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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

die cutting

Simon Says Stamp DieCember(R) Release Blog Hop!

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

Hi friends! The spectacular DieCember release has finally arrived, and we are celebrating and inspiring you with Day 1 of our DieCember blog hop! You should have arrived here from Barbara Tarayao, and your next stop is Keisha Charles. You can also start back at the beginning at the Simon Says Stamp Blog. You can check out tons of inspiration on the  DieCember® release gallery (and maybe add some inspiration of your own, too!).

Every year, I create tons of cards with traditional color schemes, sometimes with slight variations or additions to modernize things a bit, and because I make holiday cards for several months, traditional red and green can get a bit boring to me. To combat my color palette doldrums, almost all of the cards that I created for this month’s DieCember release featured non-traditional color palettes, including this pair of blue and champagne projects for today’s hop! Let’s get started with the details.

To start my first project, I die cut the Corner Pine Frame using Matte Champagne cardstock. This beautiful champagne cardstock is a lovely alternative to traditional gold; it has a bit cooler undertones and so it works beautifully with cool blues and greens. To create an interesting background for my detailed pine sprigs, I used a blending brush to blend Galaxy Pawsitively Saturated ink on the top corners of an A2 Cornflower blue cardstock panel. I splattered the blended area with some coordinating champagne glitter watercolors from IUILE. After my panel was dry, I mounted the corner die cut over the blended area using liquid adhesive. I think the contrast of the Champagne matte foil with the deep blue background is simply splendid!

Next, I heat embossed some greeting stamps from the new Joyful Greetings stamp set using Platinum sparkle embossing powder onto some heavyweight vellum. I die cut the large sentiment piece using the previously-released Joyful die outline, though the Joyful Greetings set with more detailed word die is also available. I arranged the extra pine branch die cut behind the greeting die cuts, then adhered the sentiments over the top with some foam tape. Finally, I added a fewChampagne glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio. The color combination makes for a unique Christmas card, to be sure!

My second card features the utterly scrumptious new Florence Plate. The detail on this plate is amazing and would work for so many different cards, not just holiday projects! I die cut the Florence Plate from Cornflower blue cardstock, then backed it with a piece of champagne Luxe Glitter Cardstock. The sparkle on this background is unreal and so difficult to capture in a photograph. (If you haven’t picked up the Luxe Glitter Cardstock yet, I highly encourage you to try some. The sparkle is out of this world!)

I die cut the new Fancy Holiday Cheer die from some dark blue shimmer paper that I found in my stash of specialty papers, backing it with the solid bubble piece cut from more vellum. I die cut the marvelous new Aurora Blooms dies from Rainbow Splash Buttercream, Soft Navy, and Matte Champagne cardstock. I already can tell that these spectacular blooms are going to be a favorite in my craft room! You can make them as simple or as elaborate as you like. I popped up the die cut greeting with foam adhesive, then arranged the flowers and foliage around the large-scale sentiment die cut. This card might be my favorite out of all of the projects that I created for this release!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Now, to celebrate the new DieCember release, Simon Says Stamp is offering a gorgeous freebie die with any purchase! *Follow the instructions on the graphic at the top of the post to find the Aidan Snowflake die, then use code FLURRY at checkout to receive the die for free.* The gift with purchase promotion will expire at 11:59 EST on 12/8 or while supplies last.

Simon Says Stamp is also giving away a $25 coupon at every stop on the blog hop! Simply leave a comment on each stop on the hop for maximum entries into the giveaway. Winners will be selected and announced on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, December 13. Winners must email Simon Says Stamp to claim his or her prize!

Your next stop on the hop is Keisha Charles. Don’t forget to check out the second part of the blog hop on 12/8!! More fantastic inspiration and more prizes to be had. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Simon Says Stamp DieCember 2023 is Here!

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

Hi friends! The start of Simon Says Stamp’s month-long celebration of all things die cutting, called DieCember, has officially begun, and I am so darn excited to share everything I’ve been up to for the last couple of weeks. STAMPtember is a celebration of stamping and the stamp industry, and DieCember celebrates dies in all of their glory! This release has the most amazing assortment of products that are just plain fun to use and cover such a huge variety of styles.

Die cutting is a favorite technique of mine, because I love that you can create so many different looks just by changing up your papers, inking technique, and color combinations. I have a weakness for unique textured and coated papers; I am always on the lookout for beautiful colors of glitter or foil papers to add to my stash. It’s amazing what a difference having just the right shade of cardstock can make to a color scheme, and I think the right type of luxurious paper can truly elevate a card design! My card today showcases two different kinds of specialty cardstock using the brand new Boho Chain Die and Cozy Wishes sentiment die from the DieCember 2023 Release! Let’s get started with the details.

I began my project by blending a warm ombré background using Cheeky, Blush, and Paprika Pawsitively Saturated inks with blending brushes; I love how the new Paprika ink (from last month’s All the Joy release) tones down the sweet peachy-pink of the Cheeky and Blush ink to create this lovely background.

