Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

holiday card

New Release: Simon Says Stamp Holiday Sparkle!

Hi there! Simon Says Stamp is releasing a whole slew of marvelous new holiday products tonight for their Holiday Sparkle release! You can check out the entire release HERE. Sooo many gorgeous new holiday goodies, both secular and religious, winter and holiday-specific. Something for everyone!! I have an icy holiday card to share with you tonight, so let’s get started with the details!

Die-cut-and-emboss combos are allll the rage right now, and Simon Says Stamp has some absolutely stunning additions to that product category, including the new Pine Landscape folder/die combo! Watercoloring these beautiful three dimensional embossing folders is one of my most favorite ways to use them, so I couldn’t resist adding some color to this beautiful, snowy landscape.

I began by trimming down two pieces of Fabriano Artistico Cold Press watercolor paper to A2 size. I then die cut one section of one panel using the die from the Pine Landscape folder/die combo. The key to these die/folder combos is to do your die cutting first, then run your die cut through your machine with the embossing folder. It’s super simple to line up and stays in place nicely, though you can use a piece of washi tape to hold it if you’re worried about the die cut shifting. I wanted to offset the trees in the background of my die cut, so I made sure to check my placement on the full size panel of watercolor paper so that the embossed and die cut trees in the front were slightly shifted from the embossed trees in the background.

Once I had both sets of embossed trees finished, I taped my panels down to my watercolor board and used my Daniel Smith watercolor paints to add beautiful greens and blues to the images. This technique is similar to no-line watercolor, in that you have to keep your wet sections separate in order to maintain the integrity of the individual images (or in this case, branches). Once the paint had dried completely, I splattered the background with some shimmering white watercolor to create subtle, sparkling snowfall. I also used Fresh Snowfall Nuvo Glitter Accents to add some sparkling snow to the tips of the branches on the trees. The entire effect is so realistic… all it needs is a tiny sledder going down the slope between the trees!

To frame my trees and ground them a bit, I die cut one of the large arches from some white cardstock using the Simon Says Stamp Nested Domed Arches dies, reserving the die cut and keeping the negative A2 sized frame. I also die cut the Simon Says Stamp Season’s Greetings die twice from white cardstock and once from white glitter cardstock that I had in my stash that was simply sparkling white-no iridescence or color of any kind on the glitter! I adhered all of the die cuts together using liquid adhesive to create a dimensional die cut. I popped up the arched frame using foam tape over the top of the full embossed and watercolored A2 panel and added the die cut trees in the front of the frame using more foam tape. Finally, I added my dimensional die cut greeting using more liquid adhesive. The curve of the die cut sentiment matches the curve of the arched frame so beautifully!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I have a few more projects to share with you, so I hope you’ll come back soon. You can check out the entire Holiday Sparkle release HERE. Thanks so much for reading, and have a marvelous day!

Odd Inspiration and No-Line Poinsettias!

Hi there! I’m up on the Honey Bee Stamps blog today with a super vivid and crisp holiday card for you today, which was begun with some inspiration that I found in an odd place! I love when something mundane can be the jumping off point for a project. I recently purchased a shirt from an online boutique, and it had the prettiest cardstock tag hanging from the tag sewn into the shirt-a hexagon that looked as though it had been dipped in rose gold foil. I thought it would be a pretty ground for a sentiment and a big, fluffy holiday bouquet, so I adapted it to some holiday colors of deep garnet red and white. Let’s get started with the details!

I started by stamping several components from the Pretty Poinsettias stamp set that I illustrated last year- I love the massive size of the poinsettias and foliage in this set! So much fun to color. I stamped the images using Honeybee’s No-Line Ink on some Copic-friendly white cardstock. I used my Copic markers to color the poinsettia and berries a deep, intense garnet red, brightened with some bottle green foliage and some cool brown pinecones. I die cut the finished images using the coordinating Honey Cuts.

Next, to create the ground for my holiday bouquet and to create the tag by which I was so inspired, I die cut a white hexagon using the Hexagon Solid Stack dies, as well as a partial hexagon from some coordinating raspberry colored glitter paper. I layered the partial hexagon over the bottom of the full white hexagon, adhering them using liquid adhesive.

On the card front, I heat embossed the new Falling Snow background stamp on a full A2 panel of white cardstock using some glittery white embossing powder. A very subtle backdrop, but I love the hint of texture that this adds to the background! I arranged the bouquet and hexagon on the card front, adhering them with some foam adhesive. For the greeting, I die cut the new Cheers Buzzword die three times from white cardstock, adhering them together to create a dimensional die cut greeting. I stamped the “sending you” and “holiday” from the Cheers stamp set using coordinating wine colored ink. I adhered the greeting strips with some thin strips of foam adhesive on the glittering hexagon die cut. So much dimension and crisp, vivid colors on this card! I always try to make sure that there are lots of textures and dimension on a card that has lots of white to help keep things from falling flat.

