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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Colorado Craft Company Halloween with Anita Jeram + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there! My friends over at Colorado Craft Company are releasing a darling new Halloween and Autumn collection with some new Big and Bold sets, as well as some super sweet new Anita Jeram sets! We are hopping along to share lots of inspiration using these new sets. You should have arrived here from Daniel West, and your next stop is Jasleen Kaur. You can see all of the bloggers HERE. I have some super saturated inspiration for you today using the new Scary Pumpkin Big & Bold (CCC|SSS) paired with the sweet little mouse from Pumpkin Bucket (CCC|SSS). I don’t do “scary” very well, but these cute little critters from Anita Jeram are just my cup of tea! Let’s get started with the details!

As soon as I saw the giant pumpkin in the Scary Pumpkin stamp set, I knew that I wanted to pair it with some of the Anita Jeram critters. They’re drawn in different styles, but I worked my way around that by doing some no-line coloring. This way, I could make them both work together seamlessly. The huge pumpkin was the perfect size to pair with the cute little mouse from Pumpkin Bucket! I stamped both of the images onto some alcohol marker-friendly white cardstock using Hero Arts’s Contour Ink.

I colored the images using my OLO markers. I fell in love with the orange color family from the OLO marker set that I used on this Cinderella card, and couldn’t resist using it again for today’s project. The large size of the pumpkin gave me plenty of room to really work those dark to light values. After I’d finished coloring the large pumpkin, I stamped it again on some masking paper and cut it out, laid the mask atop the colored pumpkin, and blended Nautical and Grape Soda inks in the corner to create a semi-spooky sky. While the mask was still in place, I also splattered some shimmery handmade metallic watercolors to create a star-strewn sky!

I also colored the little trick-or-treating mouse from Pumpkin Bucket, adding some black pen to the whiskers, eyes, and ear. I trimmed the image using my sharp scissors, then colored around the white edge with light orange and lavender to help keep the color continuity throughout the card front.

I heat embossed a greeting from Pumpkin Bucket onto some coordinating peach cardstock using platinum embossing powder, then matted it with some coordinating sparkly gold cardstock to help it pop from the colorful card front. I popped both the mouse and the sentiment up on the pumpkin card front using foam adhesive.

Well, that’s all for my project today! To celebrate this release, Colorado Craft Company is giving away one stamp set from the new release to a commenter on each stop on the blog hop! Simply leave comments along the hop to be eligible to win. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win! They are also doing something super unique and giving away the entire release to one lucky shopper who shops using an affiliate link! To enter this giveaway, use your favorite blogger’s affiliate link (you can click HERE to use mine) and place your order. The contest ends at midnight on 10/1/22.

I appreciate those of you who have shopped through my affiliate links in the past! As this hobby has morphed into a job, I and my family have become ever more deeply grateful for those of you who have shopped using my links. You’re helping me to take care of my family doing something that I love, and for that I cannot thank you enough. <3

Your next stop is Jasleen Kaur. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Peachy Keen with Spellbinders + Sale!!

Hi there! I have been cleaning up my computer and realized that I have some projects featuring some older Spellbinders products that I never shared with you. Luckily, some of the products are on sale during the Spellbinders Fall Warehouse Sale, happening right now!

These pale peach cards are an homage to one of my most favorite (and most unique) shades of cardstock from the Spellbinders Cardstock line: Barely Peach. I used this beautiful shade of pale peach cardstock as the basis to create these monochromatic cards. Let’s get started with the details!

My first card features the Half Slimline Oval dies (which are on sale right now!) to create this lovely, soft, and feminine slimline card. I began by die cutting the detailed frame from the Half Slimline Oval from some Barely Peach cardstock and backed it with a piece of white cardstock. This soft peach layered with the white background creates a lovely base for the details, not quite monochromatic, but still very softly textured and interesting.

Next, I die cut several pieces of foliage from some more white cardstock using the Wreath Builder dies. I love using non-traditional colors for foliage. I think it creates such a unique look! I cut some blooms from some the Wreath Builder using more Barely Peach cardstock, adding the centers with some pale Rose Gold Foil Cardstock from Simon Says Stamp. (That foil is one of the most beautiful shades of foil cardstock I’ve seen… so unique!) It was the perfect complementary shade for my pale peach cardstock-it adds a new textural element without adding a new color to the card front. I die cut the “beautiful” from the Half Slimline Oval and a “thanks” from Yana’s Layered Script Sentiment dies (also on sale!), adhering them with liquid adhesive next to my floral bouquet. The final touch was a few iridescent peach pearls to add another element of texture and shine!

