Sixth Street Sundries

Adding pops of color with colored pencils!

April 21, 2018

Good morning! I have a quick post for you today… I helped to create some Hero Arts projects for a trade show earlier this year, and I wanted to share this project with you before it got lost on my computer haha! This project is fairly monotone, but it has a few little pops of color that I added with my Prismacolor pencils.

I started by stamping Hero Arts’s Urban Skyline Bold Prints background onto some white card stock using Soft Granite ink. I wanted a subtle background so that I could add some bright pops of color. Next, I white heat embossed one of the sweet little houses, a tree, and a car from Welcome Neighbor onto some gray paper from the Midnight Mix Layering Papers. I’ll let you in on a little secret: the coating on the Hero Arts Layering Papers makes for super smooth colored pencil blending. 😉 I die cut the elements with their coordinating frame cuts, then added some pencil details using my Prismacolor colored pencils and blender pencil.

I heat embossed a greeting from Welcome Neighbor onto another panel of dark gray card stock, then matted it with some Pool card stock. I adhered a strip of white to ground the house, tree, and car, then added those elements with dimensional foam adhesive. I love how the super subtle (but still incredibly detailed background) makes that dark gray house with the teal roof just pop right off of the page!

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you’re having a marvelous weekend!

Spellbinders April Blog Hop+Giveaway!!

April 18, 2018

Hi there! Today, I’m joining the Spellbinders April Blog Hop. You should have arrived from the fantastic Miriam Prantner’s blog, and your next stop is the incredible Yana Smakula’s blog. This month, Spellbinders is releasing 4 beautiful die collections: Blooming Garden by Marisa Job, Little Loves by Sharyn Sowell, Wine Country by Stacey Caron, and Folk Art by Lene Lok. I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on the Spellbinders blog using the Lene Lok Folk Art Collection, using three different techniques with these dies. (You can see my projects here, here, and here.) For my projects today, I wanted to show you some simple, but elegant ways to add coloring to the beautiful, intricate die cuts from the Lene Lok Folk Art Collection.

For my first project, I used the stunning Rosemal Heart die. I again wanted to add color with my Copic markers, so I die cut the image from Copic friendly white card stock, then used a variety of blue and green Copic markers to add color and shading to the image. I added color to several of the sections in the image, but not all of them, leaving some white. I knew I wanted to put this piece on a panel of colored card stock, so leaving some sections white would help the beautiful details stand out even further!

I die cut the image twice more and adhered them all together to add some dimension, but no bulk! I adhered the dimensional die cut to an A2 panel of bright blue card stock using liquid adhesive. The sentiment was stamped on a strip of white card stock, then heat embossed in silver and popped up in the center using some dimensional adhesive.

For my last card today, I chose to go way back in my design inspiration. I have always loved Delft china. In fact, it was the inspiration for my wedding colors, nearly 9 years ago. Those beautiful blue and white patterns were the start of my obsession with color and design, so I wanted to pay homage to those beautiful pieces with my next project. I started by die cutting the Kurbits 2 die from plain white card stock. I then placed the Rosemal Flowers die in the corner of a white panel of cardstock, secured it with washi tape, and ran it through my die cut machine so as to simply die cut a corner flourish that would nestle perfectly in the corners of my card front. I repeated the process a total of four times, one for each corner. Folk art usually contains lots of symmetry, so I tried to add plenty of balance to this card by adding the flourishes to the corners.

After die cutting, I again added color to all five of the die cuts using my Copic markers in shades of brilliant blue. I adhered them to my A2 card front using liquid adhesive. Then, to carry on the Delft china illusion, I covered the die cuts in Crystal Lacquer to give them a stunning shine, similar to the shine on my inspirational tableware. I thought this one was so pretty that it didn’t need a greeting! Just a pretty note to drop to a friend or to include with a “just because” gift.

Well, that’s all for me today! Now, for the GIVEAWAY! Spellbinders has generously offered a $25 gift certificate to my blog subscribers who leave a comment. To be entered to win, simply subscribe to my blog on the left hand side of the blog, then leave a comment here! The winner will be chosen on Sunday, April 22, and announced Monday, April 23. (The winner is responsible for shipping cost, duties and taxes.) Spellbinders also is having a $50 giveaway on their blog!! So many chances to win! Here’s the full hop list, in case you’ve missed any of the stops:

Emily Midgett<— you are here!

Coral is the new Black.

April 17, 2018

Soooo you might have noticed that I’m creating an homage to coral this spring. (HA… spring… who am I kidding with the snow we got today? Come on, spring and sun!) I can’t seem to get enough of coral and peach and blush and rose gold and all of the other synonyms of that pretty pinky-orange shade that is just perfect for spring. It’s so fresh and clean. I love it. And I particularly love pairing it with black or gray… just something about that combo that seems interesting and not overdone…. though the jury might still be out on that once you see the new projects I have for you haha! Today, I have a project using a stamp that’s new to me from Studio Katia: Japanese Peony.

