Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

flat shaker

Simon Says Stamp January Card Kit: The Small Things- Now Available for Preorder!

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

Hi friends! The new Simon Says Stamp January 2026 (say what?!) Card Kit of the Month was just released and is now available for preorder! The The Small Things Kit such a lovely, peaceful kit filled with so many carefully curated products that work beautifully together or individually or with other products! Here’s a sneak peek at the contents of the kit:

The Small Things Kit features an absolutely beautiful stamp set that could be used for holiday cards and well beyond, layering stencils and coordinating dies, a spectacular embossing folder, patterned papers, embellishments, cardstock… so much value in one package and at a great price! The individual contents of the kit are valued at well over the $44.99 price tag (or $39.99 for subscribers, making an even better value! Click HERE to subscribe!)

I created two cards to share with you today, featuring a serene navy, teal, and turquoise color palette that I pulled from some of the absolutely stunning patterned papers included with the kit, perfect for creating those winter-but-not-holiday cards. Let’s get started with the details!

*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!*

When creating a card set like this, I like to first decide on my color palette. I loved the gorgeous teal, navy, and green color palette with which the patterned paper was designed, so I selected a snowy night scene and then selected cardstock and ink colors to match.

My shaker card began with that gorgeous panel of patterned paper, which I made into a flat shaker background with some gorgeous sequins and leftover acetate packaging. I used the A2 Rectangles dies with the Lacy Point Frames to create an intricate frame which I popped up on my shaker front with thin foam adhesive squares. To embellish this peaceful scene, I stamped the beautiful deer images from The Small Things using no-line coloring ink, then used Copic markers to do some coloring, adding black Micron pen and white gel pen to the details on the eyes and hoofs. I cut them out (you could use the coordinating dies which are available for purchase separately!) and then created a snowy tree using the new Snowy Tree die. I arranged all of the die cuts in the corner of my shaker frame, then added a leftover holiday sentiment strip. Such a pretty, serene card. I can feel the crisp and cold night air when I look at this card!

My second card features a fun fold, allowing that gorgeous Crystal Snowflake Stencil set and coordinating die to be the star of the show! I blended the snowflake image using Eucalyptus, Raindrop, and Night, adding a layer of the Twinkle Texture Paste included in the kit over the second stencil and sprinkling Rock Candy Glitter over the top for gorgeous, ice-encrusted sparkle! I die cut the completed and dried snowflake with its coordinating die and added some shimmering Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to the snowflake for even more sparkle!

For the card base itself, I trimmed a 5.5″ x 8.5″ panel of white cardstock, then used my Simon Says Stamp Score Board to score lines at 2 1/8″ from the edge of each side, creating my A2 card base with a fun fold! I used some small pieces of painter’s tape to keep the flaps folded down, then used the “kissing” method to stamp the individual snowflakes from The Small Things with the same shades of ink that I used to blend the snowflake stencil! I simply loaded up the snowflake stamps with ink, stamped once (or twice depending on how vibrant the color was to start) on some scratch paper, then stamped a lovely and soft snowflake pattern all over the card front. I layered a strip of the included silver foil cardstock with the Sage cardstock over the center of the gate-fold card, then adhered the stenciled snowflake to the center. Finally, I added a silver embossed sentiment strip in the center of the snowflake!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. This card kit is available for preorder right now and will begin shipping in early January, so it will be perfect for those winter cards or to get a jumpstart on next year’s Christmas cards! (Can you even believe that Christmas is less than 2 weeks away?!)

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 today, and have a marvelous day!

Sparkling Christmas Shaker with New Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! Have you finished hopping along with the Simon Says Stamp And Everything Nice Blog Hop? (You can click HERE to start at Day 1 and HERE to start at Day 2 if you missed it!) These blog hops are filled with page after page of inspiration, plus prizes and freebies, so you don’t want to miss out! I am back today with another project, this time featuring the gorgeous new Ink Trio 36 that was released during the And Everything Nice release ((click HERE to see the entire release!). These inks are such a perfect gradient and look absolutely gorgeous blended as an ombré background that I couldn’t resist creating a pretty shaker card and allowing the blended background to be one of the main focal points. Let’s get started with the details!

*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!*

To begin my shaker card, I used blending brushes to blend the new Pawsitively Saturated Ink Trio 36 in shades of Shell, Salmon, and Coral in a gradient on a white A2 card front. I used Pinkfresh Studio 1″ Blending Brushes to get a super duper smooth, seamless transition from one color to the other and I am overjoyed at how beautifully it came out! Once I had finished blending, I splattered the background with some iridescent glitter watercolors, then used some leftover acetate packaging to create a flat shaker pocket around my blended, splattered background. I filled the pocket with Sunrise Embellishments and Starbright Embellishments, pulling in the peachy colors of the background as well as adding some snowy elements with the shimmering iridescent Starbright sequins and tiny snowflake sequins. These flat shakers are such fun to make and put good use to that leftover stamp packaging that we all have in abundance!

