Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

karin

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!

Adding Opaque Details to Embossing Folders with Karin!

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

Hi friends! In the midst of the STAMPtember fun, I will still be sharing some inspiration using the other gorgeous products from Simon Says Stamp, and today’s project features the utterly lovely Garden Spires Embossing Folder. I love taking these beautifully detailed embossed images and turning them into something uniquely my own with various coloring mediums. A couple of weeks ago, I shared THIS project using the opaque Karin Decobrush Pigment markers on black watercolor cardstock, and I loved the results so much that I couldn’t wait to try the technique on another project! I recently purchased the Garden Spires Embossing Folder and thought that the delicate flowers and foliage would be a great image to try putting the combination to use again. This time, though, the tiny flowers lent themselves better to putting a slightly different technique. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by running the Garden Spires Embossing Folder through my die cutting machine using a panel of thick black cardstock. My previous project used black watercolor paper, but I have used the Karin Decobrush Pigment markers successfully with plain black cardstock and thought that these images were small enough that I could do so again! Instead of using a damp paintbrush to move the color on my images as I did in the previous project, I simply put the marker tip directly to the black cardstock and added color that way. I used a pale purple for the tiny flowers and two different shades of pink for the taller, large flowers to achieve a little variation. I also used some metallic watercolors to add some extra sparkle to the larger flowers!

Because the greenery on the embossed image was so delicate, I chose to use the Karin DecoGel Sparkle pens to add some super sparkly accents to the foliage and to the flowers. I also splattered some extra little “dewdrops” on my entire card panel with some more metallic watercolors. It’s so difficult to capture in a photograph, but this card is insanely sparkly!!

After I had finished adding color to the background, it reminded me of an outdoor wedding, perhaps at a vineyard, with a large, scenic meadow of wildflowers beneath a starry sky. I decided to use a beautiful stamp from the Big Old Birthday stamp + die set, one that could easily be used for a wedding card or a birthday card! I heat embossed the greeting on some more black cardstock using silver sparkle embossing powder, then die cut it with the coordinating die. I popped it up amidst the colorful wildflowers, then added a few shimmering gems for some sparkle!

Well, that’s all for today’s project. I wish you could see how sparkly it is in person… the different elements of shimmer are utterly gorgeous! I hope you enjoyed seeing the Karin Decobrush Pigment in action again. They’re such a fun and unique medium to employ to create really special projects! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Watercoloring with Karin Brushmarker Pro and Pinkfresh Studio!

Hi there! I am over on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel today with this video pairing the new-ish Celebrate in Style stamps and several other products from Pinkfresh. My goal was simple: to keep the color scheme cohesive throughout the entire project, while also mixing the metallic textures on the individual embellishments. Watch the video below or HERE on YouTube.

Lots of individual pieces, but together they make a super color coordinated finished product!

In case you can’t watch the video, I began by heat embossing the Celebrate in Style stamps using some sparkling embossing powder that had flecks of beautiful rose gold glitter amongst the pearlescent plum on some watercolor paper. I also heat embossed the Blushing Floral Stamp background on an A2 panel of blush cardstock using the same embossing powder. So many elements of sparkle and shine on this one!

I taped my watercolor panel down to my watercolor board, then used Karin markers to add some beautiful peachy pink and magenta to the cake and floral adornment. Depending on your preference for soft or vivid color, you can either scribble your Karin marker on a ceramic palette and pick up the color with a damp paintbrush to achieve a softer, more controlled look, or you can put the pen directly to the watercolor paper and maneuver the color with your damp paintbrush. Picking up the color from the ceramic palette adds more water and thus dilutes the color, making it softer and less intense. Once I’d finished watercoloring the two images, I die cut the entire thing in one fell swoop with the coordinating Celebrate in Style Dies. Once I’d die cut everything, I went back with my Karin markers and added some color to the white edges of the die cuts to keep the color scheme completely true and avoid that white edge around the die cuts.

Next, I die cut a panel of more blush cardstock using the Essentials Classic Edgers, giving it a decorative stitched scalloped edge. I also cut a panel of coordinating lilac glitter cardstock with the same scalloped edger die to break up all of the blush and add some more interest to the background. I popped up the scalloped panels with some foam tape, then added the cake with a double layer of foam tape for tons of dimension. I added a foiled die cut greeting created with the Brushed Sentiments Foil Plate and Coordinating Dies, created using the same blush cardstock and some rose gold foil to keep things monochromatic. The final touch was to add a few Sparkling Champagne pearls from the Pinkfresh Studio Essentials embellishment line!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!

