Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Concord and 9th

Holiday Fun With Felt: Day 4- Gingerbread!

Hi friends! I have some more felt projects to share with you today, featuring the sweetest little gingerbread houses around! My first three projects were created using dies intended for stitching, with convenient little holes punched through to make the stitching process as quick and simple as can be. But, I have been collecting a variety of dies over the last 18 months~ that work beautifully for felt projects. All you need to turn a papercrafting die into a felting die is a little felt, some felt glue, and some imagination! I love a good gingerbread house filled with exquisite details, and luckily for me, gingerbread houses are super trendy right now, so these projects will fit right in to both modern and classic decor. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

This first project is a little bit simpler, with the majority of the work being done by the sweet chateau from Honey Bee Stamp’s Alice’s Gingerbread Lane. I die cut each of the pieces for the chateau from felt from Benzie Design and Poshta, including a gingery brown, petal pink, white glitter, and shining metallic felts in copper and red. I find that, when using smaller, more intricate dies like those of the windows and other accents, using 100% wool felt achieves good results, and metallic or coated 100% wool felt achieving the best results, as they hold their shape when die cut with minimal fraying. When working with larger die images, however, the felt blends work very nicely! I adhered all of the components with felt glue, using the fine end of a die poker tool to add glue to the delicate lines of the windows and doors.

Once I had adhered all of the felt components to the gingerbread house, I added it to my oval embroidery hoop, which is about 4.5″ x 6″ and filled with a minty green fabric from my stash. These small embroidery hoop projects are a great way to use up fabric remnants that are frequently in the clearance bin! I also have thrifted old cloth napkins, tablecloths, and handkerchiefs to use in my embroidery hoops. Once all of the felt glue had dried, I added lots of sparkling seed bead and bugle bead embellishments for snow, Christmas lights, and the pathway, stitching them individually using coordinating embroidery floss. I also added a few glass gems to my bunting and stitched a few freehand snowflakes. The final touch was a silky ribbon loop for hanging and a brown velvet bow!

My second project is a bit larger in scale, featuring the Yuletide Lane die set from Concord and 9th! This die set is intended to create a shaped accordion style card, but I decided to modify it a bit to create this detailed gingerbread house hoop. I thought that the simple and clean images would work perfectly with felt!

Before beginning my project, I selected a beautifully festive tartan fabric from my stash and filled an 8″ round embroidery hoop with it. I then selected coordinating felt shades, with a gingery brown for my house, metallic red for the door, white glitter for the snow, and three different shades of green for the greenery. I die cut the individual pieces for the house and adhered them with felt glue, again using the fine tipped end of my die cut release tool to precisely place the glue on the more delicate pieces. I arranged the assembled felt die cuts on my plaid embroidery hoop and adhered them with more felt glue.

After I had finished adhering the felt pieces to the hoop, it was time to begin embellishing with beads and other bits of sparkle! I die cut gold metallic bells and green wreaths, added different types of ribbon and trim, metallic thread bows, snowflakes, and lots of individual bugle and seed beads. I made sure when adhering my felt pieces to the hoop to use small drops of glue around the edges of the images so that my beading needle could easily pierce through the felt and fabric, making it easy to add these shimmering embellishments! I just adore how colorful and yet still elegant this project is, not to mention incredibly festive. It fits perfectly with that “Ralph Lauren Christmas” theme that I’ve seen going around social media!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I wish that I could spend the next several weeks letting out my creative energy in felt form, because these hoops and ornament projects are just so much fun. If you haven’t looked through your standalone dies yet to see if they will work with your felting projects, I highly encourage you to do so! It’s a great way to get double duty out of your papercrafting stash! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Concord and 9th Guest Design Post #1- Stitching Dies!

Hi friends! It is always an honor and a thrill to be asked to guest design for some of my favorite companies, and Concord and 9th is one of my most favorite companies and has been basically since they first arrived on the crafty block! Their November Release (check it out HERE) is filled with all of the things you expect from a Concord and 9th curated collection: graphic and clean, with a touch of elegance, whimsy, and modern aesthetic! I created many cards using their new collection that I want to share here on my blog (and have already shared over on Instagram- I’m @eamidgett if you haven’t seen me there!) but I wanted to focus today on the new stitching dies that were released in the November Release.