After I had completed my shaker background, I die cut the new Joy Cover from some iridescent white mirror cardstock. This cover die is slightly smaller than A2, so it leaves a bit of a frame around the edges. I nestled it up in the top left corner, offsetting it slightly so that I had plenty of room for my die cut snowflakes! I cut some individual snowflakes using the Sparkling Snowflake Frame & Trio and white glitter cardstock, which I adhered directly over the Joy Cover die cut in a cascade.

To enhance the greeting a bit, I used one of the sentiments from the new Holly Jolly stamp set, stamping it first with Coral ink, then again with embossing ink with the help of my trusty MISTI, adding White Satin Pearl embossing powder to create a pearlescent coral greeting! I die cut the scripty sentiments and used my trimmer to create a sentiment strip. I popped the sentiments up, nestling them amongst the snowflakes and placing them directly over the Joy Cover die cut. Finally, I added a smattering of Opal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to add even more shimmer and sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I enjoy making these flat shaker cards so much. The sequins swish around so beautifully, creating magical sparkle behind your main focal point! So festive and fun! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp October 2025 Card Kit of the Month!

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

Hi friends! I have some inspiration to share with you today using the new Simon Says Stamp October 2025 Card Kit of the Month: Fall Vibes! This month’s kit is so unique and full of fun products that you can use to create a ton of different cards using just the contents of the kit! Here’s a sneak peek at the kit’s contents:

Such a unique kit, right? Each different element is so unique, but they work so nicely together! I have two projects to share with you created using the contents of the kit, so let’s get started with the details!

*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!*

The “Fall Vibes” theme stuck in my head when brainstorming ideas for these projects, so I decided to keep things decidedly “fall” and stick with a color that doesn’t get a lot of love in my craft room: orange! I have a friend who has the most marvelous pumpkin patch, growing over 75 varieties of pumpkin (more power to her and her green thumb!), so I was inspired by the shades of the round gourds gracing her fields to create a stenciled shaker, as well as take advantage of the gorgeous metallic kraft cardstock from Tim Holtz that was included in the kit.

For my first project, I ran an A2 panel of the gorgeous pumpkin-colored Tim Holtz Metallic Kraft Stock through my die cutting machine using the Modern Loop Embossing Folder included in the kit. Metallic and foil cardstocks work so beautifully with detailed embossing folders like this one; the shining surface of the cardstock seems to enhance the texture of the embossed images to perfection! Next, I heat embossed a greeting from the new A2 Grid Basics stamp set included with the kit onto some Creamsicle cardstock from the kit. I trimmed the embossed image out with my trimmer, but you could use the coordinating dies (which are sold separately). I trimmed the embossed panel down slightly and placed it in the center of a full-sized A2 Creamsicle card front. To frame the sentiment, I used Multi-Medium Matte adhesive to adhere one of the Tim Holtz Photo Frames on the textured foil panel, then added the greeting with some foam adhesive squares. Finally, I added a few Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit of extra sparkle!

For my second card, I used Pucker, Clay, Cantaloupe, and Woodsy Pawsitively Saturated Ink to blend the fabulous Pumpkin Patch stencil on a panel of Ivory A2 cardstock from the kit. The generously-sized pumpkins make it easy to add some additional shading details, creating shape and dimension on these pumpkins! The Black Stamp and Stencil Mat included with the kit made super quick work of those layering stencils, as well. Such a useful tool! I used some leftover stamp packaging to create a pocket around the entire panel, then filled it with Sea Star Embellishments, keeping with my overall orange theme. Once I had my flat shaker sealed off, I die cut the detail layer of the previously-released Simple Thanks die from the orange metallic kraft cardstock included with the kit and backed it with a coordinating shade of deep, warm gray cardstock to allow the shiny orange die cut to pop from the colorful background. I popped up the greeting with some foam adhesive, then added a shiny metallic orange twine bow to the card front for a bit of added texture!

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. Who can say no to such incredible value though, right?

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

Hero Arts July Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! Hero Arts is releasing their new collection for July 2024, and we are hopping along to celebrate! You can get the full hop list HERE on the Hero Arts Blog. You can view the full July Release HERE. I am so excited to be hopping along with Hero Arts today, as they are celebrating their 50th anniversary throughout 2024. Such an amazing company! I was lucky to be part of the Creative Team for Hero Arts for several years, and it’s such a joy to join in now as a guest. I have a pair of pretty ocean-themed cards today using the new release, so let’s get started with the details!

Hero Arts has made some changes to their monthly releases, giving you several options for subscriptions, depending on your favorite ways to create! You can check out the full post over on the Hero Arts blog to see all of the details on these new subscriptions. I did some mixing and matching with the new July Layering Stencil of the Month, the sweet sandcastle dies from the July Card Kit of the Month, and some older products that work so beautifully with these ocean-themed goodies.

