Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

karin brushmarker pro

Simon Says Stamp Always There Collection- Now Available!

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

Hi friends! Simon Says Stamp has released their latest collection, called Always There, and good heavens is it filled with gorgeous goodies! (Click HERE to see the entire collection!) I say that slightly bashfully, as I have not one, but two, new sets that I’ve illustrated for them, called Blooms of Encouragement and Keep Palm! These 6×8 sets feature some of my most favorite illustrations that are perfect for these late spring and early summer days, and I’ve done my best to fill in the blank spaces with useful, meaningful, and maybe even a few punny sentiments. I have several projects to share with you using these new goodies along with lots of other projects with new products from the release, so let’s get started with my first project!

For this first project, I wanted to put my watercolors to use with the pretty tulip image from Blooms of Encouragement. I began by stamping the large floral image using Inkon3 Fadeout Ink on some nice watercolor paper, then used Karin Brushmarker Pro Watercolor Markers to add color to the floral image. When working with these Brushmarkers, I prefer to scribble the color on a palette or glass mat, then pick the color up with my damp paintbrush. This allows me to better control the intensity of the color on my finished watercolored piece, rather than putting the marker directly to the paper. Sometimes the color sinks down into the watercolor paper and is finicky to move around, so picking the color up and putting on my paper with the paintbrush gives me the most control over the movement and saturation!

Once I had finished watercoloring all of the images, I die cut the large scale floral with it’s coordinating die, which is super detailed and makes life so much easier! After I had die cut the image, I used some gorgeous shimmery glitter watercolors to add some extra shimmer to the oval frame in the center. Using my MISTI, I also stamped a greeting from Blooms of Encouragement onto some creamy cardstock using Iris Pawsitively Saturated Ink, then stamped it again using embossing ink and added Iridescent Purple Embossing Powder over the top, creating a lovely iridescent purple sentiment. I die cut the greeting using the coordinating die and popped it up in the center of the watercolored oval with foam adhesive. When designing the set, I made sure that each of the sentiments was sized appropriately to fit within the open space of the oval.

To create the card itself, I thought I’d try something a little different with a vellum card base. Working with translucent card bases can be a little tricky, because the adhesive on the back of the elements on the card front can’t be easily hidden. After I had created my top-fold vellum A2 card base, I adhered the tulip die cut to the center of the card front with some thin foam adhesive, then opened the card base and added strong double sided adhesive tape behind the solid die cut and placed a coordinating wisteria panel in the center, successfully covering the adhesive on the back of the die cut from the card front! I also added a few Opal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a little extra sparkle.

For the sentiment, I stamped one of the encouraging greetings from Blooms of Encouragement, again using Iris ink, then trimmed the strip with a guillotine trimmer. I mounted the sentiment strip on a panel of Ivory cardstock (using a T-square to make sure it was perfectly straight-I had a mishap when I tried to stamp directly on the panel itself and this solution covered up my mistake!) then used Red Line Tape to adhere the panel to the interior of the vellum card base. I learned at CREATE that this tape is invisible on vellum, and I am pleased to report that while not 100% invisible, it does do a great job hiding on vellum!

I am so excited about my new Blooms of Encouragement set… I went a little nuts creating with it, so I have lots more inspiration to share with you. I think this vellum card was so fun and definitely something a little different than my normal project, and I am really in love with how it turned out.

Don’t forget about the blog hop, starting tomorrow bright and early!! The Always There release (Click HERE to see the entire collection!) is absolutely smashing, and the blog hop promises to be filled with exquisite inspiration as always. I hope you’ll join us. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Vibrant Sunflowers with NEW Illustration for Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember!

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

Hi friends! I have a couple of projects to share with you today using my newest illustration for Simon Says Stamp: Sunflower Dreams! This large background stamp can be used on it’s own to create a lushly-detailed patterned background for your focal point, or you can pair it with your favorite coloring medium for some relaxing coloring time. For today’s projects, I tried to use as much of the background as I could after watercoloring the image in it’s entirety with Karin Brushmarker Pro markers. I even used the leftovers after creating my A7 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!*

To begin, I stamped Sunflower Dreams onto some Arches Cold Pressed watercolor cardstock using Simon Says Stamp’s Nocturne black pigment ink, then added clear embossing powder over the top to set the ink as well as make the black lines extra crisp and bold. I then used vivid, golden yellow, deep lime green, magenta, and a gorgeous deep turquoise Karin Brushmarker Pro markers to watercolor the entire image, scribbling the marker onto my glass mat and picking up the color with my damp paintbrush, then maneuvering the color on my embossed background to create lots of depth and vibrant color. For the turquoise, I put the marker directly to the cardstock so that I could get a solid, ultra bright backdrop against my vibrant yellow flowers and green foliage.