Because there are so many projects in this post, I will link the products used in a list after each project, so keep scrolling until the bottom to see all of the projects that I’ve got to share today!

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

My first project was a favorite of mine for this release, putting the Halo Piercing Die to use to create this bold holiday card! I began by impressing the stitching pattern onto a panel of Wildberry Cardstock. These stitching dies don’t actually cut any shapes out; they impress small pinpoints into the cardstock so that you can easily push your needle and thread through the cardstock, creating this beautiful starburst pattern! Before I began stitching, though, I used a blending brush to blend coordinating Wildberry Ink around the edges of the card, creating even more of a halo and drawing the eye to the center of the card. I then used the silver thread from Concord and 9th to stitch the halo pattern into the cardstock.

Once I had finished stitching, I created the sentiment using the beautifully scripty “Merry” from the Merry Greetings Builder product suite, cutting the detail layer from silver glitter cardstock and the shadow layer from vellum. I also heat embossed a coordinating sentiment strip using silver embossing powder on the same Wildberry cardstock, then die cut it with a coordinating flag strip die. I popped the sentiment pieces up with foam adhesive, then finished this festive card off with some super sparkly Angel Aura Rhinestones, creating this super glam and striking holiday card filled with handmade touches!

My second card is another holiday card, this time featuring the Rectangle Piercing Dies to create a frame around my wintry city scene! To begin, I impressed one of the nested Rectangle Piercing Dies into a panel of A2 white cardstock. This die set features many sizes of pierced rectangles nested together so that you can choose exactly the right size for your project! Before I began stitching, I masked around the edges of the framed area and used a blending brush to blend Aqua Sky ink towards the top of the rectangle area, creating a subtle sky for my neighborhood. I again used the silver thread from Concord and 9th to add the stitching details around the edge of the blended frame.

To create my focal point, I used plain white cardstock to die cut each element of the houses from the Over the Rooftops die set, adding some holiday details with silver glitter cardstock and Juniper cardstock. I adhered all of the components together with liquid adhesive, then popped them up in a row, similar to the row houses in older cities on the East Coast. For the greeting, I silver embossed a sentiment on a simple banner from the Home for the Holidays product suite, popping it up beneath my row homes with some more foam adhesive squares.

My next card is a fun birthday card using the new Let It Shine product suite! This product suite features regular cutting dies, as well as some additional stitching dies that you can use to help enhance the glow of your candles! I began my project by stamping the candle patterns from the Let It Shine product suite using Creamsicle, Dragonfruit, and Starfruit, then used the coordinating dies to cut each candle. After I had die cut the candles, I used small blending brushes to blend the same shades of ink on the edges of the candles, creating a highlight in the center to help indicate the cylindrical shape of the candles. I also used colored cardstock to die cut the flames for the candles, as well, layering two different shades of yellow for the largest candle in the center.

Before adhering the candles to my card front, I used the stitching dies included with the Let It Shine dies to impress those stitching lines creating a halo around each flame. Before I began stitching, however, I used a blending brush to blend Sunflower ink on each flame, enhancing that candle glow even more! I used gold thread from Concord and 9th to add the stitching details, then popped up the candles and flames with foam adhesive. For the greeting, I heat embossed a Happy Birthday sentiment from the Let It Shine set, trimming it down with my trimmer and adding a slightly larger gold glitter strip behind, adding a touch of sparkle to the card!

For my final project today, I decided to create a little encapsulated scene using the stamps and dies from the new City Block stamps + dies set. The product suite comes with some fabulous stencils that you can use to create an entire city block that you can embellish with windows, doors, railings, plants, and all kinds of other urban accoutrements. I chose to use just the stamps and dies to create a little front porch scene for a birthday card, adding some texture behind the scene with the Triangle Piercing Die-no stitching required! I began by stamping and die cutting the windows, door, railing, and plants, using Lakefront Ink on plain white cardstock. I die cut a long rectangle of Lakefront cardstock, mounted it on a white postage stamp die cut from the Sending Joy die set, then arranged the windows and door on the blue background, adding some plants to the stairs and a happy birthday banner at the top!

