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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

my monthly hero

Hero Arts June My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! The new My Monthly Hero kit is here and we’re hopping to celebrate! This month we’re focusing on all things birthday, with the sweetest little festive critters. You should have arrived here from Debi Adams, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Here’s a sneak peek at the June 2021 kit:

This month’s kit features some darling little critters all ready to par-tay! The kit includes: 6″ x 8″ Clear Stamp Set, 17 Coordinating Frame Cuts, Light Mint Dye Ink Cube, Round Clay Sprinkles, Sparkle Lacquer Pen, and it’s valued at $72, but is yours for only $34.99! These kits frequently sell out very quickly, so don’t hesitate to purchase, because once it’s gone, it’s gone! You can also subscribe to ensure that you get your own kit every month. I have two projects to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

My first card is a shaker card featuring the sweet, sneaky little cake-eating kitty and one of the fantastic backgrounds available as an add-on! I started by stamping the kitty, the cake, a gift, and balloon (all from the main kit) using Intens-ified Black Ink on some Copic-friendly white cardstock. Using the confetti as my guide, I colored the images using Copic markers in shades of neon pink and bright blue.

I wanted to create a shaker using the confetti included in the kit, so next I embossed the new Candles Bold Prints background onto some Hero Arts vellum using silver sparkle embossing powder. I added heavy duty adhesive tape all around the edges of a white A2 card base, then placed some sprinkles from the kit in the center and adhered the sparkly vellum background over the top to create a thin shaker pocket filled with sprinkles! I also die cut a frame using another panel of A2 white cardstock and the Nesting Rectangles Infinity Dies, which I adhered over the top of my vellum shaker pocket to help hide the adhesive.

FInally, I arranged my Copic-colored kitty party scene atop a stamped sentiment strip (also from the main kit), using lots of foam tape for dimension. Who wouldn’t like to get this card for their birthday? Shaker cards are so much fun!

For my second card, I focused on the fantastic new Balloons Bold Prints stamp. This is one of those stamps that can look completely different depending on what color scheme you use with it. I chose to make this card kind of ethereal, but still with lots of color. I began by embossing the Balloons Bold Prints background onto some watercolor paper using white satin pearl embossing powder, then taped it to my watercolor board and used wet-on-wet technique to add a light wash of color (using Karin Brushmarker Pro markers) over the entire panel.

Once that initial wash of color had dried, I went back in withmore concentrated color to add details to the balloons to help them stand out further. I just love the way these balloons almost glow with this technique! Once my panel had dried, I trimmed it down to 3.25×5.75″, then mounted it on a 3.5×6″ panel of Paradise cardstock.

For the greeting, I used the new Birthday Stamp & Cut XL to die cut “celebrate” once from white cardstock and once from white iridescent glitter cardstock, adhering both pieces together to create a dimensional die cut. I white embossed the “it’s time to” on a strip of Paradise cardstock, then mounted both to the balloon background. Finally, I added a few iridescent gems to add a bit more texture and sparkle to the card front. So fun and festive!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! To celebrate this latest My Monthly Hero release, Hero Arts is sponsoring a giveaway!

We will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, June 13th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

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

Hero Arts May 2021 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! Today is the Hero Arts May My Monthly Hero release and blog hop to celebrate it. You should have arrived here from Debi Adams, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse.

This month’s kit is a marvelous one-full of beautiful marine images: coral, jellyfish, seahorses, fish (even Nemo!)… and some darling punny sentiments with beautiful fonts. This month’s kit contents are valued at $70, but can be purchased for $34.99! These kits frequently sell out very quickly, so don’t hesitate to purchase, because once it’s gone, it’s gone! You can also subscribe to ensure that you get your own kit every month.

The images in this month’s kit are quite substantially sized; I wanted to use the main coral reef image as the base for my scene, and since it is such a large image, I decided to create a slimline card (3.5″x8.5″). I began by trimming down a panel of Arctic cardstock to slimline size, then used the new Water Flow Slimline Stencil to blend Tide Pool and Pool inks using blending brushes. I then spritzed some White Iridescent Shimmer Spray over the top of the stencil as well to create an extra shimmery background.

Next, I heat embossed several images from this month’s kit onto some white cardstock using White Satin Pearl embossing powder, then die cut them with the coordinating frame cuts and used a huge variety of inks and ink blending tools to add a rainbow of color to the embossed die cuts. (I’ll link the individual colors below.)

