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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Altenew April 2020 Release Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Hi there! Today, I have the pleasure of taking part in the Altenew April 2020 Release Blog Hop, and let me just say… this month’s release is quite possibly one of my most favorite releases in awhile! Absolutely incredible stamps and dies. You should have arrived here from Altenew Mixed Media Blog and your next stop is Norine Borys. I have three projects to share with you today using just some of the beautiful new products from this release, so let’s get started with the details!

You’ll notice that I had a bit of a love affair with the absolutely amazing Statement Flowers stamps and dies. The movement and grace of this floral illustration is just stunning… I couldn’t resist making multiple cards with multiple mediums. For this first card, I did some simple (ish) watercoloring using just a simple black stamped image on the Altenew Watercolor Paper (seriously, if you haven’t tried this stuff, you need to… it’s got a lovely, unique, almost canvas texture) and the Altenew Artist’s 24 Pan Watercolor Set.

I have realized that I don’t do a whole lot with yellow, so I thought I’d create a simple yellow, black, and white project with some pretty watercoloring! I began by stamping the image from Statement Flowers using Obsidian Black ink on an A2 panel of the Altenew Watercolor Paper. I then used the Altenew Artists’ Watercolors to add lots of detail and shading to this beautifully graceful floral swag.

Once I’d finished watercoloring, I used my T-square to add a black frame around the edge to help further draw the eye to the pretty flowers. I added a sentiment from the new Sentiment Strips 2 (a must have sentiment set if ever there was one). The final step was to add a few black dots within the frame to add a bit more interest to the otherwise-plain background.

For my second project, I used the Statement Flowers again, this time doing some no-line coloring with my Copic markers. With all of this Covid-19 madness happening in the world, it was truly therapeutic to just sit down and do some coloring on a gorgeous floral. I stamped the image from Statement Flowers on some Copic-friendly white cardstock using Ink On 3’s Fadeout Ink, then used my Copic markers in a variety of pale shades of mauve to add tons of depth and dimension to the image. I then die cut it using the coordinating dies.

I arranged the flower swag on a white card front, allowing some to hang over the edge, which I then trimmed off and added around the edge of the card front to create a continuous pattern. I added another greeting from the Sentiment Strips 2, this time stamped in black on some strips of white cardstock. I adhered all of the elements using foam adhesive, then added a few gems to add a bit of sparkle!

For my final card today, I put to use the gorgeous new Dog Rose Panel A & B dies. I love using white-on-white for super intricate die cuts like this; it reminds me of gorgeous handmade lace. I die cut the Dog Rose Panel A die from white cardstock two times and layered them together with liquid adhesive. I then backed it with a single Dog Rose Panel B die cut, all of which were backed with a panel of heavyweight vellum.

For the card base, I blended some Aqualicious ink around the edges of a pale aqua cardstock panel using blending brushes, then adhered the super intricate dimensional die cut piece with some foam adhesive for lots of dimension. The final step was to add another greeting from Sentiment Strips 2 which I’d white embossed on a slightly darker strip of aqua cardstock and layered over the top of the Dog Rose die cuts. Simple, but that super detailed white die cut really pops on top of the pretty aqua background!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Now for some fun giveaway information!

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Mixed Media Blog by 4/23/2020 for a chance to win. 

We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $20 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 4/26/2020. 

Now, here’s the whole hop list in case you get lost:

Altenew Card Blog
Amber Rain Davis
Terri Koszler
Laura Bassen
Jaycee Gaspar
Kelly Griglione
Jennifer McGuire
Virginia Lu
Alex Syberia
Nathalie DeSousa
Mindy Eggen
Nicole Watt
LauraJane
Laurie Willison
TaeEun Yoo
Altenew Mixed Media Blog
Emily Midgett
Norine Borys
Laura Volpes
Nicole Picadura
Tania Ahmed
Svitlana Shayevich
The Hedgehog Hollow
Ashlea Cornell
Vicky Papaioannou
Maryam Perez
Sveta Fotinia
Reiko Tsuchida
Erum Tasneem
Ivana Camdzic
Kymona Tracey
Christine Pennington
Therese Calvird
Neha Aggarwal
Lydia Evans