Behind the front porch scene, I used the Triangle Piercing Die to add some extra texture to the A2 Lakefront card panel. Because the die impresses a pattern into the card front, I could use this die to add some simple textured debossing behind the main focal point! I did cover up the pinpoints with some clear gems for additional sparkle. For the greeting beyond the wee happy birthday banner on the front porch, I silver embossed a sentiment from the Let It Shine stamp set and popped it up beneath my front porch with some foam adhesive.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I have several more projects using the Concord and 9th November Release (check it out HERE), so be sure to stop back by tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Collaboration: Concord & 9th!

Hi friends! Simon Says Stamp’s STAMPtember celebration is in full swing, and today we’re spotlighting the ultra-fabulous Concord and 9th! I have loved C9 almost since they arrived on the scene many years ago, and I have been diligently collecting items from their product lineup since that time. I am a lover of all things color-coordinated, and the luscious inks with their matching cardstocks are simply divine. I paired the new STAMPtember Friendly Florals set with some older and some newer products from the C9 product catalogue to create this trio of coordinating cards. Let’s get started with the details!

All of my cards today feature the vibrant Watermelon, Wildberry, Eucalyptus, and Juniper inks and cardstock to create a cohesive card set. I love creating sets in this way, each card with its own unique design but still held together by common color palettes or layouts. The stunning new Friendly Florals set features the sophisticated simplicity that we’ve come to expect from Concord and 9th, and so it paired beautifully with many of their older products, as well! I have linked all of the products that I’ve used on today’s projects down at the bottom of my post.

For my first project, I put the beautiful wreath image from the new Friendly Florals set to use with some clear embossing powder to create this colorful background! I stamped the layers of the wreath using Watermelon and Juniper inks, taking advantage of the MISTI by also stamping directly over the top with sticky embossing ink and adding clear embossing powder over the top. Once I had melted the embossing powder with my heat tool, I used a blending brush to lightly blend more Juniper ink over the top, creating a print shop effect with the super smooth and vibrant stamping on the colorful background! This is such a fun technique to apply with solid stamps.

For the greeting, I kept things very simple, die cutting the “thinking of you” sentiment from the In the Meadow die set, cutting the detail layer from Juniper cardstock and the shadow from vellum, adhering the two together with liquid adhesive and adding tiny bits of clear dimensional adhesive behind the solid die cuts and placing it in the center of my stamped and blended card front. Finally, I added a bit of sparkle with some coordinating gems in the center of the flowers!

For my second card, I took advantage of the standalone flower stamps included in the Friendly Florals set to create a custom patterned background. I used the “stamping off” technique to create a subtler color palette, still using the Watermelon and Juniper color scheme from the first card, this time adding a punch of pink with Wildberry ink. I stamped each image individually, starting with the largest flower and working my way down to the smaller images, each time stamping the full-strength inked image on a piece of scrap paper and then on my card front in order to create a softer background. After I had finished stamping the background, I blended a bit of Watermelon ink in the center to highlight my large sentiment from the Big On You stamps + die set. I had embossed the greeting onto vellum using Hero Arts’s Iridescent Green embossing powder, then die cut the sentiment with the coordinating dies. To accent the sentiment, I stamped several individual flowers and leaves from Friendly Florals with full-strength ink and fussy cut them (though you can do this much more quickly with the coordinating dies!) and tucked them around the sentiment with foam adhesive!

For my final project, I used the same color palette, this time creating a lush garden background using the coordinating colored cardstocks and the spectacular Primrose Garden dies. I die cut the images and layers from the Primrose Garden set using Juniper, Wildberry, Sage, Watermelon, Nectar, and Dragonfruit cardstocks, accenting the center of the flowers with some Flaming Orange glitter cardstock. I created a guide for my florals by die cutting only the stitched background die into an A2 Juniper cardstock panel, then began adhering the different die cuts with liquid and foam adhesive in different heights to create an insane amount of dimension. For the greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from Friendly Florals onto some Watermelon cardstock using white embossing powder, then used my sharp scissors to fussy cut it (again, the dies would be so much quicker!) and tucked it amongst the vibrant florals, finally accenting the greeting with a bit of texture from a twine bow!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Don’t wait too long on this one…. The limited edition STAMPtember collaboration sets go super fast, and I’m sure Friendly Florals will be no different! And for your convenience, there are several different combinations with the stamps and dies to purchase the set that makes the most sense for you… you can purchase with all of the dies, just the sentiments, just the florals, or even no dies at all if you like to fussy cut! So simple!

