Monday 14 April 2014

A Roman Trilogy by Dot's Dabbles

" A ROMAN TRILOGY"
is my second DT piece/s for this month at

I have been absolutely blown-away by all the past projects 
presented here at The Artistic Stamper. Amazing!
But, I am a card maker, so with this in mind 
I thought I would make a card...
and to take it a step further, I have created a trilogy,
which was originally inspired 
by the beautiful architecture set of stamps.

 I am calling this my "Roman Trilogy".

It is a set of three cards based on the same theme
and with a leaf that floats from card to card to bind them all together.  And then ...oplĂ  (hey presto)




Card 1:
This stamp of "The Kiss" is one that I just couldn't resist using.  Red and green were colours chosen by my boys as they thought these were roman colours. I wasn't actually going to listen to them...but for some reason it went in this direction naturally.  This card was lots of inky fun to make!





Using re-inker I created a marbled background as a base.  Then added the stamp using Versafine ink. I made masks for the statue and leaves.
Mask the statue and randomly stamp the leaves all around - I have used archival watering can ink for this.
Then, using rubbing alcohol, very carefully remove some of the re-inker from the statue so that it stands out more.  You need to be a little careful so that it doesn't react with the ink.  I also did this around the outside of the statue to add a little glow.
After masking the leaves I added some distress inks to the outside area to add some richness to the background. 
Stamp some crackle randomly around the edge.  I also stippled around the edge with a little archival geranium ink to give it a border.
To finish this off I have stamped 2 more leaves on an inked background, cut them out and edged with gold.



This is a picture of the statue stamped onto the marbled background before adding the extra ink and leaves.


Card 2:
I like the idea of using a marbled background because it seems to suit the idea of statues.


Create a marbled background as a base...like in card 1.
Then stamp the roman statue,mask it and stamp the ivy...mask this as well and then stamp the column.
While the masks are all still in place stamp the script and splatter a little re-inker over the background.
Then, again, use the rubbing alcohol to lighten the statue.
To add some more colour and depth I have added some distress ink...then drip a little water in places to add more depth and the aged look.
Another leaf is made from the off-cuts, cut out and edged with gold to tie this card to the first one.


Again, I thought it might be interesting just to show the original masking before working up the final play with inks.

Card 3: 
I wanted to use some stamps from the gorgeous "Garden Plate"  What I liked about the background stamp here is that you can turn it upside-down the design lines up beautifully.  So you have choices on how you use it.


I have inked up the background with alcohol inks using the monoprint technique.
The stamped the background stamp 4 times, side by side...and added gold pen to some of the ribbons.
The front panel is done in black and white to contrast with the bright background.  I have added gold pen to the flowers in the girls hair and watercoloured some black soot distress inks on their dresses.
Cut this image into 4 equal parts and layer onto some black cardstock and layer over the background on some magic mount.
Again, I have used off-cuts to stamp the leaves onto and add...bringing the leaf theme through to the third card.



Although this background doesn't look very fancy, it shows that random colour is just that, and only a backdrop to the gorgeous stamps.


The Artistic Stamper Stamps ~

Other Items ~
- Archival re-inkers - forget-me-knot, watering can, dandelion, red geranium and fern green
-Archival Inks - forget-me-knot, fern green, watering can and jet black
- Alcohol Inks - metallic gold and assorted colours
- Distress Inks - vintage photo, wild honey, peeled paint, mustard seed, broken china and black soot
- Paper - Specialty paper, black/red/white cardstock
- Gold pen
- Rubbing alcohol

Other Stamps ~
Penny Black Ivy Corner
Crackle 





   Godere!   
(Enjoy!)

15 comments:

Michelle said...

Beautiful! I adore your marbled look. Wonderful!

Ephemera said...

These are stunning Dot, beautiful work xx

Sid said...

A trio of lovely cards, like the third especially !

Nikki K said...

Great cards, lovely work. Xx

Brenda Brown said...

Beautiful cards Dot, love the different designs xx

Astrid Maclean said...

Wow Dot, they all look amazing, what an amazing set!! Beautiful work!!

Anonymous said...

Fabulous cards,love the backgrounds!

massofhair said...

All three cards are fab, backgrounds are amazing and perfect for the stamps :-) x

rachel said...

stunning cards - the backgrouds are just wonderful xx

Juliz Design Post said...

Such beautiful cards, Julie x

Anonymous said...

Three gorgeous cards, the backgrounds look wonderful.

Words and Pictures said...

What a beautiful trio, Dot - the leaf and the classical images create wonderful cohesion, and the colours are lovely on each of them. Not a stretch to work out that my personal favourite is the statue with the ivy leaves in those glorious greens - fabulous work all round!
Alison xx

craftytrog said...

These are all so beautiful, clever use of the stamps Dot!
Alison xxx

Unknown said...

Love these Dot!! All three are gorgeous but I particularly love card 3 !
Sand xxx

Jenny Marples said...

So beautifully created Dot. A masterclass in making the most of blended backgrounds. Jenny x