Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

masculine

Man Card Monday: Minty Green Triangles!

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

Hi friends! Man Card Monday is back this month featuring some minty green geometric inspiration using the new Intersecting Lines Background stamp from the STAMPtember release! Each month, I try to come up with a more masculine-friendly card amongst the plethora of feminine projects that are my natural habitat, and while last month’s card had a snarky Hawaiian shirt vibe, this month’s super graphic projects are just as guy-friendly!! Let’s get started with the details.

When I work with a large background stamp like the Intersecting Lines Background stamp, I like to try to maximize the use by creating at least two cards from one stamped image. I have really been loving creating my own “custom” embossing powder colors simply by stamping the image using regular, quick-drying dye ink, then using my MISTI to stamp directly over the colorful ink with sticky embossing ink and covering it with clear embossing powder. Today, I stamped the Intersecting Lines Background stamp on a panel of white cardstock using Pawsitively Saturated Ocean ink, then again with embossing ink using my MISTI to ensure perfect placement. I covered the stamped image with White Satin Pearl embossing powder, which created the loveliest shade of pearlescent teal!! I cut the embossed background into two different panels so that I could create two different cards.

For the first card using the larger Intersecting Lines panel, I blended Pawsitively Saturated Ocean ink, Pawsitively Saturated Tropic ink, and Pawsitively Saturated Spring ink to create this gorgeous minty turquoise blend. I love that the pearlescent embossed images stand out so nicely from the minty blended background, but the colors are all so similar that it looks almost monochromatic!

After I had finished blending, I die cut the Wish I Could Hug You die twice from Adriatic cardstock and adhered them together to add a little more height to the sentiment. The dark teal pops beautifully from the monochromatic background without adding any extra color, while the simple type font is perfect for a masculine card! I butted the embossed panel up against the side of the turquoise A2 card front, then added a thin strip of Marina Mist mirror cardstock to add another textural element and create some shine. I adhered the greeting die cut and then added some shining gems (I know, I can’t resist it.)

My second card uses the leftover Intersecting Lines strip, this time blended with only Pawsitively Saturated Ocean ink and Pawsitively Saturated Tropic ink. I used the darker Ocean ink to blend over the entire strip, then blended the lighter Tropic ink along the edges which created a fun reverse-ombré effect! I adhered the blended strip at an angle on an A2 panel of Mint Cardstock, then added some thin strips of Tonic Marina Mist mirror cardstock and Hero Arts Paradise cardstock on each edge, creating a crisp color blocked background.

For the greeting, I die cut the detail layer of the Feel Better Soon die from Adriatic cardstock, then used Lawn Fawn Pearlescent Vellum to die cut the background layer. I used some tiny dots of liquid adhesive behind the solid die cuts to hide the adhesive and added it to my diagonal striped card front. Finally, I added a few shimmering teal gems for one last hint of shine!

Well, that’s all for this month’s Man Card Monday. Keep checking back, because the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember party is happening all month, with tons of marvelous new releases and limited edition collaboration sets released! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Man Card Monday: Sassy Hawaiian Shirt Edition!

I’m back with this month’s edition of Man Card Monday! Each month, I put my decidedly feminine style to the side and push myself to come up with a card that has less flowers and more masculine imagery. Masculine cards are much more challenging for me, a girly girl who loves all things pink and flowery, and it’s been such fun to try to come up with new ways to incorporate my favorite things into these manly cards! I have three sons, so I figure it doesn’t hurt me to have some masculine cards in my back pocket. This month, I channeled my inner Opels (that is, sisters Susan and Beth from Simon Says Stamp) and used tons of bold color, some metallic shine, and a little sass to create this vivid birthday card… perfect for a guy. Let’s get started with the details!

I love creating custom backgrounds with stamps. As I was looking through my die stash, I thought what is something that is botanical would create a fun background, but that still gives off a masculine vibe? Enter: the Tropical Leaf Bunch die. Leafy and detailed, it has a very masculine look by itself, and it definitely reminded me of a Hawaiian shirt! I die cut several of these standalone dies using two different shades of super bright green cardstock. I arranged them on my black card front to create a patterned background, twisting them as I would a stamp in order to create a unique pattern and trimming off the bits hanging over the edges. I adhered them with liquid adhesive to create a bold background that was also easily mailed.

