Sixth Street Sundries

Honey Bee Stamps 4th BEE-day Blog Hop-Day 2!

April 20, 2019

Hi there! Today, I’m so excited to be taking part in Day 2 of the Honey Bee Stamps 4th BEE-day Blog Hop! I am so darn excited for Melissa and this milestone. `You should have arrived here from JoAnn Danchik’s blog, and your next stop is Jessica Frost-Ballas’s blog. I have been crafting like a busy little bee, so much so that I needed to do two blog posts to show everything (you can view yesterday’s post here), so let’s get started with the details! This is a long one with lots of pictures, so get comfy!

For my first project, I used the beautiful new Fluttering By stamp set and dies. I did some loose watercoloring to create a rainbow background using my Daniel Smith paints, then heat embossed several of the butterflies from Fluttering By on to some heavyweight vellum using silver sparkle embossing powder, then die cut them with the coordinating dies.

I also stamped a greeting from Fluttering By onto some dark purple card stock using more of the silver sparkle embossing powder, then adhered it to the rainbow card front using foam tape. I arranged the vellum butterflies in a little cascade down the front using strong tape, then added a few bits of sparkly confetti to help complete the cascading effect!

This next project uses the adorable new Paper Piecing Pickup dies. I die cut the individual pieces from solid colored card stock, then added some shading using my Copic markers. I also die cut one of the new Polygon Stitched dies from white card stock, stamped and embossed a sentiment from Missing You, then masked around the edges. I used blending brushes and some purple, blue, and green inks to create a “sky” and “grass.”

I also stamped and die cut the second section of the sentiment from Missing You. (The sentiments in that stamp set are so poignant and meaningful. Love!) I layered all of the die cut pieces on an A2 panel of white card stock using foam tape.

My last card today features the absolutely darling new Oh My Whiskers and Purrrfect Sentiments stamp sets. I began by stamping the darling little kittens-in-a-boot image using waterproof black ink onto some watercolor paper, then used my Daniel Smith paints to watercolor the image, adding a blue halo around the outside.

I stamped the greeting from Purrrfect Sentiments onto some red card stock to coordinate with the red Hunter boot from which the kitties were peeking and white embossed it, then used the Purrrfect Sentiments dies to die cut it out. (I love the clean look you get from die cutting around the sentiments!) I mounted the greeting on the card front using foam tape.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I hope you’re enjoying the hop… so many fantastic new products available with this release, and the inspiration from all of the Honey Bee Design Team and the fantastic guests has just been mind-blowing! Now, for today’s Blog Hop, Honey Bee Stamps is giving away a Spring Fling Prize Pack: Spring Peony stamp and dies, Spring Fling paper, Spring Fling enamel dots, and the Radiant Background Stencil. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on the blog hop stops. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

Your next stop on the hop is my fabulous and talented friend Jessica Frost-Ballas. (You can also check the Honey Bee Blog if you get lost!) Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous weekend!

Honey Bee Stamps 4th Anniversary Celebration!

April 19, 2019

Hi there! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I’ve been sneaking peeks of Honey Bee Stamps‘s release. This release is a doozy… over 50 new products being debuted… and it’s super appropriate, because it’s their 4th Anniversary! Four years of Honey Bee goodness! I am so proud of how much Honey Bee Stamps has grown, and so honored to have been part of Melissa’s Design Team for almost two years now! I seriously am so lucky to be able to work with so many wonderful people in this industry, and Melissa is on one of my absolute favorites!

There’s a huge blog hop going on today and tomorrow (my “official” blog hop post is tomorrow), but I created so many projects using the new goodies in this release that I thought I’d spread the details about them out over two posts! This post will be long, with lots of pictures, but that’s just how much I have to show you!! 🙂 Let’s get started!

For my first project, I wanted to create a birthday card using the fantastic new Balloon Bunch dies. These are a set of nested dies, with two different shapes included in the die set, and they range from teeny tiny to gigantic! I die cut a bunch of them from some watercolor paper, then used Vicki Boutin’s Watercolor Brush Markers (such gorgeous, vibrant colors in this watercolor set!) to watercolor the solid balloons in a pretty mint, jade, pink, and fuchsia color scheme! I also added a generous layer of Ink On 3’s Pixie Dust to each ballon to make them super festive.

