4. Patterned Gesso cardstock/DIY Designer Paper (& dress templates)

In this post: A) Dress template B) Gesso patterned Cardstock tutorial C) Card elements made with little gesso dresses & gesso d.p.

A) Dress Template:





The dress template is linked in a PDF here for any of you who may want to use it, but who don't want to read about gesso. ;0) The largest one could be used to make a 6" shaped card. The smaller ones will fit on standard cards (5 1/2" x 4 2/8") Several more dress templates linked here.










B) Easy-Peasy Patterned Gesso Cardstock:
(photo tutorial below)

Okay, you may be tired of gesso cardstock, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to make this version (& much less messy than the thick textured version--though I do love making messes!) Wish I had a video camera, so I could show you how fast & simple this is! (But then I'd have to do my hair--Oh man, you should see how bad it usually is, lol.)

Supplies:

• Cardstock (I like the back of glossy c.s. but others should work & just need more flattening)
• Stazon or ink of choice
• Brayer (optional)
  
• Gesso
• Brush (read somewhere that it's a good idea to reserve one for gesso use)
  

Summarized directions:

1. Stamp text/background... onto the back of a sheet of glossy cardstock
(glossy c.s. curls less, but regular will work, it may just need flattening under a book.)

2. Mix Gesso with water (or use undiluted) (for this one sheet I used about a teaspoon of gesso and a 1/4 tsp or a wee splash of water--water amount depends on consistency of the gesso you have & translucency that you want)

3. Brush Gesso on in long strokes (cover as much or as little as you like. Leave raised lines by using a rougher brush or adding more gesso if you want that brush-stroke look.)

1. Brayer your stamp for even coverage.
Stazon (or other waterproof inks won't bleed, but you can use Classic (dye) ink as long as you don't mind if it tints your gesso a little bit. If you don't overwork dye inks, they shouldn't smudge.)




2. Stamp back (rough side) of entire sheet of glossy cardstock.

Or other cardstock. Don't worry about irregularities in stamping. It's a random look & the gesso smooths things out for you.




3. Mix Gesso with water

(For this one sheet I used about a teaspoon of gesso and a wee splash of water. The amount of water will depend on the consistency of the gesso you have & how thin you want it to look.) If it goes on too thin you can always add a second coat. If you want brush strokes to show use it a little thick.




4. Brush Gesso on in long strokes...

...Or in short strokes, swirls... however you want. Cover your text or image as much or as little as you like. Leave raised lines by using a rougher brush or adding more gesso if you want that brush-stroke look.)


C) Card elements:

These are little dresses made & mounted on (and/or embellished with) DIY gesso designer paper. I love how strong the gesso makes the paper so that stitching is a joy & won't tear...but if you like the look and don't want to gesso, you could just use the template on regular cardstock or d.p. (guess that's overstating the obvious!) I made these little pieces with both textured gesso c.s. & with the text patterned gesso c.s. that I made in the tutorial above:

Here's how to do these dresses:

1. Get textured gesso cardstock or d.p... (for this one I brayered on the gesso, inked with brown ink, sprayed with water & brayered again)

2. Run it through the printer to print dress template (if you dare) ;0)

3. Emboss the wet printer ink with clear embossing powder (or e.p. of choice)

4. Cut & embellish dresses



This Baby doll dress is tied with skinny black organza ribbon & embellished with snaps (used my Tim Holtz design ruler & making memories piercer to get even holes and snapped the male & female end to add the snaps to the paper. They hold themselves on--and I think the snaps would look schnifty even if you could see the backs of them on the inside of a card. They're cute lookin')

Between the snaps, the stitches are markered on (if you use a stamp'n'write marker they'll need to be embossed to stay put, oh darn! lol--I just love embossing!)

The darker words detail is added by going over it in pencil & then clear Sakura glaze pen (so the graphite wouldn't smudge.) I freak in a happy way that the Friend by Definition background stamp says "ineffable" and "underlying oneness" [two of my favourite literary motifs in two of my favourite writers' work: The ineffable in Samuel Beckett & underlying oneness in Virginia Wolf. (Sorry had to geek out on ya!)] ;0)

This little shift was stitched like this:

• Pierce the dress where you'd like the stitches to go
• Stick it to your paper & re-pierce the stitches (so it goes all the way through your paper)
• Sew the thread through (the c.s. is nice & strong from the gesso) I used black embroidery thread & I like to anchor the end of the thread with adhesive at the back
  
• The background paper is made by distress embossing (tutorial here.) I just added a wash of waterproof black magic ink to the paper that's described in that tutorial
  
• The round tab punch is made of Notebook designer series paper (SU) embossed with "exquisite" from Amazing to Zany & punched with the round tab punch. It's held on with a straight pin from Making Memories.
  
• The bottom detail is punched with the Spiral punch (& embellished with a mystery vintage number tape--sorry no source; it was a gift from my sweeeeeeet Aunt Kat.)

This little dress is super simple. More snaps & stitching, but it has a little hook & eye. (Reminds me of my favourite Margaret Atwood poem):

You fit into me
like a hook into an eye
A fish hook
An open eye

(Creepy, I know, & that's why I love it, hehe)



This house dress was fun. The neckline is made using the scallop circle punch Just punch it stick it on & cut away the extra. More organza tied around the waist, snaps & embossed stitch details between them & embroidery stitching (done the same way as i described above.) Marker & clear embossing powder again to add the faux stitching.



The scallop hem detail was made with another of the gesso patterned cardstocks that I made. It used the Form & Function background, which I had never used but am now super glad that I bought. One awesome thing about gesso paper pieces is that you can give them a fine embossed edge to distress them. I wanted the scallop hem to stand out from the white text background, so I just edged it with a black SU marker & stuck it in embossing powder.

Something about playin' with all of this stuff is blissful in a rudimentary way isn't it? Like sand castles & finger painting, no? And... the most fun playing of all--just like a playdoh barbershop toy: the Cuttlebug...

...Of course you can cuttlebug these thingers. This is the largest dress of the template. It's 6 inches tall. I ran it through two cuttlebug embossing folders: the Swiss Dots folder (skirt) & the Floral Fantasy folder (top.) Then Crayon rubbed the top & markered in the sunken dots of the skirt (adding embossing powder to set the marker.) The faux-stitching along the bottom is also marker embossed. The black ribbon is a vintage ribbon that I got ages ago in a great secondhand shop. (How I miss the garage sales & secondhand shopping of Ontario, sighhhhh...)

Go to the Gesso Index (7 techniques)

Thanks so much for reading my blabbering/looking at the pics &
I hope you have a crafty-Bliss kind of day! :0)



P.S. Edited to Add:

Here's a project that uses the dress template:

It's an armoire-shaped box