Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

bestie

New Release: Simon Says Stamp Be Bold!

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

Hi friends! The new Simon Says Stamp Be Bold release is now live, and boy is it full of good stuff!! Flowers, ice cream, graphic stencils, foils, new inks…. there are SO many fun new goodies.

Can I let you in on a secret? Stencils, in my opinion, are one of the best ways to get a great bang for your buck. You can use them in so many different techniques, from simple blending to spritzing with shimmer sprays to mixed media pastes, or, as I’ve done today, spreading Decofoil Gel on one layer to be used with toner foils. This was the first time that I’ve used Decofoil Gel, and it most certainly won’t be the last!! I used this unique product with the brand new Pawsitively Saturated Ink Trio 28 and the Tiled Art stencil to create this pair of psychedelic projects. Let’s get started with the details!

To start, I cut down a panel of white cardstock to 6″ x 6″ so that I could blend the entirety of the stenciled images. I then used blending brushes with the Pawsitively Saturated Ink Trio 28 to blend the bottom three layers of the Tiled Art layering stencil set. For the top stencil layer with the smallest decorative square images, I spread the Decofoil Gel using a palette knife, then allowed it to dry completely. The gel is opaque when first applied, but after it dries, it should be completely translucent. Once the gel had dried completely (this took around an hour), you can run it through your laminator or Minc machine with your choice of foil. I chose to use the brand new Copper Simon DecoFoil to coordinate with the lush orange inks that I used for my stenciled background.

After I had foiled the last layer of the stenciled background, I trimmed the 6×6 panel down into two sections, one just wide enough to accomodate the tag die that I planned to use for my bookmark, leaving me with a fairly wide strip of shining, foil-patterned paper that I could use for a card! I loved that this ink trio included not only a vivid burnt orange color, but also a beautiful coral and a deep, intense red. I chose to enhance that Brick ink color with some coordinating red glitter paper. I trimmed down some strips of red glitter cardstock and adhered them to either side of my patterned panel, allowing them to peek out from the long sides of the piece. I mounted that panel to a sheet of coordinating A2 deep red cardstock, popping it up with foam adhesive for extra interest. I think the deep red tones help to calm the vibrant orange and keep it from looking too “groovy” haha!

After I had created my card base, I worked on my sentiment. I kept things very simple so as not to detract from the fun patterned background, so I die cut the large Bestie die from some more of that shimmering red glitter paper, backing it with the shadow layer cut from vellum. I added a fabulous greeting from the new Airy Greetings stamp set, heat embossing it using copper embossing powder, then die cutting it with the coordinating die. I popped both die cut greetings up with more foam adhesive to help them pop even more.

For the bookmark, I used the Large Rounded Tag die to die cut a section from the leftover stenciled strip. To create a tassel, I simply added a loop of burnt orange velvet from the Tim Holtz warm velvet trims. Between the bright orange color palette and the shiny foil, this would be difficult bookmark to lose!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I hope you’ll take a peek at the new Be Bold release… I have so many more fun things to share with you using these marvelous new products. And be sure to stop by later this week for the blog hop with tons and tons of inspiration! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Springtime Gift Ensemble with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I am popping in to share this sweet springy gift ensemble created using a bunch of goodies from Simon Says Stamp. I love a good floral layering stamp set, and the beautiful, painterly blooms in the Fresh Air Flowers set creates such lovely, unique flora that I just went crazy stamping a ton of blooms, leaving me with enough floral die cuts to create not just a card, but also a sweet coordinating gift bag! Let’s get started on the details for my projects.

To start my project, I used my MISTI to stamp the florals from Fresh Air Flowers with bunches of inks from Simon Says Stamp, including Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Butter, Zest, Sherbet, Cantaloupe, Melon, Tidepool, Tropic and Ballet, as well as Princess Rainbow Splash Inks. I wanted to create some super delicate pastel blooms, but the Pawsitively Saturated inks are super vivid and concentrated, so I used an oldie-but-goodie trick for stretching your ink colors to create a larger color gradient: stamping off. I simply inked up my stamp as normal, then stamped the image off on a piece of scrap paper, then stamped it again on my good cardstock, creating a very pale version of the same color!

The first layer of stamped-off color was very pale, so I used my MISTI to stamp the first layer of each image at 2-3 times, building up that super pale pastel so that it had a little more intensity while still staying significantly lighter than the full-strength version. I used the full-strength version on my second layer of each flower, then moved on to the next darkest color in the ink family for my darkest layer. All of the flowers, except the large peach daisy, were stamped with only two shades of ink! The peach daisy had four layers, so I used all three colors in Ink Trio 9.

