Funny, I see quite a bit of difference between Q/P and Empress. One is "Taurus" (or Capricorn or Virgo), the other, Empress, is Venus. Related to Taurus in that love of beauty, but not. Here's how I see them:
Q/P is a CRAFTSMAN, queen of money, health and work (Pentacles: Money, Health, Work, right?). Thus, the key words for her are: good taste, effort and pragmatism. She wants things beautiful, but also comfortable. Well done, but practical. She's as likely to grow vegetables in the garden as flowers. And she's willing to work very hard to achieve all this. Running a business, fixing a home or raising children, it's all good craftsmanship to her.
Empress is a "MOM." Her key words are creativity, patience, growth. She is always tending her children, from seed to birth to adulthood. Any and all children--Ever hear an artist call their work "baby"? "This is my baby!" says the director of his movie or the inventor of a machine. Well, that's the Empress talking. You create something, you tend it, you work on it, you help it develop and grow. The Empress will grow weeds if she likes, or frivolous flowers. Practical doesn't enter into it--creativity, beauty, inventiveness are what matter--be they splashes on a canvass or a well made steam engine.
Thus, the big difference to me is a matter of focus:
Q/P wants her creations to be beautiful, yes, but not weird or strange. Pentacle folk don't like neighbors pointing at them and staring. She works hard to keep her garden neat, pruning and trimming to make the plants grow just as SHE wants. To make neighbors admire rather than gawk. How well CRAFTED something is, is what matters.
The Empress, on the other hand, in true "mom" fashion, takes the side of her baby. If the neighbors stare, then there's something wrong with the neighbors (they just don't understand!)--NOT her baby! She lets her plants grow as THEY will--watering, tending, encouraging them--delighting in any creative twist they take. How well something GROWS and matures is what matters.
That's how I see 'em