Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

acorn bundle

Autumn Cascade with New Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I know that we are deep into the STAMPtember celebrations, but I want to keep sharing inspiration using new products that are not limited edition, but will be restocked once they initially sell out! I love autumn; my birthday is at the end of September, so I have always enjoyed that transition from summer into fall, with the switch from the vibrant summer colors to the muted orange, burgundy, and deep greens that mark our switch from hot to cool (depending on where you are, of course.) I live in the Midwest, and while the foliage frequently is beautiful, I would love to go “leaf peeping” in the more northern climes. Autumn is about the only time of year that I truly enjoy being outside, haha! (Definitely an “indoor girl.”) Today’s project was inspired by my dreams of being a leaf peeper, combined with my favorite autumnal colors: burnt orange, deep mauve, and chocolatey brown. 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!*

I began my project by die cutting several sets of foliage from white cardstock using the new Autumn Leaf Branch and Acorn Bundle dies. I kept the die cuts in their negative die cut space and placed them on a Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Mat so that I could do some ink blending using Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Cabernet, Terracotta, and Cheeky. These three inks together are such a bold and lovely combination and create such a beautiful autumn color palette! Keeping them in their negative die cut spaces on the sticky mat helps stabilize the delicate die cuts so that I can ink blend easily. Once I had finished blending, I removed the colorful cuts and die cut a few more Autumn Leaf Branches from some rosy mauve mirror cardstock, as well, for a bit of shine and textural variety.

I also used my OLO Markers to customize the acorn die cuts from the Acorn Bundle die set. You could also use your brown inks to blend these colors! I love customizing die cuts with my alcohol markers, so I chose to go that route and create deeply saturated browns to go with my abundance of foliage. Behind my autumnal cascade, I used a blending brush to blend some Terracotta Ink on a panel of deep burnt orange cardstock, keeping my blending to one corner and tapering off as I got closer to the opposite corner. I used metallic copper watercolors to splatter some additional texture and shimmer to the background before arranging my leafy cascade in the blended corner, adhering the foliage with double and single layers of foam adhesive squares.

For the greeting, I die cut the previously-released Happy Autumn die set, cutting the detail layer from some pearlescent brown cardstock and backing the detail layer with a vellum shadow. I nestled the sentiment pieces amongst the foliage, adhering them with thin strips of foam adhesive, then added my acorns and a few stray leaves to complete my foliage cascade. Finally, I added some sparkling Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems, adding one final touch of sparkle and shine!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Autumn is my favorite season, and I can’t wait for things to cool down, the colors to change, and all of the festivities the changing seasons bring. (Also-begone, bugs!) Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Chalkboard Pumpkins with New Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember!

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

Hi friends! We were enjoying the most deliciously autumnal temperatures over the last couple of weeks, but that typical Midwest “false fall” has receded back into the throes of summer temperatures again, sadly. So let’s channel fall with some pretty pumpkins and leaves on cards, shall we? The Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember mega-release that kicked off our month-long STAMPtember celebration (check it out HERE!) featured several new fall-themed products, including the beautiful Pumpkin Blessings stamp, die, and stencil set. I always love a good banner, and pairing the banner with some pretty pumpkins and autumnal florals is so classy in my opinion. When I first started crafting, chalkboard cards were all the rage, especially when a banner was involved, so I thought I would recreate that vintage (ha!) look with my colored pencils and some sparkly die cuts. 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!*

I began by stamping the banner image from Pumpkin Blessings onto some black cardstock using Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink. I like to pair white pigment ink with colored pencils on colored cardstock, because the white ink stands out beautifully and seems to absorb into the pencil coloring very nicely, creating a crisp no-line colored look. I used my favorite colored pencils to add some vibrant yellows, oranges, and greens to the flowers and pumpkins, then used a white paint pen and a careful hand to outline the lines on the banner, making them a bit more vivid on the black cardstock without having to sacrifice my no-line colored florals! It totally gives chalkboard vibes.

After I had finished coloring and enhancing the lines on my banner image, I white embossed a greeting from Pumpkin Blessings onto the banner, then die cut the image with it’s coordinating die. I also die cut the foliage from the new Autumn Leaf Branch and Acorn Bundle die sets using rose gold foil and glitter cardstocks.

I adhered the die cut Pumpkin Blessings image onto an A2 panel of black cardstock using foam adhesive, then began tucking the die cut foliage pieces around the banner, creating a visual cascade from top left to bottom right on the card. I used a mixture of foam and liquid adhesive to get los of dimension! Finally, I added a few Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems which work nicely with the metallic foliage die cuts.

Well, that’s all for my project today! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!

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

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

Hi friends! Happy STAMPtember! Today, we are having a huge blog party to share tons of inspiration using the fabulous new goodies from the new Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember release. If you’re new to STAMPtember, every year throughout the month of September, Simon Says Stamp celebrates our wonderful hobby by partnering with many of our favorite companies to bring you exclusive, limited edition stamp sets, as well as contests, prizes, special promotions, announcements, and more surprises! We kicked off the STAMPtember celebration with an enormous Simon Says Stamp-branded release (which you can check out HERE). I shared a project in THIS blog post that features my newest illustration, called Sunflower Dreams, but I thought for today’s blog party, I would share a celebration of autumn with some of the beautiful new autumnal products that were released with this STAMPtember release. Let’s get started with the details!

*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, I die cut and embossed a mum from the new Magnificent Mums Embossing Folder using white cardstock, as well as the new Autumn Leaf Branch. I blended Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Cabernet, Terracotta, and Cheeky using blending brushes, creating a unique peach and maroon color palette. I find it challenging to work with the typical red, yellow, and orange autumn colors, so in order to make the autumnal imagery fit my own personal tastes, I try to select colors within the same families but with a bit of a twist. Instead of the typical red, orange, and yellow, I chose maroon, burnt orange, and peachy pink, blending the colors on the white cardstock to create these pretty autumn images.

To accent my embossed and blended die cuts, I also die cut the oak leaves from the new Acorn Bundle from some shimmery chocolate brown cardstock, as well as a few more Autumn Leaf Branch leaves from some shining deep rose colored mirror foil cardstock. For the background, I ran a panel of super pale peach cardstock through my die cutting machine using the previously-released Windswept Leaves embossing folder, which I splattered with some metallic copper watercolors to add additional texture.

For the greeting, I die cut the delicately detailed new Nuvelli Script With Sympathy from some chocolate brown glitter cardstock. I also trimmed a strip of matte pink foil cardstock down upon which to build my bouquet around the detailed sentiment die cut. This strip has the benefit of both stabilizing the super delicate sentiment die cut while also providing a “ground” for the bouquet, as well as a blank canvas for the main focal point images on the textured background. I popped up the strip with some thin foam squares, adhered the sentiment die cut on the strip with liquid adhesive, then began to build my floral arrangement. I adhered the different die cut pieces with a variety of adhesive heights, using double and single layers of foam adhesive as well as liquid adhesive for maximum dimension and interest. Finally, I finished the project off with some Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to add some subtle sparkle to this multi-textured project.

Well, that’s all for my project today! To celebrate the start of this month-long homage to stamping, Simon Says Stamp is having a scavenger hunt throughout today’s blog party. Each participant in the blog party has a unique promotional code so that you can hop through each blog, decide which promotion suits you best, and take advantage of the fabulous freebies available! You can follow the instructions in the graphic at the top of my blog to receive the fabulous Fancy Birthday die set as a free gift with purchase.

You can see all of the participants in the blog party HERE on the Simon Says Stamp Blog. Be sure to check them all out so that you can figure out which free gift is your favorite!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and Happy STAMPtember!! Let the fun begin!