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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Hero Arts

Hero Arts September 2022 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! Today, Hero Arts is releasing their latest My Monthly Hero and coordinating product collection, and we are celebrating the imminent arrival of autumn! (We will just ignore that it’s still most likely sweltering outside haha) You should have arrived here from Daniel West, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Here’s a peek at this month’s kit:

This month’s kit includes: • Clear Stamp Set, 4” x 6”, • 6 Coordinating Frame Cuts, • Rub-On Transfer Sheet, • Cling Background Stamp, 6“ x 6”, • 2 Sheets Each of Cardstock in Sand & Antique Ivory, 5.5” x 8.5”, • Rose Gold Metallic Floss, 5 yds. The contents of the kit retail individually for $70, but the cost of the kit is $34.99! These kits are limited edition, so once they’re gone, they won’t be restocked! To keep from missing out on future kits, you can always subscribe to be guaranteed to receive your My Monthly Hero kit each month!

I have a couple of vivid projects using an oft-neglected color in my typical color palette: burnt orange. Both of my projects feature lots of watercoloring and saturated color, mimicking the intensity of the colors of autumn. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by gold embossing the main floral bouquet from the September My Monthly Hero kit onto some watercolor paper. This is an extremely detailed image, so I made sure to stamp my embossing ink multiple times to ensure that I captured all of that beautiful detail. I then wet the entire embossed panel, both in and around the image, and dropped in lots of diluted color in shades of burnt orange, hot pink, and mustard yellow from my Daniel Smith palette. After the watercoloring had dried, I went back and added some details and more intense color to the larger flowers and foliage. The initial layer of watercolor helps to make sure that all of the little areas in the middle of the busy bouquet are attended to. I knew that I wanted a vivid, color saturated project, so adding the color around the edges of the bouquet helps to avoid those pesky white die cut edges, as well!

Next, I used the background cling stamp that is included in the My Monthly Hero kit with some tone-on-tone stamping to create a subtly interesting background. I stamped the background on Pumpkin cardstock using the coordinating Pumpkin ink, then used a blending brush to blend some more Pumpkin ink around the edges to create a vintage, almost distressed look.

I die cut an Oval Woodgrain Infinity Die from some more Pumpkin cardstock and popped it up on the card front using foam tape. I added a double layer of foam tape to the bouquet to give it lots of height and really make it the focal point from the textured orange background, placing it in the center of the frame. I added a gold embossed greeting from the My Monthly Hero kit. I am kind of in love with this card, and it makes me want to use orange more often in my crafting. The monochrome background is saturated without detracting from the pretty floral bouquet, while the extra height and texture added from all of the foam tape keeps things super interesting.

My second project uses the new Fall Leaves Cover Plate die. I die cut the background from some more watercolor paper, then taped it down to my watercolor board. I saturated it with plenty of clean water, then dropped in more of the same color palette that I used for the first card: burnt orange, hot pink, mustard yellow, and added in a bit of deep violet. I swirled and maneuvered the colors until I was satisfied with the color meld and movement. Some of the color pooled around the edges of the die cut areas, highlighting the pattern and details of the leaves. I splattered some metallic Glimmer paints on the dry watercolored background for extra texture!

I heat embossed the previously-released Grateful Pumpkin images using gold embossing powder on some watercolor paper. I used the same colors to do some more wet-on-wet watercolor on the leaves and around the edges of the pumpkin. I love the way the watercolor works on the wet watercolor paper. It creates such life-like color on the leaves, especially! I added lots of intense orange to the pumpkin, then die cut all of the images.

I trimmed the edge of the Fall Leaves Cover Plate die and mounted it on an Eggplant card front, then gold embossed a greeting from Grateful Pumpkin on a strip of Eggplant cardstock. I arranged all of the die cuts and sentiment strip on the card front, adhering them with lots of foam tape. I added a few iridescent gems from my stash to add one last element of shine!

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, September 11th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Hero Arts Winter 2022 Catalog Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! Today, the fabulous folks at Hero Arts are officially releasing their new Holiday 2022 Collection! This collection features the sometimes beautiful, sometimes whimsical, sometimes creepy (think zombies!), always creative images that you have come to associate with Hero Arts! AND! I am super excited that Hero Arts has released their own hot foil plates! These new plates are absolutely fantastic, filled with classic images, some of which you can use year round for non-holiday projects. You should have arrived here from Daniel West, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. I have two watercolored projects to share with you today using some of the new goodies, so let’s get started with the details!