Next, I blended some pretty purple, pink, and mint inks on a white A2 card using blending brushes, layered my die cut balloons over the top, and adhered them with foam tape. I also die cut a glittery white “birthday” using the new Birthday Honey Cuts die. I white embossed a coordinating greeting from the new Happy Birthday stamp set onto some strips of vellum. (So many cute sentiments in that stamp set! Definitely a must have.) The final touch was some jewels and Nuvo drops.

For my second project, I used the absolutely stunningly detailed new Mandala die. I die cut the Mandala from some beautiful gold card stock, then layered it on an alcohol ink background that I had in my stash. (I like to make a bunch of them at once and then have them on hand for a quick background!) I stamped the greeting from Thanks a Bunch using Brass embossing powder onto some heavyweight vellum, then fussy cut around the edges.

The final touch was a few gems around the edge of the intricate Mandala die cut.

I saved my favorite for my final project today… Y’all know I’m a sucker for anything peony, and these new Spring Peony stamps from today’s release immediately claimed my attention as soon as I received my package. They’re gonna be awesome in any medium. For today, however, I decided to put my Luminance pencils to use. I absolutely love the look of colored pencils on colored card stock to create a seamless, almost screen-printed look, so I stamped several of the blooms and foliage from Spring Peony onto some beautiful teal card stock using white pigment ink, then colored them with my C’aran D’ache Luminance colored pencils.

I wanted to keep that deep teal background, allowing the peonies to be some bright pops of saturated color, which was accomplished by coloring the flowers on the same shade of teal card stock, then die cutting them and layering them on my teal background. I also die cut one of the new Double Stitched Polygon dies from that same teal card stock and popped it up on the teal card base using foam tape.

I die cut the white “bloom” from the new Bloom Honey Cuts and added the rest of the sentiment from the Bloom stamp set on strips of white card stock. I arranged the flowers on one side of the Double Stitched Polygon die cut, then adhered them and the greeting components using liquid adhesive. The final touch was a few jewels for sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Be sure to stop by the Honey Bee Stamps blog to get linked up to Day 1 of the Blog Hop. (Psst… There are prizes to be had!!!) And don’t forget to come back here tomorrow for Day 2 for even more inspiration using the newest release from Honey Bee Stamps! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Ellen Hutson April 2019 Release!

April 16, 2019

Hi there! Today, I am sharing my projects with you using the newest Essentials By Ellen release! I went out of town earlier this month, and I’m still playing catch up… gah. But I just had to share these projects using these super cute new stamps and dies from Ellen Hutson! Let’s get started with the details!

For my first project, I just had to combine the adorable sentiments from Everyday Punnies and the sweet little critters from Everyday Doodles. I die cut the larger frame from the new Instant Photo Frame die set using some white card stock, then added the sentiment from Everyday Punnies using black ink. I knew I wanted a blue background for my celebratory critter, so I masked off approximately where the photo frame would be, then used Life Changing Blending Brushes to blend some soft blue ink in the bottom right corner.

Next, I stamped the little birdie from Everyday Doodles using Copic-friendly black ink, as well as a trio of balloons, and colored them using cheerful pastel Copic markers. I added the die cuts to the blended panel using foam tape, then added some gems from Pretty Pink Posh for a bit of sparkle!

For my second project, I thought I’d do something a little more elegant using the new Painted Stripes set. I started by stamping one of the stripes repeatedly on a white card base using Industrial Diamond ink. I then cut several of the Wild Garden dies from more white card stock, blending various shades of peach, coral, and mint again using the blending brushes.

I die cut the Scripty Thank You die three times from Slate card stock and adhered them together to create a dimensional die cut. I arranged the blended flowers and foliage on the striped card front, then adhered them using liquid adhesive and added the dimensional die cut sentiment in the center. I added a bit of Crystal Lacquer over the top of the sentiment to add further contrast and help it pop. The final touch was a few metallic silver jewels for a bit of shine.