Fruity loveliness with Colorado Craft Company!

Hi there! Happy Monday! I have a cheerful, fruity project to share with you today. Colorado Craft Company is swiftly becoming one of my favorite companies; they offer such a wide variety of styles, with something sure to please even the pickiest of stampers. I personally adore their Big and Bold line. You all know that coloring is just about my favorite thing to do, and coloring the Big and Bold line of stamps from Colorado Craft Company is so. much. fun. The images are large enough that you can really dig down deep into the little nooks and crannies of the image to create really fantastic shading and depth. They have been kind enough to share with me some of their products, including last month’s release of gorgeous fruity stamps, and I had a blast coloring up this beautiful set of images from the Sending Hugs and Pears stamps and die set. I had intended to make a second card using the Lemon Zest stamps and dies, but with four kiddos, finding time for the things I want to do sometimes is a bit of a challenge. Sigh.

Anyway, let’s get started with the details on this pretty project, shall we?

I began by stamping several of the images from Sending Hugs and Pears onto some Canson Montval watercolor paper using Intens-ified Black ink from Hero Arts. I chose Canson Montval papers because I wanted to use my Karin markers, and the Montval paper works well with the Karins. I had seen several talented crafters use these pear stamps to create traditional green pears, so I went a different direction and decided to do a red Anjou pear!

I absolutely love the scale of the Big and Bold line. Even on this relatively-simple image, I was able to use *five* different colors of Karin marker to achieve a huge amount of depth and shine: Cerise, Burgundy, Cocoa, Almond, and Black. The leaves were done using Lime Green and Lush Green. The flowers were done using the same colors, but much more subtle washes of color. After watercoloring, I used the coordinating dies to cut everything out.

For the card base, I wanted a very subtle pattern, so I stamped the beautiful Big and Bold Italian Tiles using Pinkfresh Studio’s Peach Fuzz ink on an A2 panel of white cardstock. To make the pattern even more subtle, I then used a blending brush to blend some more of the Peach Fuzz ink around the edges of the background panel to create a bit of a halo. I popped all of the die cuts up with foam tape and added a greeting (heat embossed using rose gold embossing powder on a piece of Plum cardstock). The final touch was a few metallic rose gold gems to add some sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today. If you haven’t checked out Colorado Craft Company’s products, you absolutely should do so! They’re simply marvelous! For my friends who have been affected by the wildfires on the west coast, I have been thinking of you and hoping for rain and safety. Stay safe, stay well, and have a good week, friends!

Beachy Thanks with Honey Bee Stamps!

Hi there! I’m back again… I know, three posts in one week?! I was able to put together several cards using stamped and colored die cuts, including this beachy scene using some new goodies from the Honey Bee Stamps Hello Summer release to create a super beachy thank you card! Let’s get started with the details.

I began by stamping and die cutting several images from the Hello Summer stamps and dies onto some watercolor paper using waterproof black ink. I then used Karin watercolor markers in shades of peach, cobalt, and pale gray to add some pretty, super coordinated coloring to the images. (I love when everything matches!)

Next, I trimmed down a panel of pretty medium-blue cardstock for my card front and used the Oval Spotlight Stencils with some sapphire blue ink and blending brushes to create a more controlled area for the background of my little beach scene.

I trimmed down a strip of sandy beach patterned paper from the Beach Vibes patterned paper pack and adhered it at the bottom of my blended blue background panel using liquid adhesive. I adhered all of the die cuts to the card base using a mix of liquid and foam adhesive, then finally added a sentiment die cut from the Slimline Honey Cuts Sentiments Eyelet die set, which I cut from some sparkling white cardstock. I love how the sentiment pops so nicely against that bright blue backdrop!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Hopefully, I will get the opportunity to get back to regular blogging…. My biggest littles start remote learning for first grade in a few weeks, so I’m not sure what that’s going to require of me. I love having the opportunity to create just for fun, as well as share what I’m creating! Thanks so much for stopping by, and stay well!