribbons - Red

This version doesn't have the border around it like the pink one, but instead has a heart within the pattern of the edge of the ribbon.



Red Ribbon:
Most commonly associated with the fight against AIDS and HIV, this ribbon is also a symbol for heart disease, stroke, substance abuse, MADD, DARE, Epidermolysis Bullosa, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy

Awareness Ribbons - Pink

I recently saw a pattern for Beaded Awareness Ribbons and as I've always liked them, I decided to try to make one.

The pattern I was given was for a beaded ribbon done in a combination of ladder stitch and brick stitch. I altered the pattern so that it was done in odd-count peyote stitch. A similar pattern but for me, I prefer peyote stitch. Besides it being one of my favorites, the original pattern called for size 11 seed beads which I changed to Delicas size 11's. I find they have a more uniform size.

So far, I've done 5 awareness ribbons and each one is slightly different.

Pink Ribbon:

Most commonly associated with breast cancer awareness, this ribbon is also a symbol for birth parents, and childhood cancer awareness

Lacy Beaded Bracelet

Below are 3 lacy beaded bracelets. The pink one was a gift for my mom. When I finished it, I liked it so much I made 2 more for myself.

Moonlight Windows Bracelet

Below is a bracelet called "Moonlight Windows" done in peyote stitch.

The beads used are: Delicas 11/0, 12mm flat coin pearls, 4mm bicone crystals, seed beads size 15/0... this was a wonderful pattern that I found in a magazine a few months back. Though I made this one shown here, I cannot take credit for the original pattern.

Beaded Snake Chain Necklace

Here is a necklace I made for a coin that my boyfriend gave me from Italy that he's had since he was in the Navy. I am half Italian and speak Italian as well so the coin has special meaning to me. But even more, it is something he had for many years and gave to me.

This necklace was done with 4mm silver pearls, seed beads 11/0 & 15/0.

For the pendant I used Delicas 11/0 and seed beads in size 15/0.

Beaded Containers/Boxes

My newfound hobby is beading! I started to learn to bead about 10 years ago than stopped for a few years. When my boyfriend's daughter sent him a small beaded bear, I went back to beading again. Since then, I have moved on to beading necklaces, bracelets, rings and small beaded boxes or containers.

Here are 2 photos of one of the boxes I have done that is six-sided:

Here are 3 photos of another of the boxes I have done that is 3-sided:

The beaded boxes or containers are easy to do once you learn the technique for each one. The beads used are Delicas 11/0 and the stitch is a variation of peyote. I found an absolutely wonderful book that offers all you need to create these. If you are interested, please email me and I will send you the info.