After stamping and die cutting all of my stamped flowers from Fresh Air Flowers, I began assembling the floral arrangement on the card front so that I knew how many flowers I had left to use on the gift bag. I wanted to create a super springy “flower basket,” so I trimmed down a panel of white cardstock and ran it through my die cutting machine using the Woven Embossing Folder. I adhered this embossed panel in the center of my A2 card front using strong double sided tape.

I find that “framing” my focal point always adds such classy interest to the my floral arrangements, so I die cut a white A2 Thin Frame and popped it up on my woven card front using 3D Foam Strips, which made it super easy to add this delicate frame to my card front! I arranged my pastel flower garden on the card front, adhering all of the elements with foam squares. For the greeting, I die cut a white Bestie die and adhered it along the bottom of the frame using tiny pieces of foam tape. I also created a custom embossed sentiment using a greeting from Fresh Air Flowers, stamping it first with Cantaloupe ink, then again with embossing ink, and heat embossing with pearlescent embossing powder. I popped up the greeting die cut with a double layer of foam tape, then added a few iridescent peach gems for sparkle!

For the coordinating gift bag, I die cut the Gift Bag Die twice from white cardstock, (love that it only takes one sheet of cardstock to create this adorable gift bag!) then used my T-square to measure the large front panel and cut a piece of cardstock down to the same size. I nestled this piece into the coordinating spot on the Gift Bag Die, then ran the panel through my die cut machine in order to create the scalloped top edge. I finally ran this extra panel through my die cut machine with the Woven Embossing Folder to create that textured background, then assembled the bag using some super sticky double sided tape.

After assembling my gift bag, I added the leftover peach floral die cuts with some foam adhesive. I created another sentiment (perfect for a gift bag!) using Cantaloupe ink and white pearl embossing powder and tucked it amongst the flowers, finally embellishing the bag with a white faux silk bow and some more peach gems!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! One of my favorite parts about stamping is being able to create coordinating card and gift ensembles… I just love it when everything matches! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Stencils and Masks for Valentine’s Day with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I am back today with a pair of cards that almost make you want to get your sunglasses out! I love that the Hearts in a Heart stencil set has both a heart stencil and mask, in addition to the layering stencils that create the heart pattern inside the heart. Having the option to blend both inside the heart and around the edges of the heart gives you so many ways to use this stencil set! I wanted to showcase two uses today, so let’s get started with the details!

For both of my cards today, I used lots of pretty inks from the Pawsitively Saturated Ink line: Melon, Sherbet, Sweets, Taffy, and Rose. I wanted to use traditional pinks that screamed “Valentine’s Day,” but since I intended these to be more for “Galentine’s Day,” I thought that the peach and orange inks would make them super unique and just slightly different from the typical Valentine colors!

For my first card, I began by placing the solid heart mask from the Hearts in a Heart stencil on my white card front, adhering it with some light-tack tape that I’d folded over. I then used a blending brush to bledn Taffy ink around the masked heart, covering the entire background of a white A2 card front. I removed the mask (it’s like magic!) and replaced it with the different layered patterned stencils, then used Pawsitively Saturated Inks: Melon, Sherbet, Sweets, Taffy, and Rose to blend some vibrant hearts-within-the-heart, leaving a white outline around the pattern to make it stand out! I also spritzed some Hero Arts Iridescent White shimmer spray over the entirety of the card front, adding some subtle shimmer to the background before adding my sentiment.

For the greeting, I die cut the Big XOXO die from the dark pink glitter paper in the Be Mine Glitter Pack. I adhered just one of the “XO” pairs over the stenciled patterned heart using foam squares to add extra dimension. To enhance the greeting, I used one of the new Bestie Sentiment Strips to add a little “hey bestie hey!” over the top of my glittery “XO.” I popped the sentiment strip up with a double layer of foam adhesive so that it had even more height and making it extra visible amongst the busy, colorful background. Finally, I added a few coordinating peach gems from my stash.

For my second card, I put to use both the solid mask and the outline stencil from the Hearts in a Heart stencil set. I first placed the stencil in the center of my A2 card front, then used blending brushes to blend Melon, Sherbet, Sweets, and Rose ink in the center of my card front, creating a unique sunset ombré heart. I removed the stencil and replaced it with the solid heart mask, then blended Rose ink around the ombré heart, covering the entire background of my A2 card front. While the mask was still in place, I spritzed some Winterberry Mica Stain from Tim Holtz to add some shimmer to my otherwise-flat background!

