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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

copic coloring

Altenew Build-A-Garden: Magnificent Branch Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($200 total prizes)

Good morning! Today marks the start of a new subscription from Altenew: Build-A-Garden! We’re hopping along to celebrate this newest addition to the Altenew subscription family. You should have arrived here from Vicky Papaioannou, and your next stop is Cheryl Espie. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Card Blog. Here’s a bit about the new series from Altenew:

Enjoy our Build-A-Garden project set, an exciting monthly package that is sure to get the creative juices flowing! Each month includes a stamp set along with a coordinating stencil set and/or die set PLUS a customer-favorite Mini Blending Brush! Build your collection of brushes from month to month so you will never be left looking for the perfect tool while crafting.

This set contains the following products:
– one 6″ x 8″ stamp set containing 10 stamps made in the USA from high-quality photopolymer
– one layering stencil set containing 4 stencils that coordinate with the stamp set
– one Mini Blending Brush for ink blending
Note: These products are NOT sold separately.

If this new series sounds like something you can’t live without each month (that blending brush is such an awesome addition to the kit!), you can subscribe to be guaranteed to receive the new set each month-and at a discount!! Click HERE to see all of the details on how you can subscribe!

This initial installment is called Magnificent Branch, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. It features a long branch filled with beautiful blooms and greenery, large enough when stamped to create two card fronts! You can color to your heart’s content with your favorite coloring medium, or you can use the included layering stencils to create a unique color blocked look with your favorite stenciling technique! Here’s a peek at this month’s kit:

Incredibly beautiful, right? I chose to create a custom patterned paper with the main stamp by angling it different ways along the edge of my paper. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

I began by stamping the image from Magnificent Branch a few different times on white cardstock with Copic-friendly black ink, angling it different ways so as to create some custom patterned paper and covering the majority of the A2 card front. I colored the image with Copic markers in a lovely feminine color scheme featuring mauve, pale pink, and jade green.

Once I had finished coloring all of the images stamped on the card front, I used my T-square and a black pen from the Fine Liner Pen set to add a very thin, subtle frame around the edges to help highlight the beautiful images and add another element of black to the card front.

For the greeting, I white embossed one of the sentiments included in the Magnificent Branch stamp set onto some black cardstock, which I then popped up using foam tape on the colored card front. Finally, I added a trio of black gems for one more touch of black, as well as some sparkle on this matte card front.

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

$200 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $20 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 05/07/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 7 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 05/09/2022.

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

Hero Arts 2022 Spring Catalog Launch Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Hi there! Today, I am super excited to be hopping along with Hero Arts as we debut the new products in the Spring 2022 Catalog! You should have arrived here from Debi Adams, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. The new catalog is chock full of beautiful new products, with imagery so evocative of spring and summer! I have two projects for you today, so let’s get started with the details on my projects.

My first project would be a perfect card to accompany a baby shower gift, using the beautiful new Floral Alphabet stamps. I began by die cutting four teeny onesies from Arctic cardstock using the Onesie Infinity Dies. Using the negative spaces on the cardstock from which I cut the onesies, I used my MISTI to white emboss the B-A-B-Y from Floral Alphabet onto the aqua onesies. So cute!

Next, I trimmed down an Arctic cardstock slimline card base as well as another layer, slightly smaller than the slimline card base. I used Antigua ink to stamp a little border of grass (from the new Color Layering Duckling) and daisies (from the new Color Layering Bunny) along the bottom edge of the slightly smaller panel of cardstock for a simple tone-on-tone effect. Just enough to add a bit of interest to the background, but not too much to distract from the main focal point!

Next, I arranged my heat embossed onesies so that they were draped as though on a clothesline. I adhered them with some foam adhesive, then added a couple of white twine bows to complete the clothesline/banner idea. Finally, I added the “hello there” greeting on a strip of Arctic cardstock using some more foam adhesive. Simple, but the delicate images and monochromatic color scheme are perfect for a baby card!

