Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

acrylic paint

So Grateful For You in Acrylic Paint with 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 know that we are in the midst of the STAMPtember collaboration fun and all of the surprises, but I have another piece of inspiration to share with you using some new goodies from the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember collection! **Reminder: the limited edition exclusive collaboration sets (check them out HERE) will not be restocked once they sell out, but the STAMPtember collection (check it out HERE) will be restocked if/when they sell out!** I have been so enjoying playing with different mediums on different materials than simply plain white cardstock lately, pairing colored pencils with colored cardstock, acrylic markers with ceramic and canvas, and for today’s project, I decided to pair my acrylic paint markers with a panel of kraft cardstock for a striking and bold project, softened with a lovely and feminine color palette. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

I began my project by stamping several images from Today & Every Day onto two different panels of kraft cardstock using Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink. Similar to when I work with pencils on colored cardstock, I like to use the white pigment ink with the acrylic markers simply because it blends into the opaque paint smoothly and seamlessly. I then used acrylic paint markers to add simple coloring to the stamped images, keeping the coloring very basic to create almost a block print effect.

After I had finished coloring both images with the colorful paint markers, I added some simple white lines to the foliage to add a bit more shape and detail to the simple flowers. Images like those in the Today & Every Day stamp set are great for use with this very simple coloring technique, because their illustration is very open and simplistic, which fits the aesthetic of this basic coloring technique nicely. I die cut one of the images using the coordinating dies, as well as a greeting that I had created with white pigment ink and white embossing powder on the second panel of kraft cardstock.

Before adhering the die cuts to the panel, I used my T-square and a white paint pen to create a very simple frame around the flat painted panel. I love the effect that this easy and quick step has on the finished project; it draws your eye to the focal point without adding any additional bulk or color. I popped up the sentiment with a double layer of thin foam adhesive, then tucked the floral stem behind the greeting with a single layer of foam adhesive. Finally, I added a blush colored bow created with thin ribbon as well as some Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for added sparkle. Super simple card, but the effect is so unusual and, I think, so pretty!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I think that opaque paint on the neutral cardstock is such a fun technique and so striking. I can’t wait to try it again on a new project! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Floral Follies on Canvas with New Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember!

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 have more inspiration using my newest illustration that was released during the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember release (click HERE to see the whole release!), called Floral Follies. I used some of my favorite blooms for this background stamp, including a huge and fluffy dahlia, some pretty tulips, and a generous garden rose. I shared THIS embossed and watercolored artwork project last week, but I couldn’t resist playing with acrylic markers to create a sweet little canvas wall hanging with some no-line painting. Let’s get started with the details!

Whenever I am at the dollar store, I check to see if there are any fun little trinkets or plain crafty items that I can pair with my stamps for some fun creative projects. I found a 3 pack of these 4×6 hardback canvases and knew that I wanted to use it to create some fun artwork! We moved into our newly-renovated forever home a couple of weeks ago (boy am I glad that I don’t have to move anymore!), and so I’ve been brainstorming how to put my artwork to put on the walls in a unique and curated fashion. I knew that these pretty blooms from the Floral Follies set would work beautifully in my daughter’s bathroom!

I stamped the image on the canvas with some gold pigment ink, then because adding color with acrylic paint markers. If you don’t have access to these hardbacked canvases, you can use a basswood panel or even mixed media cardstock that you back with chipboard to create a similar effect! You just want a surface that is sturdy that will stay flat when hanging on the wall. When working with acrylic markers and mixing the colors, I like to blend the mixed colors with a dry paintbrush, creating a gradient and lots of pretty depth and shading without detracting from the intensity of the opaque paint. Such a fun new (to me) medium with which to experiment!

After I had finished coloring the images themselves, I used a gold paint pen to cover the area behind the blooms and add an element of luxury to the panel. The shimmer is so lovely, but so difficult to photograph! Finally, I used a glue gun to add a peachy chiffon ribbon “hanger” to make it easy to hang this painting on the wall. I just love how it turned out!

Well, that’s all for my project today! The Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember company collaboration celebrations are starting today at 12 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Central, and you won’t want to miss these limited edition sets. Be sure to bookmark my blog or become a subscriber so that you don’t miss anything fun! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!!

