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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Back to Basics: Color Mixing with Rainbow Splash Inks!

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

Contrary to the majority of my stamped-and-blended posts this month, I am a watercolorist at heart. While I find it very handy to have as many different shades as possible in my watercolor stash just to simplify things when working, I frequently will mix different colors together, some complementary and some very close together on the color wheel, simply to create a shade as close to the color in my head as possible. I work in secondary and tertiary colors most comfortably, with just the slightest variations on the primary and secondary colors commonly found in the rainbow spectrum, so the primary rainbow cards that I’ve been creating are a bit outside of my normal comfort zone. After working with the colors on their own for awhile, I thought to myself, “why not try to do the same color mixing with the Rainbow Splash ink colors the way you do with watercolors?” So, I did some experimenting with some of the inks and was super happy with how they came out!

For today’s projects, I paired Sea and Lime Rainbow Splash inks to create a lovely shade of turquoise; Princess and Pumpkin to create a beautiful, intense coral; and Buttercream and Ballet inks to create a soft, warm pink. I paired the ink blending with several stencils to do some simple color mixing on each card. Let’s get started with the details!

When I was creating the different rainbow cards for my Rainbow Splash posts this month, I have blended Sea ink and Lime ink next to each other a few times, and the small area where the two colors overlapped and blended together created the most beautiful shade of turquoise. I knew I had to use it as a main part of the color palette for one of my cards today! I began by blending an entire white card panel with Lime ink, laying the base for my turquoise heart. I laid one of the Heart Masks and Stencils over the top of the blended panel, offsetting it slightly over the edge, then blended the Sea ink over the top of the heart stencil. To add some extra interest to the heart, I placed the Circular Lace Stencil directly over the open area and blended more Lime ink. This creates a more intense turquoise pattern on the turquoise heart. I love how the colors blend together and how you can slightly vary the color by adding more green or more blue to your blended area, depending on your preference!

To accent my stenciled heart, I embossed an A2 piece of Lime cardstock with the Cascading Hearts embossing folder from the Rainbow Splash collection. I trimmed down the stenciled panel and butted it on the side of the embossed panel to allow the embossing to peek out from behind. I think showing the Lime-blended panel next to the Lime cardstock beautifully illustrates how closely the cardstock matches the ink in the Rainbow Splash line! I heat embossed a greeting from the Bold Messages stamp set onto some Sea cardstock, then blended Lime over the top to create a deeper version of the turquoise heart. I popped it up with some foam adhesive, then added a strip of coordinating turquoise foil cardstock and some blue Rainbow Splash Gem stickers for sparkle!

For my second card, I combined Princess ink and Pumpkin Ink to create this intense, rich coral color! I started by blending Princess ink over an entire panel of white cardstock, then laid the Fading Florals Stencil over the top and blended both Pumpkin Ink and Princess ink to create this intense, vivid patterned panel.

To accent the simple stenciled floral design, I embossed an A2 panel of Princess cardstock using the Folk Flower Embossing Folder. I trimmed the stenciled panel down on the long sides, adding some intense pearlescent orange cardstock strips on either side to create a barrier between the patterned background and the stenciled panel, and popped it up with some foam adhesive. I added a greeting from the Happy Blooms stamp set, white embossed on a strip of Pumpkin cardstock. A few Pumpkin Rainbow Splash Gem stickers on one of the stenciled berry sprigs added a bit of sparkle to the card!

Finally, I paired Buttercream ink with Ballet ink using the Floral Borders stencil. The Buttercream ink tones down the pink, muting it a bit and creating a lovely shade of petal pink. I paired the stenciled piece with a panel of Buttercream Cardstock that I embossed using the Tiny Florals embossing folder, adding a couple of thin strips of Ballet Cardstock to break up the Buttercream. Finally, I added a heat embossed sentiment from the Everyday Greetings stamp, popping it up with foam adhesive and adding a few pink gems on either side to accent the sentiment and add some sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I encourage you to think back to your lessons about color mixing and try some experiments with your Rainbow Splash inks to create unique color mixes… the results are such fun!! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Collaboration: Hero Arts!

