Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

masculine

Adding pops of color with colored pencils!

Good morning! I have a quick post for you today… I helped to create some Hero Arts projects for a trade show earlier this year, and I wanted to share this project with you before it got lost on my computer haha! This project is fairly monotone, but it has a few little pops of color that I added with my Prismacolor pencils.

I started by stamping Hero Arts’s Urban Skyline Bold Prints background onto some white card stock using Soft Granite ink. I wanted a subtle background so that I could add some bright pops of color. Next, I white heat embossed one of the sweet little houses, a tree, and a car from Welcome Neighbor onto some gray paper from the Midnight Mix Layering Papers. I’ll let you in on a little secret: the coating on the Hero Arts Layering Papers makes for super smooth colored pencil blending. 😉 I die cut the elements with their coordinating frame cuts, then added some pencil details using my Prismacolor colored pencils and blender pencil.

 

I heat embossed a greeting from Welcome Neighbor onto another panel of dark gray card stock, then matted it with some Pool card stock. I adhered a strip of white to ground the house, tree, and car, then added those elements with dimensional foam adhesive. I love how the super subtle (but still incredibly detailed background) makes that dark gray house with the teal roof just pop right off of the page!

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you’re having a marvelous weekend!


Spellbinders Guest Designer, Part 2!

Hi there! I’m back again today with another Spellbinders guest post featuring the Lene Lok Folk Art Collection. (For my first post, click here.) Today, I’ve decided to showcase how perfectly these dies work for masculine or gender-neutral cards. Combining a simple stamping trick with some ink blending creates that perfectly simple, no frills card that’s great to give that guy in your life. Let’s get started!


For my first project, I wanted to emphasize how beautifully the details of these intricate dies die cut from masking paper. I started by die cutting the Rosemal Flowers Etched Dies from the Folk Art collection using masking paper. I carefully peeled the backing off and adhered it to approximately the center of my white, A2 card front, burnishing it with my bone folder to ensure that my mask remained in place while I did some ink blending. I then blended Peacock Feathers and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide inks on the card front. I peeled the mask away… and it was like magic. Masking is such a simple, but supremely effective, technique to utilize with these gorgeous intricate dies!

Next, I wanted to add a little extra “something” to the card front, so I decided to press my Versamark pad onto the entire card front and cover it with clear embossing powder. I heated it, then repeated the process again until I had a nice thick, glossy layer of embossing powder. You do run the risk of cracking when trying to maneuver your card front onto a card base, but you can always heat it up again to remove the crack! Such a neat glassy effect, and the lack of sparkles and flowers make this perfectly gender neutral.

For my second project, I wanted to make a decidedly masculine card. I think that the Nordic Tree die looks quite sturdy and masculine, with very few flourishes or hearts, so I wanted to make that the focal point of my masculine project. I essentially repeated the process from the previous card, die cutting the Nordic Tree die from masking paper and adhering it to the card front, then using Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks to blend a nice, gray-to-black ombre down the front. Lifting that masking paper off is so much fun. It makes me giddy to see that crisp white pattern revealed!

Next, I added a greeting. I thought this would be perfect for Father’s Day, so I added a crisp white embossed sentiment at the bottom of the blended panel. I trimmed some of the edges off and mounted it on a white card base to add some contrast to the edges of the project.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this foray into the world of masculine cards today! I am all about flowers and pinks and purples, so it was definitely a fun challenge to create something a bit simpler and less frilly (and decidedly less sparkly haha!). Thanks for visiting! I will be back again soon with another guest post featuring the beautiful Lene Lok Folk Art Collection!


 

The Ton Stamps Summer Release: Day 2

Good morning again! I’m back for Day 2 of The Ton’s Summer 2017 release. Release Week is off to a bang, right? How do you like those new anemone stamps? So, so stunning. We have even more fun products to showcase for you today!

For The Ton’s Summer 2017, Effie has released 24 new stamp designs and 1 new couture mix! There are four new gifts with purchases that you can obtain with this new release. This promotion does not apply to prior purchases. The threshold amount is calculated before taxes and shipping. This promotion will continue until June 22 at 11:59pm EST or until supplies last. Limit one incentive package per order. No coupon code needed. All incentive products will be added to qualified orders.

Spend $75 or more: Receive a free pack of our new Summer Soiree Couture Mix
Spend $100 or more: Receive a 2×3 Floral Mini Banner Stamp (and Summer Soiree Mix)
Spend $150 or more: Receive a 2×3 Anemone Cluster Mini Stamp (and Floral Mini Banner Stamp and Summer Soiree Mix).

Spend $200 or more: Receive a 3×4 Watercolor Bouquet Set (and an Anemone Cluster Mini stamp, Floral Mini Banner Stamp and Summer Soiree Mix).

**Incentive products will not be available for purchase in our shop until July***

Today, we are featuring:

Wave
 Mountains
Beer
Eagle
Basic Banners
Banners Holiday Add On

So many unique stamp sets today, none of which are floral (which totally throws me off haha)!!! The Beer set is fantastic. The layering looks kinda crazy in each individual piece, but when you add the last layer, it falls into place perfectly! I thought it would be so cute for a wedding card when coupled with the Tea Party stamps and dies. To start, I stamped the main beer mug image from Beer with the Citrine Trio and the Crystal Pewter and Smoky Quartz inks to create the foam and the mug itself. I used the dainty, super feminine teacup image from Tea Party, die cut and stamped with the Peony Collection to contrast with the large, hyper-masculine beer mug. I used Noir ink to stamp the “his” and “hers” using the Scripty Alphas stamps. I had originally intended to put these images on a regular A2 card base, but found that the beer mug is so large that it fit better proportionally on a 5×7 card base. After I had mounted my die cut Beer mug and teacup with foam tape on my 4.75″x6.75″ panel, I mounted a 5×7″ panel of adhesive gold foil to my card base, then added my finished panel over the top to create a pretty, shiny gold border.

My other card for today features one of the incentive stamp sets that you can receive with a qualifying order: Anemone Cluster. It’s a mini stamp set, but the flowers in it are so pretty and are arranged so nicely that you can use them in a variety of ways. For this project, I started by stamping the main image onto some watercolor paper four times and heat embossing them with our Rose Gold embossing powder. I then used my Daniel Smith watercolors to paint them in shades of pink-y peach and coral. After painting, I die cut them with their coordinating dies and set them aside.

I die cut one of the double stitched circle dies from some white card stock, then stamped a pretty greeting from a set being released later this week using Ocean Teal ink. I arranged my blooms in a wreath, then laid the die cut circle over the top and mounted everything on a 5.5″ square card base.

Well that’s all for me today! Now for even more fun…. giveaways!!!

For each Release Day (1 through 4), The Ton is giving away a stamp set of choice from the new release! So there are four stamps up for grabs! To qualify, you must leave a comment on The Ton’s Daily Release posts. Leave a comment on each Design Team member’s blogs to increase your chances of winning.

DESIGN TEAM RELEASE GIVEAWAYS
There will be an additional 11 stamps up for grabs for commenters on The Ton’s Design Team Blogs. Just leave a comment on the DT blogs during the release days (days 1-4) for a chance to win a stamp set of choice.The comment period for all giveaways will close on Monday, June 12th at 11:59pm. Winners will be announced on The Ton Blog thereafter.

Be sure to stop by The Ton’s blog for today’s post featuring projects with all of the stamp sets from the talented ladies on the Design Team, plus the full stamp and die images. Thanks for dropping by today, and be sure to come back tomorrow for more release inspiration from The Ton’s Summer 2017 release! Have a marvelous day, friends!