Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

colored pencil

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Collaboration: Gina K. Designs!

Hello friends! I am back with another absolutely gorgeous Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Collaboration project today. We are working with one of those superstar brands today: Gina K. Designs! I’ve had the opportunity to meet and become friends with Gina over the years, and she is just as lovely, wise, and warm in person as she is on her YouTube channel. Life’s Best Moments, the absolutely stunning exclusive, limited edition STAMPtember collaboration suite, has so many fantastic options available that fit your personal brand of creativity. Here’s a sneak peek at the set and accessories:

Stamps, stencils, dies, and even Poly-Glaze sheets…. can you even ask for anything better?? I’m a girl who loves options, never knowing which direction or mediums my fingers will reach for on a given day, and this gorgeous suite of products offers so. many. options. Click HERE to see the full suite of Life’s Best Moments products as a bundle, HERE for the stamps, dies, and stencils, or click HERE to see just the stamps and dies!

I created a set of two monochromatic cards using the stamps, dies, and stencils from Life’s Best Moments today, with lots of warm pinky peach ink blending with Ballerina, Carnation, and Rhubarb Pawsitively Saturated Inks and a couple of fun techniques. Let’s get started on the details for my projects!

To begin, I used Shading Brushes to blend Ballerina, Carnation, and Rhubarb Pawsitively Saturated Inks on two A2 panels of white cardstock. I set one aside, then used Carnation ink to stamp a lovely floral pattern from Life’s Best Moments directly on top of the blended background. The lightly blended panel allows the full-strength Carnation ink to show up beautifully without overpowering the pretty blending! After I had stamped my pattern, I used colored pencils to add peachy-pink coloring to the blooms themselves, leaving the foliage untouched. I love how the variation in the blended background still peeks through the petals and adds interest and color to the flowers as well as the foliage! I lightly splattered the panel with some iridescent watercolors for a bit of sparkling texture, then I stamped one of the greetings from Life’s Best Moments onto some more white cardstock using Rhubarb ink, then again with embossing ink, and added some iridescent embossing powder over the top to add subtle shimmer. I die cut the sentiment with it’s coordinating die, then used residual ink from my brushes to add some light blending over the top. I tucked the greeting amongst the flowers with some foam adhesive and added a blush twine bow and some Bubblegum Pawsitively Dazzling Gems.

For my second project, I used the remaining blended panel, this time stamping the large floral bouquet from Life’s Best Moments in the center with more Carnation ink. I then used the coordinating layering stencils to add color to the blooms and foliage using the same ink colors that were used on the card front itself. Once I had finished blending, I used the coordinating die to die cut the finished image. I also splattered the remaining negative space panel with more iridescent watercolors for added texture and shimmer.

For the greeting, I repeated the process from the first card, stamping a sentiment from Life’s Best Moments using Rhubarb ink and covering it with iridescent embossing powder for added shimmer. After die cutting the greeting with it’s coordinating die, I again blended the residual ink from the blending brushes over the top of the embossed sentiment, so that each element would color coordinate for a striking effect. I placed the blended and splattered negative space panel on my card front, then used thin foam adhesive squares to pop the floral die cut up within the die cut opening, I used another layer of foam adhesive to add the greeting, tucking it amongst the foliage and flowers, and finally finishing everything off with some more Bubblegum Pawsitively Dazzling Gems and a twine bow.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Gina K’s STAMPtember collaboration sets always sell out super quickly, so don’t wait to purchase… once it’s gone, it’s gone for good! Upcoming collaboration sets are all listed HERE (though the photos are not updated until the set is revealed each day!) and you can add your email address to the “notify me” box for those sets that you know you will want so you can be sure to not miss out. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy STAMPtember!

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Blog Party!

