Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

gift box

Special Holiday Gift Box with Custom Stamped Wrapping with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I have a sweet decorated gift box that is perfect for those special gifts, made even more festive with some stamping and glittery cardstock. I am always on the lookout for fun items that I can make more special with the addition of a little papercrafting magic, and these little papier mâche boxes that I found at the dollar store were perfect for turning into a pretty holiday gift box. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

*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, I used my T-square to measure the sides of the box, then trimmed down some white cardstock to fit each side. To create the custom “wrapping paper,” I used the individual stamps from Jingle All the Way with Artichoke Pawsitively Saturated Ink to stamp a unique holiday pattern all over each panel. To add some shimmering details, I used a gold paint pen to add shiny gold baubles to the Christmas trees, berries, and snowflakes on each panel. Once the panels had been completed, I adhered them to each side of the gift box with Simon Says Stamp Tear-rific Tape.

After I had securely adhered each stamped piece to the sides and top of the gift box, I die cut a gorgeous, fluffy Giant Gift Bow from gold glitter cardstock. I used foam squares to adhere the components, helping to increase the dimension and visibility of each die cut section. I also used my trimmer to trim down some strips of gold glitter cardstock to create the “ribbon” for the box topper. I added the bow to the center of the box topper with some more foam adhesive. I love how festive and sparkly this little gift box is!

To create a coordinating gift tag, I first die cut one of the smaller pierced tags from the new Layered Scallop Tags die set using white cardstock. I used the same Artichoke Pawsitively Saturated Ink to stamp some little holly berries from the Jingle All the Way stamp set. I added a coordinating green tag topper die cut and tucked it beneath the glittering bow with some more foam adhesive squares to finish it off!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I hope you’re all ready for the big day tomorrow. Feeling puny for almost 2 weeks straight right before Christmas was not on my bingo card for this year, so I’m feeling the heat trying to get everything done in time! I still have some more holiday projects to share with you, but I feel like the Christmas holiday lasts at least throughout Epiphany, so we’re just going to keep celebrating here on my blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and Merry Christmas Eve!!

Fuchsia Flowers for Valentine’s Day with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! Is it bitterly cold where you are located? We’ve had almost two solid weeks of exceptionally cold and snowy weather, which is very unusual for our area in southern Illinois anymore. When I was a kid, we used to experience truly winter weather throughout the winter, frequently with snow (maybe not much, but still enough to count!) on Christmas. These days, though, it’s more likely to be in the 40’s and 50’s for most of the winter season, and it makes me somewhat sad. I love bundling into our warm house when it’s cold outside, and bonus… the colder the temps, the more bugs die! Ha! (I am not outdoorsy and bugs are my nemesis when I am outside.) For today’s post, I thought I would brighten things up with some vibrant pink projects using the gorgeous Tumbling Flowers embossing folder and coordinating stencil set from Simon Says Stamp. 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!*

Out of the huge array of luscious colors in the Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Ink line, I find myself constantly reaching for Taffy ink. It’s cool, vibrant pink works splendidly with so many different color palettes, blended lightly or more intensely, swiped or stamped. I decided to make Taffy ink the focus for my color palette today to add some vibrant color into these dreary winter days!

To start my card, I ran an A2 sized panel of white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Tumbling Flowers Embossing Folder. I then placed my embossed panel on a Pawsitively Perfect Craft Tacky Mat and used blending brushes and the coordinating Tumbling Flowers Stencils to blend Taffy, Peony, Rhubarb, and Sprout Pawsitively Saturated Inks on the gorgeous cluster of blooms. The combination of layering stencils and fantastic dimension on the embossed panel creates such a uniquely textured, dimensional project! After blending the flower images, I used residual Taffy ink left on the blending brush to blend around the edges of the card front and splattered some gold glitter watercolors around the edges, as well.

For the greeting, I die cut the detail layer of the Fancy Just Because die using gold glitter cardstock from the new Hot Tamale Glitter cardstock and the shadow layer from Simon Says Stamp’s Vellum. I adhered the two layers together using liquid adhesive, then adhered the sparkling sentiment to the card front using thin strips of foam adhesive squares. I added a die cut and stenciled flower next to the sentiment die cuts, created using the coordinating die from the Tumbling Flowers product suite. I tucked a shimmering gold bow next to the standalone flower and added some Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to the flower centers for some added sparkle!

I wanted to create a coordinating gift box to hold a gift card, some candy, or a small gift, so I used white cardstock to die cut the new Sweethearts Box and adhered everything together using the super strong Tear-rifically Tacky Tape, which works perfectly for 3-dimensional objects like the Sweethearts Box. I trimmed off some 3/8″ strips of glitter cardstock from the orange, pink, and gold Hot Tamale Glitter cardstock pack and adhered them at an angle on the front of the gift box.