Next, I die cut the elegant new Boho Chain die from the brown glitter paper in the Hero Arts Fall Glitter Paper pack. The Boho Chain die includes some extra individual dies that you can use to accent the chain die cut, so I die cut the circles and diamonds from Metallic Rose Gold cardstock. I popped the die cuts up on the blended card background using small pieces of foam adhesive, orienting them to the side of the card to allow plenty of room for my die cut greeting.

For the sentiment, I die cut the detail layer of the new Cozy Wishes die from some more Metallic Rose Gold cardstock. I love the unbelievably smooth mirror finish on this cardstock, and the shade of rose gold is so unique; it truly stands out amongst other metallic rose gold papers. I die cut the background layer from some heavyweight vellum and adhered the two together using liquid adhesive, then popped both pieces up with some foam tape. Finally, I added some super sparkly iridescent gems to the center of the circle die cuts, as well as a smattering of jewels around the greeting.

Well, that’s all for my project today! The new DieCember release is chock full of beautiful new products: simply smashing dies, stamps, hot foil plates, and embossing folders, not to mention new ink colors, and some awesome coordinating dies for Tim Holtz holiday stamp sets! Be sure to check back this weekend for more inspiration using these marvelous new products. Thanks for stopping by today, and happy DieCember!!

Pink and Red Holiday Goodness with Honey Bee Stamps plus Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale!

Hi friends! I have some pinky-red holiday projects to share with you today using some gorgeous new products from my friends at Honey Bee Stamps! I am so grateful to Melissa and the ladies at Honey Bee for sending me these marvelous goodies; their new Holiday Wishes release is filled with stunningly beautiful products to fit so many different styles. I recently had the pleasure of visiting with three of the Honey Bees in person at a crafty retreat, and I went absolutely gaga over the two products that I used today, including the spectacular Holiday Blooms stamp set, which was illustrated by my sweet friend Kelly Taylor. Let’s get started with the details!

I kept my color palette for both cards simple, using vivid magenta, cherry red, with pops of jewel green and crisp white. The pop of magenta amongst the red and green adds a touch of modern elegance to the traditional red, green, and white!

My first project features some Distress Ink no-line watercolor using the absolutely gorgeous Holiday Blooms stamp set. My friend Kelly Taylor is a coloring goddess, and now she’s added an illustration feather to her cap. I’m so, so proud of her!! I knew that I wanted to create some vivid watercolored amaryllis flowers, so I pulled out my Distress Ink cubes, paintbrushes, and palette. I love that amaryllis flowers come in so many color varieties, but I wanted something just slightly adjacent the traditional deep red flowers. I first stamped the images using Contour Ink onto some Fabriano Artistco Hot Press watercolor paper. I then watercolored these cool shocking pink flowers by first laying down a layer of Picked Raspberry ink, then adding some layers of Festive Berries and Aged Mahogany for shadows. I added some gold glitter watercolor to the stamens and the little dots in the center of the flowers. After I’d finished watercoloring, I used the coordinating Holiday Blooms Dies to die cut each of the images.

To add some subtle interest behind the detailed watercolored flowers, I ran an A2 panel of Concord and 9th Dragonfruit cardstock through my die cut machine using the older-but-still-stunning Damask Cover Plate die. This die impresses a beautiful letterpress-look into your cardstock, creating gorgeous and unique texture. I blended some Dragonfruit and Cranberry inks, both from Concord and 9th, around the edge of my textured panel to coordinate with the red and pink of the flowers and subtly highlighting the impressed pattern in the background. I trimmed down three thin strips of coordinating ruby red glitter cardstock and adhered them to the background, then arranged my watercolored die cut flowers on the card front, nestling a white embossed greeting from Inside Sentiments: Holidays, die cut with the coordinating die. Finally, I added a few shimmering gems for sparkle!

My second card features the absolutely amazing new Lovely Layers: Front Porch and the coordinating Holiday Add-On die set. The details that Melissa included in these die sets are spectacular. If you are like me and find these little details totally mesmerizing, you’re going to love these dies. The sky is the limit for making these as unique and customized as your imagination can dream up! I wanted to let the Holiday Add-On set be the star, so I die cut all of the layers for the Lovely Layers: Front Porch from Hammermill white cardstock and assembled the card front using liquid and foam adhesive. The embossed details on each piece come through so beautifully even on white cardstock!

Now the extra fun part: assembling all of the little holiday decorations. I chose to use the same cherry red and vivid magenta color palette from the first card, this time working with Dragonfruit, Poppy, and Artichoke cardstock. I die cut the tree and wreath from the olive green Artichoke cardstock, then cut the lights and ornaments from Dragonfruit and Poppy cardstock. I used sparkling ruby red glitter cardstock for the bows, mittens for the snowman, and the ornaments, as well as white shimmer cardstock for the snowman himself. Adding the different textures to the card front helps keep this limited-palette card interesting to the eye! I am absolutely in love with all of the details on this card, and the color palette is so festive while also being a very modern take on a classic holiday color palette.

