"N" is for No Peeking

This week over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, the theme is "N'.  So I decided on "No Peeking" for this challenge.  I thought I'd do a couple more cards in the Classic/Vintage Style from class a few days ago.  Fun and Whimsical was the class for today and I am just not into that although I wouldn't mind a little bit of it.  I've tried this card in 3 different ways now.  These cards are not my favorites but my husband really likes them because of the vintage feel.  They are okay, but wouldn't be my first choice of Christmas Cards but I imagine I will used this technique again at some point in time, so that is always a winner for me.  How awesome would life get if we went to college for card making and paper crafting?  This class is as close to that as it gets and how great that I can attend class in my jammies?

The one really super thing about this style of cards is that they are super quick and easy.  The embossing takes longer than anything and since I got some different gold embossing powder, that isn't taking too much time to melt.  I do think I am going to invest in the small cube of Versamark because it would be much easier to maneuver that than the large pad I am currently using to finish the edges of my card.

The backgrounds that have been blended in on these photos were done using 2 different colors of brown ink.  The top one with the red, green and blue gifts was done using Chocolate Chip Ink from Stampin' Up. That's a color they don't make anymore and my ink pad is one of only two of the old style pads that are felt vs. high density foam.  I've replaced all the other ones.  While I prefer the more reddish brown of this color I don't think the embossing powder is a good match. This embossing powder is Ranger Ultra Fine Detail Gold.   I don't know if there is something out there that is a better match but I don't really think so. It is probably not a big deal at this point in time.

The next card was inked up using Tip Top Taupe and the ink blending works really well with the gold embossing powder in this case.  This is my husband's favorite of the three cards.  I used the same embossing powder on the edges and for the presents for both cards.  I used a combination of Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens and one Distress Marker in Festive Berries.  It is very hard to get a red that feels like a dark enough shade so my initial attempts with Zig's Carmine Red was unsuccessful. I so appreciate the color intensity of the Distress Markers. I haven't been disappointed in one of them yet.

One of the things I like to do that isn't really visible here it to use a little shimmer spray on an acrylic block to watercolor with.  It works like Wink of Stella, but I only have that in clear and I have pearl, gold and diamond shimmer sprays from Tattered Angels.  You can also mix a little Perfect Pearls in a spritz of water to get the pearl looks.  Again, it's very hard to capture in a photograph, but it is really pretty. Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist is one of the very few products that I can't buy at Simon Says Stamp but I guess when I get close to needing some of that again I might call and ask if there's a reason they don't carry it.  I pretty much find Simon Says Stamp to really be a one stop shop for me.

Thanks for stopping by!  I am on to my next project as soon as I figure out what that is.