Did the title of today’s blog post grab your attention?  Today’s card was impossible to photograph. In my 19 years as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator I’ve created thousands of cards but this one, by far, was the absolute worse to try and capture the details.  I’ve blogged about how difficult it is to photograph foils, rhinestones, shimmer and shine.  This card included all those factors and proved to be the most challenging – EVER!  If you saw this card in person you’d agree that it’s far more stunning than in photographs.

This is one of those cards where I pictured in my head what I hoped it would look like and it came out nothing like I anticipated. But not in a bad way.  In fact, it came out different and better! That’s why I’m so frustrated that despite 32 photographs I could not capture the subtle colors and shimmer perfectly.

I started with Watercolor Paper and heat embossed the greeting using Clear Embossing Powder.  I allowed the paper to cool then applied a layer of Pool Party ink using an Aqua Painter.  I heat set the paper to speed up the drying.  I used another layer of ink with the Aqua Painter, this time using Dapper Denim.  As you can see by the colors, I was sure to use plenty of water so the Dapper Denim ink was muted.  I used the Heat Tool one more time to dry this layer.

The Snowflake Sentiment stamp set is one of my favorite in the Holiday Catalog this year because of it’s versatility.  The simple snowflake images and greetings are timeless.  This small swirl you see above was stamped in VersaMark ink and heat set with Silver embossing powder. I added a silver metallic star to the top but be sure you don’t do that until the entire card is completed.  Continued heat embossing will loosen the adhesive pre-set on the back of this embellishment.

The small splatters you see above are silver embossing powder flecks. I picked up powder using my fingers and sprinkled it on the watercolor paper.  Knowing I hadn’t used ink to hold it in place, I carefully lifted the Watercolor Paper and used the Heat Tool to emboss from underneath.  Some of the powder blew off but you can see that the majority melted in place.  Oh how I love when a plan comes together! ((smile))

Although an impossible card to photograph and capture the brilliance of the shimmer and colors, the experiment was well worth my time.  Break out those embossing powders this holiday season. They really add a lot to your cards!

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set – 144820

Watercolor Paper – 122959

Pool Party 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 122924

Pool Party Classic Stampin’ Pad – 126982

Dapper Denim Classic Stampin’ Pad – 141394

Versamark Pad – 102283

Embossing Buddy – 103083

Heat Tool (Us And Canada) – 129053

Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder – 109130

Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder – 109131

Aqua Painters – 103954

Metallic Enamel Shapes – 141678

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