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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

concord and 9th

Where Creativity Meets C9: Anything Goes!

Good morning! For the month of August, the Where Creativity Meets C9 team has the pleasure of joining Concord and 9th as their guests for the month. We are helping celebrate their 3rd birthday by kicking off their release day with some projects featuring the new Freebie for this month: Birthday Dies and Birthday Balloons stamp set! The dies are free with any purchase over $60, and you get both the dies and the Birthday Balloons stamp set when you spend $120 (which is not difficult with the gorgeousness that is this release! Swooooon.) These little freebies are perfect for birthday cards, especially those masculine cards that so many of us find so challenging!

Our theme this month for Where Creativity Meets C9 is “Anything Goes,” so I chose to go with some simple stamping and die cutting to get started. I find that when I’m in need of some color inspiration, I go to pinterest and look for different color combinations from Design Seeds, wedding planners, and so forth. (You can check out my Pinterest board for color combos that inspire me here.) I found a really pretty pin with the unique color combination of baby pink, smokey blue, bright, royal blue, and mustard yellow. (The closer we get to fall, the more mustard yellow seems to appeal to my creativity.) I translated this to Spun Sugar, Stormy Sky, Mustard Seed, and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide inks.

I first stamped the balloons and confetti in all of these different Oxide colors, which was easy because of the opacity of the Oxide inks… no masking required. Plus, the slight translucence of the inks create that illusion of slightly translucent balloons. I love that you can actually stamp with Oxides and get great results!

After I’d stamped my balloons and confetti from the new freebie Birthday Balloons set, I used the dies to die cut some banners and the greeting from the freebie Birthday Dies set using some bright blue foil card stock. I used my gridded craft mat to carefully arrange the individual letters of “birthday” so that they were nice and straight, then picked them up with some low-tack washi tape and added adhesive to the back, then added both die cut words to the card front while still attached to the washi tape. After the liquid adhesive had dried, I carefully removed the washi tape, revealing a nice straight sentiment. Easy!

 

This card is perfectly flat and super simple to mail… it would look great in all masculine colors too, though I guess there are enough masculine colors on this card to be used in a pinch, right? That little bit of pink won’t hurt a tough guy! Ha! #realmenwearpink #unlesshesaredhead

I hope you will check out the new release from Concord and 9th…. there are some stunning floral sets and some simpler, super versatile sets that are just fantastic. I can’t wait to show you all that we’ve been working on! Now, for some challenge details: create a project-any project- using Concord and 9th stamps as the focus of your project, then link it up to our post. Be sure to read all of the rules so that, if your project is chosen, you have covered all of the bases to be eligible to win! One lucky random winner will be the recipient of a $25 shopping spree to Concord and 9th, and one crafter will be chosen to be a guest designer for Where Creativity Meets C9 on an upcoming challenge.

Thanks so much for dropping by today! The Where Creativity Meets C9 team will be back with you every Friday for the month of August to share more inspiration using the new Concord and 9th release, so be on the lookout. Have a marvelous day!

Watercoloring with Concord and 9th+VIDEO!

Good morning! So it’s been a few weeks since I made my first video, and boy, oh boy… am I humbled by the wonderful feedback I received. Thank you for such sweet, supportive comments, friends. I’ve been diligently working on my second video, and truth time… the following video is my third attempt at the same video haha!!! I’m so technologically inept that I had to refilm this twice. Yikes. Anyway, in this video, I focus on blending two shades of Zig marker together before using my damp paintbrush to create depth and dimension on a flower with a single layer of petals… using one of my personal favorites, the Hello Lovely stamp set from Concord and 9th.

In case you can’t watch the video, I start by heat embossing the beautiful floral spray image from Concord and 9th’s Hello Lovely stamp set into the corner of an A2 panel of Canson Montval watercolor paper using some White Satin Pearl embossing powder.. (If you’d like to hear my thoughts on why I prefer Canson Montval paper, here’s a link to my first video in which I discuss my reasons for this preference.) I love the pretty, pearlescent sheen that using the pearl embossing powder creates… so much prettier and more feminine than just plain white. It is amazing what a difference the shade of embossing powder can create. White embossing powder creates a much softer, more feminine look, whereas in my most recent post for Where Creativity Meets C9, the charcoal embossing creates a much bolder look. It never ceases to amaze how huge a part color plays in our projects! Fascinating!

As I state in the video, I watercolor the large central bloom with Light Carmine and Tea Rose. First, I lay down the Light Carmine, then use the tip of my Tea Rose marker to blend the two colors seamlessly, finally using my damp paintbrush to smoothly pull out the color and create an even fade. I added color to the smaller flowers using Sugared Almond Pink and Pink Flamingo. The three different types of leaves were colored with three different shades of blue-green: Turquoise Green, Persian Green, and Emerald Green.

The halo surrounding my floral spray is one of my favorite things to paint. Most of the time, I am persnickety about leaving blotches, blooms, and harsh water lines in my watercoloring, but with the halo, I want it to have a looser, almost imperfect look. To achieve this, I go back in with multiple layers of color (in this case, Shadow Mauve), letting my very wet paintbrush (instead of the lightly damp paintbrush I normally use with the Zig markers) go where it may to create pools of color in some spots, while also almost bleaching it in other spots.

For the greeting, I used probably my all-time favorite die series from Concord and 9th: Happy Card Frame dies with the Kind Add On die. I cut them from some pretty teal foil from a DCWV stack, then popped them up with dimensional adhesive. I stamped the greeting from Concord and 9th’s Kindhearted stamp set onto some strips of pale pink card stock, then popped those up with dimensional adhesive as well. The final touch was a few sparkly sequins scattered about the card front.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my second foray into video-making! This floral stamp is one of my all-time favorite stamp sets to color with, as you’ve probably noticed with the sheer volume of posts using this stamp set (lol!), but I hope I’ve given you a few tips and tricks to use the next time you pull out your Zig markers! Have a marvelous day, friends!

Where Creativity Meets C9: Layers!

If you’re looking for my Blog Hop post for The Ton’s Summer 2017 release, please click here. 

Good morning again! Today also marks the start of a new challenge over on the Where Creativity Meets C9 blog! This month, the challenge is:

Create something layered using your Concord and 9th products! For my project, I used the Pretty Petals stamps and dies to create a layered, dimensional project. I started by die cutting the main flower die from some plain white card stock, then using my blending tools to blend Worn Lipstick and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide inks on the die cut, adding some shimmer spray over the top to create the “velvety” effect achieved with the Oxide inks. I stamped the detail layer using Versamark ink, then sprinkled holographic embossing powder over the top and heated it with my heat gun. The pink center really pops even more with the added sparkly heat embossing! I also die cut the center of the Pretty Petals die from some sparkly gold glitter card stock and adhered it to the center with some dimensional adhesive.

For the greeting, I used the pretty new All About You dies to cut “thank you” from some aqua card stock. I stamped some of the flower centers from the Pretty Petals stamp set onto the white card base using Delicata Gold ink, then adhered the flower with dimensional adhesive. I finally added yet another layer by adhering the sentiment die cuts with more dimensional adhesive.

It’s a little outside of my normal color scheme and style, but I like the sunny, happy colors! Definitely something different. Now, it’s your turn! Create a project with at least two layers using your Concord and 9th products, then be sure to link it up to our blog to be entered to win the $25 gift certificate generously donated by Concord and 9th!