Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

flower buds unfolding

Accentuate Embossing Folder Details with Metallic Cardstock and Alcohol Markers!

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

Hi friends! I have been crafting for nearly 15 years, and when I first started, I was primarily a Cricut-crafter, making scrapbooks and home decor pieces, with the occasional card thrown in. Cricut’s companion die cutting machine, the Cuttlebug, was also in my arsenal of tools to use with embossing folders, though the embossing folders fell to the wayside when I found stamps and dies. I was delighted when embossing folders began making their resurgence a couple of years ago. We now have so many amazing options to add incredible dimension and texture, including coordinating dies and layering stencils! I don’t mind admitting that as I get older, I can take a longer view on how things evolve, and it’s such fun to see what’s old become new again. Simon Says Stamp has been releasing month after month of exceptional embossing folder designs, with geometric patterns, fun and unique textures, and (my favorites) luscious florals. The new Celebrate release from Simon Says Stamp features an abundance of lovely embossing folders, and my favorite by far was the new Chelsea Floral Embossing Folder. I am always on the lookout for gorgeous florals to color, and the graceful florals with this embossing folder/die combo did not disappoint! I have a pair of cards to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details.

I was recently reminded during the latest Simon Says Stamp Live (you can watch the replay HERE) of how utterly stunning Champagne Matte cardstock is when paired with a super detailed embossing folder. I love to use specialty cardstocks with embossing folders; the coating on these unique cardstocks seem to highlight the intricate details of the raised images even more. I pulled out my pack of the beautiful Champagne Matte cardstock and looked to Pinterest for some color palettes that would complement it. I found a combination with a lovely rosy mauve, peach, and pale sage green that I thought would work beautifully with the softness of the Champagne Matte cardstock.

For my first project, I die cut several of the blooms Chelsea Floral Embossing Folder/die combo, as well as some foliage from the Leafy Greens Embossing Folder/die combo using Hammermill cardstock. After die cutting the images, I lined them up in the coordinating spots on the embossing folders and ran them through my die cutting machine to add the curvature and debossed details. I pulled some Copic markers to create these unique peach melba florals with some delicate, almost silvery sage foliage. I added some gold to the flower centers with a shiny gold paint pen.

Behind the colored floral die cuts, I wanted to add some delicate texture, so I embossed a panel of pearlescent peach cardstock with the new Flower Buds Unfolding Embossing Folder. The floral die cuts lent themselves well to a delicate spray spilling down the long side of a mini-slimline card, so I trimmed the embossed panel down and matted it with an ever-so-slightly larger piece of coordinating sage green cardstock, then placed both pieces in the center of a mini slimline (3.5″ x 6″) panel of Champagne Matte cardstock.

For the greeting, I heat embossed a few of the sentiments from Happy Combos using white embossing powder onto Pencil Eraser cardstock, which coordinated beautifully with the peach melba tones of the flowers. I arranged the floral die cuts on the textured background, popping them up with thin foam adhesive, then used Simon Says Stamp foam squares, which are slightly thicker, to pop up the sentiment pieces. Finally, I added a few sparkly adhesive gems amongst the florals for extra shine!

For my second card, I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful details on the entirety of the Chelsea Floral Embossing Folder. The individual flower die cuts are lovely, but the design for the full embossing folder is just delightful! I embossed an A2 panel of Champagne Matte cardstock using the Chelsea Floral Embossing Folder, then trimmed some off of the top and bottom of the panel with my trimmer so that I could do some color blocking on the bottom of the panel. I added a very thin strip of the same muted sage green that I used on the first project, then a bolder strip of the Pencil Eraser cardstock at the very bottom, covering a full A2 card front completely.