My first project features the stunning new Finch Greetings stamp and die bundle. I stamped the image on some Arches cold press watercolor paper using Contour Ink, then watercolored the images using the Hero Arts Daniel Smith watercolor palette. I die cut the images with the coordinating dies included in the bundle.

For a subtle background for my winter birds, I used the oldie-but-goodie Greenery Fancy Die, cut from the center of a white A2 card base. I popped it up with foam tape on a solid white A2 card base to add some subtle texture and interest to the background while still keeping a relatively “nature-esque” theme. I love how the foam tape adds so much extra oomph to the background-even the white-on-white! Easily one of my most favorite techniques.

I popped up the birds with some more foam tape, creating a double layer of foam tape in spots for tons of height. For the greeting, I used one of the beautiful scripty greetings included in the Finch Greetings stamp set, which I heat embossed in gold on some of Hero Arts’s Heavyweight Vellum cardstock. I tucked it behind the watercolored bird die cuts, sneaking dots of adhesive in the areas that would be covered by the solid watercolored die cuts.

I have some more watercoloring for my second card, featuring one of the gorgeous, brand-spanking-new hot foil plates: Ornament Border Hot Foil Plate! I first hot foiled the image (I love how detailed and enormous this image is!) onto some hot press watercolor paper using gold foil. The smooth surface of the hot press watercolor paper makes it perfect canvas for the hot foil!

I taped down the hot foiled image to my watercolor board to try to minimize the warping, then added lots of vivid color in muted shades of teal and green, with a few tiny pops of deep berry red for the berries! The hot foil behaves similarly to embossed images, creating a kind of resist technique. So fun to use with so many mediums!

Once I had finished the watercoloring and allowed the image to dry completely overnight (allowing it to dry naturally while taped down rather than forcing it to dry with a heat tool also minimizes warping!), I added a greeting created using the new Christmas Words Fancy Dies. I die cut the top layer from some Holiday Sparkle Glitter Paper, then cut two more layers from plain white cardstock. I adhered all three layers together to create dimensional die cut greetings. Very simple, but very effective, and so sturdy- they would hold up great in the mail!

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

Hero Arts will give away *THREE* $50 gift cards, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Wednesday, August 31st at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Your next stop is Ilina Crouse. You can also start at the beginning at the Hero Arts Blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Hero Arts August 2022 My Monthly Hero Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! The first Monday of the month means the new My Monthly Hero kit and August release from Hero Arts, and this month we are out on the road! You should have arrived here from Daniel West, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. You can also check out the full hop list at the Hero Arts Blog!

This month’s kit features a fabulously easy layering stencil set, complete with coordinating dies, and a super versatile sentiment set. Here’s a peek at the main kit:

The individual contents of the kit are valued at $70, but the retail cost is $34.99! Such a great deal. The kit comes with the ink pads to create a traditionally colored desert scene, but I chose to create a night scene using gray and black ink, allowing the saturation in the deep purple Eggplant cardstock to make the big visual impact, as well as a secret weapon to create that massive, luminous moon. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by blending the stencils traditionally on two panels of Eggplant cardstock using Pitch Black and Charcoal inks. The intense purple cardstock shines through on even the black ink blending! Also, can I just say that these were quite possibly the easiest layering stencils that I have ever used?? Each stencil comes with little squares notched into the corners that you blend a touch of ink over with the first stencil still in place, and as long as you line up your subsequent stencils with those little corner squares, your layering will be absolutely spot on! Such an innovative idea that takes the guesswork out of the layering.

One of the stencils features a nice round moon, and instead of blending the black or gray ink over the top, I used the Hero Tools Palette Knife to spread some White Hero Wax. I was thrilled with how bright the white wax showed up on the purple cardstock, and the slightly pearlescent wax really makes the luminous moon feel almost real. I dotted some white gel pen stars around the moon. Such beautiful contrast to make up that night sky! Looking at the photos now, I wish that I had blended some Nautical ink just on the top of the card panel before doing my stenciling to give the desert night sky an even more authentic look.

I die cut the various cacti from the second blended panel, then used foam adhesive to pop them up. I like to use lots of height and dimension on tone-on-tone cards like this to help make the images stand out. I heat embossed a greeting from the kit on a strip of Eggplant cardstock, then backed it with a slightly larger strip of black glitter paper. I love the touches of bright white on that stark background…. the contrast is so interesting to me! The entire team has shown a ton of different color schemes to use with this month’s kit using such a huge variety of the new Core Ink line. Such versatility!

