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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Hero Arts October 2023 My Monthly Hero Countdown-Day 3!

Hi friends! I have (another) sick little guy this weekend (preschool germs are rough, I tell you!!) and so I’m just popping in quickly to share my project for Day 3 of the October 2023 My Monthly Hero Countdown! You can check out Days 1 and 2 HERE.

We’re building detailed winter scenes this month, using the standalone cover plate dies that Hero Arts does so well to create this gorgeous layered scene!

I used only elements from this month’s Classic Kit to create this card, including the gorgeous pearlescent blue cardstock and the beautiful word dies, which I die cut from some of Hero Arts’s beautiful white glitter paper and Layering Vellum. I die cut all of the layers to this peaceful winter scene from white cardstock and layered them on the blue background with liquid and foam adhesive.

After I had adhered all of my layers, I wanted to really capture the shimmer of a sparkling winter landscape with some glittery snow. I added some Sparkle Pen to the different layers and sprinkled some Icicle Glitter over the top of it while it was still wet to create multiple types of sparkle and add some super festive shine to this peaceful wintry holiday card!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Be sure to check back tomorrow for the full reveal of the October 2023 My Monthly Hero Kit and marvelous Add-Ons. This kit is unbelievably beautiful and the add-ons are spectacular. You won’t want to miss it!! And be sure to check out the Hero Arts Blog to see more inspiration from the Creative Team using this beautiful kit. Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!

Pinkfresh Studio September 2023 Ink Release

Hi friends! Today happens to be an incredibly exciting day, not just because it’s my birthday, but because the looooong-awaited Pinkfresh Studio September 2023 Ink Release is finally here!! With so many delays, it felt like these beautiful inks were never going to arrive, but here they are in all of their glory! This new release adds so many beautiful additions to the already-gorgeous Pinkfresh Studio rainbow of ink colors. You can purchase the large pads individually HERE on the Pinkfresh Studio website, or as an Ink Pad Bundle (PFS | SSS). Pinkfresh Studio also offers their ink pads in cubes to accommodate everybody’s storage needs, and you can check them out HERE on the Pinkfresh Studio website. You can also purchase the entire bundle of new ink cubes (PFS | SSS) as well!

Pinkfresh Studio is releasing an absolutely scrumptious addition to their Studio Essentials line with the release of their new 72 Ink Cube Holder (PFS | SSS) and 48 Ink Cube Holder (PFS | SSS). These ink cube holders are the epitome of elegance, with pale blush pink vegan leather and a crisp white velour interior, accented with shining gold hardware. I don’t have many ink cubes, but let me tell you… I want to get some just to store them in these stunning cases!! They would make great holiday gifts for your crafty friends, too!

I was particularly enamored with the Rose Garden and Green Gables ink sets, and so chose to use those as the color palette for my holiday cards today! For my first project, I wanted to put those beautiful and unique new shades of red to good use. The Rose Garden ink family is a stunning ombré of peachy blush to a unique cool, deep red. I am not kidding when I say that Begonia (PFS | SSS) and Mulberry Blush (PFS | SSS) are my two favorite ink colors in this new release. So different from anything that I have in my (extensive) ink collection!

To start, I heat embossed the Dainty Plaid Background (PFS | SSS) onto some white cardstock using Hero Arts Iridescent Gold Embossing Powder (SSS | HA). I then used the coordinating Dainty Plaid Stencils (PFS | SSS) and Cherry Blossom (PFS | SSS), Begonia (PFS | SSS), and Mulberry Blush (PFS | SSS) inks to create this lovely and festive tone-on-tone red plaid background. Depending on your pressure with your blending tools, you can make these colors more or less intense, creating a whole array of shades!

After I had created my plaid background, I used the Winter Berries Frame Hot Foil Plate (PFS | SSS) with Speckled Aura hot foil (SB | SSS). I cut out the images with the coordinating dies (PFS | SSS), then used the Waffle Flower Grip Mat (SSS) with the coordinating Winter Berries Stencils (PFS | SSS) to blend Begonia (PFS | SSS), Mulberry Blush (PFS | SSS), Sage (PFS | SSS), and Eucalyptus (PFS | SSS) inks to create these lovely and festive floral die cuts that coordinated beautifully with the plaid background. I also die cut the pieces of the Artistic Bows (PFS | SSS) from white cardstock and blended Cherry Blossom (PFS | SSS), Begonia (PFS | SSS), and Mulberry Blush (PFS | SSS) inks on each piece before assembling to create a bow that perfectly matched the colors of the rest of my card!