For my first card, I created a sweet shaker card using the July Layering Stencil of the Month, which creates a fun ocean background using four different stencils. I blended Mist, Paradise, and Bermuda inks with the layering stencils, then added some light blending around the edges of the A2 panel using Paradise ink, creating a bit of a spotlight on the center of the patterned panel. I used some leftover stamp packaging to create the pocket for the flat shaker card, then filled it with some coordinating blue and white sequins. These flat shaker cards are such fun and such an interesting way to use an entire blended background!

For the front of the card, I stamped a greeting from Sea Quotes using Bermuda ink, then stamped over the top with embossing ink and added some Iridescent Blue embossing powder for added shimmer and shine. I also stamped and embossed the “you’re amazing” from Message Strips. To add a little more textural interest and sparkle to the front of the card, I added a few glittery white die cuts from the older standalone Sea Creatures die set. I popped the sentiment die cuts up with some foam adhesive, then added the glittery accent die cuts with some liquid adhesive to add multiple layers of height.

For my second card, I paired the adorable standalone sandcastle dies from the July Card Kit of the Month with some alcohol marker coloring and another sentiment from the Sea Quotes set. I die cut the sandcastle dies from plain white cardstock and used OLO Markers to color the images with grays and aquas. I used the fine tip of the brush point to add some “grains of sand” texture to the bottom of the sandcastle… I don’t know if there is actually gray sand anywhere in the world, but I’m going to take some artistic license here! I colored the bucket, shovel, and a few extra seashells and starfish cut using the Sea Creatures die set.

For the card base, I blended some Mist ink in the center of my white A2 card panel, then splattered the background with sparkling handmade watercolors for extra texture. I used another stamped and embossed sentiment from Sea Quotes and Message Strips, then arranged all of the die cuts in a cluster over the blended, splattered area. I adhered the different pieces with both foam adhesive and liquid adhesive, creating multiple layers of height. The final touch was to add a few sparkling gems to fill in a few of the blank spaces!

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

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, July 7th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

You can see the full hop list HERE on the Hero Arts Blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Create A Colorful Life Shaker Card with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I have a fun ombré shaker card to share with you today using some beautiful new goodies from the Simon Says Stamp Sunny Vibes release from last week! You might have seen this project during the live last week (you can catch the replay HERE) and so I thought I would give a rundown of how I created this project. I am going to try to get a video filmed featuring this technique, so be on the lookout for that! I took a poll in my Instagram Stories asking whether videos with no voice over, just occasional subtitles and music, would be of interest, and the answers were overwhelmingly yes! So now I am going to try to get at least one video posted a week with this simpler format. If there are any techniques or projects from past posts that you would like to see on video, please don’t hesitate to let me know! Let’s get started on the details for this project.

For today’s project, I am using the beautiful new Modern Medallions stamp set. The bold pattern was perfect for this ombré stamping technique, and when paired with tone-on-tone ombré blending, it creates such a beautifully vibrant background, perfect for a shaker card! I started by stamping the Modern Medallions background stamp onto a panel of white cardstock with my MISTI using the following Pawsitively Saturated Inks: Watermelon, Blush, Butter, Celery, Tropic. To achieve this smooth ombré, I first tapped my Watermelon ink pad on the top of the stamp, then used the new Simon Says Stamp Microfiber Cloth to tap the edge of the ink line, smoothing it out and creating an area for a smoother fade into the next color. I stamped the first color, cleaned my stamp, then tapped Blush ink onto the next “strip” of the stamp, tapping both the top and bottom of the ink stripe to create that smooth fade from one color into the next. I repeated the process with all of the ink colors until I had this pretty rainbow ombré!

Before moving the stamped panel and stamp from my MISTI, I inked up the Modern Medallions stamp once more, covering the entirety of the image with embossing ink and adding clear embossing powder to the image. The paper shifted ever so slightly when I was doing my stamping, so the clear embossing was just the tiniest bit off from the colorful stamped image. I then used blending brushes to blend the same colors over the top of the stamped image, creating a tone-on-tone ombré overlay. The colors of the stamped image are much more intense than the blended version, creating this fun tone-on-tone backgorund. I trimmed the panel down slightly and created a shaker pocket with some leftover stamp packaging. I filled the shaker with the new Mermaid Tail sequins and mounted it on a full sized A2 panel of black cardstock, creating a crisp black border around the edge of my colorful shaker background.

For the greeting, I kept things simple with a heat embossed sentiment from the new Create stamps and coordinating dies. I heat embossed this uplifting sentiment onto Pitch Black cardstock using white embossing powder, then die cut it with the coordinating dies. I also die cut the Create die, cutting the detail layer from more Pitch Black cardstock and the shadow layer from vellum. I popped up the sentiment pieces on the front of the shaker panel using foam adhesive squares!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I tend to stick to cooler rainbow colors, so it was fun to go outside of my normal comfort zone, and especially to create this shimmery shaker card. I will try to get the video posted for this technique early next week, if you are interested!! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!