Hi friends! I’m back with another STAMPtember collaboration set! Throughout the month, many of the companies in our industry have teamed up with Simon Says Stamp to celebrate our love of this hobby with a limited edition stamp set, and today, Hero Arts is in the spotlight!! The Hero Arts Collaboration Set (or you can purchase the Hero Arts Collaboration Set with Coordinating Dies) features some adorable little critters jamming their hearts out, and I’ve got a sweet little congratulatory card to inspire you! Let’s get started with the details.

I began my project by stamping the raccoon and bear on the center of my A2 card front, as well as a greeting from the Hero Arts Collaboration Set using Intens-ified Black ink, also stamping the cute little maraca-loving squirrel on a separate sheet of Hammermill cardstock. I then used Copic markers to color the little critters fairly simply, adding some simple shadows and shape with 2-3 markers per critter. Once I was finished coloring, I used my sharp scissors to fussy cut the squirrel.

To create a ground for my little scene, I placed one of the circle stencils from the Simon Says Stamp Circle Masks and Stencils set directly over my Copic-colored critters and blended Cheeky and Blush Pawsitively Saturated inks using a blending brush. This grounds the critters and creates a little scene, rather than having them floating in midair. I popped the squirrel up with some foam tape, creating a little trio without having to worry about masking. Hooray for simplicity!

To accent the musical trio, I stamped lots of the musical notes from the Hero Arts Collaboration Set using more black ink to add some movement to the background and show off what a party these fellas are having!! Finally, I trimmed down the colored panel slightly and mounted it on a panel of black cardstock to create a delicate black frame around the edge of the focal point.

Well, that’s all for today’s project! If you love these STAMPtember collaboration sets, don’t wait, because they have a tendency to sell out extremely quickly. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!

It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus!

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

Hi friends! I have something unusual to share with you today… I rarely make Halloween cards, because I think my Grammy was the only person from whom I’ve ever received a card for Halloween, and to be honest, I don’t do “spooky” very well. However!! I could not resist the darling little witches in the marvelous new Hocus Pocus set, illustrated by my friend Alberto Gava! He illustrates the most adorable stamp sets, and while I don’t do cutesy very well, I absolutely adored all of the cute little witches, pumpkins, and that precious little kitty! My daughter is going to be a witch for Halloween, so this set is just perfect to make a little card or tag for her, too! Let’s get started with the details.

To start, I stamped several of the images from the Hocus Pocus stamps set onto some Hammermill cardstock using Intense Black ink. I then used OLO markers to add color to the images, creating these orange pumpkins, black kitty, and a witch that looks just like my little girl in her Halloween costume! I die cut the finished images using the coordinating dies (purchase as a bundle HERE). I also stamped the darling greeting using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink, embossing it with clear embossing powder before using the coordinating die to cut it out.

One of the reasons that I don’t do “cute” very well is that my imagination doesn’t seem to stretch to creating scenes very easily. To get around this, I like to create a smaller “canvas” upon which I can build my scene, making a less intimidating space to have to fill with images. I placed one of the Simon A2 Stencil Masks over the top of my A2 Hammermill cardstock card front, then used blending brushes to blend Cayenne, Clementine, and Nectar inks from Concord & 9th in a smooth ombré down the front of the card, creating a pretty ombré background that matched the colored pumpkins beautifully! While the Simon A2 Stencil Mask was still in place, I splattered some coordinating metallic watercolors on the background to add extra sparkle to the card.

After removing the mask, I arranged all of the colored and die cut elements on the blended area, adhering them with both liquid and foam adhesive to create extra dimension and interest. I love how the kitty looks like he’s pointing at the sentiment! Finally, I added a few shimmering gems for some more sparkle and texture.

Well, that’s all for today’s project! If you’re like me and find yourself creating with the same style of stamps each time you craft, I encourage you to go take a look at stamp sets that are outside of your typical wheel house. It’s such fun to stretch your creative legs with something new, especially when the results are this cute! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

VIDEO: Watercoloring Christmas Presents with Pinkfresh Studio!

Hi friends! Today, I have a video over on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube Channel with some tips on how to achieve simple shading on objects with lots of straight lines, like these Christmas presents! Watch the video below or HERE on YouTube.

