Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

polychromos

A New Mondo from Essentials By Ellen!

Hi! I have some more inspiration for you using the newest Mondo stamp set from the October Essentials By Ellen release. This month, Mondo Chrysanthemum was added to the Mondo floral lineup, and it’s such a beautiful set! I have a card featuring a pretty coral color scheme, as well as my latest Exploring With Emily video showing a neat monochromatic technique using some of the latest Mondo florals. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping the Mondo Chrysanthemum stamp set using Intens-ified Black ink on some Copic-friendly cardstock. I then used some pretty shades of coral Copic markers to add some color and shading to the image.

I die cut the colored images using the coordinating dies. I also stamped a greeting from the new Totally Random Sayings, Vol. 3 on a rectangle of white cardstock.

I used the Stitches Cover Plate die to die cut a clean, white, textured background, upon which I layered the Copic-colored Chrysanthemum and sentiment. The final touch was to add a few gems for a touch of sparkle!

For this month’s Exploring With Emily video, I paired the Mondo Chrysanthemum and Mondo Amaryllis stamp sets with some colored cardstock, Copic markers, and Polychromos pencils to create two different monochromatic projects. Here’s the video:

Or you can watch the video here on YouTube.

The coloring is very subtle, allowing the colored cardstock to do most of the work!

I love how these turned out! I hope you’ll check out the video and maybe try your hand at a monochromatic coloring project!

Well, that’s all for me today! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Altenew 5th Anniversary Celebration, Day 2!

Good morning! I am absolutely thrilled to be taking part in Altenew’s celebratory 5th Anniversary Blog Hop on Day 2! You should have arrived here from Norine Borys‘s blog, and your next stop is Butterfly Reflections Ink! (You can also head here for the full list for today.) From almost the moment that they arrived in the papercrafting community, Altenew has been one of my most favorite companies with which to work. Their florals are divine, and we all know how much I adore floral stamps!! I so appreciate Altenew’s beautiful stamps, and every time I participate in one of their blog hops, I have to pinch myself with glee. Thank you, Altenew, for providing us with such beautiful products with which to work!

I have two projects for you today, using two of my favorite coloring mediums and several of my favorite stamps! My first card features the beautiful Perfectly Perfect stamp set and some pretty springtime Polychromos pencil coloring. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping two of the blooms from Perfectly Perfect onto some masking paper, then fussy cutting them. I then masked and stamped a bouquet of blooms onto some beautiful Palm card stock using white pigment ink.

After I’d stamped all of the images using white pigment ink, it was time to start coloring! I used my Polychromos pencils to do some no-line coloring. I added a stamped greeting from Versatile Vases using white embossing powder, then did a bit of blending around the edges using the Picket Fence Studios blending brushes and some Hunter Green ink. To finish it off and add a bit of texture, I loosely masked the bouquet with Post It Notes and flicked some white watercolor splatters. The splatters add a bit of an artistic flair, don’t you think?

For my second project, I did some more no-line coloring, this time focusing on the new Wallpaper Art stamps and my Daniel Smith watercolors. I recently purchased many new watercolors in shades of pink, purple, aqua, and gray, so I wanted to give those a try!! I stamped several of the blooms onto some Arches Cold Press watercolor paper using Ink On 3 Fadeout Ink, then used my Daniel Smith watercolors to watercolor the blooms in a beautiful magenta. In order to keep the definition between each petal, I made sure to allow plenty of drying time for petals near each other. Drying time is critical when adding details, like the dots in the flower center. Make sure that your painted area is dry before adding the tiny dots to ensure that they don’t bleed and lose their “dottiness.”

For the background, I did some loose, very light watercoloring using the same principle shades as used on the flowers themselves. I added the die cut blooms and foliage using foam tape, then added a greeting white embossed on some Adriatic card stock to help coordinate with the teal leaves.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Now, there are tons of giveaways available to win. All you have to do is comment on each blog on each day… The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win! Here are the details on what exactly is up for grabs:

Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 10 lucky winners. There are also 14 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:

Be sure to leave comments by 4/12/2019 for a chance to win! 33 winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed below and will be announced on the Altenew Blog on 4/20/2019.

Rubeena’s Crafty Anniversary Hop!

Good morning! I am taking part in a special blog hop today to help fellow crafty lady Rubeena Ianigro celebrate four years of crafting! Ruby and I met several years ago when we were both members of the same design team, which seems like a lifetime ago haha! But today, I and several incredibly talented crafters are helping her celebrate her milestone, as well as crafting in general!  You should have arrived here from Mayline’s blog, and your next stop is Kelly’s blog! There are some absolutely amazing prizes available, so make sure you read all the way to the end of the post!