Psst- If you’re bored during this time of quarantine, I’d love for you to check out my Watercolor for Cardmakers 101 Class! Lots of tips and tricks for how to get good results using the Altenew Artists’ Watercolors and watercoloring in general. I hope you’ll take a peek! It’s a great value at $8.95!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Altenew 6th Anniversary Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Hi friends! Today, I have the pleasure of taking part in Altenew’s 6th Anniversary blog hop celebration! You should have arrived here from Lilith Eeckels, and your next stop is Kathy Racoosin. Altenew has long been one of my favorite companies. I have a mild obsession with flowers, and Altenew’s flower stamps are absolutely phenomenal, whether they are multi-layered solid stamps or outline drawings perfect for coloring! I can honestly say that I feel like Altenew’s flowers have really helped to hone my coloring skills in many different mediums, and for that I will always be an Altenew fan! I have a project today using some of my favorite stamps from Altenew, so let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping several blooms from Poppy Garden and Wild Flora stamp sets onto some of Altenew’s new watercolor paper using some fadeout ink. (Love how smooth and crisp this watercolor paper is!) I then used my Daniel Smith watercolors to watercolor the images in a colorful palette of pink, yellow, and purple.

After I’d die cut the watercolored flowers using their coordinating dies, I used some washi tape to mask off the edge of the A9 card base. I used blending brushes to blend Hydrangea, Magenta, and Sunkissed inks in a sunset ombre down the front of the card.

I arranged the flowers in a pretty bouquet down one side of the blended card base, then used Press’n’Seal to pick up the arrangement so as to be able to add adhesive without having to completely redo my carefully arranged bouquet. I added a greeting from Poppy Garden stamped on some strips of cardstock using Obsidian Black ink. The final touch was a few shiny gold sequins!

Now, we have SO many fun giveaways for you to celebrate Altenew’s 6th Anniversary!

Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 10 lucky winners. There are also 14 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:

Be sure to leave comments by 4/12/2020 for a chance to win one of 37 prizes! To make the hop more exciting, start your comment with “Hi from (city or country where you’re from)!”. 37 winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed below and will be announced on the Altenew Card Blog on 4/18/2020.

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

Altenew Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Erum Tasneem
Debby Hughes
Lydia Evans
My Sweet Petunia
Svitlana Shayevich
Nicole Picadura
Kelly Griglione
CiLi in Papers
Lilith Eeckels
Emily Midgett
Kathy Racoosin
May Sukyong Park
Kelly Latevola
Soraya Maes
Teri Wilson
Hussena Calcuttawala

Altenew Paint A Flower Iris Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Good morning! Today is the release of a new Altenew Paint A Flower stamp set. This month, they’re focusing on a beautiful Iris image! You should have arrived here from Lilith Eeckels and your next stop is Laurie Willison. We are also introducing a new Watercolor Essentials watercolor pan set, super affordable and such pretty colors! Let’s get started with the details on my project.

I began by stamping the main iris images from Paint A Flower: Iris on some of the new Altenew Hot Press Watercolor Paper and heat embossing the images with silver embossing powder. This paper is beautifully smooth and a nice, crisp white, great for picking up the details in your stamped images! I then used the new Watercolor Essentials pan watercolors to add color to the heat embossed irises.

After I’d finished watercoloring the images, I used blending brushes to blend some Hydrangea and Persian Blue inks on the opposite corner of the watercolored panel, sprinkling some water droplets on the blended area, then dabbing them with a paper towel to pull up the color.

I heat embossed the greeting from Paint A Flower: Iris on some lovely cornflower blue cardstock using some white embossing powder. I trimmed a bit off of the edge of the watercolored panel, then adhered it to an A2 panel of pretty purple cardstock. I added the sentiment strips with some foam adhesive, then added a few gems for some sparkle!

Now, for some fun giveaway and promotional information!

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog for a chance to win. We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 03/31/2020.

And to celebrate this latest release, for 2 days only! Receive a FREE Watercolor Brush – Large (value $4.99) with every order of Watercolor Essential Set from 3/22/2020 at 12:01 am EDT until 3/23/2020 at 11:59 pm EDT or while supplies last. The free gift will be added to cart automatically.

Altenew Card Blog
Vicky Papaioannou
LauraJane
Virginia Lu
Nathalie DeSousa
Ashlea Cornell
Caly Person
Therese Calvird
Norine Borys
Lilith Eeckels
Emily Midgett
Laurie Willison
Altenew Scrapbook Blog
Svitlana Shayevich
Nicole Watt
Maryam Perez
Amber Rain Davis
Mindy Eggen
Sveta Fotinia
Jaycee Gaspar
Kymona Tracey
The Hedgehog Hollow
Agnieszka Malyszek

Altenew March 2020 Release Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Good morning! Today, I have the pleasure in being a stop on the Altenew March 2020 Release Blog Hop. You should have arrived here from Kymona Tracey, and your next stop is Agnieszka Malyszek. You can also start back at the beginning in case you get lost! As always, we have a plethora of beautiful new floral stamps to introduce to you, and I have two cards to share using these gorgeous new stamps, so let’s get started with the details!