Finally, I used Moonstone pigment ink and more White Satin Pearl embossing powder to emboss the cute sentiment from this month’s kit. I adhered all of the pieces using foam adhesive, sometimes using a double layer to add lots of extra dimension. The final touch was to add some “bubbles” with iridescent gems. Lots of sparkle and shine on this one!

Now, for a completely different style. I have always fancied super high end stationery, and the new Seashells Fancy Dies are perfect for creating a quick, elegant card with just two shades of cardstock. I began by die cutting the scalloped shell from the Seashells Fancy Dies set from some pearlescent gold cardstock. The details in the die cut are so beautiful!

I trimmed a panel of Nautical cardstock down to slightly smaller than A2-sized, then used one of the Square Infinity dies to to die cut a window from the center of the panel. I heat embossed a greeting from the new Color Layering Abalone stamp set using Brass embossing powder.

I popped up the embossed frame panel on another full size A2 panel of Nautical cardstock using foam adhesive, then popped up the seashell using some more foam tape. The final touch to add a touch more gold to this overall simple card was to add some golden pearls.

Now for some fun giveaway information!

Hero Arts will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, May 9th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week. The more comments you leave, the greater your chances to win!

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

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Hi there! Today, Hero Arts is releasing their newest My Monthly Hero kit and coordinating Add-Ons! We have a fun blog hop with lots of fantastic, super graphic inspiration for you. You should have arrived here from Debi Adams, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. This month’s kit features super fun, chunky images in a neat graphic style.

This month’s kit includes: 6” x 8” Clear Stamp Set, 16 Coordinating Frame Cuts, 3 Geometric Rotating Stencils, 3 Ink Cubes (Tangerine, Grape Juice, Raspberry Jam), 1 Ink Blending Brush. The total contents are valued at $83, but you can purchase the kit for only $34.99!  These kits frequently sell out very quickly, so don’t hesitate to purchase, because once it’s gone, it’s gone! You can also subscribe to ensure that you get your own kit every month.

I am always in need of fun birthday cards for both kids and adults, and I thought that the super chunky and graphic images in this kit would lend themselves well to creating some fun background paper for both a feminine and a masculine color scheme. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping a variety of images from the main kit stamp set on two white card fronts. For the feminine card, I used Neon Pink, Rose Madder, Pale Tomato, and Fresh Peach inks; for the masculine card, I used Ocean, Tide Pool, and Antigua inks, all from Hero Arts, and all linked below.

For both cards, I started with the largest images and stamped them randomly, but somewhat evenly spaced on my card front, then chose another slightly smaller image, and stamped it in a different ink shade, filling in the gaps with a smaller image in another shade. I frequently rotated my paper to try to keep the pattern from looking repetitive.

Once I had stamped my patterns, I white heat embossed the Happy Birthday greetings from the main kit (featuring that luscious graphic font!) onto some Pitch Black cardstock, then mounted them on some silver glitter cardstock. I also used the tiniest coordinating dies (the star and the heart) to die cut some silver glitter die cuts, which I added to the card front with some gems to add a bit more sparkle and texture to the card front. I mounted the A2 stamped panels on some more Pitch Black cardstock to create a bold black mat around the edge.

My second card features the new Graphic Reef stamp set, along with the new Flowy Stripes stencil. I began by silver embossing several of the images from the Graphic Reef onto some white cardstock using silver embossing powder, then coloring them with Copic markers and die cutting them with the coordinating Frame Cuts.

On the card base, I blended some Sapphire ink on the edges of a panel of Paradise cardstock. (I love blending on colored cardstock-the color saturation in the cardstock makes it so much easier to get a beautiful, color-saturated background!) I also used some sparkling glitter paste with the Flowy Stripes stencil to create a graphic “under the sea” vibe.

Once my stenciled background had dried completely, I used white embossing powder to emboss a greeting from Graphic Reef on a strip of Sand cardstock, which I adhered to the stenciled background panel using foam adhesive. I added my colored, embossed images using a combination of liquid and foam adhesive for a sparkly, colorful birthday card!

Well, that’s all for me today! Hero Arts is giving away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, April 11th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Happy hopping!

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero March 2021 Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Good morning! Today, Hero Arts is releasing their latest My Monthly Hero kit, and this one is great for creating the perfect card that bibliophile in your life! You should have arrived here from Debi Adams, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. This month’s kit is absolutely darling… Perfect for the book lover in your life!