For the greeting, I thought the deadpan sentiment from the It’s Your Birthday die was perfect for a guy! I die cut the detailed part of the sentiment three times from black cardstock and adhered them together to add a little extra height, then cut the outline from some Mirror Ball cardstock. I love the texture on this cardstock… so fun and also adds some metallic shine to this otherwise-matte card front.

Most guys like a little bit of snark and humor, and the sentiment card sets from CZ Design have soooo many fun, smart-alecky sentiments that are incredibly unique. I pulled out the CZ Design Reverse Sentiment Strips- Sassy Birthday card set and selected two different sentiments that work perfectly together: “dance like no one is watching” and “just don’t throw your back out.” So funny! I trimmed the sentiment strips down, then adhered both the die cut sentiment and the strips using foam adhesive. Finally, I couldn’t resist adding a little green sparkle to the card (I know, I know, guys don’t like jewels-I can’t help myself) for one tiny bit of shimmer.

Well, what do you think? Do you think a guy would approve of my sassy Hawaiian shirt birthday card? I kinda love it!! That’s all for this month’s round of Man Card Monday. I hope you’re enjoying the series…. I know that I can always use a little masculine inspiration! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Man Card Monday with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi there! How about another project (or two) for Man Card Monday? I love flowers, and I don’t deny that my blog is lots of flowers lots of the time, but at least once a month, I post a card with decidedly masculine overtones. This helps jumpstart my creativity a little by making me think outside of my normal floral, super feminine box as well as hopefully provide you with a little inspiration for that elusive man card! Last month, I shared some super graphic inspiration, featuring bold cool colors, lots of texture, and a few metallic elements. This month, I have changed things up with these subtle cards that feature a serene color palette and lots of greenery. I think greenery on it’s own is a perfect “neutral” that can be used for both men and women alike. Let’s get started with the details!

I kept my color palette very muted this month, with some warm gray/platinum and lovely greens created with Pine, Sage, and Aspen Pawsitively Saturated Inks from Simon Says Stamp. I have had the unfortunate need for sympathy and “thinking of you” cards for men recently, and so I wanted to offer encouraging sentiments without going over the top. The Well Wishes stamps and dies by CZ Design from Simon Says Stamp provide poignant sentiments with bold, graphic fonts that work perfectly for these gender neutral projects.

For my first card, I used the Pine, Sage, and Aspen inks to stamp the Leaf Edges in an ombré on my white A2 card front. Using my MISTI stamping tool, I stamped the top with the lightest ink, dabbing the edge of the ink line with my microfiber cloth to let it fade away a bit, which helps the ink colors blend into each other more seamlessly without adding harsh lines. I stamped the middle of the stamp with the middle color, again dabbing the edges with the cloth, then the darkest color at the bottom.

Once I had added all three ink colors to the stamp, I stamped the entire image again with embossing ink and covered it with clear embossing powder, giving me the ability to blend over the top without compromising the crispness of the stamped image. I also blended lightly in the corner using Aspen ink and a blending tool. Such a lovely, serene background!

Next, I die cut two Sword Fern die cuts from white cardstock, leaving them in place in the negative die cut space. I flipped them over and added a few pieces of Simon’s Very Very Low Tack Tape to the back to hold these delicate die cuts in place while I blended Pine ink in the center and Aspen ink on the edges. Despite a plethora of options for colored cardstock amongst my stash, I did not have an exact match for these unique shades of green, so creating my own custom colored cardstock was super easy with some ink pads and blending tools! I die cut a Nested Domed Arches die cut from some heavyweight vellum to soften the area behind the die cuts and sentiment. I popped up the blended ferns and embossed greeting from Well Wishes on top of the vellum arch. I used some neutral twine to add a a fun textural element to the card, as well.

For my second card of the set, I began by blending the detailed stencil from the Dimensional Cubes Stencils using Cozy ink. I did spray the super delicate stencil with some Pixie spray first to make sure that the stenciled lines stayed nice and crisp. I trimmed the stenciled background panel down slightly and matted with some Midnight Green cardstock from Simon Says Stamp to create a thin, super dark green frame around the edge. I also die cut some Windswept Leaves foliage dies, again from white cardstock, then blended Pine ink in the center and Aspen ink on the edges, keeping these delicate die cuts in place with Very Very Low Tack Tape on the back of the negative die cut piece.

