Shabby Butterfly

I've had this idea brewing in my mind... and even though I promised myself not to stay up late one more night... I just couldn't resist. I love this week's CPS sketch (which happens to be sponsored by Zva - a product that I would LOVE to get my hands on!)... so I'm crossing my pinkie toes on this one. ;)

So... my entire idea started with one of Unity's newest stamps, 'Grainy Background' (which is released on Thursday, Sept. 17th... only a few short hours from now!!!) . I love anything woodgrain... and I thought it would be fun to try my hand at making my own embellishments! So... I dabbed it up with bright pink ink and stamped it onto a soft pink cardstock scrap. Then, using my butterfly Nestabilities die, cut it out... along with a chipboard butterfly to add in the background. (I used an old cereal box and 'recycled' it.) Then, I stitched along the edges and distressed it with a few shades of ink.

Click on Picture to Enlarge

The center piece is a fabric strip from an old set of bed sheets. I LOVE refurbishing old linen! Just hunt around at your local Goodwill or a tag sale. One old cotton sheet can go a long way! This fabric was white with soft pink ticking.... but I aged it with Distress inks to age it even more. To create the gathered edges, I just ran each edge through my sewing machine on the widest stitch and then pulled the top strings... which creates a fun ruffled effect. Once I had it the way I wanted, I just stitched it directly onto my patterned paper.

The papers and ribbons are also inked up. (Today, I used Antique Linen, Old Paper, & Tea Stain Distress inks by Ranger for all of my elements.) The paper is a BEAUTIFUL print by Fancy pants ("Shape": Simplicity line) & the rub-on is by Melissa Frances.

Thanks for checking it out! I hope you try your hand at creating homemade embellishments too! And definitely try recycling some old cereal boxes or torn sheets sometime! ;) It's FUN!