Exchange cards featuring embossed images on embellished decorative paper backgrounds

For my exchange cards for this month I thought I would go bright and different.  I started by stamping two different Chapel Road stamps onto a sheet of bright colour printed background paper (Morgue File) and embossing them with black embossing powder.  I stamped quite a few, fussy cut them and chose the brightest ones for my cards.  I choose two different purple cardstocks to make my large cards.  For the first card, I added  pieces of bright gift wrap and some glittery gold washi tape to the card front.  Next, I embossed strips in yellow, pink and green that coordinated with my three hearts and embossed them with letters.  I added faux stitching with a black marker to the strips which were trimmed to the edges of the background and also around my background.  I added the strips at different angles and mounted my hearts which were reinforced with cardstock on the back using 3D foam tape.  

For my second card I trimmed a letter background (Vintage Feedsacks) with watercolour washes that coordinated with my squares and then used a scribbly stamp to add some dimension to my background.  I added the background to my card front and then layered a black strip of cardstock over yellow and pink strips which were rejects from my first card after I added black highlights.  They worked very nicely for this card!!  I trimmed the strip to the edge of my card and layered my squares on coordinating cardstock and then mounted them to my card using 3D foam tape.  

They are both bright cards but in much different ways! It is always fun to experiment and try new ways of doing things!!  Embellishing decorative papers is a way to make papers that you may not prefer or are a bit boring more exciting, unique and appropriate for the project at hand.   Therese