Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

mermaid

Simon Says Stamp Be Creative Blog Hop-Day 2!

Hi friends! I’m super excited to be a part of the Simon Says Stamp Be Creative Blog Hop on Day 2! You can check out Day 1 HERE. You should have arrived here from Heather Ruwe, and your next stop is Lea Lawson. You can also head back to the Simon Says Stamp Blog to see the full hop list. This month’s Be Creative release is full of a huge variety of fun new products, and I have two projects to share with you featuring the new goodies, so let’s get started with the details.

My first card features a clean and simple design created with the new Vitamin Sea stamp set (I have a more involved card that I shared earlier this week HERE on my blog). I stamped the mermaid lounging on a rock from Vitamin Sea using some Intens-ified Black ink from Hero Arts, then used my Copic markers to add color to the images. I used the coordinating dies to cut the images out, trimming off the water around the rock to simplify the look.

I wanted to create a window behind my pensive mermaid with a colorful sky background, so I die cut a circle from an A2 sized card panel using the Thin Frames dies. On a second piece of A2 cardstock, I lined up the two panels and then used a pencil to lightly trace the window opening so that I would know where to do do my ink blending. I then used blending brushes with the Horizon stencil to blend Taffy, Iris, and Galaxy inks and create a luscious sunset background. I used some of the bird stamps in the Vitamin Sea stamp set to add some flying birds onto the cloudy background. I then adhered the A2 circle frame with some foam tape and the thin frame (left over from die cutting the large frame) with some liquid adhesive.

I popped up the mermaid with a double layer of foam tape to help her pop from the background, then stamped a greeting from Vitamin Sea using black ink and used the coordinating dies to cut it out, popping it up with another double layer of foam tape. I love the extra dimension that the foam tape adds to the different layers! Keeps this relatively simple card from looking boring, in my opinion.

My second card is an homage to Lisa Frank! Remember the Lisa Frank trapper keepers, pencils, notebooks, stickers, etc that we were obsessed with as kids? Well, I couldn’t resist using the Animal Print stencils with several of my favorite Paws-itively Saturated inks to create a fun, colorful Lisa Frank-inspired background to go with the new Simply Fabulous sentiment die! I started by blending Rose, Amethyst, Iris, Cadette, and Lucky inks on the diagonal on an A2 panel of cardstock.

Next, I placed the blended panel in the center of the new Stamp & Stencil Mat and used the sticky area around the mat on the edges of the panel to place the Animal Print stencil and keep it perfectly in place while I blended black ink over the top of the stencil, creating my rainbow leopard print background! Having the adhesive all the way around the edge kept my stencil nice and snug against my blended background, helping to create a super crisp stenciled background!

I used black glitter foam from Spellbinders to die cut the outline background from the new Simply Fabulous die, then die cut the detail layer from some silver holographic cardstock. The foam base layer helps to add a bit of height to the sentiment without any extra effort! I added some sentiment strips from the previously-released Spring in my Step, heat embossed in silver on some thin strips of black cardstock. Before I adhered the sentiment pieces, I die cut a black frame using the A2 Thin Frames and adhered it in the corner of the blended card front with liquid adhesive at a jaunty angle. I adhered the sentiment pieces with liquid and foam adhesive, then added a few iridescent gems that matched the rainbow feel of the card!

Well, that’s all for my projects for today! Now, to celebrate the Be Creative release, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 shopping spree to one commenter on each of the hop stops! Simply leave a comment on each hop stop, then check the winners announcement on February 22 to claim your prize.

Simon Says Stamp is also offering a super cute freebie with purchase! Simply enter code ART4U at checkout to receive the Handcrafted With Love stamp set for free.

Your next stop on the hop is Lea Lawson. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero June 2022 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! It’s time for another fabulous My Monthly Hero release from Hero Arts! This month, we’re going under the sea with beautiful mermaids, jellyfish, and all kinds of oceanic beauty. We are hopping along to share all of the new products with you. You should have arrived here from Debi Adams, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Here’s a peek at this month’s kit:

This month’s kit includes: 6″ x 8″ Clear Stamp Set, 8 Coordinating Frame Cuts, Mermaid Reactive Palette Ink Pad, Self-adhesive Pearl Gems, Water Flow Brush. Individually, the products would retail for over $70, but the kit is available for only $34.99! These kits sell out frequently very quickly, so you can make sure to receive one each month by subscribing here.  I have two projects to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

I began by heat embossing several of the undersea images from the new My Monthly Hero kit using Moonstone pigment ink and heat embossing them with White Satin Pearl embossing powder to create a pearlescent charcoal finished look. I embossed all of the images on white cardstock, then used blending brushes and several different shades of ink to create a beautifully ethereal and mottled look for the coral, plants, jellyfish, and seashells. I tried to capture the light dancing through from the top of the water to create movement and color variation with the ink blending. I die cut the blended images with the coordinating dies included in the kit.

Next, I trimmed down a panel of Adriatic cardstock to A2 size and blended some Deep Ocean ink around the edges of the card base. I splattered some sparkling metallic watercolors from my stash that had green and blue glitter over the blended card base to add even more magical sparkle to the card front. I also trimmed by hand some “sand” using scissors and some silver glitter paper, which I popped up using foam tape on the bottom of my blended card front to create a ground for my little underwater scene.

I arranged the blended die cuts on my ocean floor, adhering them with both liquid adhesive and foam tape, then silver embossed a sentiment from the main kit on a small strip of Adriatic cardstock. To make sure that the pearl in the sentiment was super visible, I dabbed a drop of the new White Hero Pearls in the center of the clam, and I made sure that the white of the pearl was the only white on my card front! The final touch was to add some shimmer to a few of the die cut elements with my shimmer pen, mainly some of the coral and the jellyfish, just to add even more textural interest to the card front.

