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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Hero Arts December 2023 My Monthly Hero Kit Launch Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! It’s the first Monday of the month, and that means that it’s time for another kit release from my friends at Hero Arts! You should have arrived here from the marvelous Kelly Taylor, and this is your last stop on the hop! This month’s theme is dedicated to all things alphabet. I received my kit a bit late, so I have some very quick and easy tags to share with you. We can all use “quick and easy” around this time, can’t we? Here’s a peek at this month’s Classic Kit:

And a look at the Premium Kit:

The contents of these kits retail individually for over double the kit purchase price. The My Monthly Hero Classic kit can be yours for $36.99, and the Premium Kit can be purchased for $49.99! There are also a ton of marvelous, universally-useful add-ons which coordinate with the kits or can be used as standalone products. Let’s get started with my projects!!

Whenever I see alphabet dies, my mind immediately goes to personalized stationery. I started my cardmaking journey when I was newly married and wanted to create the perfect monogram stationery to send as thank you notes, and so new alphabet products always bring me back to my roots. Now, as a momma of four kids, personalization is important, because my kids like to make sure that everybody knows whose toy is whose!! (lol and cry simultaneously) I die cut the new cover plate die from the Classic Kit from using Pitch Black cardstock and realized that my boys’ names are short enough that the die cut letters could easily be added onto some tags. My little boys are learning how to spell their names in preschool, and seeing their letters anywhere (stop sign, mail, gas station sign, etc) brings them a thrill that I thought seeing a personalized tag on their “want” gift would make them so happy!

I die cut three tags from Cherry cardstock using the Bulb Ornament Infinity Dies which are unfortunately out of stock at the moment, but you can easily sign up for email notification for when they come back in stock! They’re super useful, especially considering the variety of sizes included in the set. I used a Post-It note to mask off the top of the ornament bulbs and blended Cranberry ink around the edges to add some extra dimension. I then used the Snowflake Fancy Die and white glitter cardstock from the Glitter Basics cardstock pack to add a festive snowflake pattern to each snowflake, snipping off the extras spilling over the edges. I popped up the die cut letters from the My Monthly Hero Classic Kit using foam adhesive and added a bit of sparkly silver twine from which my tag could swing!

On the back of the tag, I used more Pitch Black cardstock to add a die cut “from” from the Holiday Words Fancy Die set. I love that these tags came together so quickly and easily. They’d be super easy to mass produce and would be darling as tags for gifts or even place cards for a family meal!

For my lone girl child, I wanted to create a variation on the same tags with a bit more feminine color palette. Her name is a bit longer than the boys’ names, so I used the “V” die from the new S-V Fancy Dies. Having a V for her first initial makes it a bit more challenging to find monogrammed items, so she really enjoys seeing her monogram on anything!! I die cut the large Bulb Ornament Infinity Dies from Mist cardstock, then placed my Post-It Note mask on the top and blended Paradise ink around the edges. I added more sparkly snowflakes, then die cut the large V from S-V Fancy Dies from Adriatic cardstock and popped it up with foam adhesive, I added a sparkly silver twine bow and loop. Super cute and sparkly! I think she will probably even keep it as an ornament for her little Christmas tree in her bedroom.

When I opened my release package last week, I was immediately struck by the generous size of the new Alphabet Fancy Dies and knew that I wanted to create a festive word garland for my office Christmas tree! My new office gave me enough space to have a tree of my very own, a white tree decorated in blush pink and rose gold, and it was such fun to create this little banner to decorate it. I die cut the Alphabet Fancy Dies from some light pink shimmer cardstock as well as regular white cardstock, then adhered them together to add a bit of extra stability. Then, I dug out my glue gun (haven’t used that in awhile!) and adhered the letters to some sparkly rose gold twine.

I think it looks fabulous on my little tree!

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

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, December 10th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

I’m the last stop on the hop, so if you’ve made it this far, you’re all done! You can also start back a the beginning at the Hero Arts blog if you got out of order. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp DieCember(R) Release Blog Hop!

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

Hi friends! The spectacular DieCember release has finally arrived, and we are celebrating and inspiring you with Day 1 of our DieCember blog hop! You should have arrived here from Barbara Tarayao, and your next stop is Keisha Charles. You can also start back at the beginning at the Simon Says Stamp Blog. You can check out tons of inspiration on the  DieCember® release gallery (and maybe add some inspiration of your own, too!).

Every year, I create tons of cards with traditional color schemes, sometimes with slight variations or additions to modernize things a bit, and because I make holiday cards for several months, traditional red and green can get a bit boring to me. To combat my color palette doldrums, almost all of the cards that I created for this month’s DieCember release featured non-traditional color palettes, including this pair of blue and champagne projects for today’s hop! Let’s get started with the details.

To start my first project, I die cut the Corner Pine Frame using Matte Champagne cardstock. This beautiful champagne cardstock is a lovely alternative to traditional gold; it has a bit cooler undertones and so it works beautifully with cool blues and greens. To create an interesting background for my detailed pine sprigs, I used a blending brush to blend Galaxy Pawsitively Saturated ink on the top corners of an A2 Cornflower blue cardstock panel. I splattered the blended area with some coordinating champagne glitter watercolors from IUILE. After my panel was dry, I mounted the corner die cut over the blended area using liquid adhesive. I think the contrast of the Champagne matte foil with the deep blue background is simply splendid!