I wanted to create a shaped card, but when I ran my card base through the die cut machine with the base layer of the Lovely Layers: Front Porch, the cardstock was so thick that the embossed details went all the way through both of the layers of cardstock. So instead of making a full shaped card, I simply trimmed down my A2 card base so that it fit behind the bottom of the front porch. I adhered the completed house front towards the bottom so that the majority of the card base was covered by the house front. I added a greeting from Inside Sentiments: Holidays, but a sentiment from Home for the Holidays would work perfectly for this project!

Now, for some fun Black Friday Sale information!

Honey Bee Stamps is offering 20% off your entire purchase through midnight on Black Friday, November 24, 2023. Not only does Honey Bee Stamps stock amazing Honey Bee-branded products, but they have an incredible collection of embellishments, supplies, tools, and papers from other companies that are included in the sale!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I have a couple more projects to share with you using the new Holiday Wishes release that I will share next week, but I wanted to make sure you all knew about the fabulous Black Friday sale happening today. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy shopping!

Altenew November 2023 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

Hi friends! Today, I’m delighted to be hopping along with Altenew for their November 2023 Marvelous Monthly Release Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from the Altenew Blog, and your next stop is Agnieszka. This month’s release features some classic beauties, like the Craft-a-Flower: Layering Dogwood dies and some flowers that are new (to me, anyway): the Build-A-Garden: Cheerful Coreopses. I have a light and airy project to share with you today featuring the gorgeous blooms of the Craft-a-Flower: Layering Dogwood set, so let’s get started with the details!

I began by die cutting the flowers from the Craft a Flower: Layering Dogwood dies from plain white cardstock. Each piece on the flowers contains a different keyhole shape so that you can perfectly and easily line up your die cuts to create three differently-shaped blooms. Each bloom only has two main pieces, so assembly was super quick and easy! After adhering the pieces of each bloom, I used small blending brushes to lightly blend Buttercream Fresh Dye Ink around the edges of the petals and Dusty Pink in the centers, creating those gorgeous blooms that embody springtime! I used colored cardstock to cut the foliage and flower centers, blending some deep green ink on the leaves to add some extra dimension.

Next, I ran a panel of white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Basic Plaid 3D Embossing Folder. I trimmed down the long edge of the embossed panel and added some thin strips of Sparkling Peach glitter paper from the Fairy Dust Glitter Paper Pack. This pastel peach shade coordinates beautifully with the subtle ink blending on the flowers. I adhered these cardstock pieces to the center of a full size A2 card front using Ultra Sticky Double Sided Tape.

For the greeting, I pressed one of the sentiments from the Classical Sentiments Press Plates using the black ink included with the Better Press system, then cut it out with the Classic Greetings coordinating dies. I arranged the flowers in a cluster on the embossed strip on the card front, adhering them with some foam adhesive to add extra dimension and using a double layer of foam tape for the greeting. Finally, I added a few sparkling pale peachy-pink gems for some sparkle!

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

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $50 gift certificate to 4 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 11/22/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 5 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 11/24/2023.
*The winner of the $100 gift certificate will be chosen from comments left on the Altenew blog. 

Here’s the full link list in case you get lost:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Joyful in Red and White!

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

If you’re an email subscriber, a draft of this post might have been sent out inadvertently. My apologies for clogging your email!

Hi friends! I have a festive holiday project to share with you today using some of the new products from the Simon Says Stamp All the Joy release. I rarely seem to use red outside of holiday crafting, but when I get started, I just can’t seem to stop! I love pairing interesting papers to create tone-on-tone backgrounds, and the new Dazzling Ornament Plate provided the perfect opportunity to pair cherry red cardstock with some gorgeous Rich Red Matte Metallic cardstock from Simon Says Stamp. Let’s get started with the details!

To begin, I die cut the Dazzling Ornament Plate twice: once from Cherry cardstock and once from Rich Red Matte Metallic cardstock. I covered the front of a card base with Tear-rific Tape and removed the release paper. Once I had created my sticky “canvas,” I adhered the negative space around the ornament die cuts from the plain cardstock piece to the card front, then added the Rich Red Matte Metallic cardstock die cuts to create a luxurious monochromatic background with tons of beautiful texture and interest!

For the greeting, I die cut the detail layer of the new Joyful die from some White Glossy cardstock, then adhered it to the solid background layer, cut from some heavyweight vellum. To make a more complete sentiment, I trimmed down a greeting from the Typed Christmas sentiment cards set.

After I had adhered the greeting pieces to the brilliant red card front using foam adhesive, I wanted to add some botanical accents with the new Bountiful Berries die. I die cut the berries from some red glitter cardstock and the foliage from two different shades of green from my stash, then tucked them behind the die cut greeting with some more foam adhesive. Finally, I added a few crisp white Something New pearls from Trinity Stamps. So many different textures and types of shine and sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I am definitely getting my fill of vibrant cherry red this season. I hope you don’t mind! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!