Wrought Iron & Vampires

I have a little confession, I usually hate black embossing powder. I have trouble making it work correctly and I typically end up with little black speckles all over my card. I recently purchased a new Emboss Buddy, so I thought that I would give it another shot. Here is the result of the experimentation. I am pretty happy with how speckle-free the card is. I think that using Versamark under my ink gives me a little more time, which allows me to go a little slower and as a result I get better results.

I started with a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock by Stampin' Up. I really rubbed my Emboss Buddy over the paper before stamping. I loaded my stamps with Versamark Ink and then right on top of that I inked them with Palette True Black ink, this was then embossed with black embossing powder. The image on the lower left-hand side is from the Flourish set by BoBunny and the image on the top right-hand side is from the Ornamental Set also by Bo Bunny. I then trimmed the cardstock so it would look like I am capable of stamping straight (I always stamp a little crooked). Next I loaded the stamps with Champagne Versamark Ink, I slightly off-set the images and stamped. There is a little residue on the black embossed part of the card but I think that it gives a cool effect.

I stamped the sentiment by Mae West on a scrap piece of Sahara Sand cardstock by Stampin' Up. The Mae West stamp is by All Night Media. I rounded the corners with the EK Success Large Rounder. I layered this on Black cardstock and rounded the edges with the EK Success Corner Chip punch. I added a very simple antique gold brad and then a little bellyband in black cardstock. The main image is mounted to a piece of antique gold cardstock that I picked up at a local paper store (brand unknown).

As I mentioned in my last post, I often make two or even four cards at one time. That is the case with the next two cards. I recently ready the Sookie Stackhouse novels and I have been loving the HBO series based on them called True Blood. This is not a new obsession for me, I have loved vampire books and movies as long as I can remember. My friends and I waited in line on opening night to see Interview with a Vampire. These two cards are a testament to this life long love of the fang. :-) I do know that these are a little over the top, but they were great fun to make and you may see more like them.

To start, I cut out the mouths with my Quickutz Silhouette, for these I first cut the primary image in Real Red cardstock by Stampin' Up and then I used the off-set function and cut-out the black part. I hand cut the fangs, as I was unable to find something in my library that I could convert or any online image that would work. I used Rich Red embossing powder by Ranger on the red lips to give them a gloss. Of course, like everything on this card once was not enough, I repeated this process three times. I assembled everything for the mouth once the embossing powder was cool. For the top card, I cut out the sentiment and heart with my Silhouette, the font is Boister Black. I added a little accent on the heart with a white gel pen. The mouths are mounted with pop dots.

Next I went to work on the background, I started with Whisper White cardstock by Stampin' Up and using my quarter of a sponge I sponged on Real Red ink by Stampin' Up and then Fired Brick Distress Ink by Ranger and then on the very edges Aged Mahogany Distress Ink. I layered that onto a black piece of cardstock. Then to the flourish image, I stamped the central image from Baroque Motifs twice using Real Red ink by Stampin' Up and then embossed with clear embossing powder. Next I went back to my sponge and worked Worn Lipstick and Fired Brick Distress Inks from Ranger on the white cardstock. This was layered on black and then red cardstock. On the second card, I stamped the sentiment with Martha Stewart's Halloween Typface Clear Stamp Set in Real Red Ink.

These were so much fun. They are actually pretty heavy, much weightier than a regular card. Must be all of that embossing powder. Thank you for stopping by and have a great week!