My second card features the Stitched Hi dies with some more of the Barely Peach cardstock and Rose Gold Foil Cardstock. I am not much with a needle and thread… I would like to learn, but that’s one more thing to add to my list of things I’d like to do in my “free” time (anybody know where I can find some of that? haha!), but luckily the “stitching” patterns on these dies look like some lovely intricate details even without the addition of the stitching. I layered the detailed metallic foil die cuts on the solid peach die cuts to create a large monochromatic sentiment die cut.

For the card base, I used the Wreath Builder dies to create some flowing vines and foliage down the side of my A2 peach card front, cutting them again from white and peach cardstock, adding rose gold foil centers to the flowers, adhering the die cuts with liquid adhesive. I layered the large “hi” over the detailed and textured floral background using foam adhesive, adding a white die cut “friend” from the Half Slimline Oval. Finally, I added a few more peach iridescent pearls for one more touch of shine.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I hope you’ll check out the Spellbinders Fall Warehouse Sale… there are some absolutely fantastic deals happening (I’ve spent way too much money there already. Happy birthday to me haha!), including the Glimmer Hot Foil System on sale for $89.99. That’s an incredible deal! The Spellbinders Platinum and Platinum 6 die cut machines are also on sale for great prices. If you’ve been contemplating a new die cut machine or hot foil system, I can’t recommend these highly enough, and these prices are outstanding.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy shopping!

VIDEO: Watercoloring with Stencils using New Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Products!

Hi there! I am up on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel today, and I’m sharing a fun faux no-line watercolor using the new Festive Leaves stencils, two shades of ink, and a bit of watercoloring. Here’s the video:

Or you can watch the video HERE.

This technique is a super fun way to get more mileage out of your standalone stencils! The Festive Leaves stencils are a standalone stencil set, meaning that they do not have a coordinating stamp set. (There are dies though!) These layering stencils create beautiful, modern, graphic holiday foliage images, but I am a traditionalist, and I love figuring out new ways to tailor products to suit my own style. This standalone stencil set was perfect for this technique, because the simple layering stencils created full images without needing a stamp set to complete them, as some stencil sets do.

I began by blending Fresh Pear on the foliage stencils and Coral Reef Pinkfresh Studio inks on the berry stencils from the Festive Leaves stencil set onto some Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper. I blended very lightly on all of the layers, as the main purpose of this blending is to give us a basic outline for our watercoloring. You could also use no-line coloring ink, like Contour Ink from Hero Arts, but that might create a bit muddier watercoloring. The Pinkfresh Studio inks are water-based, so they work seamlessly with the Holbein watercolors that I used for this technique. I simply laid the watercolor over the top of the ink blended images. I used a bit looser watercoloring technique for these images; I wanted a bit more whimsical feel, rather than super controlled and detailed, to fit with the modern aesthetic of the images themselves. While the wet watercolor was still quite damp, I dropped in some darker green, allowing the color to “bloom” on the wet areas. Once the images were finished, I used the coordinating die to cut all of the images out in one fell swoop. That one-stop die cutting never ceases to amaze me with its cleverness!

For the background, I used the embossing mat from my Platinum 6 machine’s Universal Plate System with the Lush Vines Hot Foil Plate. This creates a lovely and subtle embossed background without having to go through all of the hot foiling process. I splattered some sparkly gold handmade watercolors on the background just to add a little extra interest. I also die cut a Nested Diamond frame from some white cardstock as a ground for my foliage and sentiment pieces.

Because I can’t keep my hot foil system out on my desk all the time, I like to foil bunches of stuff at once to have ready when I need it. I had foiled a Noel Hot Foil sentiment using Matte Gold foil, then die cut it with the coordinating die. I heat embossed a greeting from the Ornaments stamp set (this set has so many great sentiments, in addition to the beautiful ornament stamp!) using gold sparkle embossing powder. I also added a slightly wider strip of gold glitter cardstock behind to help the sentiment stand out a bit more. I adhered all of the components on the embossed background panel using double and single layers of foam tape. This card has lots of white space, so that extra foam tape helps to add lots of texture and interest to the card front. Finally, I added a few Matte Gold pearls for one last element of golden shine!

