Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

burst snowflakes

Embossing Folders: Holiday Edition!

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

Hi friends! I am back with another pair of embossing folder projects, this time with a holiday twist. I created these coordinating, super textured cards using some white cardstock, some alcohol markers, and lots of ink blending. While the alcohol marker card would be challenging to mass produce in a timely fashion, the ink blended project would be super simple to mass produce. Embossing folders are one of my favorite ways to add a huge impact to my projects with minimal effort (and cost!), because they create such splendid texture with one pass through your die cutting machine. And bonus: Simon Says Stamp is running a fabulous sale on their embossing folders!! Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

As we approach summer, I always find myself missing the cool temperatures of the winter months, so I thought I would channel those icy temperatures with some cool blues, snowflakes, and splatters. I adore embellishing the patterns on embossed images with ink blending and a white pigment ink pad, but for my birdhouse project, I pulled out some white gouache to help enhance some of those details!

To start my project, I ran a panel of white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Snowy Birdhouse embossing folder. This embossing folder comes with coordinating dies, which can be used to enhance the details on the beautiful birdhouse and foliage, but I decided to simplify things and make it almost a one-layer card. I used Copic markers to add vibrant greens and browns to the card, then blended some Dusk and Dew Pawsitively Saturated Ink around the edges to create a moody blue glow around the birdhouse. I enhanced the snowflakes with some Altenew white gouache to help them stand out from the blended background.

For the greeting, I kept things simple with a peaceful sentiment from Making Spirits Bright, which I heat embossed using Platinum Sparkle embossing powder onto Fog Gray cardstock. I die cut the “noel” using the gorgeous and intricate coordinating die, the detail on which I think makes such a huge impact on such a relatively simple card! I popped up the greeting pieces with some foam adhesive, which I think is a necessity for keeping the sentiment looking even on this super textured background. I added a touch more sparkle with some Fresh Snowfall glitter glue on the snowy roof, door, and base of the birdhouse. It’s difficult to see the added texture in the photo, but it looks so lovely in real life!

My second card would be super easy to mass produce, made to look extra special despite its simplicity with the gorgeous details of the Burst Snowflakes Embossing Folder. These snowflakes have the most delicate little pinpoints that remind me of eyelet lace. I think it’s such a stunning and impactful design! I ran an A2 panel of white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Burst Snowflakes Embossing Folder, then used blending brushes to blend Dusk and Dew Pawsitively Saturated Ink over the entire panel. (You could simplify this card even further by starting with colored cardstock!) Once I had completed the ink blending, I gently swiped my white pigment ink pad over the raised areas, further enhancing those delicate details and making it look even more like eyelet lace, in my opinion! I also splattered some white gouache on the background for a bit extra icy texture.

For the greeting, I heat embossed the large “merry Christmas” from the Making Spirits Bright set (I just adore that unique font!) using Platinum Sparkle embossing powder onto Fog Gray cardstock. I also die cut some extra standalone snowflakes using the dies included with the Burst Snowflakes Embossing Folder and some shimmery silver vellum. I adhered the greeting die cut with the embossed vellum snowflakes using foam adhesive, then added a few sparkling gems for added shine!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Simon Says Stamp is currently running a 25% discount on their Simon-branded embossing folders, so it would be a great time to stock up on some of the stunning holiday embossing folders that also have coordinating dies! Simply add your embossing folders to your cart (click HERE to see them all) and then use code EFLDR at checkout to take 25% off of your embossing folder purchase. I hope that you don’t mind my sharing some holiday inspiration at the beginning of summer vacation… I couldn’t resist playing with the holiday embossing folders! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day

.

Simon Says Stamp Smitten Release-Now Available!

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

Hi friends! Remember how much fun we had with STAMPtember, with surprises and releases all month long? Well, DieCember is shaping up to be just as fun! Tonight, Simon Says Stamp is releasing the Smitten collection, perfect for starting on those Valentine’s Day projects! (Mentally, I’m still in Christmas mode, but the seasons are ever changing in this industry!) I pulled out my red cardstock again to create this incredibly vibrant monochromatic crimson card, featuring tons of die cutting and zero stamping. Let’s get started with the details!

I began my project with lots of die cutting. I started with a die cut heart, cut using a fairly large heart die from the Nested Rounded Hearts die set, which I cut from Simon’s Matte Metallic Red cardstock. I ran this unique heart shape through my die cutting machine using the Burst Snowflakes embossing folder to add some gorgeous texture. I know that the pattern on the embossing folder is technically snowflakes, but they remind me of lacy doilies, which I thought was perfect for a Valentine’s Day card!