I have a thing for peonies. In practically any form. (I think there needs to be a club/help group for people like me.) And this peony from Studio Katia is stunning… and just perfect for practicing my no-line Polychromos shading. I started by stamping the peony image using Altenew Rouge ink onto some Pale Rose card stock. I have discovered that Bazzill card stock is fantastic for colored pencils, because it has a very nice tooth to it. I then used my Polychromos colored pencils to do some no-line coloring. I’m still learning the Polychromos, but I am SO loving the results! Nice and smooth, and no waxy buildup like the Prismacolors. (I love the results that I can get with the Prismacolors, too, but I like to have lots of mediums at my disposal haha!)

After I had finished coloring the image, I die cut the friend from Studio Katia’s Spring Bouquet coordinating die set from Ellen Hutson’s new Slate card stock. I cut it three times, then adhered them together using liquid adhesive. I then heat embossed the greeting from Japanese Peony using Rose Gold embossing powder onto some more Slate card stock. I trimmed a little off the top and bottom of my penciled panel, then added some strips of rose gold glitter washi tape peeking out from behind, then mounted the penciled panel onto an A2 sized panel of Slate card stock.

I added the die cut greeting using dimensional and liquid adhesive, then, for a finishing touch, added a few crystals from Pretty Pink Posh for some sparkle!

Well, what do you think? No-line pencil coloring may not be the fastest medium available, but I can’t help loving the results! Totally worth it to me. Thank for visiting! Have a marvelous day!

Reverse Confetti April Sketch For You To Try: April

April 16, 2018

Good morning! Happy Monday! I have a new project for you today using Reverse Confetti’s April Sketch For You To Try (and this is the final SFYTT! Jen has some new fun challenges up her sleeve, so stay tuned for that!). Here’s this month’s sketch:

And here’s my take on it:

One of the things I love about sketch challenges is that it can challenge you to step outside of your normal comfort zone. I will be the first to admit that I like straight lines and things centered and symmetrical. But this sketch has given me a new love for diagonal lines! I started with the Fun Times patterned paper pack, choosing two very different patterns. Because they were going to be sandwiched next to each other, I wanted to make sure that they complemented each other nicely, so I chose a small, almost neutral mint pattern, along with a bold pink and white stripe. I trimmed them down to 4×5.5″, then trimmed them at a diagonal using my trimmer and mounted them on my A2 card base.

Next, I stamped and die cut several of the flowers from Tall Blooms, then colored them with Copic markers in shades of pink and mint and lavender! (I totally used the colors in the Fun Times paper pack as my color inspiration!) I trimmed a small rectangle of white card stock, then added a greeting from Tall Blooms using black ink. I arranged the flowers as though the white rectangle were the vase or flower box, then adhered them using dimensional foam adhesive. Because my Tall Blooms were, in fact, tall, I moved the focal point from the sketch from the center to the bottom right of the card front. I liked the balance better that way. 🙂

The final step was to add a few sparkly gems to help fill out my bouquet!

Well, that’s all for this project. Now, it’s your turn! Create your own project using the SFYTT and Reverse Confetti goodies, then link it up to the final SFYTT challenge for your chance to win a $20 Reverse Confetti shopping spree! Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous week!

Spellbinders Guest Designer, Part 3!

April 14, 2018

Hello again! Happy Saturday! I’m back today with my last guest post for this series introducing the Lene Lok Folk Art Collection (you can see my previous posts here and here.) For this final post, I wanted to do something a bit simpler. I wanted to show you how beautiful these dies are just on their own, no additions, no fancy techniques. Let’s get to the details!

For both of these projects, I simply die cut the Floral Bouquet die and the Nordic Floral dies from some beautiful gold foil. For the peach card, I started with an A2 panel of pale peachy-pink card stock, then added some light ink blending using my blending tool to create a beautiful coral ombre effect. I added a sentiment, heat embossed in gold, and adhered a strip of deeper coral card stock above it to “ground” the flowers. I then added the gold foil die cuts from the Nordic Floral dies along the top of the coral strip. Simple, no super fancy techniques, but the colors scream spring chic.

For the turquoise version, I wanted to reuse that gorgeous Floral Bouquet die. It’s probably my favorite die from the collection. That detail is stunning! I essentially repeated the process from the previous card. I began with an A2 panel of light aqua card stock, then blended some turquoise ink into a nice ombre. I die cut the Floral Bouquet die from some more gold foil using my Platinum 6 machine, then adhered it to the ombre panel. I gold embossed a greeting onto a strip of teal card stock, then adhered that beneath the Floral Bouquet die cut. Isn’t that gold and turquoise color combo so pretty? Channeling spring over here! Go away cold weather!

Well, that’s all for me today! hope you’ve enjoyed my projects over the last few posts and maybe gleaned a bit of inspiration from them! I have certainly enjoyed playing with these beautiful products. I am looking forward to playing with them even more! Thank you again to Spellbinders for having me as their guest. Have a marvelous day!

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