For the greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from Holiday Large Sentiments stamps (PFS | SSS) using more of the Hero Arts Iridescent Gold Embossing Powder (SSS | HA). I die cut the finished sentiment with the coordinating die (PFS | SSS). To accent my plaid background and coordinate with the white on the die cuts, I die cut a white frame using the Blanket Stitched Oval dies (PFS | SSS), popping it up on the plaid background using foam adhesive. I arranged my berries, bow, and sentiment on the card front, popping them up with single and double layers of foam adhesive to add lots of dimension. Finally, I added a few Sparkle & Shine Glitter Drops (PFS | SSS) to add one more sparkling touch, making this card super festive!

My second card is an homage to the gorgeous Green Gables ink set. These shades of green are such a beautiful and unique addition to the Pinkfresh Studio ink line! Green normally plays second fiddle to whatever pinks, purples, and corals I am using for my flowers, so I thought I’d allow these beautiful, verdant shades to be the star of the show for this project! I began by hot foiling the Lush Vines Hot Foil Plate (PFS | SSS) using Speckled Aura hot foil (SB | SSS) onto some white cardstock. I then used large blending brushes to blend Sage (PFS | SSS), Eucalyptus (PFS | SSS), Spruce Tips (PFS | SSS), and Lush Forest (PFS | SSS) inks in an ombré down the front of the hot foiled background. I am in love with these gorgeous greens!! I trimmed the blended, foiled panel down slightly and mounted it on a full sized A2 panel of Midnight Green cardstock from Simon Says Stamp.

Next, I hot foiled the negative leftovers of the Winter Berries Frame Hot Foil Plate (PFS | SSS) from the previous card using the Solid Hot Foil Plate (PFS | SSS) and die cut the images with the coordinating dies (PFS | SSS). I blended Lush Forest (PFS | SSS) over the white lines to create a bit more contrast and to coordinate more perfectly with my shiny green background. I also heat embossed the JOY Hot Foil Plate (PFS | SSS) using Aura hot foil (PFS | SSS | SB), then die cut it with the Coordinating Die (PFS | SSS). Using the same green inks, I blended over the white areas around the edges of the die cuts, as well, to keep everything completely cohesive.

Sage (PFS | SSS), Eucalyptus (PFS | SSS), Spruce Tips (PFS | SSS), Lush Forest (PFS | SSS) inks

I die cut a crazy sparkly frame using the Nested Hexagon dies (PFS | SSS) and some fabulous Luxe Glitter cardstock from Simon Says Stamp, which I backed with clear acetate and enclosed with foam tape. I filled my shaker with coordinating green and gold sequins from my stash and added it to the front of my blended, foiled card. Over the top of my shaker, I arranged my foiled and blended die cuts, popping them up with foam adhesive to add extra height. The finishing touch was a twine bow to add extra textural interest to this detailed and super color-coordinated project!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Now for some fun givewaway information:

We will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel. 

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away a total of FIVE $25  gift cards along the hop. As per usual with blog hops – the winners will be selected from the comments.Winners will be announced on October 9, 2023 on our GIVEAWAY PAGE. Winners must check that page & claim their prize within 2 weeks.

Here’s the full hop list below:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Gold Accents and Muted Colors for Fall Flowers!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I always feel a change in the atmosphere as we wind down the month of September. September juxtaposes crisp autumnal mornings with warm summery afternoons, and this combination of temperatures always lets me know that the short and cool days of autumn are just around the corner. I wanted to create another floral project as an homage to those last gasps of summer, but adding in some rich, warm tones to provide a sneak peek at that autumn weather. I really love how this card turned out, and I can’t wait to share all of the details with you! Let’s get started.

I cannot overstate my love for standalone flower dies. It’s so simple to switch up a color combination or cardstock type to completely change the look of your project. I chose to die cut the Etched Layered Daisy die , Etched Meadow Flower & Leaves die. and Alstroemeria Stem die from white Hammermill cardstock and add Copic coloring to the die cut pieces, creating a dusty rose pink daisy and warm orange floral sprigs, paired with gorgeous olive green for the foliage. When working with floral die cuts like this, I always place the die cut pieces where they will end up being adhered so that I can get a better idea of where to place shadows and to which pieces I should add brighter, lighter highlights. This allows me to create more depth and dimension on these layered floral die cuts.

After creating my focal point, I ran a panel of Palm cardstock from Hero Arts through my die cutting machine using the Leaf Tumble embossing folder (which is currently out of stock, but should be restocked soon! Be sure to sign up for email updates so that you don’t miss it when it comes back!). To add some extra interest and dimension to the textured background, I used a blending brush to blend Artichoke Ink from Concord & 9th around the edges and gently swiped the raised areas with the Enchanted Gold pigment ink pad from Altenew. I think the combination of embossing, blending, and gilded leaves makes the perfect backdrop for my colorful flowers!