After I had created the box, I die cut the XOXO included with the Sweethearts Box die set from some magenta foil cardstock. I adhered it at an angle on the strips of glitter cardstock, then arranged a few die cut and stenciled flowers created with the Tumbling Flowers Embossing Folder and stencil suite. I popped the flowers up with some foam adhesive and added a Valentine’s greeting heat embossed in gold on white cardstock. Such a vibrant and pretty little gift box, with a bit of a unique color palette to keep things fresh and modern!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I love injecting some vibrant color into these long and gray January days by playing with vivid inks and sparkling cardstocks. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Simon Says Stamp Festive Fun Release-NEW Old Fashioned Christmas!

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

Hi friends! I am so excited to share some inspiration using the brand new Festive Fun release from Simon Says Stamp. I am extra thrilled to have designed two new stamp sets included in the release: Old Fashioned Christmas and Poinsettia Swag. Old Fashioned Christmas is a set on which I have been ruminating for quite a while; my husband is a bourbon guy (in fact, he’s headed to a bourbon trip this weekend with his buddies for their 40th birthdays!), and so when I was trying to design a Father’s Day card for him, I was disappointed to discover that I had nothing bourbon-themed. I am (slowly) growing more fond of “punny” sentiments, and the sentiments that I included with the Old Fashioned Christmas set are cute while still being elegant and a bit more mature. This was my first non-floral illustration, and I am so thrilled at how it came out!

The Old Fashioned Christmas set features a generously-sized whiskey decanter, along with a decorative bow and two scrumptious-looking cocktails. My redhead’s favorite drink is an old-fashioned, and I’ve had to get better at making them for him. We usually use bourbon, a couple drops of bitters, Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup (if you love old fashioned cocktails, you need to try this), with some Luxardo cherries and a piece of candied orange peel, muddled together. The candied fruit takes the bitter edge off of the bourbon (double oaked Woodford Reserve is his favorite for cocktails), and they are a delicious little treat at the end of the cocktail when all of the flavors have melded together!

For my first projects using the images from Old Fashioned Christmas, I decided to create a festive card and pillow gift box for a cocktail-loving friend. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

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

Coloring is one of my most favorite things to do; a stress reliever on difficult days, something in which I can lose myself and be totally consumed on getting the shading just right. The images from Old Fashioned Christmas are very generously sized, making them great fun to color with your choice of medium. I focused mostly on OLO markers with my first several projects, but I can’t wait to do some watercoloring! I stamped the images multiple times on some Hammermill white cardstock using Altenew’s Permanent Mist Gray ink, which is great for no-line alcohol marker coloring. I used my colorless blending marker copiously when coloring the glass, creating lots of shine and attempting transparency with each image. I used a “glazing” technique on the cocktail accompaniments to make them look as though they were submerged in the cocktails, using the lightest marker from the cocktail to cover the areas submerged in the liquid after coloring them with their base layer of color, so that they would take on some of the same undertones as the cocktail!

After I had colored all of the images from Old Fashioned Christmas using OLO markers, I used the coordinating dies to die cut each image. I also heat embossed a greeting from Old Fashioned Christmas using Platinum Sparkle embossing powder, then die cut it with the coordinating die. Don’t you just love sentiment die cuts, as well? So clean and polished-looking. Any bourbon lover would absolutely love to receive a card with this sentiment on it, I think!

You know that I can’t not have flowers on my projects, so I used my Holiday Blossoms stamp set that was released last Christmas to add some botanical adornments to the A7 card front, stamping the poinsettia bouquet in the corners of the white card front using the same Permanent Mist Gray ink to create a very subtle pattern in the background. I used some champagne glitter cardstock to die cut the A7 Nesting Frame dies, adhering two to the patterned background with liquid adhesive and creating a “ground” for my little cocktail hour. I adhered the die cut and colored images to the background using a mixture of liquid and foam adhesive, doubling the foam adhesive for the sentiment to give it a bit more height from the rest of the die cuts. Finally, I added a few Peachy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems, which worked beautifully with the orange tones in the cocktails and the whiskey in the decanter.

For my second project, I used the cocktail from Old Fashioned Christmas in the shorter highball glass to adorn a Pillow Box die cut. I used the same no-line coloring technique listed above, adding some dimples to the candied orange and highlights to the glass with my white gel pen. Before folding the Pillow Box die cut, I stamped the magnolia image from Holiday Blossoms onto one side using the new Cookie Pawsitively Saturated Ink, matching the warm peachy-brown tones in the cocktail. I embossed a greeting from Old Fashioned Christmas using Iridescent Copper embossing powder, then die cut the sentiment using the coordinating die and added it to the front of the pillow box. Finally, I wrapped some shiny copper twine around the pillow box, tucking the tail beneath the cocktail and the bow behind the sentiment die cut. Wouldn’t this be a great way to give a gift card to your favorite spirits retailer for Christmas?

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I hope you’ll check out the new Festive Fun release from Simon Says Stamp; there truly are some absolutely wonderful new goodies that will bring much joy and fun to your holiday crafty time. I focused a lot of attention on the two sets that I illustrated, but the entire release is absolutely scrumptious. Thanks so much for stopping by, and don’t forget to come back later this week for tons more inspiration on the two-day blog hop celebrating the Festive Fun release! Have a marvelous day!