Once my watercolored background had dried completely, I trimmed it down to fit proportionally on an A7 card front, about 5.5″ x 3.5″ and centered it on a vivid turquoise A7 card front that coordinated beautifully with the turquoise background behind the sunflowers, adhering it with liquid glue. I also die cut a golden A7 Frames die and adhered that around the watercolored panel, drawing the eye to the center of the card to allow the watercolored image to be the center of attention!

For the greeting, I die cut the Giggle Happy Birthday from Simon Says Stamp’s So Very Black cardstock three times, then adhered each die cut together with liquid adhesive to create a dimensional die cut sentiment. I also stamped a greeting from Birthday Blitz onto more black cardstock using Simon Says Stamp’s White Pigment Ink, then added Hero Arts Iridescent Gold embossing powder. Using white pigment ink with this shimmering embossing powder helps to make it pop on the crisp black cardstock! I adhered the two greeting components to the card front with liquid and foam adhesive, respectively, then tucked a turquoise twine bow beneath the embossed sentiment and added a few Butter Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for additional sparkle.

I had a strip of watercolored sunflower panel left over, so I decided to create a bookmark! I adhered the remaining strip to a slightly-wider strip of the same turquoise cardstock, then used my Crop-A-Dile to punch a hole and add a black eyelet towards the top. I threaded a coordinating yellow ribbon through the reinforced hole, creating a a quick and pretty bookmark using leftovers from my card!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I had such fun creating projects with my newest illustration using many mediums, so stay tuned for more Sunflower Dreams inspiration! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Sweet Hugs & Kisses with New Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I have a super sweet post to share with you today using some new goodies from the Simon Says Stamp To Be Loved release! From Thanksgiving to Valentine’s Day, we have such scrumptious treats (and a good excuse to eat them!), and the marvelous new Sweet Treats stamp set features some yummy baked goods and treats to make your cards scrumptious, celebratory, and calorie-free. I have a watercolored project to share with you today, 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!*

I began by gold heat embossing several images from the Sweet Treats stamp set onto Distress Watercolor Cardstock, which is a nice, crisp white and works beautifully with liquid watercolors like Karin Brushmarker Pro markers. After embossing, I used a damp paintbrush and Karin Brushmarker Pro markers to do some simple watercoloring, keeping my color palette to peachy pinks, red, and chocolate brown. When working with watercolor markers, I like to scribble the color out on my ceramic palette or glass mat, then pick up the color with a damp paintbrush. This allows me to control the intensity of the color a bit more easily.

After watercoloring and die cutting my sweets, I embossed a panel of white cardstock using the Dotted Hearts Embossing Folder, keeping the background simple with some added texture. To tie into the gold embossing on the treats, I ran a gold acrylic pen around the edges of the panel of embossed cardstock, creating an elegant gilded edge without adding too much heaviness to the card. I adhered the slightly-smaller-than-A2 embossed panel in the center of a full sized white A2 card front. The gold edge helps to make the white frame more visible and adds another element of interest to the background.

For the greeting, I die cut the detail layer of the previously-released Hugs & Kisses die from the gold glitter sheet in the new Hot Tamale glitter cardstock pack and backed it with a die cut vellum shadow layer, adhering the two together with liquid adhesive. I popped up the greeting on the embossed card front with foam adhesive squares, then arranged the sweets around the sentiment, adhering some with liquid adhesive and some with foam adhesive to add extra interest. I also addd a few Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for extra sparkle and texture. The glass gems from the Pawsitively Dazzling line are absolutely radiant with sparkle!!

Well, that’s all for my project today. I can never get enough sweets, and being able to indulge in some calorie-free goodies was such fun! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Holiday Joy in Pink and Green with New Simon Says Stamp DieCember!

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

Hi friends! With the Simon Says Stamp DieCember release and celebration of all things die cutting, I have been having so much fun with die cutting lately, pushing myself to move outside of my typical cards and wanting to do something with my newest obsession: felt! I recently fell down a felt and stitching rabbit hole, and so I am looking for any and all excuses to felt everything up. (I used felt with some of the new DieCember dies HERE to create the sweetest cardinal holiday ornament!) One of the reasons that I have been looking to expand outside of paper is that paper just feels so…. disposable, you know? Something that people can throw away without much afterthought. Felt and fabric feel a bit more permanent, something that has the power to last a bit longer, at least in my opinion. For my projects today, I paired a fun hot pink and lime color palette with a newer embossing folder and some dies to create this pretty gift set. 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 love watercoloring on embossed images using various watercolor mediums. The depth and dimension that you can achieve when pairing watercoloring with the 3D texture of the embossing folders is unmatched in my opinion! I love using Karin Brushmarker Pro Watercolor Markers with these embossing folders; their vivid color palette creates are wonderful to create unique and super colorful cards. I carried that hot pink and green color palette into my stocking gift card holder, as well, finding felt in my stash that matched beautifully!

