Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

eucalyptus leaves

Patient Sunflowers with New Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I have a sunny project to share with you today pairing my new Sunflower Dreams background stamp with some new and old goodies from Simon Says Stamp. (The stamp is currently sold out-yay that you guys like it!-but you can sign up to be notified by email for when it comes back in stock!) When I was creating the Sunflower Dreams stamp, I wanted something that was large enough that it would be super enjoyable to color, but also something detailed enough that it could be used as a background without coloring. For today’s project, I did some emboss-resist with iridescent embossing powder and sunny yellow ink blending to create a bright canvas behind my die cut autumn floral bouquet. Let’s get started with the details on my card!

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

To begin, I used Hero Arts Iridescent Green Embossing Powder to emboss the Sunflower Dreams stamp on a panel of white cardstock. I trimmed the panel down in order to be able to frame it with a contrasting colored cardstock, then blended Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Honey, Zest, Butter in an ombré on the panel, allowing the details of the stamp to shine through more visibly with the vibrant blended background and shimmering green embossing. I adhered the panel to the center of a full-sized A2 Sage card front, creating a contrasting frame.

To adorn the embossed background, I die cut the makings of an autumnal bouquet using the Autumn Sunflower, Eucalyptus Leaves, and Poppy Pods dies, cutting them each using colored cardstock. I used a blending brush to blend the edges of the sunflower petals before adhering the different layers together with foam adhesive squares. I also used some deep green glittery cardstock to die cut the Poppy Pods, as well as some iridescent green foil cardstock for a couple of the Eucalyptus Leaves, adding more texture and shimmer to the bouquet. In order to create a lush, full bouquet, I did some selective trimming with my scissors on the Poppy Pods and Eucalyptus Leaves, so that I could tuck the foliage around the sunflower and fill in any blank spots!

Before assembly, I die cut the detailed layer of the new Be Patient stamp and die set from more of the deep green glitter cardstock, then added the vellum shadow layer behind it. I also heat embossed a greeting from the coordinating stamp set on a strip of Sage cardstock. Once I had all of the die cuts complete, I began assembling my bouquet, tucking the sentiment components in the curve of the swag, adhering everything with both liquid and foam adhesive for lots of dimension. Finally, I added a few Butter Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a touch of sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I am so thrilled that people seem to be enjoying Sunflower Dreams; it’s always a thrill to see my illustrations come to life, and even more of a thrill when people actually like them! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Steel Cardstock Spotlight #2: White Roses and Reverse Psychology!

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

Hi friends! I’m back today with another project for my spotlight on Simon Says Stamp’s Steel Cardstock. For DieCember, Simon Says Stamp came out with a collection of really beautiful colored cardstock, featuring lots of vivid, color saturated jewel tones as well as some fantastic neutrals like the Steel Cardstock. I find this medium gray cardstock to be absolute perfection for so many color palettes, working beautifully to complement super vivid colors or as a backdrop for more muted colors, like I’ve created for today’s project. When creating white flowers, I find that it is important to allow room for the absence of color; that is, trying to leaves as much of the white cardstock visible as possible. To achieve this, I like to do some visual “reverse psychology,” allowing the colors surrounding the white image to create visual contrast. Let’s get started on the details for my project!

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

To start, I stamped the lovely rose arrangement and extra flowers and bud from the Beautiful Friend stamp set using Altenew’s Permanent Gray Mist ink onto some Hammermill cardstock. I then pulled a few markers from the OLO alcohol marker collection: a very pale gray, a grayish aqua, and the Zero marker, also known as the colorless blender. The Zero marker is extremely important for this project, because it softens the edges of the coloring while also allowing that white cardstock to shine through, creating that “white” image. I first laid down that pale grayish aqua in the areas where the shadows would be deepest on my white rose, then blended that out a bit with the almost-colorless pale gray marker, then softened the edge of that coloring with the Zero marker. Now for the first part of the “reverse psychology,” I colored the foliage and smaller blooms using some vivid teal and cornflower blue shades, allowing those bright colors to contrast strongly with the lack of color on the white roses.

After I had finished coloring all of the images, I used the coordinating dies from the Beautiful Friend product suite to die cut each of the images, then selected a marker in a coordinating shade of gray to match the Steel cardstock. I used the brush tip of the marker to color in any white space around the edges of the die cuts, creating even more contrast and allowing the white on the roses to become even more crisp and stark. To go along with the cornflower blue blooms, I also die cut a few Eucalyptus Leaves dies from some coordinating blue glitter cardstock. Before arranging the blooms and extra foliage on the Steel card front, I used a blending brush dedicated to only my Simon White Pigment Ink to blend the delicate pattern on the Crochet Blocks Stencil on the background of the card front. I love the simple, sweet pattern on this stencil; it’s the perfect backdrop for the somewhat shabby-chic rose arrangement!