My first project uses the absolutely stunning new Fabulous Florets, which is both a layering stamp set as well as an outline stamp set that is perfect for coloring! I chose to use it with some lovely coral inks to create some colorful, almost tropical patterned paper. I stamped a unique pattern using Blush and Rouge inks for the flowers, as well as Frayed Leaf and Evergreen for the greenery. I started with the largest images first, filling in the gaps with the foliage to create a full background panel.

Once I’d completed the stamping on my panel, I used my T-square and a black pan to draw a frame around the edge, then filled in the white spaces inside the frame with random black dots using the same black pen. I love the effect this creates! I added a greeting using die cuts from the Tall Alpha die set and a sentiment from Fabulous Florets. The final touch was a few sparkly sequins.

For my second project today, I focused on the beautiful new Sweet Nothings stamps and dies. The large scale ranunculus bloom (or is it a cabbage rose?) made my heart go pitter-patter! I began by stamping the large flower bud and some foliage on some watercolor paper, then used the Artists’ Watercolor 24 Pan watercolors to add lots of color.

For a more graphic look for this floral project, I used the Fine Frames Diamond dies to cut some glittery green cardstock, which I layered on some white woodgrain cardstock. I heat embossed the greeting from Sweet Nothings onto a strip of vellum, hiding the adhesive beneath the flower and tucked around the edge of the woodgrain panel. The final touch was to add some sparkling white gems.

Now, for some fun giveaway information!

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 3/22/2020 for a chance to win.

We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $20 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 3/24/2020.

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

Altenew Card Blog
Svitlana Shayevich
Laura Bassen
Kelly Griglione
Maryam Perez
Seeka
Jennifer McGuire
Nicole Watt
Lilith Eeckels
Amber Rain Davis
Justine Hovey
Nathalie DeSousa
Therese Calvird
Jaycee Gaspar
Altenew Scrapbook Blog
Nicole Picadura
Norine Borys
Virginia Lu
Vicky Papaioannou 
Reiko Tsuchida
Erum Tasneem
Amy Hill
Ashlea Cornell
Sveta Fotinia
Laurel Beard
Laurie Willison
Terri Koszler
Kymona Tracey
Emily Midgett
Agnieszka Malyszek

March 2020 Essentials By Ellen Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Hi there! Today’s the day… the new Essentials By Ellen release is now live! We are having a blog hop to celebrate! You should have arrived here from Laurel’s blog, and your next stop is Sandy’s blog. We have some prizes available, too, so be sure to read all the way to the end to find out more! I have two projects for you today using some of the new dies, so let’s get started with the details!

For my first project, I used the brand new Essentials Ovals dies along with a few older dies to create this clean and simple project. I began by die cutting a panel of white cardstock using the new Essentials Ovals dies, as well as one of the thin frames from some silver foil cardstock. These new Essentials dies are quite unique in that in addition to cutting the full solid shape, they also cut intricate and delicate frame! These die sets are also absolutely massive-totally worth the money!!

I adhered the thin silver foil frame to the white oval A2 frame, then popped up the white oval frame on the card base using foam adhesive. I added some die cut flowers using the Bold Blossoms dies cut from Azalea and Pitch Black cardstock, then added a black die cut Big Scripty Thank You to the interior of the frame. The final touch was a few silver gems to add some more sparkle!

For my second project, I used the new Essentials Rectangles dies to create some delicate frames to help draw the eye to my sentiment! I began by stamping a pretty floral background using the Mondo Wildflowers stamp set and some Pinkalicious ink.

I added two Essentials Rectangles frames cut from Azalea cardstock to the stamped background panel, then added a black Big Scripty Hello in the center of the frames. I also used a fine black pen to add some random black dots to help fill in some of the blank spots in the patterned background. The final step was to add some hot pink gems for a bit of sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Now, we have some fun giveaway information for you!

We’ve got super fun prizes!!! One random & lucky commenter will win $25 to the EH shop and one will win the whole March Essentials by Ellen release!!! To enter for a chance to win, make sure to leave comments at each stop along the hop! Comment before Thursday, March 12th at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be notified by email.