I also wanted to mention that my latest Exploring With Emily video is up on the Ellen Hutson YouTube channel. This month, I focus on color mixing using the Daniel Smith Essentials set. This is a set of 6 colors, 2 shades of each individual primary color, and in the video I discuss how to make the most of just those six colors to create a veritable rainbow! I hope you’ll check it out!

Ink On 3’s Heels To You!

April 15, 2019

Good morning! Happy Monday! This week is going to be a busy one. Honey Bee Stamps is celebrating their 4th Anniversary, and I have projects from the most recent Ellen Hutson release to share with you, but today, I wanted to share a project that I worked on to help celebrate the newest Ink On 3 release- Heels To You! I shared this project on the Ink On 3 blog last week, but I thought I’d share it here, as well. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping the lovely flowered shoe from Ink On 3’s Heels to You (I3|SSS) stamp set using their Fadeout Ink on some watercolor paper. I then watercolored the image using the no-line coloring technique and my Daniel Smith watercolors: Quinacridone Fuchsia, Wisteria, Cobalt Green Pale, and Graphite Gray. I added some Liquid Pixie Dust (I3|SSS|EH) over the top of the watercolored shoe to make it really sparkle!

For the card base, I used some light pink ink to stamp the individual flowers from the Heels to You (I3|SSS) stamp set on a white A2 card base, then used blending brushes to blend the same shade of pink ink in the corner to create a bit of a halo. I stamped the greeting from the Heels to You stamp set and die cut the “beautiful” from the coordinating die set using Hero Hues Plum card stock. I added the greeting and a few jewels from Pretty Pink Posh to add some more sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today. I hope you’ll check out the new release from Ink On 3. These new stamps are perfect for Mother’s Day crafting! So much fun to color in any medium, as well. Thanks so much for stopping, and have a marvelous day!

Pinkfresh Studio Die Essentials Blog Hop!

April 8, 2019

Good morning! Today, Pinkfresh Studio is having a special blog hop to celebrate their new Essentials release! This release is jam-packed with a ton of new “essentials” dies, basically simple shapes- but with a little added Pinkfresh flair, making them super unique and so much fun! You should have arrived here from Cathy Zielske’s blog, and your next stop is Enza Gudor’s blog. I’ve created a matching card and tag for you today, so let’s get started with the details!

I wanted to show how beautifully these new standalone dies pair with the previously-released Pinkfresh products. I began by stamping, die cutting, and watercoloring a bunch of the floral images from the Fancy Blooms stamp set in a lovely cool color scheme using my Daniel Smith watercolors.

For the card, I trimmed an A2 panel of aqua patterned and embossed paper from Tonic, then die cut the new Pretty Frames die from Pebble card stock and centered it on the card front with some foam tape. I then die cut the “Best Wishes” from the new Classic Words die set from some charcoal card stock three times and adhered them together to create some dimensional die cut words, then added them to the interior of the frame. I topped the frame off with the watercolored Fancy Blooms die cuts, adding a few gems for some sparkle.

Because I had extra floral pieces from my watercoloring session, I decided to make a quick matching tag using some of the new dies. I die cut the Classic Tags with Fillable Elements, first a solid tag from aqua card stock, then another tag from some more Pebble card stock, adding a die cut “filler” at the bottom. (I love that filler die, particularly; it reminds me of stained glass!) I layered the gray tag over the aqua tag, then added another charcoal word die cut from the Classic Words dies. I adhered the floral swag, adding a few extra bits of foliage, some more gems, and a white raffia loop for the hanger.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Aren’t these new dies incredible? So many versatile and simple shapes, but those little extra details make them unique and so darn cute!

Now, for some fun giveaway information! Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full April Essentials release on the Pinkfresh blog, as well as on the Instagram feed. Be sure to pop over to both places to enter to win the entire Essentials Die Collection! Pinkfresh has also generously donated $25 gift certificate for each of the stops on the blog hop. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on each of the stops on the hop; the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win! The winners will be posted on Sunday, April 14th on the Pinkfresh Studio GIVEAWAY PAGE. All winners must check that page & claim their prize within 2 weeks.

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

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