Well, that’s all for my project today. I encourage you to take a look at your standalone stencils to see which ones would work with this faux no-line watercoloring technique. Such a fun way to make your cards look even more unique and truly handmade! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Altenew September 2022 Enchanted Winter Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in total prizes)

Hi there! The new Enchanted Winter standalone stencil and embossing folder collection is now available over at Altenew, and we’re hopping along to inspire you with these beautiful new goodies! You can start the hop at the Altenew Blog. You should have arrived here from Bridget Casey, and your next stop is LauraJane.

The theme of this release may be Enchanted Winter, but I was still in summer mode when I created these projects! I kept the color scheme light and cheerful, using beautiful blue ink from the Lapis Lazuli ink quartet and crisp Hunter Green for the foliage. I kept the colors cohesive on both cards to create a thank you note set!

My first card features the beautiful new Blooming Flower Beds Layering Stencils. I found these stencils super quick and simple to line up, especially when paired with the color layering guide included with the stencil set. I kept the color palette cool and elegant with the Lapis Lazuli and Hunter Green inks, blending them with the small blending brushes.

Once I had finished my stenciling, I used the Mega Thanks die to cut directly in the center of the stenciled panel, reserving the centers of the h, a, k, and s. I also die cut three more Mega Thanks die cuts from plain white cardstock, layering them all together with liquid adhesive. I adhered the stenciled panel to a white, A2 card base, then inlaid the dimensional die cut. This peekaboo die cut creates such a lovely subtle background on this stenciled card front!

I added a more obvious sentiment from the Many Thanks stamp set, stamped onto a silver holographic foiled banner from the Sentiment Banners hot foil plate and die set. I popped up the sentiment banner with some foam adhesive to help it pop from the busy background a bit better!

My second card features the same color scheme, this time focusing on the large, beautiful Daisies Simple Coloring Stencil Set. This set is intended to work in conjunction with the Daisies Embossing Folder bundle, but I loved it on its own so much that I used it to make the patterned paper for my card front! I used the same Lapis Lazuli and Hunter Green inks to create a super unique, chunky, graphic daisy background.

I trimmed the stenciled daisy panel down slightly and matted it on a coordinating panel of green A2 cardstock so that it was framed with emerald green. I also added some white Fine Frames die cuts to add some delicate interest to the card front.

For the greeting, I die cut a detailed thanks from white cardstock, adding the outline in some heavyweight vellum from the Sweet Sentiments die set. I adhered it to the stenciled card front using some clear foam adhesive, accenting it with another greeting from the Many Thanks stamp set, stamped in blue and matted with some silver glitter paper. I added a few iridescent white gems for a touch of sparkle!

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

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 09/28/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 09/29/2022.

Your next stop is LauraJane. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Joy to the World with Spellbinders!

I’ve had a little unaccounted-for time in the last week or so, and I’ve been digging into the new Spellbinders dies. Their new September Release is absolutely spectacular, filled with so many fantastic new holiday sets. The new Christmas Flourish collection from Becca Feeken is a such lovely addition to their lineup. So many beautiful sets! For today’s card, I did some die cutting using the new Joy Flourish Doily, keeping the color palette bold and dramatic with black, red, and green. Let’s get started with the details!

The color scheme for this card was influenced by a card recently posted by the incomparable Yana Smakula. I challenge you to find a crafter who uses color more boldly or beautifully! She inspires me with each post.

I began by die cutting the intricate doily die from the Joy Flourish Doily from some of Spellbinders’s Black Glitter Foam. This foam is fantastic; it allows you to add tons of dimension and height without the bother of snipping tiny pieces of foam tape or die cutting the same die cut multiple times. It’s value is especially apparent with super intricate dies like this; one pass through my die cut machine and I had a dimensional die cut ready to be layered on my card front! I cut the frame in half using my scissors and layered it on an A2 black card base.

Next, I die cut several of the elements from the Joy Flourish Doily from different holiday colors, cutting the sentiment from some shiny red foil to make it really pop from the black background. I also die cut some foliage and a poinsettia from Christmas Blooms to help fill in the little accent bouquets.

I arranged the sentiment and surrounding accents in the center of the card, adhering them with double and single layers of foam tape and liquid adhesive for tons of dimension. The final touch was to add a bit of shine with some shiny black gems. I love how the glittery black foam adds tons of intricate dimension to the background without overwhelming the intricate sentiment and floral arrangements.

Well, that’s all for my project today! You can check out the entire Christmas Flourish collection HERE. So many beautiful and intricate dies to make truly elegant holiday cards. Thanks so much for reading, and have a marvelous day!