Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

budding branches

Simon Says Stamp Sending Cheer Blog Hop- Day 2 + Freebie + Giveaway!

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 so excited to be hopping along with my friends at Simon Says Stamp to celebrate their new Sending Cheer Release! (Click HERE to see everything!) You should have arrived here from Nina-Marie Trapani and your next stop is Sandi MacIver. You can also start at the beginning at the Simon Says Stamp Blog!

I just love Christmas crafting. I love the colors, the excuse to use excessive sparkle and shine, the imagery, the textures… I can’t get enough. My love of Christmas meshes nicely with my love of coordinated gift sets, and it is with that in mind that I created this festive set of tags and a matching holiday card using new (and old!) dies. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

The new Beautiful Bows embossing folder with coordinating dies was an immediate favorite of mine from this release. I absolutely love the incredible detail and texture that the embossing folder provides, and the option to create die cut embossed bows just adds to the versatility of this product! Now, embossing on regular cardstock is gorgeous, but embossing on foil cardstock is absolute magic. I used Simon Says Stamp’s Matte Red Metallic cardstock with the Beautiful Bows folder and dies and it is *perfection* for Christmas! I created a detailed and sparkling holiday card filled with texture and layers, then created two very simple-but-effective tags that coordinate perfectly with the card!

For the card, I die cut some sparkling silver glitter bells using the new Bells dies, which come in multiple sizes and are just simple enough that you can embellish without restraint! I created a background with the timeless Thread Plaid embossing folder and Simon Says Stamp’s Fog cardstock, embellished with some strips of red glitter and silver foil cardstock at the bottom. I created a dimensional die cut greeting with the spectacular Timeless Merry Christmas die, cutting twice from plain white cardstock and adding a top layer of red glitter cardstock to give it lots of dimension and sparkle. I arranged the bells and the die cut red foil Beautiful Bows, then filled out the arrangement with matte silver foil Budding Branches die cuts. Multiple textures of specialty paper helps add to the luxury of the card! I finished the card off by adding bejeweled “berries” to the foliage with Cherry Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. I just love how this card turned out, and it would look so pretty in so many different color ways!!

For the tags, I took advantage of the variety of sizes included with the new Bells die set and paired them with more of the gorgeous embossed, die cut red foil Beautiful Bows. I die cut both sizes of bells from silver glitter cardstock, as well as a small tag from the previously-released Rounded Tags die set, cut from Simon Says Stamp’s Lipstick Red cardstock. I layered the bows atop the silver glitter bells; I think the pop of shiny red looks wonderful against the sparkling silver glitter cardstock!

To create the folded tag for the larger silver bell, I used a folded piece of cardstock and placed the same size Bells die on it, making sure that the fold was below the top of the bell so that the die created a shaped card! I adhered the silver glitter bell to the folded tag with liquid adhesive and added the smaller silver glitter bell and bow to the red tag with foam adhesive. Finally, I added some silver cord to allow for easy application to a holiday gift! These tags are simple, but they are so very festive and, I think, very elegant, like something from an upscale stationery store!

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

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon to one lucky winner from every stop on the hop! The winners will be selected from each blog’s comment section. Winners will be selected and posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog!

On top of the giveaway, Simon Says Stamp is also running a special freebie! You can receive the not-yet-released Hedge Hugs stamp set for free with any purchase from the Sending Cheer collection! (Click HERE!) No code necessary; the free set will be added to your cart automatically with any purchase from Sending Cheer!

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

New Simon Says Stamp And Everything Nice Release-Now Available!

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

Hi friends! Tonight, Simon Says Stamp has released their newest collection, called And Everything Nice Release (click HERE to see the entire release!), filled to the brim with beautiful holiday stamps, dies, stencils, and embossing folders, as well as gorgeous new ink shades for the Pawsitively Saturated Ink line! I never tire of working with holiday product; I find it so inspiring, especially when the products can be used in tons of different techniques and with numerous mediums. I love a good pink moment when it comes to Christmas, and I find that pairing holiday imagery with lots of shimmer and shine keeps even the most unique color palette festive. 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, I used blending brushes to blend the brand new Pawsitively Saturated Ink Trio 36 on a panel of white A2 cardstock, covering the entirety of the cardstock with the lightest shade, then blending around the edges with the medium shade quite deep into the card front, then blending the darkest shade very lightly around the edges of the panel, creating a gorgeous pinky coral halo effect! I then ran the blended panel through my die cutting machine using the new Leafy Double Garland embossing folder, which adds the most beautiful botanical holiday background.