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! Time to CELEBRATE all things STAMPtember with a massive and inspirational Blog Party!! Throughout STAMPtember® we will be celebrating every day posting exclusive collaborations, contests, prizes, special promotions, announcements, and more surprises on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! Today, we are skipping the traditional release blog hop in lieu of a blog party that features tons and tons of inspiration and a scavenger hunt of free gifts! You can see all of the participants in the blog party by clicking HERE. I have a pair of projects featuring some fabulous new goodies from the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember release (click HERE!). I immediately fell in love with the whimsical and sweet autumnal and Halloween imagery from the new Haunted Garden stamp set and knew that I had to pull out all of the stops with my coloring to create some special and fun pieces to share with you. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

I find that simple images like these from the Haunted Garden set are truly perfect for practicing my artistry. There are just few enough details that I can dig in to the shading and make the shape and shadow decisions for myself instead of relying on the lines within the stamp set to do it for me! I created this sweet little Halloween trinket dish and a coordinating card (how sweet would these be as a little gift for a friend?) with acrylic paint markers and colored pencils!

I don’t typically go for “spooky” at Halloween… life is scary enough without adding pretend blood and gore! The sweet little ghost image, however, is so precious and reminds me of an episode of Peg + Cat that my big kids used to watch when they were toddlers. I paid homage to that memory with this little ceramic trinket dish, stamping the image and pretty Boo! sentiment with gold pigment ink directly onto the unglazed ceramic.

I used acrylic paint markers to do some fun coloring on the dish, blending the colors with a dry paintbrush to add extra depth to the shadows. I also added lots of gold accents and edged the dish with gold for a little added luxury. I finished the dish off with some sealant to protect the painting. Wouldn’t this just look so cute on a coffee table or countertop?

The card features another of the images from the Haunted Garden set, this time stamped on cardstock to create this warm and elegant all-occasion card. I stamped the image and greeting using white pigment ink on some lovely chestnut brown cardstock. The white ink shows up beautifully on the colored cardstock and also blends into the colored pencil coloring very smoothly. I used colored pencils in deep shades of orange and olive, adding a pop of bright coral for the blooms, and I am truly obsessed with how vibrant the pencil colors are on the deep brown cardstock!

Once I had finished coloring the pumpkin and accents, I used a gold paint pen to cover the sentiment stamp. It’s a bit difficult to photograph, but the shine is so lovely in person! I also used a new product to embellish the penciled panel, adding an embossed decorative edge using the Embossed Card Edges die set. I love the subtle textured detail that this adds to the card front! I cut a piece of gold foil cardstock to fit the bottom of the card base that also matched my gold sentiment, then used liquid adhesive to adhere the penciled portion above it, overlapping the gold with brown. Finally, I added a few Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems at the point of the embellished bracket edge!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I am so thrilled with how these came out. The possibilities are endless with the super sweet Haunted Garden stamp set!

On each stop of the Blog Party today, a unique gift with purchase code can be found within the graphic. On the graphic at the top of my blog post, you can see the fabulous embossing folder/die combo that you can receive absolutely free with a $100 purchase! Simply follow the instructions on the graphic and enter the code BBEFD at checkout to receive your free gift. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and be sure to check out the Simon Says Stamp blog to see all of the other participants in today’s Blog Party. Happy STAMPtember!!

Man Card Monday: Birthday Chalkboard 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! Happy Monday! Or should I say…. Happy Man Card Monday!! I have another pencil card to share with you, this time with a more masculine color palette and a chalkboard feel. (Remember the chalkboard trend from…. several years ago? I am outing myself with that one! My first published projected was a chalkboard wine bottle tag!) I pulled together some fun birthday-themed, gender-neutral products to create this festive card with pops of vibrant pencil coloring. Let’s get started on the details!

The main elements of this card come from the older Best Year Yet stamp and die set. This is such a great set, filled with perfect birthday imagery and tons of fabulous sentiments. Truly jam-packed and a requirement for your stash if you make many birthday cards! I chose to do some no-line coloring on Simon Says Stamp Slate cardstock, so I stamped several of the images on the deep gray cardstock using Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink and used colored pencils to color them all in a vibrant cobalt, lime, and aqua color palette. The white pigment ink lines blend nicely into the vibrant pencil coloring! I used a white paint pen to add some additional details to the wrapping paper, balloon strings, candle, etc to help make them extra special.