My next card is quite a bit more involved, in both technique and color scheme. I combined the gorgeous new Birds and Flowers Cover Plate die with my Copic markers to create a chinoiserie effect. These detailed cover plate dies are some of my absolute favorite products from Hero Arts; the amount of detail that you can add with your favorite coloring medium is amazing, but you also have the option to simply die cut the images and use them as silhouettes! I die cut the Birds and Flowers Cover Plate die from some white, Copic-friendly cardstock and used a variety of Copic markers in vivid, springy shades to add lots of color and detail to the die cut, hopefully evoking chinoiserie imagery!

Once I’d finished my coloring, I used silver embossing powder to emboss a greeting from the new Let’s Celebrate sentiment stamp set on some strips of plain white cardstock. I also lightly blended some Dusty Blue ink around the edges of my A2 card base with a super soft Hero Arts Blending Brush, just to give a bit of extra interest to the background.

Once all of my components had been completed, I used lots of foam adhesive to adhere the vivid Copic-colored die cut and embossed sentiment strips to the blended card base. I just love the bright, springy colors after the dreary winter days we’ve been having lately!

Well, that’s all for my projects today!

I hope you will check out the entire Spring 2022 Hero Arts catalog. SO many fun new products, including a new line of Hero Tools that are going to make life so much easier! Tons of new tools, including small, medium, large, and extra large sizes of blending brush, a Handy Holder tool caddy, metal snips, and the piece de resistance: a new Compact Cutter! These products will begin shipping in March, and I highly encourage you to sign up to be notified when they’re back in stock. Anybody who signs up to be notified via email when they become available will be entered into a drawing to win the entire line of Hero Tools!

Hero Arts is also hosting a giveaway to celebrate the new catalog!

Hero Arts is giving away THREE $50 gift cards, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, February 20 at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy hopping!

Guest Post: Simon Says Stamp and Copics on Neenah Desert Storm!

Hi there! I’m so excited to be a guest for Simon Says Stamp this month, and I’ve got a couple of projects to share with you today featuring some new goodies from the January And Back Again release, as well as one of the stamp sets I illustrated, Orchid Rose Bouquet (which also was part of the February Card Kit). I have never colored on Neenah Desert Storm cardstock, and I love the look of red with Kraft cardstock, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do some experimenting! Let’s get started with the details.

The Orchid Rose Bouquet is a huge stamp, great for cutting into pieces and use on multiple projects. I stamped the entirety of the bouquet on a panel of Desert Storm cardstock using Hero Arts’ Intens-ified Black ink. I used Copic markers in several RV shades: T6, RV29, RV25, RV13, RV21 for the orchids, and V06, RV14, RV13, and RV21 for the roses. I had never worked with Desert Storm cardstock before, and I was absolutely stunned at how vibrant the coloring was on this relatively dull color of cardstock! So much fun to work with something different than my usual crisp white cardstock. I fussy cut the entire piece and trimmed it into a few different pieces, edging around the orchids that were fully visible.

My first card is an A7. It takes full advantage of the size of the Orchid Rose Bouquet stamp. I began by die cutting the XO with the Big XOXO die from some glittery red cardstock. I also trimmed one of the fabulous sentiment strips from the Sassy Love Sentiment Strips. (This is my first time using these pre-printed sentiments; they are so much fun and make adding a greeting so darn simple!)

I am a bit of a stickler for cohesive color scheme; once I decide on a color scheme, I like to do my best to make sure that there are no other colors to detract from the overall color palette, like an unseemly white edge to a die cut piece on a colorful cardstock background. Keeping this in mind, I cut an A7 card base from some more Desert Storm cardstock upon which I could arrange my different die cut and colored elements.

I arranged the different elements on the large card front and adhered them using both liquid and foam adhesive to add lots of dimension to the project. The final touch was to add some iridescent red jewels for some more sparkle.

My second card features the leftover portion of the Copic colored Orchid Rose Bouquet as an accent. This piece was trimmed from around one of the fully visible orchids in the bouquet, so portions of the flower were missing. In order to cover this up, I heat embossed one of the greetings from XL Love Greetings on Desert Storm cardstock using Brutus Monroe Poinsettia Embossing Powder. I die cut the sentiment using the coordinating die.

For the card base, I created a subtly textured background by running an A2 panel of Desert Storm cardstock through my die cut machine with the Exotic Vines Embossing Folder. This delicate texture is a perfect backdrop for the brightly colored flowers and sparkly cherry red greeting!

