Little Black Dress-er

Today I'm showing you a Step Card that I made for the first time last summer.  I CASE'd the dresser idea from Jackie Topa (check out her blog at jackie.topa.typepad.com).  I just loved the look of the dresser and thought it would be great to make a "Little Black Dress" card for a special birthday for a girlfriend.  Inside the card I put the following sentiment that I printed onto Whisper White cardstock with my computer ... "Time to break out the Little Black Dress and celebrate!  Happy Birthday!".

I have written up Step Card General Instructions which shows how to construct the base of the card.

Here's a picture of the card and the details on how to make the Little Black dress version.  Hope you like.

"Little Black Dress"

Stamps: Celebrate - sentiment (unknown)

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Real Red, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Ink:  Real Red, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)

Accessories & Tools:  3 antique brads, small red brad, white 1/2 pearl, Real Red 1/2" satin ribbon (approx. 6" - divided), Real Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (approx. 4"), 3" wire, Word Window punch, hole punch, sticky strips, adhesives, and Big Shot (optional), Flourish Texturz plate (optional),

* * * * *

First, made the card base from Crumb Cake cardstock as per instructions included above.  For the "cut-outs" at the bottom of the dresser, I made a small pencil mark in the middle of each section at the very bottom.  I centered my Word Window punch, using the pencil mark as a guide, and lining up the bottom about half-way up the punch (I did this for both sections and it ends up looking like the dresser has legs).  Then I sponged the edges of ALL Crumb Cake pieces ... all of them :) using Chocolate Chip ink.

I cut out a "little black dress" from a template I found on-line.  If I EVER get a scanner at home, I'll starting adding templates to my website :)  I ran the dress through my Big Shot with the Flourish Texturz plate.  This just make the dress look a little "fancier" (sorry, hard to tell in the photo above).  I cut the 1/2" red satin ribbon into two pieces (2" and 4" long).  I folded the 2" piece in half lengthwise and wrapped it around the waist of the dress, adhering the ends to the back.  I place a half pearl on the red "sash" to add a little bling.
I punched Word Window two times in Chocolate chip and glued them together to make a very sturdy valet.  I then adhered the valet to the right side of the card (middle of that section), to it sits above the fold by about 1".  I added a brad to the valet so that I could "hang" the dress from it.  The hanger is made with a piece of bent wire (shaped like the number "2" and adhered inside a small piece of cardstock).  Check out Jackie Topa's website for a video tutorial on how to make these adorable hangers.  I then glued the shoulders of the dress onto the hanger.

For the drawer fronts, I punched a small hole in the middle of each one and added an antique brad.  I took the remaining 1/2" red satin ribbon (approx. 4" long) and adhered to the back of one the drawers and then brought it to the front, glued it down and then flipped the remaining tail back behind the drawer and glued the end down.  It then looks like there's a garment hanging out of a drawer - super cute!!  The three drawers are then adhered to the left-hand side of the "dresser" (evenly spaced).

For the sentiment,  I attached the Crumb Cake piece of cardstock (with sponged edge) to the Basic Black, punched a hole on the left-hand side and threaded through the 1/4" red grosgrain ribbon and just tied it in a half knot (trim ends).  I stamped "celebrate!" in Real Red Ink onto Whisper White cardstock and attached to the frame.

To finish, I attached the inside verse to the Crumb Cake frame (again, sponged edges) and then layered it onto the Basic Black cardstock and adhered the whole thing inside the card.