Next, I heat embossed some sentiments from the Elegantly Modern Greetings stamps onto some more Pencil Eraser cardstock using white embossing powder, then used the coordinating die to die cut the intricately detailed “thanks” sentiment. I popped the two sentiment pieces up on the embossed metallic panel using foam adhesive, then used one of the Copic markers from the previous card to dye a piece of faux silk ribbon so that it coordinated beautifully with the color palette! After tucking the pretty pink bow beneath the sentiment, I added a few more sparkly adhesive gems.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I can’t believe it is nearly May and summertime is just around the corner. It doesn’t seem possible that my big kids will be 5th graders and my little boys will have completed their first year of preschool. Time flies when you’re having fun! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Gorgeous Denim Blue with New Embossing Folders from Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! The new Simon Says Stamp Celebrate Release is now live, and some of my most favorite items are the new Ink Trio 25 and the wide variety of new embossing folders! I have become absolutely obsessed with the embossing folder+ink pad swiping craze, and the dark blue in the Ink Trio 25 is absolutely perfect for use with this technique. It’s dark enough that it can easily cover up most lighter colors (as I showed in THIS post last night). I loved making that navy and coral card so much that I wanted to try it out with all three blue inks from the Ink Trio 25 and the new gender-neutral embossing folders to create some more masculine-friendly projects. I have two blue-tiful cards to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

The trick for the ink swiping technique is to make sure that your blending inks are significantly lighter than your swiping ink. You want to make sure that any blending that gets “outside the lines” is covered up by the ink swiping. Luckily, the Night ink from Ink Trio 25 is practically navy blue, so it works beautifully for this purpose! And the super springy foam pad gives great coverage on your debossed panels, almost creating a suction effect to get intense and vibrant inking.

For my first card, I embossed the new Flower Buds Unfolding Embossing Folder onto some Hammermill white cardstock, then flipped the panel over so that the pattern was debossed rather than raised. I then used blending brushes to blend the lighter two inks from Ink Trio 25 randomly all over the pattern, simply adding color to the debossed images. Once I had finished blending, I pressed the Night ink pad directly to the paper and swiped, being careful not to press down too hard to avoid ink smudges inside my patterned debossed areas. I love that this technique picks up the details within the debossed image!! I trimmed down the finished panel slightly and mounted it in the center of an A2 sized dark blue glitter cardstock card front, creating a sparkly mat around the edges of my textured and patterned panel.

For the greeting I chose to heat emboss the “anniversary” from the Happy Combos stamp set, using white embossing on navy blue cardstock, which I paired with the coordinating Happy Die cut from iridescent white mirror cardstock and a vellum shadow. I popped these die cuts up on my debossed and inked panel, then die cut the Ornamental Fine Leaves die from some more dark blue glitter cardstock. These delicate leaves are just simple enough that they can easily be used for a masculine card. You could definitely switch out the “anniversary” die cut for “birthday” and cut the leaves from plain navy cardstock to have a perfect masculine card! Finally, I added a trio of Clear Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit more sparkle.

For my second project, I used the same technique with the new Feather Spiral embossing folder to create a simple Father’s Day card. I first embossed a panel of white A2 cardstock with the embossing folder, flipped the panel over, and blended the lighter two inks from Ink Trio 25 in the debossed areas. I swiped the entire panel with my Night ink pad, again putting the pad directly to the paper and picking up those details beautifully!

For the greeting, I heat embossed a poignant sentiment from Papa and paired it with the new Fancy Father die set, cutting the detail layer from some more navy blue cardstock and layering it with a vellum shadow. To accent the sentiment and ground it a bit so that it wasn’t just floating in the center of the card, I trimmed down a strip of Ocean Breeze glitter cardstock and thinner strip of navy blue cardstock, adhering them to the right hand side of my card front with liquid adhesive. I popped up the sentiment pieces with some foam adhesive, orienting them over my accent strips.

I absolutely love this technique; I think that the possibilities are endless when you change up your ink colors. I think it would be fun to try with watercolored images, too! I can’t wait to experiment more! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and don’t forget to come back tomorrow for Day 1 of the Celebrate Blog Hop. Inspiration abounds with these blog hops, so you won’t want to miss it!