To add a touch more texture and some sparkle to the card base, as well as to create a sort of ground for my greeting and florals, I trimmed a few strips of glittery red cardstock and mounted them vertically on the textured card base. I added the floral piece and greeting die cut using foam adhesive, then added some more sparkling jewels for one last hint of sparkle.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I hope that you will give Desert Storm cardstock and Copics a try if you haven’t already… what an unexpected delight! Thank you so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Introducing Orchid Rose Bouquet from Simon Says Stamp!

Hi friends! I am incredibly excited today to share that my newest stamp illustration for Simon Says Stamp, Orchid Rose Bouquet, is part of the February 2022 Card Kit, called Season of Sentiments! I am so honored to have my design used in this card kit. I have a project to share with you today using the new Orchid Rose Bouquet, so let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping the Orchid Rose Bouquet from the Season of Sentiments kit on Hammermill cardstock using Hero Arts’s Contour Ink for some no-line Copic coloring. I used some vibrant pink, purple, and green Copic markers to add lots of intense color to the image, allowing the large orchid to be the star of the show!

Once I had finished coloring my image, I lightly blended some Hollyhock and Deep Purple inks from Simon Says Stamp in the opposite corner to coordinate with the shades in the colored bouquet. I then stamped one of the sentiments included in the Orchid Rose Bouquet using Obsidian black pigment ink from Altenew to get a really crisp stamped image over the top of the ink blending.

Before mounting the colored panel on my A2 glitter paper card base, I adhered it to a slightly larger panel of some deep purple cardstock to add a bit of contrast between the edge of the colored panel and the similarly-colored pink glitter paper, appropriately named Opulent Orchid. The shades were a similar level of vibrancy, so without that contrasting deep purple edge, the two cardstocks would have blended into each other. The final touch was to add some iridescent purple gems for some added sparkle and texture!

Well, that’s all for my card today. I am so thrilled that my illustration was included in the Season of Sentiments card kit. The Simon Says Stamp team have absolutely knocked it out of the park with their own projects; I highly encourage you to go check them out on the post on the Simon Says Stamp blog! Thank so much for reading, and have a marvelous day!

Craft Your Life Project Kit: Feathered Lilies Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Hi there! Today, Altenew is adding the Feathered Lilies to their Craft Your Life Project Kit lineup, and we’re celebrating with a blog hop! You should have arrived here from Teri Wilson and your next stop is Mindy Eggen. You can also start back at the Altenew Blog if you get lost! This month’s kit is absolutely gorgeous. The main image from Feathered Lilies is gigantic, and so, so fun to color! Here’s a peek at this month’s kit:

I love that all of the components work beautifully individually but seamlessly together. And check out how massive that coordinating die is!! Wowzers! If you are finding these kits irresistible month after month, you can always subscribe to ensure that you get first dibs on them when they’re released and, bonus, you get them at a discount with your subscription! Check out the details here. I chose to do some Copic coloring with those gigantic flowers, so let’s get started with the details!

I began this project by stamping the large main image in the corner of a white A2 card panel using Copic-friendly black ink. I was in need of some artistic “comfort food” recently, so I chose my all-time favorite Copic blend for pinks: RV99, RV69, RV17, RV09 and went to town on these huge flowers. The bigger the flower, the more fun they are to color! (If coloring isn’t your thing, the kit includes some fabulous layering stencils, as well.) I colored the foliage using BG75, YG45, YG41, G12. Don’t be afraid to mix your color families; they just take a little extra care when blending.

I die cut the finished colored image using the gigantic coordinating die. I love that they included a coordinating die for the entirety of the large image, so that you can orient it any direction you want and still have those crisp die cut edges!

I blended some Minty Mint and Sweet Leaf inks on the corner of an A2 white card base using blending brushes, then adhered the colored floral die cut using Instant Dimension Foam Tape. Having die cut the image exactly in the corner of the card made placement super simple-just match it up with the corner! I added a greeting from the Feathered Lilies stamp set using Obsidian ink. The pigment ink showed up perfectly crisp over the top of the blended ink in the corner!

Well, that’s all for my project today. Now for the giveaway details!

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 01/18/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 01/20/2022.

Your next stop on the hop is Mindy Eggen. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!