This month’s kit contains:

6″ x 8″ Clear Stamp Set
7 Coordinating Frame Cuts
Reactive Palette Ink Pad
Water Flow Brush
6 Bookmarks, Pure White Cardstock
Rainbow Hemp Cord, 6 meters

The kit is valued at $73, but is priced at $34.99! These kits frequently sell out very quickly, so don’t hesitate to purchase, because once it’s gone, it’s gone! You can also subscribe to ensure that you get your own kit every month.

I have two projects to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

The main kit and the add-ons have a wonderful library theme. For this first card, I combined the main kit with one of the add-ons to create this card featuring a sweet girl engrossed in her book, leaning up against a huge stack of books.

I began by die cutting the stack of books from some aqua cardstock using the new Stacked Books Fancy Die. I then used my gold gouache to add some shiny gold to the edges of the books. Not much is more luxurious to me than a book with gilded edges! I added some Copic color to the book covers, as well. On the card base, I blended some Aegean ink with a blending brush, then splattered some more gold paint for a whimsical feel.

Next, I stamped and die cut the reading girl from the main kit, adding color to her using Copic markers. I love the “imagination” stamps included in the kit; after deciding on where to put my stack of books and reading girl, I stamped her little whimsical thought bubble using some more Aegean ink.

I stamped and gold embossed a greeting from the main kit on some Adriatic cardstock, then popped all of the pieces up on the card front using dimensional adhesive. Finally, I added a few golden gems to the imagination bubble.

My second card features the new Library Card Stamp and Cut XL. The die set creates a fun little card and pocket (that is perfect to fit a gift card, as well!), and the sentiments are so fun and versatile! I created a pocket out of some more Adriatic cardstock, as well as a card for the inside, which I stamped using the coordinating stamps. I also added a sentiment from the new Literally the Best stamp set.

For the card base, I stamped the new Novel Prose Bold Prints background on some more aqua cardstock using Aegean ink, then lightly blended around the edge with a blending brush.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! To celebrate this latest My Monthly Hero release, Hero Arts is sponsoring a giveaway!

We will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, March 14th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

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

February 2021 My Monthly Hero Release Blog Hop+Giveaway!

Hi there! February is upon us… finally! Welcome to the perfectly rectangular month that is February, 2021! (Look on your calendar if you don’t know what I mean, haha!) The Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kit is launching today, and we are visualizing a tropical vacation with some super fun vintage Hawaiian/tiki images and all things beachy and tropical! You should have arrived here from Debi Adams and your next stop is Ilina Crouse.

This month’s kit is full of fantastic goodies, including:

• 6” x 8” Clear Stamp Set
• 21 Coordinating Frame Cuts
• Tropical Flower Washi Tape
• Sand Embossing Powder, 0.5 oz.
• 6 5.5″ x 8.5″ Cardstock Sheets (2 each in Turquoise, Marrs Green, Coral)

This month’s kit is valued at $70, but is available for only $34.99! These kits frequently sell out very quickly, so don’t hesitate to purchase, because once it’s gone, it’s gone! You can also subscribe to ensure that you get your own kit every month.

When searching for inspiration for my project, I turned to Pinterest and typed in “vintage tiki” and found a plethora of fun imagery to help jumpstart my creativity. One of the images that I found was a tiki mask and flowers with a bright red, khaki, and turquoise color scheme, which was super fun to translate into a card using the main kit and the Water Ripples Bold Prints background stamp!

I began by heat embossing lots of the different images from the main kit onto some Sand cardstock using white embossing powder. I then used Caran D’Ache Luminance colored pencils to add lots of vibrant color in a red, white, and turquoise color scheme. I absolutely adore the look of vibrant colored pencils on kraft paper. So striking! After I’d colored everything, I die cut the images with the coordinating dies, included in the main kit.

For the card base, I used the new Water Ripples Bold Prints background stamp to create a tone-on-tone card base. I stamped the image on some Paradise cardstock using Blue Raspberry ink. It looks just like the bottom of a swimming pool to me! Such a fun background!

I die cut a Oval Woodgrain Frames Infinity Die from some white cardstock and popped it up on the patterned card front using foam adhesive. I then arranged the Hawaiian die cuts in a cluster and adhered them using both liquid and foam adhesive. For the greeting, I heat embossed the coordinating sentiment from the main kit on some strips of Sand cardstock using white embossing powder, then added those with some more foam adhesive. The final touch was a few white Neutrals Enamel Dots for a few more pops of white.

Well that’s all for my project today! Now, we have some fun giveaway information for you!
We will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, February 7th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

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