Next, I heat embossed some greeting stamps from the new Joyful Greetings stamp set using Platinum sparkle embossing powder onto some heavyweight vellum. I die cut the large sentiment piece using the previously-released Joyful die outline, though the Joyful Greetings set with more detailed word die is also available. I arranged the extra pine branch die cut behind the greeting die cuts, then adhered the sentiments over the top with some foam tape. Finally, I added a fewChampagne glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio. The color combination makes for a unique Christmas card, to be sure!

My second card features the utterly scrumptious new Florence Plate. The detail on this plate is amazing and would work for so many different cards, not just holiday projects! I die cut the Florence Plate from Cornflower blue cardstock, then backed it with a piece of champagne Luxe Glitter Cardstock. The sparkle on this background is unreal and so difficult to capture in a photograph. (If you haven’t picked up the Luxe Glitter Cardstock yet, I highly encourage you to try some. The sparkle is out of this world!)

I die cut the new Fancy Holiday Cheer die from some dark blue shimmer paper that I found in my stash of specialty papers, backing it with the solid bubble piece cut from more vellum. I die cut the marvelous new Aurora Blooms dies from Rainbow Splash Buttercream, Soft Navy, and Matte Champagne cardstock. I already can tell that these spectacular blooms are going to be a favorite in my craft room! You can make them as simple or as elaborate as you like. I popped up the die cut greeting with foam adhesive, then arranged the flowers and foliage around the large-scale sentiment die cut. This card might be my favorite out of all of the projects that I created for this release!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Now, to celebrate the new DieCember release, Simon Says Stamp is offering a gorgeous freebie die with any purchase! *Follow the instructions on the graphic at the top of the post to find the Aidan Snowflake die, then use code FLURRY at checkout to receive the die for free.* The gift with purchase promotion will expire at 11:59 EST on 12/8 or while supplies last.

Simon Says Stamp is also giving away a $25 coupon at every stop on the blog hop! Simply leave a comment on each stop on the hop for maximum entries into the giveaway. Winners will be selected and announced on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, December 13. Winners must email Simon Says Stamp to claim his or her prize!

Your next stop on the hop is Keisha Charles. Don’t forget to check out the second part of the blog hop on 12/8!! More fantastic inspiration and more prizes to be had. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

NEW DieCember with Simon Says Stamp and Tim Holtz!

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

Hi friends, and happy Friday to you! Simon Says Stamp’s DieCember release launched late last night, and it is absolutely cram-jam full of marvelous die cutting fun. One of the best surprises was a collection of dies to coordinate with Tim Holtz cling stamps that are exclusive to Simon Says Stamp! These coordinating dies are Simon-branded, and so are totally exclusive to the Simon Says Stamp store. I created a colorful and sparkling project using the super sweet Tim Holtz Bottle Brush Trees cling stamps + special DieCember Exclusive Simon Says Stamp coordinating dies. Let’s get started with the details!

Just a note: because these Simon-exclusive dies are Simon-branded, they do not count towards the $25 Tim Holtz purchase requirement for the Walter freebie promotion. The Tim Holtz cling stamps with which they coordinate, however, are certainly included with the promotion!!

I began by stamping the Tim Holtz Bottle Brush Trees cling stamps onto some heavyweight vellum using silver sparkle embossing powder. Once I had finished embossing, I used the DieCember Exclusive Simon Says Stamp coordinating dies to die cut each tree. I love that there are so many different heights and widths in both the trees and the bases. The variety is wonderful and creates such amazing projects! I wanted to create the glow of colorful Christmas lights behind the bottle brush trees, and so embossing them on vellum helped to lighten the die cuts a bit to keep them from being too heavy on the colorful background.

After I had heat embossed my sparkling silver trees, I used ink blending brushes to blend Dublin, Tidepool, Cadette, Amethyst, and Taffy Pawsitively Saturated inks onto my panel, keeping the color concentrated in the center and fading out towards the edges of the card front. I have some sparkly silver bottle brush trees on my mantlepiece with colorful Christmas lights right behind them, and the lights create the most spectacular glow and colorful sparkle on the glittery trees! After I’d finished my ink blending, I splattered some sparkling silver watercolors on the background to add an extra bit of magic.

While my background panel was drying, I die cut the Merry word die twice from plain white cardstock and adhered them together to create a dimensional die cut greeting. I only did two versus three layers to keep things a little flatter for mailing, but you could definitely do three layers to add extra dimension! After my panel was completely dry, I adhered the trees using some foam adhesive, hiding the tape behind the solid embossed areas to keep the trees nice and light, like they were floating on the colorful background. I added the die cut greeting directly over the top with some liquid adhesive, and then as a final touch of magical sparkle, I added some twinkling star confetti. I just love how this card came out!!

Well, that’s all for my project today. If you haven’t taken a peek at the new Simon Says Stamp DieCember products, you’re missing out. There are so many fun new products with which to get super creative!! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the first part of the DieCember Blog Hop. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp DieCember 2023 is Here!