Next, I die cut the Circle Thin Frames dies from some white cardstock. I like to leave these frame dies together, though they can be snipped apart, so that I can run them all through my machine at once and have tons of leftover frames to use for future projects! I backed one of the white frames with a vellum die cut circle, again to soften the busy background pattern, and adhered it to the patterned background with liquid adhesive dots on the solid portion of the frame. I arranged the leaf die cuts around the embossed sentiment die cuts from Well Wishes and adhered them to the card front. To avoid adding feminine “sparkle” to the card front, I added a few white enamel dots for a bit of extra textural interest.

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

Congrats-You’re A Star!

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

Hi there! We are winding down on graduation season, but it never hurts to have a congratulatory card in your stash, right? I have paired a bunch of products from Simon Says Stamp to create this celebratory card that would be perfect for graduation or any achievement worth noting, really! And the cool colors work perfectly for any gender, too.

I began by blending Pawsitively Saturated Royal and Cadette inks on a white A2 card front. I then ran the blended panel through my die cut machine using the Dimensional Stars embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp. To emphasize the stars and make the background super festive and celebratory, I painted the dimensional stars using handmade metallic silver glitter watercolors, also splattering the background to create tons of interest to the card front!

I wanted to add some more sparkle and shine to the card front, so I die cut the Basic Box Card Stars from some silver Simon Says Stamp Luxe Glitter paper, reserving the box card front itself for later and keeping the intact star cutouts! (Love when I can get double duty out of one die cut, especially with one of those papers that I normally would be hoarding forever!) I also die cut a vellum star using a Nested Star die.

For the greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from Yay You onto some dark blue cardstock using silver embossing powder. How perfectly does that little star on the “congrats” sentiment coordinate with the stars in the background!? I die cut the sentiment with the coordinating die and trimmed the smaller sentiment to a thin strip. I adhered the sentiment pieces to the vellum star, then flipped the entire thing over and added foam adhesive behind the solid die cuts to hide the adhesive and keep the vellum nice and clean. I added the glittery silver star die cuts on the card front with some more foam tape, creating a variety of silver textures and dimension on the card!

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


Oh Happy Day with New Simon Says Stamp Ink Cubes!

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

Hi friends! I am back again with another project using some new goodies from the Simon Says Stamp Out Of This World release! Have you tried the Pawsitively Saturated ink line from Simon Says Stamp? Let me tell you, I thought that I had enough ink to last me until my fingers gave out, but I absolutely adore the Pawsitively Saturated inks. The super springy foam pad makes them extra juicy, perfect for stamping, ink blending, and a whole host of other techniques! They come in a full range of full size pads, and now they’ve started adding ink cubes, as well, so as to make sure that you can try these wonderful inks out even if you are low on storage space. They released two new ink cube sets during the Out Of This World release: Yellow Sunsets and Green Meadows. I’ve created a totally gender-neutral project using the Yellow Sunsets ink cubes and the new Oh Happy Day sentiment die. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by blending an orange gradient on two A2-sized panels of white cardstock using the Sherbet, Cantaloupe, and Melon inks from the Yellow Sunsets and some blending brushes. I then used the Fab Floral Plate cover plate die to die cut one of the blended panels, popping it up on the second blended panel using some thin strips of foam adhesive. I love using this technique to create a monochromatic textured background; it’s so simple (you might get an arm workout from blending two full panels though, ha) but I think it creates such an impact! You could also easily turn this into a shaker card by adding some acetate and sequins.

For the greeting, I die cut the Oh Happy Day sentiment die once from Simon Says Stamp’s Luxe Glitter Basics cardstock and twice from plain white cardstock scraps, layering them together to create a dimensional die cut greeting. I also trimmed down a greeting from the Reverse Birthday Wishes sentiment card set, which I think works perfectly with the die cut greeting.

After I adhered the two sentiment components, the only thing left was to add one last bit of sparkle. I added some Melanite Magic gems, which are a translucent dark gray with iridescent coating. The dark gray isn’t quite black to complete the “rule of three” with the black accent elements, but I think it’s close!

Well, that’s all for my project today. Even though the cover plate is technically a floral background, the overall pattern is so chunky and graphic that I think this card definitely would have worked for Man Card Monday. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!