The add-ons for this month’s kit are fabulous, too! Remember Carrie Bradshaw’s hot pink crocodile luggage from SATC? That’s what I was channeling when I created this project using the new Luggage Fancy Dies. I die cut the different cases using Ultra Pink cardstock, then blended Ultra Pink ink around the edges. I also used a paintbrush to add some white details using more White Hero Wax.

For the card base, I clear embossed the new Road Side Bold Prints onto an A2 panel of Pitch Black cardstock. I love the subtle texture that this gives the background!

For the greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from the Seaside Heroscape stamp set onto a strip of Ultra Pink cardstock, then backed it with a slightly larger strip of black glitter cardstock. I stacked the luggage on the embossed card front and adhered it with foam adhesive, then added the greeting with a double layer of foam tape for lots of height. I added a few glittery black luggage tags for some extra sparkle.

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

We will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, August 7th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Hero Arts July My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! We’re celebrating the new Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kit a day late because of the holiday, but boy is this one worth the wait! We are hopping along to share all kinds of inspiration with you. You should have arrived here from Debi Adams, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. This month’s theme is celebrating all things tropical, including the main kit with a stunning flock of layering flamingos. (Side note: did you know that a group of flamingos is called a “flamboyance”? How very appropriate!) Here’s a peek at this month’s My Monthly Hero Kit:

This month’s kit includes: 6″ x 8″ Clear Stamp Set, 7 Coordinating Frame Cuts, 5 Ink Cubes (Cotton Candy, Peony, Azalea, Arctic, Paradise), Self-Adhesive Pink & Teal Gems, Teal Hero Pearls (0.6 oz), all valued individually at $75, but can be yours for $34.99! You can also subscribe to make sure that you receive your kit each month without having to worry about them selling out before you snag one!

My first project uses several of the components of the kit! I began by heat embossing the flamingo base layer on some vellum cardstock using gold glitter embossing powder. The sparkling flamingos are so trendy! I die cut the image with the coordinating die, included in the main kit.

Next, I used blending brushes to blend three of the inks included in the kit on two A2 panels of cardstock: Peony, Azalea, and Paradise. I emphasized the Peony ink in the center area on both panels to look like the skyline, where the sun meets the water. I used the Beach Frame Fancy Die to cut the frame from the center, trimming a few of the more detailed images from the bottom but leaving the palm fronds hanging down to create lots of tone-on-tone texture. I also stamped just the detail layer of the water included in the main kit using Paradise ink over the top of the blending. I love how the ripples in the stamp look even more realistic picking up the colors of the sunset blended on the card base!

I popped up the beach frame die cut using foam adhesive, then stamped the greeting from the main kit using Intens-ified Black ink in the center of the blended base layer. I popped up the glittery gold flamingos using a double layer of foam adhesive. So much fun color and sparkle on this project! I don’t know if I should pick a favorite, but I think this kit is one of my most favorite My Monthly Hero kits this year!

My second card features the beautiful new Monstrera Bundle. My initial instinct was to watercolor the heck out of this set and give it tons of detail, but I was in a glittery embossing powder mood, and I wanted to show how beautifully detailed this main image is just by itself! I heat embossed the main image from the Monstrera stamp set onto some of my favorite Adriatic cardstock using the gold glitter embossing powder. I die cut the heat embossed images with the coordinating fancy cuts.

Next, I blended some Nautical ink on the corner of my A2 Adriatic card base to help further highlight the beautiful gold-embossed leaves. I also splattered some Gold Glimmer Paint on this beautifully saturated card base. I think that the splatters of gold look like fireflies! Once my paint had dried, I trimmed one of the Monstrera embossed die cuts in half and arranged them on the corner of my card front, adhering them with lots of foam tape for extra dimension.

For the greeting, I used some more gold embossing powder on the Adriatic cardstock, then matted it with a little Nautical cardstock to add a touch of contrast, but not enough to really distract from the detailed monstrera leaves. So much sparkle, so much saturated color, but still tasteful. Love it when things don’t have to be complicated to make a dramatic statement!

