Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

giant gift bow

Tiffany Blue and a Big Bow with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I have a project today that uses some “leftovers;” i.e.-die cuts that I had created for a different project, then decided to go another direction. I have a little ceramic dish on my desk that holds these leftover pieces, whether they are left from projects on which I changed my mind, or simply that I cut too many multiples and saved them for a rainy day! Today’s project is inspired by that iconic Tiffany box. I don’t own any jewelry from Tiffany & Co, but who hasn’t seen that beautiful pool blue box with a fluffy white bow on it in movies and (perhaps momentarily) wished for their own sparkling gift inside of that iconic box? I had a fluffy white bow in my leftovers tray, as well as a glittery happy birthday sentiment die cut, so I thought I’d pair them to create a fun birthday card! 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!*

I knew that I wanted my finished product to have a bit of shimmer and subtle pattern behind the fluffy white bow, so I used embossing ink and Iridescent Blue embossing powder with the Arches Background stamp on an A2 panel of Audrey Blue cardstock from Simon Says Stamp. I love how this tone-on-tone embossing adds just a hint of shimmer to the background while also adding interest and texture to this relatively simple project.

To accompany my fluffy white Giant Gift Bow die cut and to create that gift box appearance, I used my trimmer to cut a couple of 1/2″ strips of white cardstock. I crossed them towards the top left of my card front, adhering both pieces with liquid adhesive. I then used thin foam adhesive squares to pop up the gift bow that I had previously assembled using liquid and foam adhesive for lots of fun dimension. I love how detailed and generously-sized this Giant Gift Bow die cut is. It truly is a focal point in and of itself!

For the greeting, I layered a black glitter cardstock Large Happy Birthday die cut with two plain white Large Happy Birthday die cuts to create a bit of stability and extra dimension for a dimensional die cut greeting. I layered it over the gift box background using some thin foam adhesive strips, finally finishing the card off with some Surf Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. Who wouldn’t want sparkle with a Tiffany gift box?

Well, that’s all for my project today! This card is a testament to saving those leftover die cuts. I was able to pull this somewhat simple birthday card together very quickly, but the sparkling glitter die cuts and massive bow make the simple design so much more impressive! Moral of the story: keep your leftovers. You never know when you might want them! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Belated Songs of the Season: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

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

Hi friends! I know that I am a couple of days late for this month’s installment of Songs of the Season, but Thanksgiving and all of the family festivities surrounding it made me lose track of the date! This month, I’ve created a project using one of my all-time favorite holiday songs as inspiration: “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” from Meet Me In St. Louis. As someone who grew up 20 minutes outside of St. Louis, this movie has always been dear to my heart. It follows the Smith family right at the turn of the 20th century, when, and I quote, St. Louis was “the center of the entire universe!” for the 1904 World’s Fair. The movie takes place over the course of a full year, but somehow, I feel like it is a Christmas movie. The moment when John Truitt surprises Esther behind the Christmas tree at the ball in his tuxedo and they gracefully waltz out together will never not give me butterflies. Esther’s elegant ruby red velvet dress, large silky hairbows, and touches of sparkle seemed to me to be the height of holiday elegance as a child who loved playing dress up and watching historical movies for the fashion as much as for the story.

You can watch the scene with Judy Garland’s classic version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” above or HERE on YouTube. For my card, I tried to pull in several different textural and thematic elements present in the scene: the luxurious red velvet, the silky coat, the snowflakes, the holiday greenery adorning the house, etc.

Today’s card finally gave me an excuse to use a technique that I’ve had in my head for over a year: shiny red foiled snowflakes on Simon Says Stamp Rich Red Matte Metallic foil cardstock. I used shiny Red Glimmer foil to hot foil the Trinity Frosty Foiled Plates snowflakes onto an A2 panel of Rich Red Matte Metallic foil cardstock. The contrast between the shiny foiled snowflakes and the super smooth, brushed red foil cardstock is just enough to create a subtle texture and pattern on the background panel. I am totally in love with this technique and want to try it on everything!!

Throughout the movie, the young ladies adorn their coiffures with huge bows, as was the style in 1904. To emulate this, I die cut the Giant Gift Bow die from Pawsitively Velvet red cardstock, popping up the top layer with foam adhesive to give extra dimension and create a shadow to allow it to be more visible. I also die cut some foliage from the Berry Stems dies, arranging them behind the bow to create a festive, elegant, and traditional holiday greenery arrangement.

After I had finished arranging the bow and greenery, I heat embossed a greeting from the Graceful Holiday Greetings set onto some heavyweight vellum using white embossing powder. I popped the greeting up with clear foam adhesive, nestling it amongst the holiday foliage. Finally, I added a few sparkling red gems for one last elegant touch of sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project for this month’s Songs of the Season. I can’t believe that Christmas is less than a month away! The Songs of the Season series won’t be going anywhere, though, because I love Christmas no matter what month it is. 🙂

Just a reminder: you can get this absolutely adorable freebie with any $25 purchase of Tim Holtz brand products. Here’s a little tag that I created using Walter:

Isn’t he just the cutest? This set is only available at Simon Says Stamp while supplies last, so don’t wait! If you’re new to Tim Holtz, I can’t recommend the Distress Inks highly enough. They are water reactive and marvelous for watercoloring, so if you’re a colorist like me, you definitely ought to check them out. The color palette is wide-ranging and so, so beautiful.

Well, that’s all for me today. Thanks so much for stopping by, and be sure to check back later this week as we dive in headfirst for DieCember! It’s going to be an amazing month! Have a marvelous day!