I began by running an A2-sized panel of Arches Cold Press watercolor paper through my die cutting machine using the newer Holly Wreath Embossing Folder. The texture on the Arches Cold Press works beautifully with these deeply etched embossing folders. It’s amazing how much detail this heavy duty watercolor paper picks up! I used the Karin Brushmarker Pro Watercolor Markers with a damp paintbrush to add lots of vivid color to the images. When working with watercolor markers, I like to scribble the color onto my glass work surface, then pick up the color with my damp paintbrush. This allows me a bit more control over the concentration of the color while also helping to create the contrast needed to create definition on the images for this no-line coloring style of painting. After I had painted the main images, I pulled out my handmade shimmer watercolor palette and added some sparkling green to the pine boughs and some shimmering splatters around the edges. It’s so difficult to capture the sparkle and shine on this card in photos!

For the greeting, I paired the new Fanciful Joy die set with the coordinating greetings in the Reverse Joy EZ strips. These user-friendly strips are printed with toner, and so can be paired with toner foil and a Minc or a laminator to create super shiny foiled sentiment strips that you can use to create buildable sentiments. I used Pink & Main Cherry Red Cheerfoil to add foil to these sentiments (don’t you just love that font?) and cut the detail layer of the Fanciful Joy die from some Pinkfresh Studio Magenta Glitter Cardstock and the shadow layer from vellum. I layered the sentiment pieces over the wreath, popping them up with some foam adhesive. I added a coordinating glitter accent strip and a pretty pink bow to accent the wreath and add additional texture. Finally, I added a few Sprout Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for even more sparkle!

For my second project, I used the new Stocking Gift Card Holder with some deep pink felt to create this sweet little gift card holder that can be used as an ornament after it’s fulfilled its gift-giving purpose! I am really enjoying using non-stitching dies to create fun stitched projects lately. I’m finding that my biggest limitation is my creative imagination!! I die cut the main stocking portion twice from deep pink felt and added the top portion using some white felt. Before stitching the two stocking die cuts together, I added some holly leaves and berries, adding some stitching details to the veins on the leaves with coordinating tone-on-tone floss. I also added some sequins and beads to the pale pink berries to add extra texture. I am in love with these pretty colors and the luxurious texture of the felt!

After I had stitched the berries and leaves onto my stocking, I used coordinating pink embroidery floss to stitch the stocking together, adding an olive green velvet ribbon loop to the top corner. I used felt glue to add the white “fur” to the top of the stocking; the felt glue keeps things nice and clean. I’ve been using felt glue a lot lately, making it super simple to put fun felt scenes together as easily as with paper and glue! For one last feminine touch, I added a coordinating olive green velvet bow next to my holly berries. Wouldn’t this be so cute hanging from a Christmas tree or embellishing a pretty Christmas gift?

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I still have so many fun things to share with you using the new DieCember release… if you’d like to receive an email each time I post, you can sign up to become an email subscriber so that you don’t miss any inspiration! I appreciate all of you very much! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy DieCember!

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Collaboration: Honey Bee Stamps!

Hi friends! I am here with my first project using one of the incredible, limited edition STAMPtember Collaboration sets! Nearly every day throughout the month of September, Simon Says Stamp releases a stamp set created in collaboration with a different crafting company. This provides an opportunity for you all to get to know these incredible small businesses that help make our stamping dreams a reality with their innovative products and gorgeous designs! (You can check out all of the collaboration sets that have been released already HERE.) Today’s spotlight is on Honey Bee Stamps, a company very near and dear to my heart. Melissa, the owner, is a dear friend of mine, and Honey Bee Stamps was the first company to turn my artwork into clear stamps. I will be forever grateful to her for taking a chance on my illustrations, turning my flowery doodling into stamps. I was lucky enough to be on the Honey Bee Stamps design team for quite a while; working with Melissa’s beautiful designs is truly effortless!

I have a trio of flaming orange projects to share with you today, two using the new Honey Bee Stamps STAMPtember collaboration stamp set and another project pairing some older dies from Honey Bee Stamps and Simon Says Stamp that I’ve had waiting for the perfect project. Let’s get started with the details!

