Best-Laid Plans, Revisted

The other day I posted my daily whine about a stack of cards I'd assembled for OWH, but I seemed to have failed in the execution. Several of you posted very helpful comments (thank you!), and I went back in to try again.

The problem was lack of definition or contrast. See:

Yawn. Just because the papers go together doesn't mean they can stand on their own. The twine + multi medium worked (see that linked post), but ugh, not times 50.  For my next trick, I tried faux stitching, and this is how the first one looked:

I kinda liked it. I liked it so much I did a few more:

You KNOW this is just my way to show you some more of the pretty papers, right? :)

Here's one with a solid:

Here's one from before I started rounding the corners of the top piece:

And last, but certainly not least, my favorite combination of the lot:

For those of you wondering, I cut the whole 6x6 paper pack into 2" strips, then I went through and paired them up. I cut one of the strips in half, giving me two 3" lengths, and those became the top layers. I just put them on off-center based on this sketch at Retro Sketches:

I have about 45 more cards to faux stitch, stamp, and tie bows for, so I'll be back some time next week. HA, I kid. But my next project will be blue. I'll explain that when I return.

Thanks for stopping by!

Products used:
Basic Grey Hello Luscious 6x6 paper pack
Simon Says Stamp For The Record (also available with matching dies)
Hero Hues black ink (EH)
May Arts black twine string burlap (SSS)
clearbags.com linen note cards (I buy these in quantities of 250 for the lower price)