Well that’s all for my project today! I can hardly believe it’s almost December… it doesn’t seem possible that the Christmas season is upon us. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Honey Bee Stamps Vintage Holiday Release!

Hi there! I’m so excited to be sharing some of my projects created with the new Honey Bee Stamps Vintage Holiday release! It’s a giant release filled with an abundance of new products in such a wide variety of styles that you are sure to find several things that you love! I wish I’d had time to make more projects, but three will have to do for today. Let’s get started with the details! (Affiliate links used where possible. Thank you for your support!)

This first card features the absolutely stunning new Fancy Flakes cover plate die set. The detail in each individual die is amazing in it’s own right, but together… serious wow-factor. I began by die cutting the base layer die from some pale aqua cardstock, then ran it through my die cut machine again using the pierced layer. The detail, the grace…. it’s just incredible. I backed the detailed die cut layer with some white glitter cardstock.

For the die cut greeting, I used the new Noel Honey Cuts from some heavyweight vellum and the same icy blue cardstock, adhering them together with liquid adhesive.

I added the remainder of the greeting using the new Inside Holiday Sentiments stamp set. I stamped the greeting on the same icy blue cardstock using some gray pigment ink, then covered it with pearlescent white embossing powder and heated it to create a pearlescent charcoal. I prefer this pearly charcoal to black embossing on a light, bright card like this one. It is a bit lighter and less stark contrast than the black might be. I popped up the sentiment pieces on the card front using foam adhesive. So much dimension, so many textures on this card… simple, but elegant!

My next two cards are an homage to cheery, bright red juxtaposed with crisp white and black. I don’t use red very much throughout the year, but at Christmas, I can’t seem to help myself from using vibrant red and bright white. The vintage feel throughout the release is modernized a bit with the crisp, bright colors . It’s amazing what a difference color choices make on your cards! These same cards would have a completely different feel on Kraft paper.

My first card features the beautiful new Merry Mail stamps and coordinating Honey Cuts. I began by stamping several of the images on some white cardstock using the Honey Bee Stamps Intense Black, which is Copic-friendly. I used my Copic markers to color the images in a red, white, green, and cool gray color scheme.

Once I had finished coloring all of the images, I die cut a frame from the Hexagon Solid Stack dies from some coordinating cherry red cardstock. I also stamped a greeting from the Tag You’re It: Holidays stamp set on a small rectangle of white cardstock, again using black ink.

For the card base, I used the beautiful new Falling Snow Background stamp. I used Honey Bee’s Embossing Ink and some holographic glitter to create a beautifully sparkling, subtle background, on which I adhered the die cuts and sentiment using foam adhesive. The final touch was to add a few sparkling gems from the Unicorn Rhinestone pack.

My final project features the fabulous new Sleigh Bells Ring stamp set. This set features an amazing vintage sleigh, stamped in several layers of solid and detail, as well as various accoutrements to decorate it! I began by stamping the main part of the sleigh using some colorful shades of cherry red and darker maroon red ink for the woodgrain. I also stamped several of the accompanying images using the Intense Black ink from Honey Bee. I colored the outline images using some coordinating shades of Copic markers, adding in a touch of bright green for the foliage. I die cut the finished images using the coordinating Honey Cuts.

I die cut the “Christmas” die cut layers using the new Bitty Buzzwords Holidays from some white cardstock, with the top layer cut from some silver glitter paper. I stamped the other part of the greeting from the Bitty Buzzwords: Holiday Stamps on a strip of white cardstock.

I used the Fancy Flakes Pierced Layer to add some subtle texture to the white background, then adhered all of the die cut pieces and sentiment pieces using a mixture of foam and liquid adhesive. The final touch was a few more gemstones from the Unicorn Rhinestone pack.

Well, that’s all for today’s projects! I highly encourage you to check out the entire Vintage Holiday release. It’s absolutely smashing. I could easily buy my weight in holiday stamps and dies each year… and this is one of my most favorite releases that Honey Bee has ever done. I hope you will take a peek and find something that you like!

Honey Bee Stamps Holiday Cheer+Pretty Poinsettias!

Hi there! The Honey Bee Stamps Holiday Cheer release is now available for pre-order, and I’m super excited to have designed a new holiday floral stamp set: Pretty Poinsettias! This new release has so many absolutely stunning new “country Christmas” products, from gorgeous plaid cover plates to snow globe dies to two amazing new truck sets to a fabulous new holiday floral set designed by yours truly! I have a project to share with you today using my new set using the Karin Metallic Brush Marker Pro and some black watercolor paper, so let’s get started with the details!

