Skip links

Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

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!

Altenew July 2022 Summer Sunshine Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in total prizes)

Hi there! Welcome to the July 2022 Summer Sunshine Blog Hop, helping to introduce the Summer Sunshine Collection for Altenew. You should have arrived from Angela Brennan, and your next stop is Linda Westfall. You can also check out the full hop list on the Altenew Blog. This month’s release features everything from flowers to the beach, with something for everyone! I have a beachy project to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details.

Normally, when I think of the beach, I think of cool blues and greens like the water and sky. But the beach itself is full of warmer tones, from the golden sand to the peach and pink and brown seashells that you find tucked amongst the dunes. So I thought that I would keep things nice and warm for today’s card with a coral, gold, and creamy white color scheme to share inspiration using the new Summer Wishes stamps and dies.

I began by heat embossing several elements from the Summer Wishes onto some creamy white cardstock using gold embossing powder. I used alcohol markers to add some pretty coral colors to the umbrella, shells, and hat, while adding some very pale, warm gray shadows to the white chair. I die cut all of the colored images with the coordinating dies.

Next, I die cut a matte gold frame from Brushed Metallic Gold cardstock using the Fine Frames cover plate die. I also used the same shades of coral markers to color an ombre on a long rectangle of white cardstock, then die cut “hello” using the Inline Alpha dies.

I glue the matte gold frame to the white A2 card front, then I arranged the die cut beach pieces in a little cluster and used Instant Dimension Foam Adhesive and liquid adhesive to adhere them. I also heat embossed a greeting from Summer Wishes using gold embossing powder on a white strip of cardstock, tucked beneath the die cut ombré sentiment. Scene cards are not the easiest for me to create, but by limiting the color palette and making the canvas a little smaller and less daunting with the gold frame, it’s a little easier to “see” the beachy scene!

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

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 07/17/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 07/19/2022.

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

Pinkfresh Studio June 2022 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! Today, Pinkfresh Studio is releasing a brand new collection of products for stamping, stenciling, die cutting, and hot foiling, and we’re having a blog hop to celebrate! Colored cardstock is one of my most favorite cardmaking supplies; you can create such a dramatic effect with just one shade of colored cardstock to enhance beautiful stamping products. I have a monochromatic project to share with you today using new products from almost every category of this new Pinkfresh Studio release, so let’s get started with the details!

This card and the final color scheme started with some hot foiling. I absolutely adore hot foiling on colored cardstock, especially monochromatic hot foiling (using the same or similar shade of foil as the colored cardstock). The simple, subtle, yet stunning effect that it creates is just breathtaking in my opinion. I hot foiled the new Geo Arch Hot Foil on some lovely, muted peony pink cardstock using rose gold foil. The subtle tone-on-tone pattern is just sublime! I didn’t get my hot foil plate on my cardstock perfectly straight, so I used the Blanket Stitched Rectangle die to get a panel with the pattern nice and straight!

To continue with the tone-on-tone look, I stamped the beautiful new Fancy Rose Bunch bouquet on some more of the same muted peony cardstock, offset slightly on the corner so that it would be dripping down the front of my card. I heat embossed it using some sparkling embossing powder that coordinated beautifully with the rose gold hot foil, then die cut it with the coordinating die. I also die cut a new Ornate Circle die from some copper foil cardstock. The foil cardstock picks up the intricate details of the Ornate Circle die so beautifully!

I arranged the different elements on the card front, adhering them with single and double layers of foam tape for tons of height and texture, which I find to be super important on monochromatic cards like this one. For the greeting, I heat embossed one of the lovely sentiments from Heart Smiles using some copper embossing powder, again on the muted peony cardstock. I die cut the sentiment using the coordinating die, and then added it to the card front using foam adhesive. The final touch was to add some Sparkling Champagne pearls to the card front!

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

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel, so be sure to leave comments both places to be entered to win this fabulous prize!  They are also giving away a total of TEN $25  gift cards along the hop. The winners are selected from the comments, so the more comments you leave along the hop, the more chances you have to win! The winners will be announced on July 5, 2022 on the Pinkfresh Studio GIVEAWAY PAGE. Winners must check that page & claim their prize within 2 weeks.

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you’ll check out the full release… so many wonderful new products! Here’s the full hop list below. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Watercoloring with Karin Brushmarker Pro and Pinkfresh Studio!

Hi there! I am over on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel today with this video pairing the new-ish Celebrate in Style stamps and several other products from Pinkfresh. My goal was simple: to keep the color scheme cohesive throughout the entire project, while also mixing the metallic textures on the individual embellishments. Watch the video below or HERE on YouTube.

Lots of individual pieces, but together they make a super color coordinated finished product!

In case you can’t watch the video, I began by heat embossing the Celebrate in Style stamps using some sparkling embossing powder that had flecks of beautiful rose gold glitter amongst the pearlescent plum on some watercolor paper. I also heat embossed the Blushing Floral Stamp background on an A2 panel of blush cardstock using the same embossing powder. So many elements of sparkle and shine on this one!

I taped my watercolor panel down to my watercolor board, then used Karin markers to add some beautiful peachy pink and magenta to the cake and floral adornment. Depending on your preference for soft or vivid color, you can either scribble your Karin marker on a ceramic palette and pick up the color with a damp paintbrush to achieve a softer, more controlled look, or you can put the pen directly to the watercolor paper and maneuver the color with your damp paintbrush. Picking up the color from the ceramic palette adds more water and thus dilutes the color, making it softer and less intense. Once I’d finished watercoloring the two images, I die cut the entire thing in one fell swoop with the coordinating Celebrate in Style Dies. Once I’d die cut everything, I went back with my Karin markers and added some color to the white edges of the die cuts to keep the color scheme completely true and avoid that white edge around the die cuts.

Next, I die cut a panel of more blush cardstock using the Essentials Classic Edgers, giving it a decorative stitched scalloped edge. I also cut a panel of coordinating lilac glitter cardstock with the same scalloped edger die to break up all of the blush and add some more interest to the background. I popped up the scalloped panels with some foam tape, then added the cake with a double layer of foam tape for tons of dimension. I added a foiled die cut greeting created with the Brushed Sentiments Foil Plate and Coordinating Dies, created using the same blush cardstock and some rose gold foil to keep things monochromatic. The final touch was to add a few Sparkling Champagne pearls from the Pinkfresh Studio Essentials embellishment line!

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

Altenew June 2022 Fine & Dandy Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in total prizes)

Hi there! Altenew is hopping along today to introduce their gorgeous new Fine and Dandy collection! You should have arrived here from Linda Westfall, and your next stop is Nenette S. Madero. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog in case you get lost! The new Fine and Dandy collection is full of stunning new hot foil plates, versatile dies, and beautiful embossing folders. I have four projects to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

Each of my four projects features a similar color scheme to make them a cohesive set: pink-y metallics, crisp white, and lots of beautiful, muted peony pink. It’s tone-on-tone with a twist!

This first project features the beautiful new Delightful Flowers Hot Foil Plate, which I used with some heavyweight vellum and rose gold hot foil. I love how subtle the foil looks on this vellum cardstock; this would also be a fun technique to use with the “stained glass” coloring technique by coloring with alcohol markers on the back of the hot foiled panel!

To allow the hot foiled floral image to be the star of the show, I used the new Fine Rings Hot Foil Plate set with the Coordinating Dies to create a background for my die cut greeting. I added a simple “hugs” greeting from the Simple Greetings die set, cut from some brand new Brushed Copper Metallic Cardstock! These new metallic cardstocks are absolutely gorgeous and perfect for intricate die cuts. They cut so smoothly. I added a few shiny metallic rose gold gems for some more shine.

My second card features the beautiful Delightful Flowers Hot Foil Plate, this time hot foiled onto some Watercolor Paper, again using rose gold foil. The smooth surface of the watercolor paper makes it ideal for hot foiling this intricate image. I watercolored the flowers and foliage using the Artists’ 24 Pan Watercolor Set in shades of coral and flamingo pink, with some olive green foliage.

For the greeting, I die cut the Fancy Thanks die from some more of the new Brushed Copper Metallic Cardstock. I added a circular frame created with the Fine Rings hot foil plate and die combo. I mounted both the foiled frame and the die cut sentiment to the watercolored panel using foam adhesive for extra height and dimension, then added a few iridescent coral gems to add more sparkle.

My next card starts with a white-on-white Garden Trellis cover plate die cut background. It was the perfect neutral-but-lightly-textured background for some Itty Bitty Branches die cuts, cut from some more muted peony and jade green cardstocks.

I paired a solid hot foil plate with the Fine Rings hot foil plates and dies to create this iridescent gold foiled frame. I arranged the solid botanical die cuts on one edge of the circular foiled die cut, then added a white Circled Greetings: Thanks die cut over the top, adhering all of it with foam adhesive to make sure that the focal points popped from the white textured background. The final touch was to add a few iridescent white pearls to bring out the iridescent quality of the foil.

My last card pays one final tribute to the monochromatic-with-a-twist color scheme from all of our projects today! I began by die cutting a partial Floral Lace die from some plain white cardstock. I also die cut a new Labels and Tags 1 die cut from some heavyweight vellum.

I arranged the vellum tag on an A2 peony pink cardstock base to determine placement, then before adhering the vellum, I adhered the lacy white die cut over the top of the vellum die cut. I flipped over the two die cuts (now adhered together to create one die cut) and hid small dots of adhesive on the back, essentially hiding the adhesive behind the solid die cut to prevent it from marring my translucent vellum die cut. I added a Circled Hugs greeting, cut from once some Brushed Rose Metallic Cardstock and once from white cardstock, then adhered together to give it a little extra height. Finally, I added one more touch of white and shine with some iridescent white pearls.

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

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 06/27/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 06/29/2022.

Your next stop is Nenette S. Madero. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!