Baroque Motifs, Damask & Girly Girl Goth

Here is a bold little card made with the Baroque Motifs stamp from Stampin' Up. I really like this stamp set so I am sure you'll be seeing more cards with this set.

The base of this card is just simple white cardstock. I stamped the motif twice with Palette ink in True Black and then embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. I then sponged on the color, building up the color effect slowly. I used red, purple and black inks. I gave a little boost to the image by going around the image and accenting with my Starlight Gel Pen. The last steps were to adhere it on black cardstock and then on to a white card base. A very simple card, but I like the way it looks.

On occasion, when I start working on a new card I will make two at the same time. Usually they come out looking very similar, or in some cases I make a mistake and there is only one. I am posting two sets of cards that were intended to turn out the same but ended up as slightly different versions, so I'll share both.

To start, you'll see a familiar pattern - more Damask!!

Version 1

On this card our top layer is Orchid Opulence cardstock from Stampin' Up. For this card I started with the silver image first. The stamp is from the Tim Holtz Visual Artistry French Market set. I loaded the stamp with Versamark ink and then Starlite Silver from Brilliance. I stamped the image and then embossed with Stampin' Up Embossing Powder.

The next step was to stamp the Damask image, which is from the Bold Damasks set by Inkadinkado. I used Lovely Lilac Craft Ink by Stampin' Up this time. There is a lot of surface space on this image and I was having trouble getting a clean image. (Which is the reason there are two variations of this card and not the four I started with) I put a magazine under the card when I stamp to give a little cushion to press into. I have seen people use mouse pads and I'll probably give that a try next time. Once I stamped over the silver flourish I took a paper towel over the silver images to remove the ink that settled there. I then sponged over the images with Orchid Opulence ink. On the very edges I sponged Lovely Lilac ink.

I stamped the Thank You image, from Wordsworth in Lovely Lilac. The gems are from Hero Arts. The focal cardstock was layered on to Brushed Silver cardstock from Stampin' Up and then onto Lovely Lilac. The final step was to a White cardstock card base.

Version 2

So here is Version 2 of our Orchid & Lilac Card. The biggest difference on this card, aside from the fact that the left silver flourish is crooked, is the depth of color and the order in which the main image was created.

For this card I stamped the Bold Damask first, then I let it dry for about an hour. I also flipped the damask image and stamped more of the image on the card. I made sure to really rub my card with my Emboss Buddy to be sure that the embossing powder would only stick to the flourish. I loaded up the flourish in the same way as I did for Version 1 and embossed it with the Silver Embossing Powder from Stampin' Up. I was trying to see if I could get the same look without the smudging that happened in the other image. Turns out you can - I just didn't like the look, so back to sponging color around the image. I also added Elegant Eggplant ink around the very edges. The clear gems are from Hero Arts and the purple is from K & Co. I also added a few accents with Purple Stickles.

Our last card series today is something that I am calling Girly Girl Goth. I have a soft spot for the drama of goth and really felt like breaking out some skulls . . in pink.

Version 1

Version 2

Both cards started with a white piece of cardstock. I first stamped the flourishes from Fancy Pants in Pink Passion Ink from Stampin' Up and then ofset the stamp loaded with Pretty in Pink Ink. Then I sponged on Pretty in Pink, then Pixie Pink, Pink Passion and on the very edge Rose Red. When I start building a background like this I take the lightest color and using a circular motion I work it from the edge to the center of the cardstock. Then I proceed with each darker shade repeating the process but not completely covering the lighter shade. When I get to my darkest shade I often work that on the very edge only. When I load my sponge with ink I start my circular motion off of the card and then move it onto the card in a circular motion, the limits the blotches that can occur if you place a loaded sponge right on the cardstock.

My next step was to cut out the diamonds and skulls using my Quickutz Silhoutte cutter. This machine is awesome and I am loving what it can do. I cut the skulls out of white cardstock and the diamonds out of Pink Passion and a misc. grey cardstock. I didn't like the way that the plain grey looked so I inked it with Billiance Platium Planet ink. I inked it pretty heavly so it took a few hours to dry. I also thought that the pink was too plain so I inked them up with Pink Passion and Rose Red. I also used Pink Passion to stamp the same flourish on the pink diamond.

Next came my skulls, on Version 1 I simply inked them with Versmark ink and the embossed with Stardust Embossing Powder. On Version 2 I stamped my handy-dandy flourish with Starlite Siver Brilliance ink and then embossed the whole thing with Stardust Embossing Powder. The pink skulls for both cards were inked with Pikie Pink and Pink Passion, the flourish (yes, again) in Pink Passion. Then that whole thing went to the Stardust Embossing Powder. All of the skulls went into the Stardust Embossing Powder twice. What can I say, I like my bling!

For Version 1, I finished up with Hero Arts gems and then put the skulls and diamonds onto black cardstock and then onto a white card base. Version 2, got the same treatment but I added a black organza ribbon below the eyes.

Thanks for stopping by!