After arranging my colorful flower die cuts on my richly embossed and colored card front, I adhered them with liquid and foam adhesive. I die cut the Enjoy die from some gold glitter cardstock to complement the gilding on the background, then gold embossed a greeting from the coordinating Enjoy Phrases set, die cutting it with the coordinating die. I adhered both of the sentiment pieces to the card front, tucking them amongst the flowers and foliage, and finally added a few shimmering Topaz Twinkle gems for one last sparkling touch!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I am shifting into autumn- and holiday-mode for the next couple of months (though I can’t guarantee that I won’t throw the odd floral card in here and there!), and I can’t wait! This is definitely my favorite time of year. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Artistry by Altenew 2023 Watercolor Tubes Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

Hello, friends! I am very excited to be part of today’s Altenew Artists’ Watercolor Tubes September 2023 Release Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from SathyaKala, and your next stop is Bridget. You can also start at the beginning at the Altenew blog! Altenew has become synonymous with “fabulous artist mediums” to me, and until this point, my favorite medium was the marvelous Artists’ Watercolor 24 Pan set. But now, I have a new favorite: Palette Perfection Watercolor Tubes! I have loved and used watercolor tubes for a long time, preferring to put them in pans and allow them to dry out so that I can create a custom watercolor palette.

So what makes these Palette Perfection Watercolor Tubes different from the other Altenew Artist Mediums? Well, these are considered to be “artist grade.” This means that the pigment is more highly concentrated, allowing for a higher level of vibrancy, as well as allowing the color to last longer. Other, more inexpensive watercolors contain more fillers than pigment, which allows them to have higher volume but lower pigment value. In addition, these watercolors are considered to have a good lightfast rating, meaning that your painting will not fade if properly cared for!

In order to create my Palette Perfection Watercolor Tubes palette, I first laid out my pans and put the tube colors in rainbow order. I always number my pans so that when I create my swatch chart, I can accurately label which color goes in which pan. This allows me to add more color if and when I run out! Though as with almost all good quality watercolor pans, a small amount of dried watercolor will last for a very long time because of the highly concentrated pigment. That the colors will last for a very long time is one of the reasons that I put them in pans to dry them out. The colors react almost immediately with water, and this allows you to easily create unique colors by mixing and matching your individual watercolors on your palette of choice!

After I had numbered all of my half pans and created the coordinating swatch card (I simply sized it to fit inside the lid of the Altenew Watercolor Tin Case), I filled each half pan with the coordinating watercolor. Filling each half pan took a little bit less than half of each of these 8 mL tubes. I placed them on an inexpensive cookie sheet that I purchased a the dollar store, then placed the pan high on a shelf to allow them to dry. I allowed them to sit for a few days, then after the colors had settled and dried, added a bit more watercolor to those pans that were not completely full. After another couple of days, I was ready to add my watercolor rainbow to the Watercolor Tin Case! I am so happy to have more room in the case to add more colors as they’re released.

After I had put all of my Palette Perfection Watercolor Tubes colors in their respective pans and allowed them to dry sufficiently, I swatched each of the colors on my swatch card that fits perfectly in the lid of the pan case. After swatching, I was very intrigued by the Opera Lemon color, particularly, as I’ve been using very diluted bright yellow to add highlights and to mix in with other colors to create unique colors with that bright yellow undertone. I used another scrap of watercolor paper to mix the Opera Lemon with other colors in the palette. The addition of the neon yellow really creates such interesting color mixes! I was especially intrigued by the combination of Dark Cyan and Opera Lemon, and so I decided to use those two colors as the background for my floral watercolored panel.

For this project, I selected one of the no-line watercolor panels from the Watercolor Coloring Book. I wasn’t sure what colors I wanted to use for the flowers themselves, so I started by taping my panel down to my watercolor board and using Dark Cyan, Phthalo Blue, and Opera Lemon with the largest of the Fine Watercolor Brushes by Artistry by Altenew to create this colorful background wash, filled with lots of vibrant color. I just love those pops of the neon yellow peeking out from behind the blue and green watercolor. It enlivens the background in a way that I’ve never done before. So fun and different! I did a couple of layers of color to enhance and intensify some of the areas and clean up some of the edges on the flowers themselves, in order to keep the edges nice and crisp.

After watercoloring the background, I added lots of color to the flowers themselves, using Quinacridone Violet and Quinacridone Magenta for the flowers, adding highlights and touching up the edges of the no-line flowers with Titanium White. I also added very diluted washes of Opera Lemon to some of the petals to add interest and brighten them up, making them match the vivid background washes more closely. This panel would be so pretty as a framed piece or as a card!!

Well, that’s all for my project today. You will definitely see more of these beautiful watercolors here on my blog! I am so happy to add another medium to my (ahem, extensive) collection of watercoloring mediums!

Now for some fun giveaway information:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, ArtistrybyAltenew is giving away ONE $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $40 gift certificate to FIVE winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 10/03/2023 for a chance to win. ArtistrybyAltenew will draw 6 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 10/05/2023.
*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog. 

Here’s the full hop list in case you get lost:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter