'The Bride of Usher' - A Dark & Twisty Halloween Card

Howzit Stamping Friends!

October is a few days away and you all know what that means...it's Halloween Time!!  To get you in the spooky spirit here's a Blockheads design team project for you to check out!

I used Blockheads Paper Arts exclusive rubber stamp called Goth Girl from the Di's Characters collection as the focal point of my dark and twisty art card as well as the Script 'Backgrounds for All Occassions' stamp for the background and accent stamping.  I had a spooktacular time designing this one and the Goth Girl image is actually quite versatile coz I was able to turn her into a scary Bride by making most of her hair look like a wedding veil which was just perfect for the theme I had in mind for this project!

Supplies 

Ink pads:  Brilliance Lightning Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Inks Black Soot,  
Copic markers:  E000, E41, W1, W5 and Black 110,  
Prismacolor pencils:  Cream, Chartreuse,  Crimson Lake, Black Cherry and Black,
Spellbinders dies:  Fleur De Lis Square, Fancy Tag #2,
Sizzix Architectural Accent #1 die,  
Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix Tattered Banners, Flourishes and Tattered Florals dies,  
Judikins Diamond Glaze, Neenah Solar White cardstock, Black cardstock, Dark Plum cardstock, Martha Stewart Elegant Witch Mat Pad, Sizzix self-adhesive Metals,
Dark Plum Silk Flowers, Black sheer ribbon, Red Heart eyelet, Eyelet tools, Hole Punch, Gold Brads, Metallic Gold Paint Pen, EK Success Gold Writer pigment pen,
Paper Trimmer, Scoreboard, Inssentials Ink Blending Tool and Foam pads,
Glue dots, Double-sided tape, Permanent Adhesive tape and Xyron Permanent Adhesive.

I started out by stamping the Goth Girl image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a sheet of Neenah Solar White cardstock that is perfect for Copics and the brand new super cool and much more affordable Marvy Le Plume Permanent markers - stay tuned for more news and tutorials featuring these new alcohol based markers coz you don't want to miss checking them out!   I cut out the 'portrait painting' oval slightly smaller than the center oval of the ornate Spellbinders Tag die and coloured the image with a combination of Copics and Prismacolor pencils, edged it with a metallic gold paint pen as well as some gold details to the design and finished with a coat of Judikins Diamond Glaze.

I die cut an ornate tarnished gold frame for the 'portrait painting' out of a sheet of Sizzix self-adhesive Metals paper and the Spellbinders Fancy Tag #2 die and adhered the 'portrait painting' to the center with permanent adhesive tape.

I die cut a Fleur De Lis square panel from black cardstock and two Architectural Accent corners from dark plum cardstock.  The Accent corners were slightly too big so I trimmed them down to fit and I love the new design coz now they look more menacing with all the sharp pointy edges!  Before I trimmed them though I ran both corners through my Xyron to add adhesive and adhered them to the left and right corners of the black Fleur De Lis panel.

I adhered the gold frame to the center of the Fleur De Lis panel and attached a single heart eyelet in the center of the heart shaped cut out.  The blood red heart gives the card just that extra touch of eeriness don't you think! 

I then cut a square panel slightly larger than the Fleur De Lis panel (based on the size of the diamond shape and not the square) and stamped the Script background stamp all over the panel with Brilliance Lightning Black pigment ink.  The effect is stunning coz the metallic gold turns black depending on the angle its viewed at.

I used a sheet of text cardstock from the Martha Stewart Elegant Witch mat pad and die cut the tattered banner, flourishes and a small tattered floral piece.  The text is an excerpt from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe and couldn't have been more perfect for my theme!  The text cardstock was originally a bright cream colour and I added a touch of Chartreuse green to all the die cuts with a Prismacolor pencil to pick up on the Bride's skin tones and I also toned them down by distressing them with Black Soot Distress Ink.

I adhered the Fleur De Lis panel to the dark plum panel with double-sided tape and die cut another Fleur De Lis square from black cardstock and cut it up to make the ornate scrolled corner pieces.  I stamped the Script background onto them with Lightning Black Brilliance ink and edged the 2 short sides with a metallic gold paint pen and adhered them to the corners of the dark plum panel with permanent adhesive tape.   I then made a black folded card and mounted the dark plum panel to it with permanent adhesive tape.

I die cut two more small floral pieces from black cardstock and distressed all of the tattered florals by crumpling them up and also added touches of Lightning Black Brilliance ink to just the black ones. 
I dismantled three dark plum silk flowers and added the tattered florals to the centers and finished them with gold brads and adhered them to the card with glue dots.  I toned down the brightness of the gold brads with an EK Success gold Writer pigment pen so now they've got a more burnished gold finish to them.  I finished off my eerie art card with a black sheer ribbon bow attached to the left corner with a glue dot.

I've got another House of Usher inspired creation to share within the next day or two so stay tuned...
If you dare!

Thanks for visiting with me today!  Now pop on over to Karen's blog for some gorgeous carnival inspired ATCs!  She's been creating with the stamps I used for my Carnival Bizarre project!

Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents