Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

A7 card

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Release!!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon! *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!*

Hi friends! Have you heard….. It’s STAMPtember!! Throughout STAMPtember® we will be celebrating every day posting exclusive collaborations, contests, prizes, special promotions, announcements, and more surprises on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! I am back todayvwith another project featuring some fabulous new goodies from the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember release (click HERE!), creating an incredibly dramatic and vibrant holiday card using a super unique and fun color palette. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

Today’s project is a large A7 holiday card that features an analogous color palette of royal blue and peacock teal. I think these colors look so very striking paired together, and I couldn’t help but make a richly colored holiday card with them. I thought that the new Curled Blossom die set would create a truly gorgeous background, so I die cut several of the elements in both plain teal cardstock and glittering royal blue cardstock, cutting a variety of both colors in order to have lots of options when it came time to assemble the card!

Before I began assembling the foliage and glittering flowers, I die cut a larger A7 Notched Rectangles die from that same deep teal cardstock that I used to cut the foliage. I used a blending brush to blend Royal Pawsitively Saturated Ink around the edges, creating a striking contrasting edge that also fits in beautifully with the color palette. Using thin foam adhesive, I mounted the die cut in the center of a royal blue matte satin panel of foil cardstock cut to A7 size and mounted on an A7 card base.

For the greeting, I die cut the detail layer of the new Opulent Merry die set and placed it in the center of the notched rectangle, adhering it at a jaunty angle. I arranged the foliage and flowers around the sentiment to create a custom patterned background and adhered the pieces with a combination of liquid and foam adhesive for lots of dimension. The extra blending around the edge of the notched rectangle die cut really helps those teal foliage die cuts to pop nicely! Finally, I finished the project off with some sparkling Royal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. So many different textures and sparkling embellishments on this project, which I think makes it just perfect for a holiday card!

Well, that’s all for my project today. You should absolutely check ou the massive and incredible Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember release (click HERE!) if you haven’t already… it’s so, so good. Be sure to pop back by tomorrow for the STAMPtember Blog Party! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Alstroemeria Blooms, Chocolate Brown, and Opulent Thanks with New Simon Says Stamp!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon! *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!*

Hi friends! I am back today with a lush A7 card to share using tons of new goodies from the Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness release! (click HERE to check out the entire release!) As per usual, I was immediately intrigued by the gorgeous, substantial, super detailed floral embossing folders. The new Alstroemeria folder reminded me of my senior prom; my high school bestie had these pretty blooms in her corsage, and I’ve always loved them since then! I couldn’t wait to dive in with some coloring and maybe take it a little far with some super detailed fussy cutting to create this super-sized A7 card. Let’s get started with the details!

To begin, I ran an A2 panel of white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the new Alstroemeria Blooms embossing folder, and when I say that the details are exquisite, I am not exaggerating! I used my prettiest blushy-coral and olive green OLO markers to add detailed color to the image, then added some metallic paint pen on the interior details of the petals, trying to mimic the realistic details of an alstroemeria bloom. Once I had finished coloring the entire image, I used my favorite Recoil Snips to do some elaborate fussy cutting, finishing off the middle sections with a super sharp craft knife to trim as much detail as possible!

After I had finished cutting the image, I decided that it was too lovely to go on a simple A2 card, so I decided to create an A7 card and flip it on it’s side, creating a horizontal finished project. I trimmed down a panel of deep chocolate brown cardstock, coordinating with the pretty brown metallic accents on the blooms themselves, and then die cut an Apricot A2 Notched Rectangles die cut. I love the simplicity of these notched rectangles; they add a touch of elegance and refinement to the card without adding much fussiness. I popped the notched rectangle up on the chocolate brown card front with thin foam adhesive, then arranged the floral image in the corner, allowing some of the bouquet to spill over the edge. Yes, this does make it a bit more difficult to mail, but using an A9 envelope or hand-delivering this project would solve that issue!

For the greeting, I die cut the detail layer of gorgeous new Opulent Thanks from some deep chocolate brown pearlescent cardstock and the shadow layer from some Simon Says Stamp Vellum cardstock, layering them with liquid adhesive. I also die cut the new Best Teacher XL EZ Strips using the XL EZ Strips Rectangles die, cutting all of the sentiment strips in one fell swoop. I used some residual Blush ink from my blending brush to add a subtle bit of blush color to the strip, then tucked both sentiment pieces on my card front using more foam adhesive. Lots of dimension and height on this project! I added a few Creamsicle Embellishments and a sparkling coppery twine bow for good measure. So many textures and metallic touches on this project. I am so pleased with how it came out!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I hope this card shows you that even if an embossing folder is intended for an A2 card, all you need to do to make it work for a larger card is a bit of time and some sharp scisssors. Totally worth it, in my opinion! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Floral Holiday Inspiration with New Simon Says Stamp!


This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am back today with some holiday inspiration using one of my new stamp sets from the Heart to Heart Release  from Simon Says Stamp (click HERE to check out the entire release!) called Loving You Bouquet. When I was originally illustrating this floral bouquet, I had envisioned it as a holiday bouquet, but Simon Says Stamp decided to accompany it with more versatile sentiments so that it could be used not just for Christmas, but for Valentine’s Day and beyond! The talented designers working with Simon Says Stamp have showcased it in a variety of beautiful colors, but I wanted to share my projects today using more traditional holiday colors, first with an embroidered ornament, then with a beautiful coordinating A7 watercolored card. It’s easy to customize floral bouquets to suit whatever your occasion might be with the appropriate colors and sentiment. 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!*

An acquaintance of mine got married several years ago and shared photos of her wedding bouquet on social media, featuring utterly lush and luxurious red anemone flowers. I was instantly smitten with them and have seen them used in holiday floral arrangements all over Pinterest and the florist accounts that I follow on social media! That stunning red anemone was the inspiration for my projects today, featuring a beautifully creamy white gardenia paired with that lush scarlet anemone. I wanted to do some crewel work with needle and thread to create a holiday keepsake as well as a matching holiday card.

I stamped the bouquet from Loving You Bouquet onto some creamy white linen (an old cloth napkin that I found at the thrift store worked perfectly for this project!) using a light gray ink. I then placed the stamped cloth within a 5″ embroidery hoop and began my crewel work. I used what I call a “stained glass” technique, keeping each individual petal unique with one shade of thread on each petal, rather than trying to do too much elaborate shading with multiple shades of thread on each petal. Once I had finished embroidering the image, I added some metallic bronze seed beads from my stash to the flower centers and the tops of the berries. I love the additional texture and shimmer these beads add to the overall effect! I cleaned up the back of the ornament and added some ribbon to hang it from a tree, finally using my hot glue gun to add a coordinating red satin bow at the top. I think this will look so pretty on our Christmas tree next year!

For the coordinating card, I gave myself the freedom to do some detailed no-line watercoloring. When illustrating a new image, I try to add enough details and intricacies to the floral bouquets that they look lovely stamped on their own or with simple coloring, but I also love to just sit down and let my cares fall away as I become absorbed in super detailed watercoloring. I stamped the image from Loving You Bouquet onto some cold press watercolor paper using Inkon3’s Fadeout Ink, then used Karin Brushmarker Pro markers to color the images. With watercolor markers, I like to scribble the color out onto my glass craft mat or porcelain palette, then pick up the color with my damp paintbrush and apply it to the image. This technique allows me maximum control over the intensity of the color on my watercolor paper, as well as keeping the edges and contrast super clean and crisp.

Once I had finished coloring the images, I splattered the edges of the panel with some Simon Says Stamp Gold Splatter Medium. I also used my Simon Says Stamp T-Square to create a gold frame around the edges, bringing the eye towards the center of the card front. I trimmed the edges down slightly, then created a gold embossed sentiment slide using the Label Slides Christmas and coordinating Label Slides dies, through which I threaded some gold cord and adhered to the center of my card, securing the gold cord around the back of the panel. Once everything was complete, I mounted the finished panel on a piece of A7 Rainbow Splash Scarlet cardstock, giving a thin red accent frame around the exterior of the watercolored panel. Finally, I added a gold cord bow beneath the sentiment slide, then added some Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for additional sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I am always tickled when I can use the same stamp set for multiple occasions. It’s so important to be able to get as much bang for your crafting buck, and my new Loving You Bouquet definitely fits that bill! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

New Simon Says Stamp Rain or Shine Release-Now Available!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! The new Simon Says Stamp Rain or Shine release is now available, and my gosh does it have some absolutely darling new products!! From sweet little bunnies to flowers to farm critters to elegant embossing folders, this release truly has such a wide variety that there’s something for everybody! I am a sucker for gorgeous silhouette images with intricate patterns inlaid in them, which remind me of Scandinavian artwork and are so elegant. The bunnies in the super affordable new Hoppy Birthday mini stamp set are just precious, with an air of elegant simplicity that makes for a super cute card. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

To begin my project, I wanted to channel my inner Laura Bassen and stamp a row of bunnies from Hoppy Birthday in a warm rainbow, so I stamped the bunny silhouettes in Butter, Melon, Cheeky, and Rhubarb Pawsitively Saturated Inks, using a MISTI to get extra vibrant and crisp stamped images. After I had finished stamping all of the bunnies, I used the coordinating die to die cut them. The stamp set comes complete with an “insert” stamp so that you can have a multicolored image, but I was going for crisp white with a pop of warm colors, so I left the pattern blank and allowed the bright white cardstock to do the work for me!

Because these bunnies are generously-sized, I increased the size of my card base to an A7 in order to accommodate them all in a horizontal line. I trimmed down a 4″x6″ panel of white cardstock, then used the Simon Says Stamp 6″ T-square ruler to line the bunnies up perfectly straight, adhering them with thin foam adhesive squares. I matted the 4″x6″ bunny panel with an ever-so-slightly larger piece of Dazzling Diamond Glitter Cardstock from Altenew, adding a teeny bit of sparkle.

For the greeting, I stamped several of the sentiment components from the new Happy Eggs stamp set and heat embossed them with silver glitter embossing powder. I die cut the finished embossed sentiments with their super-detailed dies and arranged them beneath the line of bunnies. Finally, I adhered the glitter-matted bunny panel to an A7 card base with some Tear-rifically Tacky Tape!

Well, that’s all for my project today. Be sure to check out the rest of the new Simon Says Stamp Rain or Shine release and check back here later this week for even more inspiration using these beautiful new products! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Blog Party + Free Gift With Purchase!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Well hello friends, and welcome to the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Blog Party! We are partying it up to celebrate the 15th STAMPtember celebration! If you’re new to STAMPtember, it’s an entire month dedicated to the joys of this stamping hobby, filled with tons of fabulous products, giveaways, and fun surprises to inspire your crafting! Today’s party starts over on the Simon Says Stamp blog, and it features an absolutely crazy amount of inspiration using the new release. Not only do you have the opportunity to feast your eyes on beautiful inspiration projects using the new goodies from the STAMPtember release, you also have the opportunity to do a “scavenger hunt” of sorts; each party stop has a unique graphic and code featuring a fabulous gift with purchase! You can see all of the details for my scavenger hunt code at the bottom of this post. 🙂

For my projects today, I did some therapeutic no-line watercoloring with the new Grateful Florals stamps and dies and some of my favorite Daniel Smith watercolors. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

To start, I stamped all of the floral images from the new Grateful Florals stamps and dies onto some Arches Hot Press watercolor paper using Contour Ink from Hero Arts. I taped the panel down to my watercolor board to avoid warping, then used several shades of burnt orange, deep magenta, and coral red with some verdant greens to add lots of vivid color to the images. The key with no-line watercolor is to keep the wet sections separate from each other to avoid the wet areas bleeding into one another, which helps to keep the definition between the individual petals and leaves. I like to do lots of layers of color, which helps to develop the contrast between the areas in front versus behind. As a final touch, I added some highlights to the edges of some of the petals using white gouache, helping to increase the levels of contrast!

For my first card, I decided to take advantage of the generous size of the main floral bouquet by creating an A7 card. I began by running a panel of vellum through my die cutting machine using the new Tiny Tufts embossing folder. I then used my trimmer to cut out the center of an A7 card front, creating a window in the center of my card behind which I could adhere the embossed vellum panel. I adhered the vellum with some Tear-rific Tape and enhanced the frame with two widths of glittering A7 Thin Frames.

After I had created my card base, I adhered the large watercolored and die cut bouquet from the Grateful Florals product suite using some foam adhesive. I heat embossed a sentiment, also from Grateful Florals, onto some coordinating magenta cardstock using white embossing powder and die cut it with its coordinating die. I tucked a delicate twine bow beneath the sentiment and finished the card off with some Taffy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for added sparkle! I love the drama and extra large size of this card!

Because I had also watercolored the extra little standalone flowers and foliage, I decided to create a sweet little coordinating gift card envelope. I die cut the Gift Card Envelope Die from some white cardstock and trimmed down a panel to fit on the front using some more white cardstock. I ran that smaller panel through my die cut machine, again using the Tiny Tufts embossing folder for some lovely, somewhat neutral botanical texture behind my floral watercolored pieces. I popped up the standalone watercolored pieces from the Grateful Florals product suite using some foam adhesive, finally adding another heat embossed sentiment, a twine bow, and some more Taffy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. How special would it be to receive this with a gift card in it?

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I have tons more inspiration to share using the new items from the STAMPtember release, so if you’re not subscribed to my blog already, you can do that by entering your email address in the box on the top left hand side of my blog to make sure that you don’t miss anything!

To help celebrate and make this party truly exciting, each participating blog has it’s own fabulous freebie gift with purchase! To receive your freebie from my specific graphic, you can follow the instructions on the graphic below:

Isn’t that Beautiful Friend stamp and die set simply fabulous?? And what an incredible value! All you have to do to receive it is spend $100 in the Simon Says Stamp store, which is super, super easy to do with the incredible new STAMPtember release!

Be sure to check out all of the participating blogs over on the Simon Says Stamp blog to find all of the fantastic freebies that are available as a free gift with purchase to celebrate the 15th STAMPtember celebration! Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy STAMPtember!!!