After I had finished coloring the main focal point elements, I used the same white pigment ink to stamp the Scripty Birthday Background on an A2 panel of Slate cardstock. I think it is just fabulous how beautifully that white ink pops on the deep gray. Such a great white ink if you don’t already have one! (and maybe even if you do.) I wanted to ground my focal point images and sentiment a bit, as well as provide a bit of visual rest from the busy background, so I used a blending brush that I’ve dedicated to white pigment ink to blend some white pigment ink directly over the stamped background. I also splattered the entire background with some Simon Says Stamp White Splatter Paint to help add to the masculine (i.e.-mixed media) aesthetic!

For the greeting, I stamped two different sentiments from the Best Year Yet stamp set using white pigment ink again on Slate cardstock, then sprinkled white embossing powder over the top while the ink was still wet and heated it. This combination of white pigment ink and white embossing powder really makes that white sentiment nice and crisp! I die cut the sentiments with their coordinating dies, then arranged all of the die cut elements on my stamped, blended, and splattered card front, adhering everything with thin foam adhesive squares. Finally, I added a few Royal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit more blue and a bit more sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! This card could easily be adapted to a more feminine color palette… how pretty would this look in shades of magenta and purple instead of blues and greens? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Colored Pencil Daisy Frame with New 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 today with another project featuring my latest design for Simon Says Stamp: Daisy Frame! This pretty stamp set was released during the Simon Says Stamp Every Happiness release (click HERE to check out the entire release!), and it features two different daisy arrangements with lots of gorgeous sentiments, and of course you can also purchase fantastically detailed dies and even simple coloring stencils! After creating THIS card in which I enhanced the stenciled images with some light colored pencil shading, I chose to put my colored pencils to use again on their own with this inlaid project. Let’s get started with the details on how I created this dramatic thinking of you card!

To begin, I placed the large frame die from the Daisy Frame product suite in the (approximate) center of an A2 card front created using Midnight Green Simon Says Stamp cardstock. I reserved the positive die cut for another project, then placed a clean A2 card front in the same Midnight Green cardstock in my MISTI and placed the negative die cut leftover over the top, lining up both pieces of cardstock in the corner of my MISTI. I then placed the coordinating daisy frame stamp from Daisy Frame within the negative die cut and closed the lid of my MISTI. This technique allows me to place the stamped image exactly in the center of the die cut window!

After I had placed my stamp in the proper spot, I stamped the image onto that deep green cardstock using Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink. I find that stamping the images on which I intend to color using colored pencils onto dark cardstock with the White Pigment Ink works a treat; the white pigment ink sits atop the cardstock rather than sinking down into it like a dye ink, so the lines get reabsorbed into the opaque colored pencil coloring! I used colored pencils in shades of coral and cool jungle green to color this detailed image with a no-line coloring style, and you can see in the photos how nicely that white pigment ink is absorbed into the colored pencil coloring, making it look like I drew this wreath by hand! (Sneaky, sneaky!)

After I had finished coloring the image, I placed the negative die cut frame over the top, centering it over the stamped image and adhering the panel with thin foam adhesive squares. This is a hard one to see in photos because of the dark cardstock, but the raised frame adds a bit more dimension and interest to the card front. I wanted to keep the color palette simple, so instead of adding any more colors or metallic accents, I decided to stamp the greeting from Daisy Frame onto more Midnight Green cardstock using White Pigment Ink and added white embossing powder over the top. I die cut the finished sentiment with it’s coordinating die, then placed it in the center of the floral wreath image with a double layer of foam adhesive to help it pop from the deeply saturated background. I thought that the card could use a bit more texture around the edges, so I die cut the More A2 Rectangles die from some more Midnight Green cardstock and adhered the largest one to the card front using liquid adhesive. Finally, I added some Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit of sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I love using coordinating dies to create inlaid images, and creating these pretty coral daisies on this dramatically dark green cardstock was such a fun way to blend the two techniques. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp August 2026 Card Kit of the Month: Made to Flourish!

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! The new Simon Says Stamp August 2026 Card Kit is now available for preorder, and it’s such a stunner! With summertime comes verdant gardens and vibrant flowers, and the Made to Flourish kit pays homage to them so beautifully! (Click HERE to see all of the details on the kit!)