While I was waiting for my background panel to dry, I die cut the new Hugs & Kisses die from some pink glitter paper found in the Be Mine Glitter Pack. This particular pink has several different shades of pink, yellow, and peach glitter, which helped it coordinate beautifully with the overall color palette for my project! I also trimmed down another tiny sentiment strip from the Bestie Sentiment Strips, popping both the die cut greeting and the sentiment strip up with some foam squares in the center of my ombré heart. A smattering of peachy gems finished the project off!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I am hard at work creating with the new release from Simon Says Stamp, so be on the lookout for some fabulous new goodies coming your way next week! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp Smitten & Sweetheart Blog Hop- Day 2!

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

Hi friends! Welcome to Day 2 of the Simon Says Stamp Smitten & Sweetheart blog hop! You should have arrived here from Debby Hughes and your next stop is Lisa Addesa. This hop is a special one, celebrating the release for both last month’s Smitten release and this month’s Sweetheart release! For today’s hop, I’ve created two different projects using products from both releases. I love adding color to white standalone die cuts using Copic markers, and the Smitten release and this month’s Sweetheart release have some lovely new additions to that category. I created a pair of light, springy projects using lots of white cardstock, some new dies, and my Copic markers. Let’s get started with the details!

After the super intense, jewel-toned projects that I created for Christmas, I wanted to create something a bit lighter and more spring-like, so I pulled out the new Lady’s Mantle, Grand Corner Leaves, Etched Layered Daisy, and Charming Daisy dies.

For my first card, I die cut the Lady’s Mantle, Grand Corner Leaves dies, and Etched Layered Daisy die from Hammermill white cardstock. Before I assembled everything, I used Copic markers to add soft pastel colors to the different images, using the debossed lines as guides for where to add extra shading and depth. The colors that I selected for the daisy did not work as nicely with the leaves as I anticipated, so instead of redoing the entire thing, I simply selected a pale RV Copic marker and “glazed” all of the petals. Doing this allowed me to quickly change the overall look of the flower to be a bit brighter while still putting to use the shadows that I created previously.

After I had finished coloring and assembling the die cuts, I placed the new Heart Blooms stencil over a white A2 card front, then used a blending brush to lightly blend Dew Pawsitively Saturated Ink over the top. This light pool color coordinates nicely with the foliage and keeps things cohesive throughout the card. I arranged the flowers and foliage on the card front, then popped them up with foam squares. For the greeting, I trimmed down a sentiment from the new Bestie sentiment cards and popped it up with more foam adhesive, creating a double layer of foam tape for extra height. Finally, I topped everything off with some sparkling pale mint gems from my stash!

My second card features a new-to-me technique, creating an embellished window card using just die cuts! I started the project by die cutting the new Charming Daisy three times from Hammermill white cardstock, as well as the foliage sprigs from the Etched Meadow Flower die set. I used Copic markers in light shades of mauve, jade, and celadon to add color to the white die cuts.

To create the background for my die cut images, I die cut a window from the center of an A2 card front using one of the Nested Domed Arches. I wanted to arrange the flowers around the window and leave the area completely open, so I needed a wider sentiment that would span the width of the window opening. I cut the new Bestie sentiment die, cutting the background layer from vellum, then nestled both dies together on some white cardstock and ran it through my die cut machine, creating a sentiment with the negative space. I adhered this outline to the background vellum piece, which created a subtly bold die cut sentiment.

I arranged the flowers, sentiment die cut, and sentiment strip from the new Bestie sentiment cards around the opening, using the sentiment as a “bridge” between the flowers on left and right. I adhered all of the pieces using a combination of liquid and foam adhesive, adding tons of dimension and height to this interesting card! The final touch was to add a few more coordinating pale minty green gems.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! To celebrate this new release, Simon Says Stamp is offering a free gift with purchase: follow the instructions on the graphic at the top of the post, then enter code HTZ24 with your followers so that you can receive the Hearts and Stars stencil free with purchase!

Simon Says Stamp is also generously sponsoring a $25 coupon for each blog to be chosen from comments left along the hop! Simply leave a comment on each blog hop stop to be entered to win! The winners will be posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday the 17th of January. Winners can email Simon Says Stamp to claim his/her prize 🙂

Your next stop is Lisa Addesa, or you can start at the beginning of the hop over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog. (While you’re there, you can check out Day 1 of the hop… a veritable wealth of inspiration throughout!) Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!