With geometric objects like boxes, one of the important ways that an artist can add depth is to keep location of the light source in mind while painting. When I am painting or coloring, I am envisioning the light source coming straight at the image from the front, so that the areas in the “back” are shadowed, while the areas in the foreground are lighter. For these holiday gifts from the Christmas Presents stamp set, I used concentrated ink from Tombow watercolor markers on the shadowed edges of the presents (that is, no dilution with clean water) and then used diluted color on the front of the boxes to create that contrast between the dark and light. I die cut the finished gifts using the Coordinating Christmas Presents Dies.

I knew that I wanted to create a shaker card, because who doesn’t love a festive shaker card, and I love adding subtle textured details to the shaker background. I trimmed down a panel of blush cardstock to 5″ x 5″ as well as a panel of pearlescent blush cardstock from my stash. Using my Fiskars trimmer, I trimmed out a square from the center, creating a thick blush cardstock frame, and added some clear acetate to the back to create my shaker window. To add the subtle texture to the background, I ran the pearlescent panel through my die cut machine using the Stitched Christmas Star cover plate die. This die is sized to work for an A2 card front, but because the blush frame was a bit thicker around the edges, I was able to hide the edges of the panel that weren’t completely covered by the stitched cover plate die.

I filled my shaker with sequins from my stash in coordinating shades of pine green, dark teal, and pink, then closed it up with foam adhesive. I arranged the die cut and watercolored gifts in a little trio on the corner of the shaker card, popping the gift in front up with some foam adhesive. For the greeting, I used a sentiment from the Brushed Sentiments Hot Foil Plate, hot foiled with matte silver foil and die cut with the Coordinating Dies. To keep my color scheme cohesive throughout all of the elements, I lightly blended some Ballet Slipper ink over the top of the hot foiled greeting. I popped the sentiment pieces up with some more foam adhesive!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Normally, my watercoloring is filled with lots of curvature and organic movement, but it was fun to challenge myself to see if I could do some simple watercoloring on these boxes with so many straight lines! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day.

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember with Pinkfresh Studio!

Hi friends! I am back again with another STAMPtember collaboration project. Today, we are partnering with Pinkfresh Studio to create this gorgeous, limited edition STAMPtember collaboration stamp and stencil set: Artistic Foliage (you can also purchase just the stamp set by itself HERE). The Artistic Foliage set is unique in the STAMPtember collaboration lineup, because it’s the first release with a set of coordinating stencils! How fun, right? I have a super elegant card to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

I am loving creating my own “custom” embossing powder lately simply by stamping my images in colorful inks, then stamping again with embossing ink, then heat embossing over the top to create a rainbow of embossing powder! I started by stamping the main image from the Artistic Foliage set onto some Hammermill cardstock first using Pine Pawsitively Saturated Ink, then leaving the stamp in place in my MISTI, I stamped the image again using sticky embossing ink. I covered the stamped images with White Satin Pearl embossing powder and heated it up, creating a lovely pearlescent green embossed image!

Once I had embossed the images, I used the coordinating stencils from the Artistic Foliage product suite to blend Aspen and Sage Pawsitively Saturated inks with blending brushes. I love that the pearlescent embossed edges are part of the color trio so that it works seamlessly with the blended colors, almost creating a no-line effect!

For the greeting, I heat embossed one of the sentiments from the Artistic Foliage set using the same technique, then die cut the sentiment using one of the smaller Pinkfresh Studio Fancy Circles dies. I carefully trimmed out the smaller leaf sprig using my sharp scissors, then mounted the large embossed and stenciled panel on an A2 cardstock front, butting the edge of the card front against the long edge of the card base. I added a thin strip of coordinating sage green glitter paper, then added a slightly wider strip of Simon Says Stamp’s Midnight Green cardstock, both of which coordinate beautifully with the leafy greens! I popped up the sentiment circle with some foam adhesive, then added the smaller leaf sprig next to the sentiment, accenting it with a white twine bow for added textural interest. The final touch was a few Leaf Glitter Drops for one last hint of sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! If you love this Artistic Foliage set, don’t wait to purchase it, because these limited edition STAMPtember collaboration sets frequently sell out very quickly and will not be restocked! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!