For this non-traditional card, I began by stamping the images from Pretty Poinsettias on some black watercolor paper using white pigment ink. I was super excited to see how well the white pigment ink disappeared beneath the metallic Karin markers. This bouquet was stamped really quickly, too, because there was little to no masking involved! The metallic markers covered up the overlapped images so well.

Next, I used the Metallic Karin Brushmarker Pro to add color to the images. Not my usual meticulous coloring, but it was certainly fun to try something different. I did add a layer of white gouache to the poinsettia to make sure that I could get some depth on those large flower petals. After the gouache had dried, I laid down some of the purple metallic Karin ink on the petals, then pulled the color out with a damp paintbrush.

Once the painting/coloring was finished, I heat embossed a greeting from Pretty Poinsettias on some vellum using silver embossing powder. I trimmed down the colored panel and added some strips of matte silver foil on either side, then mounted the vellum sentiment strips on the colored panel, folding the edges over the sides and hiding some of the adhesive on the back of the solid cardstock portion, adhering the rest with tiny dots of adhesive. Finally, I adhered the colored section to an A2 lavender card front using foam adhesive.

For my second project, I used the Pretty Poinsettias with my new Holbein gouache to create this super vibrant patterned background panel. I stamped the images again using white pigment ink, then had some fun playing around with the gouache to create this super vibrant, almost velvety patterned panel. Once I’d finished adding color to the images, I used my white gel pen and T-square to add a rectangular frame around the edges.

I white heat embossed a greeting from the new Merry Buzzword stamp set on the coordinating pierced die, also stamping the rest of the greeting on some strips of red cardstock.

I adhered the sentiments to the card front using foam adhesive, finally adding a few Moonlight gems to add some sparkle and extra texture to the card front.

Well, that’s all for today’s projects. I have loooots more to show you, but this is just a little taste! Due to some shipping delays (dangit, Covid, quit messing with our crafty purchases!), the new release will be shipping on or around November 2, 2020. The team is going to be having an inspiration week November 2-6, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for lots of gorgeous inspiration on Instagram, the Honey Bee Blog, and YouTube channel!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Hero Arts Winter 2020 Catalog Release Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Hi there! Are you ready for some Christmas spirit today? Hero Arts is officially unveiling their Winter 2020 Catalog today, and we are celebrating all of the gorgeous new products with a blog hop and giveaway! You should have arrived here from Debi Adams’s blog, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. I have two non-traditional holiday projects for you today, both an homage to my favorite shade of ink from Hero Arts: Raspberry Jam. (It’s just the perfect shade of pinky red, and something so fun and different for holiday cards!) Let’s get started with the details on my projects.

For my first project, I combined the new Christmas Rose Bold Prints background stamp with the beautiful Color Layering Poinsettia Tree and dies. I began by stamping the Christmas Rose background on a panel of Peony Hero Hues cardstock using Soft Blossom ink. I then used a blender brush to blend some Unicorn White ink in the center to soften the pattern a bit and create a more solid background for my floral Christmas tree!

I stamped the beautiful new Color Layering Poinsettia Tree on some more Peony cardstock using Raspberry Jam, Bubble Gum, and Unicorn White inks, as well as some gifts. I cut everything out with the coordinating Frame Cuts. For the greeting, I heat embossed the “Happy Holidays” on a strip of Plum cardstock using white embossing powder. I trimmed down the floral, tone-on-tone background panel and matted it on an A2 panel of Plum cardstock, then mounted the tree and gift die cuts in the center using foam adhesive.

For my second project, I used the fabulous new Snowflake Swirl Bold Prints for my background, doing some ombre inking using the Hero Arts branded MISTI. To achieve this look, I first stamped the top third of the Snowflake background using Rose Madder ink, softening the edges of it a bit with a microfiber towel. I stamped it on my white cardstock and repeated the process again to get a good saturation of color. Next, I did the same thing across the center segment of the stamp using Raspberry Jam ink, softening the edges at top and bottom to create a seamless blend between the two cards. Finally, I added Grape Juice ink on the bottom, creating a lovely, non-traditional snowflake ombré on my white cardstock! The formulation on the Hero Arts inks make techniques like this so much easier, because the formula actually spreads and smooths as it dries, so the colors change smoothly, as well.

To create the shaker window, I die cut the new Joy Ornament Fancy Die from the center of the snowflake card front, as well as from some white cardstock. I backed the circular cutout on the card front using acetate, then inlaid the Joy die cut on the acetate using liquid adhesive. I added foam adhesive around the shaker opening, then added some fun iridescent sequins, finally backing it with a full A2 panel of Plum cardstock.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! These new holiday products are absolutely marvelous. Totally will get you in the holiday cardmaking spirit, even if it is super hot outside haha! 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 leaving a comment between now and Sunday, September 6th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

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