And, to sweeten the deal, follow the instructions below to get FREE SHIPPING!

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

New OLO Marker Colors + Updated OLO Marker Blends!

Hi friends! I am back with a fun post featuring the newest markers from my friends at OLO Marker. I was honored to be asked to test out these new markers before they were released to the public a few years ago, and when they emailed to say that they were releasing new colors, I was overjoyed. (You can check out the video that I made when the markers were introduced HERE.) The OLO Markers color palette is beautifully rich and vibrant, but as my favorite color is pink, pink, and more pink, I was a little sad by the comparatively small options for pinks. However, the newest release from OLO Marker certainly fulfills all of my pinkest yearnings! You can check out the 32 new markers HERE.

In the photo above, I have filled out the chart for the entire line of 160 OLO Markers, giving a wonderful visual representation of the huge rainbow of colors available. OLO Marker has provided a great resource page so that you can print out different images on which to practice your coloring, as well as color swatch pages, like the one pictured above.

OLO Markers are a bit different from other marker brands, in that the way in which the ink is released from the barrel is free-flowing. Traditional alcohol markers have a foam core from which the ink flows, which perpetually retains some of the ink, meaning that you will only be able to use 60-70% of the ink in the barrel. The OLO Marker free-flow system utilizes over 90% of the ink in the barrel, saving you money! You can read more about the details on these marvelous markers HERE.

I have previously shared my color blends for the older markers, which I create by mixing and matching on scratch paper until I find a blend that I like. To do this, I select dark, medium, and light markers, sometimes from the same color family, sometimes from an adjacent color family, creating an ombré blend from super dark to very pale color gradients. Once I have a combination with which I am pleased, I color the blend on a piece of 2″ x 2″ white cardstock and place the finished swatches in a coin pocket holder, similar to an ink swatch book for ink pads. I have used the new markers in conjunction with the previously released markers to add some new color blends to my OLO Marker book. In the photo above, I used the 32 New Markers as a starting point to create additional swatches featuring some of my favorite color blends. I mixed and matched from the old and new markers to enhance the rainbow of color blends already in my collection!

These phots are showing the new color blends mixed amongst the older blends. You can see what a wide array of options that are now available to select a perfect color palette!

As I am creating, I sometimes will experiment with new color blends if what I have previously created does not quite match the creative vision in my head, and so I will add to my swatch book if I find a blend that I truly love!

I also have worked with OLO to curate my own collection of favorite colors, which you can check out HERE. OLO has generously provided a coupon code for this collection, as well, which will save you 10% on my collection only. Simply add code emilycolorpicks at checkout!

You can view all of the different options for collections and customizations HERE.

I thought perhaps you might like to see the new OLO Markers in action, so I created a few different projects with these vibrant new colors!

I love using alcohol markers to color my own illustrations in addition to using them for cardmaking, and I thought a really large illustration would demonstrate the gorgeous range of color from dark to light, so I illustrated and printed out this large, 8″ x 10″ ranunculus illustration and went to town coloring!

For this illustration, I used (from dark to light) R 1.8, RV 1.7, R 2.4, RV 0.2, R 2.2 for the bloom and G 1.8, YG 1.6, G 5.3, and G 5.1 for the foliage. To create this wide gradient, I mixed and matched from new and old markers as well as different color families. If you find that your colors aren’t blending super smoothly, (for any marker brand) you can try a couple of different tricks: continue working the color with the tip of your marker in order to make the colors blend together, or you can also try the “tip to tip” method of lightly touching your lighter marker to your darker marker and applying it to the paper. The darker color will eventually be transferred to the paper, allowing your colors the opportunity to blend very subtly and smoothly.

For this project, I pulled out some new-to-me dies from Concord and 9th (linked in the link list at the bottom of the post), cut them from white cardstock, and went to town coloring the images! I used RV 0.6, R 2.4, R 0.3, R 0.2, and R 0.1 for the flowers, as well as G 0.6, YG 1.6, YG 1.4, and YG 1.2 fro the foliage. These citrusy colors were so perfect for a bright summery card!

