Lament for Soft Sky (& Gesso cardstock Embellishments are Strong)

Lament for Soft Sky:

First things first, I know I'll love the new S.U. in colours, but how--oh how!--will I ever survive without Soft Sky!???! I still feel the same way about Cool Caribbean (which is why i still use it whenever I want, like here--I'm bad!) Anywho, if you love Soft Sky (or another in colour) you know how I feel & can join me in asking WHY!!!!???!!! lol. [This moment of Mel-odrama was brought to you by a slight fever and a severe obsession with anything remotely turquoisey.]

So, rant over...about the card. It's an accessories & a style C.A.S.E.

The Accessories:

These flowers are cased from Erin K. I never would have thought to make little primas with this Natural Beauty set. Erin doubles them up too and they are SO cute in pink! I've stamped these flowers on brayered gesso cardstock so they'd be strong enough to hold the button sewn on without ripping. (It also meant I could emboss the Blue Bayou classic ink.)

The Style:

I love the soft distressed french shabby chic look that my super-talented SBS2 Sis Michele has mastered, so I thought I'd give casing it a whirl. I distressed the paper edges, used buttons, & I sewed the paper by...

1) ...matting it so it was sturdy
2) ...piercing where I wanted to stitch
3) ...threading my needle with embroidery thread
4) ...pulling the thread through from the back to the front
5) ...securing the end with some double-sided tape & sewing

here's the back view of the stitching:

Cardstock: Main card, soft sky, Mats: Cool Caribbean & Kraft c.s., Designer Series Notebook Paper

This homemade patterned paper was made with gesso cardstock, embossing, & markers. The stamp is a paisley (large design category) from Above the Mark (56005 I). There's a tutorial for this faux watercolour paper here.


The letters are also painted with gesso:

The letters were from my sweet & tallented SBS2 sis Becky. After I gesso'ed them, I stamped them with the Friend by Definition background stamp (in Blue Bayou ink) & embossed them with clear embossing powder. I used double-sided tape to adhere the letters , and I also tied 'em on with embroidery thread. The gems were added to the holes that I punched out of the Notebook designer series paper (glued on with Crystal Effects.)


May your day be filled with Craftiness! :0)




P.S. There are more gesso techniques indexed here. If you haven't seen them already, it may be worth a peek. (Gesso cardstock makes SU & Tombow markers embossable even!) :0)

P.P.S. Thanks so much for your well-wishes; it's nothing serious just feeling really tired & blah