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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

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!

Altenew September 2023 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

Hi friends! Today, we are hopping along to celebrate the September 2023 Marvelous Monthly release! You should have arrived here from Svitlana, and your next stop is Seeka. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog. The Build-A-Garden sets tend to be my favorites each month, because of the great value as well as the beauty of the designs themselves. The Build-A-Garden: Frilly Begonias set is truly gorgeous, with two large arrangements of begonias and foliage, gorgeous sentiments, and fun simple coloring stencils. You can also purchase the Build-A-Garden: Frilly Begonias + Add-On Die Bundle if you would also like to have the coordinating dies (both for the flowers and the large sentiments!). If you find yourself loving the Build-A-Garden series each month, you can become a subscriber HERE to make sure that you get first dibs and a discount! I chose to do some coloring with alcohol markers for my project today, so let’s get started with the details!

I began my project by heat embossing the large image from Build-A-Garden: Frilly Begonias using Altenew’s Rose Gold Embossing Powder, offsetting the image so that it was dripping off of the side. I then used alcohol markers to add some muted coral and warm teal to the images. I love that these colors are somewhat muted in overall tone, but still vibrant and can pop off of the page! To create a halo around the image, I blended around the edges of the A2 panel using a blending brush and Water Hyacinth Fresh Dye Ink. I splattered the entire panel with some coordinating metallic watercolor to add some artistic sparkle, as well.

To add a little interest to the layout, I used my trimmer to trim a 1/4″ segment out from the side of my colored, blended panel. I backed the open area with a piece of coordinating rose gold glitter paper from the Golden Sunrise glitter gradient cardstock pack. This creates a sparkly peek-a-boo strip amongst the colorful background!

For the greeting, I heat embossed and die cut two of the different greetings included in the Build-A-Garden: Frilly Begonias + Add-On Die Bundle. I popped these greeting pieces up with some foam adhesive to give them extra dimension, then added a few shimmering blue gems for one last bit of texture and sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today. Now for some fun giveaway information:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $40 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 09/25/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 6 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 09/27/2023.
*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog. 

Here’s the full hop list:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Adding Shimmer and Detail with Karin Star Spark Pens!

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

Hi friends! In the midst of my newfound rainbow craze using the new Rainbow Splash products from Simon Says Stamp’s STAMPtember release, I have found myself itching to get back into my more typical color palette as sort of a palate cleanser. (Don’t worry if you were enjoying the rainbows; I have more Rainbow Splash inspiration to share with you later this week!) I’ve spent most of my creative time this month creating projects that are a little more simplistic, a little more approachable, so as to be easily replicated by both new and seasoned crafters alike. Today’s project combines some simple techniques to create a really vivid, eye-catching card using the gorgeous Lilac Clusters Embossing Folder. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by running an A2 panel of Hammermill cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Lilac Clusters Embossing Folder from Simon Says Stamp. This 3D embossing folder creates such incredibly beautiful details that easily can speak for themselves on your card front. My initial instinct with these gorgeous floral folders is always to reach for my favorite coloring mediums to make as immersive and dimensional a card as possible, but today I thought I’d simplify the process and the amount of time spent by doing some ink blending. For the sky, I blended Cadette and Ocean Pawsitively Saturated inks, the combination of which creates the most luscious, summery blue sky. On the flowers themselves, I blended first Lilac ink with a larger blending brush, then blended Orchid ink with a smaller brush in some of the more shadowed places on the blooms. Using the lighter and darker inks helps to add a little extra interest and dimension to the flowers. I blended some Pearfection ink on the foliage, keeping things simple.

To accent the somewhat simplistic blended “coloring” on my lilac images, I used the new Karin Star Spark pens to add extra details to the individual flower petals, stems, and veins on the leaves. These pens are so shimmery and are basically opaque, so they make adding details on top of your stamped or colored images super easy! I accented the pretty purple blooms with a frame cut from purple foil using my favorite A2 Thin Frames dies, which I popped up using foam adhesive.

For the greeting, I used the Fancy Giving Thanks die, cutting the detail layer from deep purple cardstock and the outline background from heavyweight vellum. I also trimmed down a greeting from the Sassy T-day sentiment cards and lightly blended the strip with some residual purple ink left on my blending brush to help it work more cohesively with my super colorful card front. The final touch was a few shimmering gems for even more sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I hope you enjoyed this foray back into my more usual world of secondary colors (instead of primary rainbow colors, haha!). Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!