To embellish the embossed background, I swiped the Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink Pad over the raised areas, then used sparkly glitter watercolors to enhance the foliage and berries, finally splattering the entire card front with the sparkling, iridescent watercolors. I think the leaves and berries look like they’ve been frosted with ice!

For the greeting, I die cut the new Bouncy Happy Holidays, cutting the detail layer from some delightful iridescent pink mirror foil cardstock that I had in my stash, then cutting the solid shadow layer from vellum, adhering the detail layer to the vellum with liquid adhesive. This die cut greeting is such a generous size; it’s basically a focal point on its own!

I adhered the die cut sentiment to the card front with thin strips of foam adhesive, then die cut the older Budding Branches using pearlescent white cardstock. I tucked the branches of foliage behind the sentiment die cut, adhering them with foam tape as well, then added a few Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to act as berries. Finally, I tucked a peachy pink twine bow amongst the larger berry branch for one last touch of texture!

Well, that’s all for my project today! The And Everything Nice release has so many totally gorgeous products that are sure to jumpstart your holiday crafting. Be sure to check out the release page HERE. And don’t forget the fabulous blog hops happening on Friday and Saturday, filled with inspiration and prizes! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Christmas In July: Icy Birdhouse with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I am back with another holiday project for my Christmas In July series, this time featuring some new, non-holiday products paired with a few older holiday products to create this icy holiday card. I love a good birdhouse die; there are so many ways to customize it: dress it up, dress it down, make it the focal point or a supporting player, add texture or sparkle… it’s really a great product to have in your stash! I used the new Cozy Birdhouse die to create this wintry scene. 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 the Jolly Birdie, Cozy Birdhouse, and Snowflake Burst Pinpoint Plate from white Hammermill cardstock. Before layering the pieces for the bird and bird house, I decided to use two pale aqua Copic markers to add some icy aqua to the accents on the bird house and create a layered ombré birdie. I love that the Jolly Birdie and Cozy Birdhouse’s sizes work so beautifully together! The proportions are just perfect! Once I had finished adding color to the images, I adhered the different layers together with liquid adhesive.

Before I began assembling my card, I wanted to create a little nest of holiday greenery from two different kinds of white specialty cardstock. I pulled out some white glitter cardstock as well as some iridescent white foil cardstock to die cut the Branching Corner Holly and Budding Branches holiday foliage dies. When working with an almost-monochromatic card like this, I find it essential to add many elements of texture to the project to keep things visually interesting. One of my secrets to adding texture is to add specialty papers, whether it’s glitter cardstock, vellum, pearlescent papers, or shining foil papers in my chosen color palette. It keeps things interesting without adding any additional colors to my color palette!

Once I had completed cutting all of the die cuts, I used a combination of thin and thick adhesive squares as well as liquid adhesive to adhere all of the die cut pieces on my Snowflake Burst Pinpoint cover plate die cut. (Another element of texture!) I added a simple Happy Holidays sentiment from Peaceful Trees, stamped with silver metallic pigment ink and die cut with the coordinating die. Finally, I added one last element of sparkle with some Opal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems.

Well, that’s all for my project today! I love a good white-on-white project with a pop of color, don’t you? This card is so sparkly in real life; it’s so hard to capture that sparkle in photos!! I think the sparkle is just perfect for the holidays! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp DieCember Blog Party + Fabulous Freebie!

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

Hi friends! So remember the crazy amount of fun we had in STAMPtember? Well, we’re about to turn our attention to that other, incredibly versatile and wonderful product that we all love to use in our craft rooms: dies! Yes, it’s time for the marvelous DieCember release with Simon Says Stamp, in which we celebrate all things dies and die cutting! I love stamping, of course, which inevitably led to die cutting with coordinating dies for stamped images, but I have grown to love standalone dies almost as much as I adore stamping. You can use standalone dies in so many ways and with so many techniques; they’re wonderful for creating vibrant, color-saturated projects when paired with brightly colored cardstock, but I have also been loving pairing them with felt lately to create a completely different and gorgeously textured finished product. I have a pair of projects to share with you today using some of the marvelous new products from the Simon Says Stamp DieCember release, so let’s get started with the details!