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

Hi friends! The start of Simon Says Stamp’s month-long celebration of all things die cutting, called DieCember, has officially begun, and I am so darn excited to share everything I’ve been up to for the last couple of weeks. STAMPtember is a celebration of stamping and the stamp industry, and DieCember celebrates dies in all of their glory! This release has the most amazing assortment of products that are just plain fun to use and cover such a huge variety of styles.

Die cutting is a favorite technique of mine, because I love that you can create so many different looks just by changing up your papers, inking technique, and color combinations. I have a weakness for unique textured and coated papers; I am always on the lookout for beautiful colors of glitter or foil papers to add to my stash. It’s amazing what a difference having just the right shade of cardstock can make to a color scheme, and I think the right type of luxurious paper can truly elevate a card design! My card today showcases two different kinds of specialty cardstock using the brand new Boho Chain Die and Cozy Wishes sentiment die from the DieCember 2023 Release! Let’s get started with the details.

I began my project by blending a warm ombré background using Cheeky, Blush, and Paprika Pawsitively Saturated inks with blending brushes; I love how the new Paprika ink (from last month’s All the Joy release) tones down the sweet peachy-pink of the Cheeky and Blush ink to create this lovely background.

Next, I die cut the elegant new Boho Chain die from the brown glitter paper in the Hero Arts Fall Glitter Paper pack. The Boho Chain die includes some extra individual dies that you can use to accent the chain die cut, so I die cut the circles and diamonds from Metallic Rose Gold cardstock. I popped the die cuts up on the blended card background using small pieces of foam adhesive, orienting them to the side of the card to allow plenty of room for my die cut greeting.

For the sentiment, I die cut the detail layer of the new Cozy Wishes die from some more Metallic Rose Gold cardstock. I love the unbelievably smooth mirror finish on this cardstock, and the shade of rose gold is so unique; it truly stands out amongst other metallic rose gold papers. I die cut the background layer from some heavyweight vellum and adhered the two together using liquid adhesive, then popped both pieces up with some foam tape. Finally, I added some super sparkly iridescent gems to the center of the circle die cuts, as well as a smattering of jewels around the greeting.

Well, that’s all for my project today! The new DieCember release is chock full of beautiful new products: simply smashing dies, stamps, hot foil plates, and embossing folders, not to mention new ink colors, and some awesome coordinating dies for Tim Holtz holiday stamp sets! Be sure to check back this weekend for more inspiration using these marvelous new products. Thanks for stopping by today, and happy DieCember!!

Dramatic Black, Red, and Gold for Christmas!

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

Hi friends! I am back with another project using one of my new holiday illustrations for Simon Says Stamp: Festive Bouquets. I was on a roll with the vibrant red lilies when I was coloring a couple of weeks ago; I used OLO markers to create this vivid bouquet for THIS post, but for today’s project, I used Distress Inks to watercolor these bold blooms. Let’s get started with the details!

To start, I heat embossed the lily bouquet from the Festive Bouquets set onto some Fabriano Artistico Cold Press watercolor paper using gold embossing powder. Next, I tapped Barn Door, Aged Mahogany, and Forest Moss Distress Inks onto my palette and picked up the color with my damp paintbrush to add some vibrant watercolor! Once I’d finished watercoloring the images, I tapped Black Soot ink on my palette and did a wash around the edge of the embossed image. I knew that I wanted a black background behind the die cut watercolored image, and adding the black around the edges helps keep the color palette cohesive throughout the project even after die cutting.

After I had finished my watercoloring, I turned to the card base. The lily bouquet in the Festive Bouquets set is quite generously-sized, making it perfect for use with larger card sizes. I trimmed down a panel of Rainbow Splash black to A7 size, then masked around the edges using Satin Masking Tape. I placed the Snow Pattern stencil over the masked area, keeping it in place with a few pieces of washi tape, then spritzed Tim Holtz Mica Spray in Tart Cranberry and Tarnished Brass over the top of the stencil. These beautiful Mica Sprays are opaque enough that they add a subtle shimmer and color to even black cardstock. (Bonus: you can get the super cute Walter the penguin die as a free gift with purchase if you purchase $25 of Tim Holtz product, which includes these fabulous Mica Sprays!)

Once my stenciled pattern had dried and I’d removed the masking tape around the edges, I die cut the A7 Thin Frames dies from Matte Gold Metallic foil cardstock. I always keep my Thin Frames dies wired together, rather than snipping them apart, so that I can create a variety of widths of frames with just one pass through my die cutting machine! I found a frame to cover the edges of the stenciled area and adhered it, then added a slightly larger thinner frame to nest around the outer edge of my stenciled frame. I die cut some Airy Pine Needles using gold glitter cardstock, then added the flowers and pine needles on the top corner of my card using foam adhesive. I added some gold embossed and die cut sentiments from Festive Bouquets using some more foam adhesive, finishing everything off with some matte gold pearl embellishments.

Well, that’s all for my project today! Can you believe that DieCember starts tonight at midnight? I’m so excited to share all of the projects I’ve been creating lately! Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!