I arranged the flowers on a stitched plaid background, grounded by a vellum oval die cut, with a coordinating deep hunter green sentiment die cut and stamped greeting strip. A few coordinating gems finished everything off!

My second project is an homage to those spectacular new pink markers. Much the opposite of those pretty citrus-y tones from the previous project, I kept these colors cool and vibrant, using my new favorite OLO Marker combination for the magenta blooms: R 1.8, RV 1.7, RV 1.4, RV 1.5, RV 1.3, RV 1.1. I used BV 4.7, 1.7, 1.4, 1.2, 1.1 for the “blurple” flowers and berries, with G 1.8, 1.7, 1.5, and 1.4 for the large green leaves and G 0.6, 0.4, and 0.1 for the foliage sprig.

I used the coordinating stitched die cut flower arrangement to arrange my colorful floral die cuts, though I did take some creative license with the arrangement as I did not cut exactly the same florals and foliage as the background. I adhered the images with a mix of foam tape and liquid adhesive, tucking a hot foiled sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio amongst the flowers and finishing the card off with some sparkling gems!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I’m so excited to formally introduce these gorgeous new marker colors to you; I have been using OLO Markers very frequently over the last few years, and I find them to be a staple in my craft room. I can’t say enough about the quality and the vibrancy. If you have any further questions, feel free to send me an email! I also will have the photos with the color swatches that I have listed above on the OLO Marker Swatch Tab on the top of my blog available for your reference. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

STAMPtember with Concord & 9th!

Hi friends! I am thrilled to share today’s project featuring the Concord and 9th STAMPtember collaboration stamp set: Festive Flowers! Each of these collaboration sets have been absolutely marvelous, but this is definitely one of my favorites. I am a sucker for flowers, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, but these huge, luscious flowers create a hand-painted vibe and can be used for both Christmas and non-Christmas projects alike!

Whenever I start stamping with layered stamps, I rarely have an idea in mind, preferring instead to stamp lots of the images and figure out the placement once I have a better idea of sizes and colors. I stamped all of the images using a variety of inks from Concord and 9th: Honeysuckle, Tidepool, Juniper, Honeycomb, Stardust, adding the details for the flower petals using Watermelon from the Pawsitively Saturated line to create subtle shading. I trimmed each of the stamped images, but there are dies available to make things super easy! These would be beautiful images for mass-production on holiday cards.

Because of the generous size of these blooms, they can easily be the focal point for your card! I trimmed down a panel of white cardstock and ran it through my die cutting machine with Simon Says Stamp’s Pepperberry Embossing Folder. I matted the embossed panel with some red glitter cardstock, then matted that with an A2 panel of Juniper cardstock from Concord and 9th. This framed embossed panel is the perfect background for the lovely flowers!

I arranged two of the large blooms in the center of the card front and popped them up with some foam adhesive. I arranged the foliage around the flowers to create a nice, full floral swag. The berries, pine needles, and the color scheme help make this appropriately festive for a holiday card.

For the greeting, I stamped a sentiment from Concord and 9th’s Festive Phrases stamp set using Juniper ink, then stamped it again using sticky embossing ink, covering it with White Satin Pearl embossing powder to create a pretty, pearlescent jade color. I die cut the large scripty sentiment using the Festive Phrases coordinating dies and adhered the sentiment pieces to the card front. I added a few Mirrored Mint pearls to accent the minty leaves as a final shimmering touch!

Because I started my stamping session not really having a specific design in mind, I had some leftover stamped images, which I used to create this festive floral tag! I die cut a Simon Says Stamp Large Rounded Tag die from some white cardstock, then layered the flower and foliage on the front using foam adhesive. I added another pearlescent jade greeting from the Festive Flowers STAMPtember set and a few more Mirrored Mint pearls, finishing the tag off with a red twine loop.

Well, that’s all for today’s project! This Festive Flowers set would be beautiful stamped using less traditional holiday colors for a non-Christmas card, too. Love the versatility! If you love this set as much as I do, don’t hesitate to snap it up, because once it’s gone, it won’t be restocked. These STAMPtember collaboration sets are all limited editions, and I think that makes them even more fun and special to have in your crafty arsenal. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!