Here’s a sneak peek of the kit’s contents:

The amount of product in this kit is truly incredible; not only do you receive a fabulous new embossing folder, standalone die set, ephemera, and papers, but you also receive a gorgeous 6×8 stamp set with coordinating dies. Incredible value, right? The items retail for $125 when purchased individually, but you can purchase this amazing kit (while supplies last!) for only $44.99 (click HERE) or $39.99 for kit subscribers! (Click HERE to see how to become a subscriber!)

Sometimes, I find myself in a bit of a color rut, and when that happens, I like to pull out my Pinterest boards and look for an inspiring color palette. This orchid, peach, and blush color palette really spoke to me, so I selected several shades of colored cardstock from my stash and decided to use that as the creative kickoff point for my projects! I love pairing colored pencils with colored cardstock, so I knew that I would be pairing the florals from that gorgeous new Made to Flourish stamp set with my colored pencils and pretty pink cardstock!

For my first card, I chose to focus on that spectacular bloom from the new Brightest Blooms Embossing Folder, highlighting the details with some ink blending and sparkling watercolor gilding! I ran a panel of lavender-pink cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Brightest Blooms Embossing Folder. I then used a blending brush to lightly blend Fairy Pawsitively Saturated Ink around the edges of the embossed panel, keeping the embossed image clean.

After I had finished blending, I used iridescent glitter watercolors to “gild” the details of the flower and foliage, adding some lovely sparkle to the focal point. I also splattered some more sparkling watercolor around the blended edges, covering the main flower with a piece of scrap paper to keep the splatters from landing on the flower. Once I had finished adding the shimmering splatters, I die cut a simple greeting using the new add-on sentiment die set called Darling Script Greetings. I cut the detail layer from some orchid glitter cardstock, then backed it with a vellum shadow layer. I used thin strips of foam adhesive to pop up the sentiment, then added a pretty pink twine bow and some Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for additional sparkle!

For my second card, I kept that gorgeous orchid, peach, and blush colored cardstock palette, this time putting my colored pencils to use to create a lovely vase of flowers! I stamped a crock and one of the lovely bouquets from Made to Flourish using white pigment ink on the same lovely pale orchid cardstock used for the first card. I find that the white pigment ink works beautifully with no-line coloring using colored pencils on colored cardstock; the ink gets absorbed nicely into the colored pencil coloring! The key to coloring small images with colored pencils is a good pencil sharpener so that your points are always nice and crisp! Once I had finished coloring the crock and the bouquet, I used the included coordinating dies to cut the images out, using a pen knife to cut a slit in the crock so that I could place my bouquet within the vase itself.

After I had finished coloring the main focal point, I decided to frame the image in with one of the new Hand Tied Frame images, an add-on to the main kit. I love how whimsical these frames are; the bow at the top is designed to be part of the single die cut, but they also have included a standalone bow, as well! I die cut the large frame and the individual bow from darker orchid cardstock, pulling in more of the colors from the penciled bouquet onto my card front. I used alcohol markers to enhance some of the shadows on the standalone bow, deepening the orchid and adding some dimension.

I blended a little halo of color behind the bouquet with a blending brush and some Fairy Pawsitively Saturated Ink, splattering the background with some more iridescent glitter watercolors for more magic and whimsy. I adhered the frame with liquid adhesive, then arranged my bouquet and white embossed sentiment die cuts, grounding them with a strip of pearlescent blush cardstock. Finally, I popped up the standalone bow with some thin strips of foam adhesive and added some sparkling Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for one last touch of sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today!

The Simon Says Stamp Card Kits are such an incredible value; the value of the individual elements of each kit equals far more than the $44.99 price tag, so you’re getting incredible bang for your buck. If you are consistently interested in the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month, you can sign up HERE to become a subscriber for an even bigger discount on these carefully curated products. As always, Simon also makes each individual element of the kits available a la carte, so that you can pick and choose what you would like to purchase if buying the entire kit isn’t really your thing. Options galore! Who can say no to such incredible value though, right?

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!