Simon Says Stamp Always There Blog Hop, Day 2 + Free Gift!

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! It’s Day 2 of the Simon Says Stamp Always There Blog Hop, celebrating the fabulous Always There release! (Click HERE to see the entire collection!) You should have arrived here from Barbara Tarayao, and your next stop is Nichol Spohr. You can check the full hop list over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog. As always, there is a fun freebies to celebrate the release and the blog hop!

This month’s release is an ode to springtime with gorgeous flowers and greenery in stamp, stencil, and die form, and I am so happy that I have designed two different sets for this release: Keep Palm (click HERE) and Blooms of Encouragement (click HERE). I love coloring large scale images, and the flowers in Blooms of Encouragement are some of my favorite flowers that I’ve illustrated. I created this gift set featuring a fun framed painting on glass and a coordinating card made with layered stamped blooms from the new Heirloom Roses. Let’s get started on the details for my projects!

To begin my card, I stamped the gorgeous blooms and foliage from Heirloom Roses using Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Jade, Eucalyptus, Shell, Salmon, Coral. These colors are so beautifully springy to me, with that bright pop of coral juxtaposed with the soft minty greens. I used the coordinating dies to cut the stamped images out, as well as a greeting from Heirloom Roses stamped using Juniper ink on crisp white cardstock.

Behind the blooms and sentiment, I wanted to create some tone-on-tone texture using the new Willowweave Plate. I die cut the plate from white cardstock, as well as a frame using the new A2 Notched Rectangles, nestling two of the nested dies together to create the frame. I added adhesive on the back of the Notched Rectangle die cut, then placed the Willowweave die cut on it, creating a decorative framed backdrop for the flowers. I trimmed off any excess foliage from the Willowweave die cut, then popped up the frame on my A2 card front. The extra texture that these vines of foliage add behind the blooms is just so pretty, I think! I added the blooms and sentiment die cuts over the framed backdrop with more foam adhesive, then added a few Opal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit of sparkle.

For the gift portion of the set, I used the pretty dahlia image from Blooms of Encouragement to create this framed painted artwork. I used a technique that was quite new to me. I started by stamping the bouquet on a piece of cardstock, then placing the glass from a 4×4 inch frame that I purchased from the local dollar store over the stamped image, taping it to the panel with some washi tape. I didn’t want to stamp the image directly to the glass, so I took advantage of the clear glass to use it as a guide to create this pretty painted bloom.

I used acrylic paint markers to add color to the glass, following the lines of the stamped image on the paper. This method of painting is quite forgiving; as long as you start with the parts of the image that are closest to you, mistakes are minimal. The opacity of the markers ensures that the images painted first are the ones that are visible when the painting is flipped over to the proper side. The markers moved like a warm knife through butter over the glass, and I was so impressed with how the painting turned out!

I did use a dry paintbrush to blend some some of the petals a bit, creating a smoother transition between colors for shadows and shape. Once I had completed the painting, I used a hot glue gun to securely place the glass back in the frame, allowing the clear glass to remain safely in the frame without having to add the backer which which the frame was purchased. To protect the painting from potential scratches, I also hot glued a piece of clear acetate on the back, cut to fit the glass frame. Finally, since the frame back that I discarded contained the hanger for the frame, I decided to hot glue some coordinating satin ribbon to the frame. I can’t wait to hang this in my new craft room and am so excited to experiment more with this technique. A simple dollar store frame can be so much more with a little creativity!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! This release is fantastic, right? So gorgeous! And Simon Says Stamp is offering the adorable gift-with-purchase that you see in the graphic at the top of the post with any purchase from the Always There release! (Click HERE to see the entire collection!)

Don’t forget to check out Day 1 of the blog hop, as well! (Click HERE to see the full list from yesterday’s hop!)Your next stop on the hop is Nichol Spohr. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Experiments with Sunflowers, Puff Paint, and Blending Foam with 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 with another project today using one of my newest illustrations for Simon Says Stamp: Make My Heart Flutter! This pretty sunflower swag features a fluttering butterfly preparing to take a rest on the bloom, as well as some lovely sentiments and individual butterfly stamps. I had lots of different ideas brewing for this set that I didn’t have time to create before the release, and this is one of them! This dimensional canvas features an unusual product for me: puff paint! Let’s get started with the details!