For my second project, I used a couple of the add-ons to create this colorful underwater scene! I used a similar concept to the first card, allowing colorful ink blending and colored cardstock to convey the blue light that you see below the surface of the ocean. I began by heat embossing images from Mermaid Wishes and Mermaid Cove on some Arctic cardstock using Moonstone pigment ink and heat embossing them with White Satin Pearl embossing powder to create a pearlescent charcoal finished look. I cut the images out with my sharp scissors, then used several different colors of ink to blend on the embossed images to add lots of interest and color to the images. I then added a bit of sparkle to the underwater foliage with some colorful sparkle pens.

For the card base, I trimmed down an A2 Arctic card base, then blended colors from the Tropical Waters Ink Cube set around the edge. I also used Copic markers to add some deep blues and purples to the mermaid’s hair, as well as some sparkle to her fishy friend using more sparkle pens. The sparkle pens blend together similar to watercolors; you can lay down some colorful sparkle, then use the colorless sparkle pen to pull the color out and blend it into an ombré.

I adhered all of the colorful die cut pieces to the blended card base with lots of foam tape, some with double layer of foam tape to add lots of height and dimension. The colorful cardstock base used for all of the die cuts helps to maintain the flow and feel of the underwater scene from one die cut piece to the other.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! To celebrate this release, Hero Arts is giving away a $50 shopping spree to the Hero Arts website. All you have to do to enter is leave comments along the hop. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win! Enter by Sunday, June 12th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Your next stop on the hop is Ilina Crouse. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

June My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Good morning! (Or maybe afternoon, depending on where you are reading this!) Today is the day… the absolutely amazing June My Monthly Hero kit is now available for purchase! This particular kit is absolutely fantastic… the beach theme is so appropriate for the start of summer, and the kit has some absolutely fantastic components, not to mention stunning add-ons. To celebrate, we have an amazing blog hop with some fantastically creative guests. You should have arrived here from Clare Prezzia’s blog and your next stop is Ilina Crouse’s blog.

The main kit includes:

6″ x 8″ Clear Stamp Set
12 Coordinating Frame Cuts
4 Ink Cubes (Deep Ocean, Summer Sky, Soft Sky, Soft Granite)
Sand Embossing Powder 0.5 oz
Sea Foam Shimmer Spray 0.5 fl oz
Beach Enamel Stickers

There are so many amazing beachy images included in this kit, and it’s a bargain at $34.99 (valued at over $70!). These kits frequently sell out, so it’s always a good idea to subscribe if you want to ensure that you’ll get your hands on one! The kit & add-ons go live in the Hero Arts store on Monday June 4th at 1pm eastern/10am pacific. The main kit is available for a limited time only – once it’s gone, it’s gone. Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Friday, June 8th.

I had such fun using the main kit contents in my countdown post on the Hero Arts Blog that I created two different cards! I decided, however, to use some of the absolutely marvelous add-on stamps and dies today. Hero Arts really outdid themselves with this release!

For my first project, I used the new Abstract Wave Bold Prints stamp with an older stamp to create this beautiful under-the-sea mermaid scene. I started by stamping the Abstract Wave onto some white card stock and heat emboss it using White Satin Pearl embossing powder. I then used my blending tools to blend Deep Ocean, Summer Sky, and Orchid inks in a halo on the card front. I absolutely love this color combo… almost psychedelic! Just to make things even more magically mermaid-ish, I spritzed some Iridiscent Shimmer Spray on the card front and allowed it to dry completely.

Next, I stamped the beautifully detailed Mermaid woodblock stamp onto some watercolor paper, then die cut it out with the coordinating frame cuts. I used my Tombow markers to do some quick watercoloring in similar shades of purple and blue, then popped her up on my card front with some dimensional foam adhesive. I stamped the greeting from the new Seal of Approval stamp set onto some white card stock using black ink. I trimmed it down to a strip, then popped it up next to my mermaid. The final touch was a few iridescent gems that reminded me of pretty bubbles!

For my second project today, I wanted to feature that adorable seagull wearing a hat in the Seas the Day Seagulls set. I just couldn’t resist. I started by stamping and die cutting a few seagulls and some logs upon which they could stand. I then used my Copic markers to color both the gulls and their logs.

Next, I die cut one of the new Wave & Sea Confetti Dies from some Sea Mix layering paper, then backed it with a lighter shade of blue layering paper. Next, I pressed my Versamark pad down directly onto a piece of card stock and added some of the super unique sand embossing powder included in the main kit. I popped up my gulls, their seats, and the sandy strip with some dimensional foam adhesive, then wrapped some twine around each of the logs to create those super rustic and beachy “fences” that you might see at the beach or on a boardwalk. The last step was to stamp a coordinating greeting from the Seas the Day Seagulls set onto a strip of white card stock and pop it up with dimensional foam adhesive.

Now, for a giveaway!!! We are giving away one kit as a prize to one blog reader – selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. The giveaway closes Sunday, June 10th at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced the following week. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win! (If you purchase a kit and then win the contest, Hero Arts will reimburse you for your purchased kit!) Here’s the full hop lineup, so you can leave your comments:

Jennifer McGuire
Jenn Shurkus
Laurie Willison
Lydia Fiedler
Nichol Spohr
Wanda Guess
Amy Tsuruta
Clare Prezzia
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson
Yana Smakula
Michelle Short