For those who might not know my story, I started crafting after my wedding about 9 years ago. I had to make the perfect thank you notes, because of course none of the store-bought ones would do… plus, I thought I was being thrifty (joke was most definitely on me!). I got a Cricut for Christmas that year, and the rest is history. Initially, my crafting was a way to keep my creative mind entertained while finishing graduate school, but then it ended up being my lifeboat while my husband and I waited to become parents. Crafting kept my mind occupied for nearly three years while it seemed like every friend, relative, and acquaintance had children and we (inexplicably) did not. After carrying our twins and becoming a stay-at-home-mom, crafting became my lifeboat from the stresses of motherhood! I am lucky enough to have evolved from just crafting for my sanity to being on several design teams and doing guest work for my favorite companies, and I am currently on the Ellen Hutson, Hero Arts, HoneyBee Stamps, and Where Creativity Meets C9 design teams. Not only have I been granted some tremendous opportunities within this fantastic industry, I have made some absolutely wonderful friends, friends without whom I would be lost. I am so grateful for all of the dividends that this wonderful crafting world has sent to me!

For my project today, I wanted to do something extra special, because I am truly so grateful for this industry and the friends I have made because of it, so I pulled out my Polychromos pencils. Polychromos pencils are most certainly not the quickest medium to use, but it is impossible to argue with the results. The depth that you can achieve with pencils still blows me away more than any other medium, and you all know how I love my mediums. I don’t discriminate. 😉

I started with the absolutely stunning Grateful For Everything from the brand new Concord and 9th release. I knew that I wanted to do some no-line coloring, so I stamped the main floral image on some charcoal card stock using white pigment ink. I then used my Polychromos colored pencils to color the floral image. When coloring on very dark colored card stock, I first lay down a layer of white pencil on the petal I want to color, then add my colored pencil over the top, starting with the lightest and working my way up to the darkest colors. Part of my love affair with Polychromos pencils is due to the fact that I can add layer upon layer of color. Each layer adds more depth and dimension to my project. After adding the “color” from the colored pencil, I frequently will go back in with a dark gray or black and add some depth to the areas that I want to be darkest. That contrast between very light and very dark helps the image pop off of the page even more. 

I will be honest: I don’t care much for orange. But I saw this color combination on a dress that I was considering (I get SO much inspiration from fabrics and home decor!) that I just had to translate it into a card front. I wish I had been able to figure out a way to get another sprig of berries on there to have another pop of blue, but I ran out of time. To finish off the card, I used my T-square and a white pencil to create a frame around the edge of the card front. I also die cut the coordinating Grateful for Everything greeting twice from scrap card stock and once from some pale blue card stock (had to add in another little pop of blue!), which I adhered together to create a dimensional die cut for a simple greeting. The final touch was some gems that added the perfect amount of iridescence and texture to the card front.

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you enjoyed my project. It was a labor of love, for sure! Pencils are so time consuming, but I think so worth it in the end!

Now, for the giveaway information:

In celebration of this anniversary, we have several amazing sponsors. Let’s thank them for their generosity! Winners will be randomly selected from comments left on all the blogs. The winners will be announced by Wednesday, September 5 on this page. Winners will have up to 2 weeks to contact Rubeena at ararerubycrafts@gmail.com to claim their prize before another winner is selected.

Studio Katia – $50 gift card
Hello Bluebird – $50 gift card
Altenew – $50 Gift card
Pinkfresh Studio – $30 gift card
Gina K. Designs – $50 gift card
Clearly Besotted – £25 gift card
Simon Says Stamp – $25 gift card
Spellbinders Card Kit ($55 value).
Jennifer McGuire – $50 Simon Says Stamp gift card
Winnie & Walter, LLC – $40 gift card
Mama Elephant – $25 gift card
Hero Arts – $25 gift card
Nichol Spohr LLC – Custom-sewn rainbow pencil case filled with brand new Spellbinders dies
Danielle Flynn – $25 Simon Says Stamp gift card
Picket Fence Studios – four $25 gift cards
Ellen Hutson – two $25 gift cards  
Pretty Pink Posh – two $30 gift cards
The Stamp Market – July 2018 Release (estimated $100 value)
Indigojade Art Shop – $50 gift card to Art Prints & Gifts Shop
Flora & Fauna – a 4×6 stamp set
Waffle Flower – $25 gift card
Power Poppy – $50 gift card

You should have arrived here from Mayline’s blog, and your next stop is Kelly’s blog! You can head back to Ruby’s blog if you get lost! Thank you so much to Ruby for having me as a guest on your hop, and congratulations on your milestone! May the next four years of crafting be just as wonderful for you! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous week! Happy Hopping! 🙂


Neat and Tangled Birthday Blog Hop!

Good morning! I am so excited to be taking part in this fun blog hop for the Neat and Tangled 6th Birthday celebration! You should have arrived here from the Neat and Tangled blog, and your next stop for today is Nina-Marie Trapani’s blog. Danielle from Neat and Tangled has released some really darling products this month, including some super versatile and incredibly useful standalone dies, as well as the gorgeous florals that are my focus today. All of the new Neat and Tangled products that I used today are now available for purchase!! I have created a shaker tag (with video!) and a card using the new products for today’s post, so let’s get started with the details!