To begin my project, I stamped the large bouquet and several individual butterflies using the stamps from Make My Heart Flutter and some gold pigment ink. I allowed the pigment ink to dry a bit, then used white puffy paint to do a technique that I’ve seen on cookie decorating videos on Instagram! The technique, called brush embroidery, involves piping out a thin line of white icing, then using a dry paintbrush to pull the paint down, creating dimension and shadows on the image! It’s such an elegant finished look; it reminds me of antique toile prints. For this project, I used puff paint! Remember those little bottles of paint that you could use to make sweatshirts when you were a kid? I followed the lines of the stamped image and added puff paint over the entire stamped image, working section by section. Before the paint dried, I used a dry paintbrush to pull out out the edges of one side of the line of paint, feathering it out and adding shape, dimension, and interest to the image.

After my puff paint had dried completely, I began painting my 5 by7 inch canvas using a sunny yellow, a deeper gold, and some pearlescent gold acrylic paint. I painted the first layer with the sunny yellow paint, then added a touch of the deep gold paint to make it a bit darker. I used the Rainbow Splash Large Sponge Applicators, which have a nice round top made of super smooth foam, making them perfect for blending this vignette, darkening the edges in a smooth fade from one color to the next! I painted over the top of the puff paint intending to create a completely monochromatic, textured painting, which would allow the brush embroidery to stand out as textural interest, kind of like raised embossing from an embossing folder!

Rather than leaving the texture and background as one color, I decided to use a shimmering gold paint pen to enhance the details of the brush embroidery and add a luxurious, “gilded” feel. I ran over the highest raised part of the lines of the stamped image using that shining gold paint pen, kind of like swiping with a gold ink pad! Once the gilding had dried, I used the Simon Says Stamp Splatter Medium in Gold to add some shimmering gold splatters to the canvas. I think this technique is so fun. I am excited to play with it more!

Well, that’s all for my project today. Do you like doing altered canvas projects? I think it’s so enjoyable to step outside of my usual A2 canvas and try something unusual with different mediums. I encourage you to try it! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp and Tim Holtz Special Surprise!!

Hi friends! I’m popping in quickly to share some super sparkling news with you: Tim Holtz has released a special pair of glittering, limited edition Rock Candy products exclusively at Simon Says Stamp!! (Check out the release HERE!) The classic Rock Candy glitter adds exceptionally beautiful sparkle and shimmer to your projects, and what better way to use glitter than on Christmas ornaments, right? Not only are these glitters incredibly shimmery on their own, they are completely customizable with your favorite color of alcohol ink!! The versatility is crazy good!

I created this icy, glittery, crazy sparkly ornament using some acrylic paint and the Stylized Mandala stencil. I simply painted a brown papier mâche ornament with white acrylic paint, allowed it to dry completely, then placed the Stylized Mandala stencil over the top and used a sponge dauber to add some metallic rose gold paint to perfectly match my white and rose gold Christmas tree! I was pressed for time, but I’d love to experiment with more colorful versions of this. How fun would it have been to do an ombré snowflake or have multiple colors radiating out from the center? I can’t wait to experiment more; those Rainbow Splash Sponge Daubers are perfect for creating a smooth transition for both paint and ink alike!!

Once my paint had dried completely, I used a palette knife to evenly spread Distress Collage Medium over the entire front of the ornament, then sprinkled both Rock Candy Glitter and Rock Candy Chunky Glitter on the wet medium. The sparkle is absolutely unreal… it looks like German glass glitter on vintage ornaments from my Grammy’s Christmas tree!

Once the medium had completely dried, the last step was to add a fluffy, color coordinated bow tied using some gorgeous ribbon from my stash and hot glued to the top of the ornament! So simple, but that glittery sparkle does not need much further embellishment!

Well, that’s all for my project today. If you love glitter and sparkle throughout the holiday season as much as I do, you won’t want to miss out on these limited edition, super-sized Rock Candy Glitter and Rock Candy Chunky Glitters, only available at Simon Says Stamp for a limited time! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!