Next, I die cut several blooms and foliage using the Aurora Blooms dies. I used a shade of deep ruby red for my flowers, adding some red glitter accents and buds cut using red cardstock from the new Be Mine Glitter Paper Pack. I cut some foliage from deep teal and minty green cardstock, which I think stands out beautifully amongst all of the vivid red. I popped up the embossed heart die on an A2 sized card front, using a slightly lighter shade of cherry red cardstock, then arranged the flowers in a swag around the heart, popping some up with foam tape, adhering others with liquid adhesive for lots of dimension.

For the greeting, I used the brand new Fancy Love You die to die cut a sparkling greeting using the red cardstock in the Be Mine Glitter Pack. I popped it up on the heart die cut using another layer of foam adhesive, creating multiple levels of height. The textural contrast between the matte red foil cardstock and the red glitter cardstock helps to make the greeting even more visible. I added a few red pearls to the center of the flowers, then adhered a smattering of red gems for more sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I have lots more inspiration to share with you, both from the Smitten release as well as more DieCember projects, so be sure to pop back to check them out. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Floral Winter Wishes with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I am having such fun playing with all of the new goodies from the new All the Joy release from Simon Says Stamp. Christmas cards are my favorite kind of cards to create, and the new All the Joy release is filled with some exceptionally beautiful new products. I particularly loved the Winter Wishes set; it reminded me very much of Rifle Paper Company designs with the simplistic, but elegant, nature of the flowers and lots of options for foliage. I have created two cards to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

For both of my projects, I kept the color scheme simple and Christmas-y, with pinky reds and soft greens. When I’m working with layered stamps like this or when I know I will be using a lot of ink colors on one project, I like to pull out my ink cubes to keep things simple and to help me keep track of what colors I used on my projects! For both of today’s projects, I used the Red Berries and Green Trees ink cubes.

To start, I created a background using the stencils from the Ornament Masks set, blending each ornament a different shade of red using blending brushes onto some white Hammermill cardstock. While the stencils were still in place, I stamped the floral patterns using individual stamps from the Winter Wishes set with the Red Berries and Green Trees ink cubes. This was truly magical to see the patterns come alive on the ornaments; removing the stencils was such fun!!

Once I had finished stamping the patterns, I removed the stencils and placed the masks over the top of the blended and stamped ornaments, adhering them with some low-tack tape.I then placed the stencils around the edges of the red ornaments and blended some Sage ink from the Green Trees ink cube set. Keeping the masks in place, I also blended around the edges of the card front using Aspen ink. The tone-on-tone blending for the background reminds me of bokeh; it allows those red ornaments to be the star of the show! I also splattered the background with some shimmering handmade watercolors while the masks were still adhered, then dotted the flower centers with some dark gray shimmer paints, just to add a little extra sparkle to the card front.

Once I had created my background panel, I die cut the A2 Thin Frames from some deep green cardstock and adhered one to my patterned A2 panel using liquid adhesive. I heat embossed a greeting from Winter Wishes using Obsidian pigment ink and adding some White Satin Pearl embossing powder over the top to keep the greeting a little more muted than a stark black sentiment and add a touch of pearlescent shimmer. After die cutting the greeting using the coordinating die, I used the residual ink left on my blending brush to blend around the edges, making the sentiment die cut a coordinating soft green. I popped the greeting up with some foam adhesive, then added a few shimmering gems for one last touch of sparkle!

For my second card, I used the flowers from the Winter Wishes set to accent one of the large greetings included in the set. I stamped lots of flowers, foliage, and berries using the Red Berries and Green Trees ink cubes onto more Hammermill, then die cut them with the coordinating dies. I also stamped a couple of the large greetings from the Winter Wishes set using Obsidian pigment ink and adding some White Satin Pearl embossing powder over the top. I think this pearlescent charcoal is such a lovely and elegant alternative to the usual black sentiment!

After I had stamped and die cut all of the elements from the Winter Wishes set, I trimmed down a panel of white cardstock to 3.75 x 5″ and ran it through my die cut machine using the Burst Snowflakes EF. I thought this snowflake pattern looked beautifully lacy and feminine, the perfect backdrop for the bright flowers and foliage! I popped the embossed panel up with some foam adhesive, then arranged the greeting and floral die cuts, adhering them with both liquid and foam adhesive, finally finishing the project off with some shimmering gems. So simple, but so elegant, I think!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I can’t wait to share more of my projects from the new All the Joy release with you. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!