Before adhering everything with foam and liquid adhesive, I heat embossed some sentiments from the new EZ Strips Birthday stamp set, which stamps lots of sentiments in one fell swoop, creating plenty of sentiments to use both now and later! I heat embossed them using crisp white embossing powder on more Steel cardstock, then used the EZ Strips Rectangles to die cut all of the embossed sentiments with one pass through my die cutting machine. I selected which strips I wanted to use on my card today, then arranged all of the different die cuts on the stenciled background. I used both liquid and foam adhesive to adhere all of the pieces, tucking the sentiment strips amongst the floral images, then added a few Dusk Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for added sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! If you’ve never tried to color white images because it’s a bit intimidating, I encourage you to use this visual “reverse psychology” technique. It really does make a huge difference! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Peonies + Lemons = Zesty Combination!

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

Hi friends! I have an intensely color saturated card to share with you today, pairing some of my favorite dies from Simon Says Stamp with plain white cardstock and OLO markers! I absolutely love customizing plain white die cuts with coloring mediums, and while perusing Pinterest, I saw a graphic that combined peonies and lemons and just had to try the combination out for myself using my OLO markers. This card is a big A7 card, which was the perfect size to give me plenty of room for my larger die cuts. Let’s get started with the details!

To start my project, I die cut the Abundant Leaves, Lemon Zest, and Etched Peony Blossom dies from some Hammermill white cardstock. I then used OLO markers in zingy, vibrant pinks, yellows, and greens to add lots of saturated color to the individual images. I think this color combination screams “summer!” I also die cut the Eucalyptus Leaves dies from some shiny Water Sprite mirror cardstock to add some fun texture and shine to the bouquet.

After I had completed customizing my die cuts, I trimmed down an A7 panel of Peacock cardstock, which is a lush, saturated teal, then added some extra depth by blending Raindrop Pawsitively Saturated Ink around the edges. This tone-on-tone blending creates a halo effect in the center of the card, which was the perfect canvas to start building my bouquet. To add even more interest to the background, I splattered some shimmery glitter watercolors on the background. Once they were dry, I arranged the colored die cuts on my card front, adhering them with foam squares, then tucked the shiny eucalyptus leaves in some of the bare spots and adhered them with liquid adhesive.

After I had finished arranging my lemon floral bouquet, I die cut the Thanks Frame from some white glitter cardstock. This is my first time using this die, and I love how clean and polished it looks with so little effort. And as a bonus, you can save the letters to use on a different project! I popped it up with a double layer of foam adhesive, then added some Sunbeam Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for extra sparkle.

Well, that’s all for my project today! We have lots of rain in the forecast, along with very cool temperatures, so this vibrant card provided some lovely sunshine in my craft room. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Man Card Monday: Papa Birdie!

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

Hi friends! I have a Man Card Monday project to share with you today featuring some new and old products from Simon Says Stamp. With Father’s Day coming up, my thoughts invariably turn to my sweet grandfather, my Papa, whose patient, loving manner, sweet smiles, and constant support were one of the best parts of my childhood. He passed away suddenly right before I turned 17 years old, and I often wonder what he would think of my family and what words of wisdom he might have for me as I navigate parenthood. I frequently see traits of my Papa in my husband, in his tireless efforts to care for our family and his gentle and loving care and support of me, in the way he knows how to fix just about everything, and in the way he will always sacrifice his own comfort to help someone else.

One of the things I remember most clearly about my Papa was the care he took in cultivating the backyard of their house. Grammy and Papa had a huge backyard with enormous shade trees that, while providing lovely cool breezes in the hot Midwestern summers, also gave him no end of grief because their shade prevented grass from growing in the majority of the yard. His solution was to cultivate ivy plants in the sparse spots, creating a lush green visage while also providing haven for huge amounts of mosquitoes. As usual, one solution begat another problem! Their backyard was always a flurry of activity with critters, and he and my Grammy both loved sitting in the screened-in back porch (a necessity thanks to the mosquitoes) to watch the birds visiting the bird feeder (and thankfully eating mosquitoes!). I pulled out some graphic foliage pieces along with the Standing Whirl Bird die to create this little bird in a “garden.” Let’s get started with the details!

I started my project by stamping the images from the Leafy Cluster product suite using Altenew Obsidian black pigment ink, then sprinkling those sticky black images with Hero Arts Iridescent Green embossing powder. The iridescent green embossing becomes a deep hunter green when paired with the black embossing. I then used blending brushes to blend Artichoke and Cabbage from Pawsitively Saturated Ink Trio 21 using the stencils from the Leafy Cluster product suite. I also die cut a few sprigs of “ivy” with the Eucalyptus Leaves die and Simon Says Stamp’s Midnight Green cardstock.

For the background, I ran a panel of Hammermill white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Wooden Planks embossing folder. I also die cut the Standing Whirl Bird die from some pearlescent white cardstock. I popped up the wooden plank background with some foam adhesive, then arranged the foliage around the little bird, adhering everything with liquid and foam adhesive to add varied heights to my card front.

For the greeting, I stamped a couple of the sentiments from the Papa stamps and dies (I adore the multitude of possible names in the Papa and Mamacita sets!) using the same Obsidian and Hero Arts Iridescent Green embossing powder combination that I used on the foliage stamps. I die cut the “Papa” with the coordinating die, then trimmed the strip using my trimmer and tucked it next to the bird die cut. Finally, I added a bit of sparkle with a few Clear Pawsitively Dazzling Gems!

Well, that’s all for my Man Card Monday project today! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous week!