I have always had a special place within my heart for cardinals being from St. Louis, and I have really loved seeing them out in my yard especially since I lost both of my grandparents. I am sure you’ve heard that “cardinals are visitors from heaven,” so I always like to think of them as my Grammy and Papa stopping by to say hi. When I saw the beautiful new Winter Cardinal dies, I knew that I wanted to use it straightaway. I recently have become obsessed with using felt to create projects that will last a little longer than just a card made of paper, so I pulled out some beautiful shades of red felt and a few stitching supplies, as well as some coordinating cardstock to create a beautiful ornament and matching card.

To start, I die cut the different layers of the Winter Cardinal from some cherry red and deep maroon felt, adding accents of black and pale yellow for the face on the cardinal. My stitching skills are still something upon which I am working, so I used felt glue to adhere the layers together to create a lovely layered cardinal. I also used glue to attach a shimmering Gunmetal Pawsitively Dazzling Gem for the cardinal’s eye.

To create the ornament, I filled a small embroidery hoop with navy blue fabric. I used some sage green felt from my stash to die cut the new Whirl Bay Leaves die, then adhered it to the navy blue fabric in my embroidery hoop using more felt glue. I nestled the cardinal amongst the leafy branch with the fabric glue, then used a needle and thread to add some sequins and beads to the little scene, tying in some more red to the color palette and adding a bit of shine and sparkle. Finally, I added a coordinating sage green velvet bow with my glue gun and a sage green velvet loop to be able to hang the ornament on the Christmas tree! This is going to be a perfect gift for my mom as she recovers from a shattered ankle injury; she needs some encouragement right now, and my grandparents (her parents) always helped to give her the support that she needed.

To create the matching card, I die cut the Winter Cardinal again, this time from some incredibly vivid red cardstock. I think that this shade of red perfectly matches the vibrant crimson of the real cardinals that I just saw in abundance today; they really stand out so beautifully amongst the dreary winter landscape! I also die cut the new Whirl Bay Leaves die twice from some of the new Simon Says Stamp Sage cardstock. (The new cardstock colors are absolutely luscious and coordinate so beautifully with the Pawsitively Saturated Inks! So thick and luxurious and super smooth!) To add a bit of variety to my foliage bouquet, I die cut the older Budding Branches die from some deep green glitter cardstock from the Altenew Shimmering Shores Glitter cardstock pack. The combination of large and small leaves really helps make a full and lush “bouquet” of foliage amongst which I can nestle my regal cardinal!

After I had die cut all of the different components for my card, I used a blending brush to blend Night Pawsitively Saturated Ink on an A2 panel of Lawn Fawn Blue Jay cardstock, helping to add some interest behind my foliage bouquet. Before adhering my die cuts, I also splattered the blended background with some gold watercolor to add some shimmer to the card, as well as to mimic the tiny golden beads that I sewed amongst the leaves of my ornament. For the greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from Peaceful Trees onto some more Blue Jay cardstock using Hero Arts Iridescent Gold Embossing Powder. I love how shimmery this gold embossing powder is; it’s so unique and full of shine, especially compared to other gold embossing powders. I adhered the die cut sentiments to the little scene, tucking a golden thread bow beneath it and adding a few iridescent red “berries” to the berry stems for added sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. To celebrate the start of DieCember, Simon Says Stamp is giving you a fabulous freebie! Simply follow the instructions on the graphic at the top of this post to receive the truly elegant Fancy Ornaments embossing folder, which is a $24.99 value. The addition of the coordinating die really makes this free gift an excellent and versatile addition to your craft room…. and who doesn’t love a freebie?

We aren’t doing a traditional blog hop today, but instead having a blog party. You can check out the wealth of inspiration using the excellent new DieCember release HERE on the Simon Says Stamp blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!