A little Black Dress With Heart

When I first saw this dress shape on Close to My Heart's Artiste Cricut cartridge, I had a vision of it, a mirror and the dress form from my favorite stamp set, "Find Your Style," but I never got around to acting on my vision until the Heart 2 Heart "Little Black Dress" challenge provided the kick in the butt  motivation and Atlantic Hearts provided the inspiration with this sketch which I rotated to accommodate a vertical design:





After cutting out the dress (page 41, shift + accent 2, 3.5 inches real dial size), I dry embossed the skirt, only to find that the white core showed though in parts of the raised design.  Now the white core of CTMH's cardstock can provide additional design opportunities in many cases, but in this case, those bits of white detracted from the "black" dress concept, so I went over it with a sponge dauber and black ink.  Of course the great thing about a little black dress is that you get to accessorize!  I created a belt by cutting a piece of silver shimmer trim in half lengthwise and adding a base and bling floral accent.  I knew that I wanted to put pearl opaques on the neckline, so I removed the sparkle in the middle of the flower and replaced it with a pearl opaque.

Once the dress was done, it was time to make a mirror.  First I used the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to cut a frame (page 47, decorative layer, 4.5 inches) from La Belle Vie paper and put scrapes of pink behind the corner cutouts.  I cut out an oval of Colonial white slightly larger than the opening, stamped the dress form in second generation black ink and the swirls in second generation Blush and Vineyard Berry (retired) and slipped it behind the opening.  After sponging the frame with black ink to help it stand out, I matted it with a piece cut from La Belle Vie Mauve (page 47, shape 8, 4.75 inches).  Black sparkles completed the frame.  Before attaching the dress I added a few more swirls to the background.  I like the swirls so much that I used them on the inside as well:

I like the retro feel of pink, white, gray and black together and think it complements the style of the dress.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now please head on over Heart 2 Heart to see some more little black dresses and Atlantic Hearts to see what others have done with this layout.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  La Belle Vie, Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Black, Blush, Vineyard Berry (retired)
Stamps:  Find Your Style (retired), Fabulous You, Instant memories (retired), Card Chatter - Birthday
Embellishments:  Silver Shimmer Trim, Base and Bling Floral Accents, Pearl Opaques, Black Sparkles
Other:  Paper Lace II embossing folder from Cuddlebug