I am really leaning in to orange lately, finding that when I pair a bright sunny yellow-orange with an intense burnt orange, it creates the prettiest and most elegant orange combination. For my projects today, I turned to my stash of orange cardstock scraps and selected a few different colors that were not the typical pumpkin orange, but just a degree or two lighter or darker. After I had my main color palette in mind, I stamped all of the beautiful pumpkin images from the Honey Bee Stamps STAMPtember set called Sending Autumn Blessings. I stamped them first with black pigment ink onto some Arches hot press watercolor paper, then added some beautiful Iridescent Gold embossing powder over the top, the combination of which created the shiniest, most shimmering shade of bronze.

I used Karin Brushmarker Pro watercolor markers to watercolor all of the pumpkins, keeping the color palette a bit more towards the sunrise yellow and burnt orange rather than traditional pumpkin orange. With Karin markers, I like to scribble the color onto my glass mat or ceramic palette, then pick the color up with my damp paintbrush. This gives me more control over the intensity of the color, as well as providing me with a bit better movement on the watercolor paper itself. Once I had finished watercoloring, I used my sharp scissors (you could use the coordinating dies, but I didn’t receive them in time) to fussy cut all of the images. I used a coordinating deep orange alcohol marker to color in the edge of the die cuts to keep my overall color palette as loyal as possible to the vision in my head.

To create the background for my pumpkins, I die cut a few of the gorgeously detailed dies from Honey Bee Stamp’s Fancy Fall Layering Dies set, cutting the largest two frames from two different shades of orange cardstock that coordinated nicely with the watercolored pumpkins, lightly blending some Paprika Pawsitively Saturated Ink around the edges of the smaller frame. I also die cut the included banner die from some gold pearl vellum. To create the sentiment, I used the banner as a guide to curve the “truly thankful for you” greeting so that it would follow the arch of the banner nicely. I used the same black pigment ink and Iridescent Gold embossing powder combination to stamp the sentiment onto some more burnt orange cardstock, then used my scissors to fussy cut the sentiment. I popped the layers up using foam adhesive squares, finally adding a twine bow and a few orange gems for added sparkle!

I did end up with a leftover watercolored pumpkin cluster, so I decided to make a cute little tag using the Simon Says Stamp Label Tag Dies. I die cut the tag from some more burnt orange cardstock, then blended more Paprika ink around the edges to add extra dimension. I popped up the pumpkins on the tag with some foam adhesive, then added another embossed sentiment strip directly over the top. Finally, I finished off the tag with a twine bow and loop as well as a few more deep orange adhesive gems.

My last project is showcases some dies from Honey Bee Stamps that I’ve had in my stash for awhile but have never had an opportunity to use. I bought the Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Autumn Bouquet last year; I find the entire Lovely Layers die collection absolutely wonderful, and I adore how nearly all of the different die sets work together so nicely in terms of scale. One of the nice things about the owner being a cardmaker herself is that she understands how important proportions are for cardmaking, and Melissa does a top notch job designing her stamps and dies!

To start, I used the leftovers of those same shades of orange cardstock that I used for the first projects, adding in some brushed copper foil cardstock for added texture and shine. I die cut multiples of several of the designs in the Lovely Layers Autumn Bouquet set in multiple colors so that I could arrange a harvest bouquet! I also die cut the largest frame image from the beautiful Decorative Star Layering Frames from some orange cardstock, adding to the drama and vibrancy by blending some more Paprika ink around the edges. I find that ink blending over the top of die cuts that have debossed details on them, as these frames do, helps to enhance those beautiful details and make them pop a bit more. I popped up the blended frame die cut on an A2 panel of Flaming Orange glitter cardstock, adding a sparkling edge around the blended frame!

Before I began arranging the foliage die cuts, I die cut the detail layer of the new Simon Says Stamp Fancy Just Because from some more of the burnt orange cardstock and the shadow layer from some more gold pearl vellum. I layered the die cuts together using liquid adhesive and decided to enhance the sentiment with a foiled greeting from the new Sentiment Strips Reverse Just Because, to which I had used my Minc machine to add Simon Says Stamp DecoFoil Orange toner foil. I popped up the sentiment in the center of the card with some more foam squares, then arranged the foliage in a bouquet around the sentiment, popping some up with foam adhesive and adding some with liquid adhesive to create multiple levels of height and dimension. Finally, I added a few sparkling gems as a final touch of shimmer!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! These STAMPtember collaboration sets are limited edition and usually sell out very quickly, so if you’re on the fence, don’t wait too long! To sweeten the deal and make it even easier for you to shop, Heidi at Simon Says Stamp has offered free shipping for purchases over $25 for a limited time!!

Don’t let this set get away from you! Not only are the pumpkin illustrations absolutely luscious, the sentiments included in the set are beautiful and so useful for cards beyond the autumnal season. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!