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, July 10th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Your next stop on the hop is Ilina Crouse. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Hero Arts Color Week Kickoff: Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Color Week-what could be better, right? As much as I absolutely adore crisp, clean white space on a card, I certainly have lots of love left in my heart for vibrant color, and Hero Arts is adding a bunch of new colors to their store, as well as revamping their ink line! From Hero Arts:

Announcing our new Core Ink line! Adding color to your projects could not be easier. This essential collection is the ideal ink for your everyday stamping and cardmaking. It includes fresh new colors and popular existing formulas to create a tightly designed color system. Each Core Ink pad features a new look with a palette on the underside of the lid. By popular demand, we are excited to now offer matching Inkers for every color! The Hero Hues line is rounded out with cardstock, specifically selected to work well with the Core Ink spectrum.

There are 57 Core Ink pads and Inkers in this line, with 6 brand new to Hero ink colors and 12 brand new to Hero cardstock colors.

I am so excited about the inkers, especially; I think it will be great to be able to freshen up an ink pad after it’s seen a lot of love rather than buying a new one! (I don’t know about you, but I hate throwing so much plastic away!) There are coordinating inkers for every single color, and I have a video to show you just how easy it is to freshen your ink pad right up! Watch below or HERE on YouTube.

So simple, right? And super economical, particularly when you take into consideration how many times you can rejuvenate your ink pad from just one small bottle of Inker!

The project from the video features the beautiful new Amethyst ink as the first step of an ombré butterfly! I used a MISTI, three different shades of ink, and blending brushes to create this smooth blend on the butterfly. I inked up the stamp with one color on just part of the stamp, then used the coordinating blending brush to soften the edges of the ink on the solid stamp before closing the lid of my MISTI and inking up the first third of the stamp set. I repeated the process on the middle and bottom sections of the butterfly with Raspberry Jam and Ultra Pink inks and coordinating blending brushes.

For the greeting, I used the Celebrate Words Fancy Dies with the new Iris cardstock. Using the handy little Compact Cutter, I die cut the words three times, once from the gorgeous new Iris cardstock and twice from white cardstock, then layered them together using Precision Glue to create a dimensional die cut sentiment.

I die cut the Butterfly Confetti cover plate die from some white cardstock, then backed it with some white glitter paper for lots of sparkle peeking through the openings on the cover plate die. I reserved a few of the butterfly confetti pieces to use on the finished card. I adhered the ombré butterfly using foam adhesive, then added the dimensional die cut greeting with some more foam adhesive for lots of height and texture. The bright purple really pops beautifully from the crisp white background! Finally, I creased the butterflies down the center of the die cuts to make them look 3D and adhered them to the card front. So much texture and dimension on this card, with all of that bright white allowing those vivid new ink and cardstock colors to shine!

My second card goes to the opposite end of the spectrum with tons of saturated, intense color using the new Eggplant, Pine, and Passion Flower cardstocks! Eggplant is the deep, rich purple cardstock that I never knew that I needed but now can’t get enough of. I just want to pet it. I can’t wait to try it with colored pencils or gouache! Perfect amount of tooth and gorgeous color saturation=perfect backdrop for coloring medium. To start my card, I trimmed down two A2 panels of Eggplant cardstock, then die cut the Through the Woods Fancy Die from the center of one of the panels.

To fill my window, I die cut several daisies from the Bees and Flowers die set using Passion Flower cardstock, as well as a few sprigs of greenery using the Mushrooms and Ferns dies from some Pine cardstock. I arranged the blooms and foliage both inside and popping out of my window, adhering some with foam tape and some with liquid adhesive for lots of dimension. I love how it looks like the flowers are bursting from the window!

Once I had arranged all of the floral die cuts, I die cut the simple hugs sentiment from the Peace Words Fancy Dies once from some gold glitter cardstock and twice from some plain white cardstock. I adhered it to the base of the window. Next, I added some Gold Hero Wax to the centers of the flowers using a small paintbrush. The opaque wax was the perfect way to add a touch of shimmer to the flowers! Finally, I dabbed some Gold Hero Pearls on the finished card. I think the pearls look like fireflies or those magical glittering dust motes that you see floating around in movies like Avatar and Fern Gully!

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

GIVEAWAY!! We will be giving away one set of the six NEW colors of ink – Core Ink Pads and Inkers – to one lucky commenter. We encourage you to comment on every blog in the hop – the more blogs you comment on, the more chances to win! Comments for contest entry close Sunday, June 26 at 11:59pm PT, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Your next stop on the hop is Maria Willis. You can find the whole hop list HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!