(You can watch the video in HD here.)

I created a shaker tag using the new Floral Frame, Floral Frame dies, Build A Tag dies, and Thanks So Much stamps. I first laid down a light wash of watercolor using Daniel Smith paints, then added some quick shading details to my watercolored flowers using my Polychromos pencils. For all of the details and to see my process for creating this shaker tag, I encourage you to watch the video!

For my second project, I wanted to keep that same plum and mustard color scheme, but this time with some colored pencil coloring on colored card stock. I began by heat embossing several of the images from the Floral Frame set in silver powder onto some Bazzill Mulberry card stock, then coloring them with my Polychromos colored pencils. I wanted to create as monochromatic a background as possible, so I used only the Mulberry card stock to avoid those annoying white edges on the edge of my die cuts. The colord pencil coloring on the colored card stock is slightly muted, but it’s definitely a unique, fairly monochromatic look, and I just love it!

I heat embossed the sentiment from Floral Frame onto an A2 panel of Mulberry card stock, then added the die cuts with a combination of liquid and dimensional adhesive. The final step was some pretty gems from Pretty Pink Posh to add a little sparkle.

Now, for some fun giveaway information!

Danielle will be giving away one $100 gift certificate to the Neat and Tangled shop and two $50 gift certificate to the Neat and Tangled shop. Winners will be chosen from comments all along the hop all week long. Winners will be announced Friday, August 10th.

Fabulous, right?! Be sure to leave comments on all of the blog posts for the maximum chances to win a Neat and Tangled shopping spree! Your next stop today is Nina-Marie Trapani’s blog. If you get lost along the way, or want to start at the beginning, head on over to the Neat and Tangled blog.

Thanks so much to stopping by today, and a special thanks to Danielle for inviting me to be part of this hop! Congratulations on 6 years of Neat and Tangled fabulousness, and cheers to many more!


 

August 2018 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop+Giveaway!

 

Good morning! Today is the monthly Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Blog Hop celebrating the fabulous new My Monthly Hero kit! You should have arrived from Clare’s blog and your next stop is Ilina’s blog.  This month’s kit is coffee themed, with some fabulous coffee images and coordinating dies, as well as a fantastic fancy die that I used in this post. So many fun images, accessories, and that fabulous fancy die… here’s the breakdown of the items included in the kit:

6″x8″stamp set
3.5″x4.5″ window fancy die
11 coordinating frame cuts
Crystal Clear Lacquer Pen
White Puff Embossing Powder
2 8.5″x5.5″ sheets of coffee and tea hand dyed decorative paper

There are so many amazing coffee themed images included in this kit, and it’s a bargain at $34.99 (valued at over $70!). These kits frequently sell out, so it’s always a good idea to subscribe if you want to ensure that you’ll get your hands on one! The kit & add-ons go live in the Hero Arts store on Monday August 6th at 1pm eastern/10am pacific. The main kit is available for a limited time only – once it’s gone, it’s gone. Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Friday, August 10th.

For my project today, I wanted to invoke those lovely chalkboards that you see so frequently in cafes and coffee shops. I love creating chalkboard cards with my colored pencils and black card stock, so I thought I’d recreate that feel with my stamps, some white ink, and a white colored pencil. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping the tall, footed coffee cup and some whipped cream from the main kit onto some black cardstock using Unicorn White pigment ink, as well as a few images from the new add-on stamp set Tea Time. I die cut all of the images using the coordinating dies.

I arranged my cluster of coffee shop goodies on my card front in approximately the spots that they would be on the final card, then began work on my custom sentiment. I love accenting certain words in sentiments with die cut letters, so I trimmed off the “coffee” of the “You’re the cream in my coffee” sentiment included in the main kit, then die cut the letters from white card stock. I stamped the partial sentiment in white pigment ink. I then used my gridded mat to arrange my die cut letters in a nice straight line, used washi tape to pick them up and add adhesive to the back, then adhered them to my card front.

I adhered my coffee die cuts using foam tape, then used my T-square to create a white frame around the edge of my card panel. Looks just like a sandwich board that you’d see outside a coffee shop, right? Love this technique!

Now for some fun giveaway information! Hero Arts is giving away an August My Monthly Hero kit (and if you purchase a kit and then win, they will reimburse you!). All you have to do to enter is comment on the blog hop posts. The more comments you leave, the more chances to you have to win! Here’s the full lineup in case you get lost:

The Hero Arts Blog
Amy Kolling
Amy Tsuruta
Clare Prezzia
Emily Midgett<— you are here
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jennifer McGuire
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Julee Tilman
Kelly Latevola
Laurie Willison
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr
Wanda Guess
Yana Smakula