S&M Ribbon (& inroducing the new level 3 S.U. Hostess set)

Ribbon and I have an S & M relationship: Stupid Sadistic Ribbon and Masochistic me. I like to torture the ends of ribbon with a lighter (seals the ends to prevent fraying.) Ribbon likes to torture me more though, by looking like plop when I use it! This ribbon is a lot easier to use; it's from Stampin' Up: 5/8 inch grosgrain (Vanilla, dyed with reinkers.) But it still doesn't look like some of the ribbonlicious creations that I've drooled over.

Maybe I just need to follow the sage advice of this new S.U. set the demos all got recently: "too much of a good thing is a GOOD THING" and use a helluva lot more? Anybody in craft land have ribbon pointers?

Mel