Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

my monthly hero

Hero Arts July Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! Hero Arts is releasing their new collection for July 2024, and we are hopping along to celebrate! You can get the full hop list HERE on the Hero Arts Blog. You can view the full July Release HERE. I am so excited to be hopping along with Hero Arts today, as they are celebrating their 50th anniversary throughout 2024. Such an amazing company! I was lucky to be part of the Creative Team for Hero Arts for several years, and it’s such a joy to join in now as a guest. I have a pair of pretty ocean-themed cards today using the new release, so let’s get started with the details!

Hero Arts has made some changes to their monthly releases, giving you several options for subscriptions, depending on your favorite ways to create! You can check out the full post over on the Hero Arts blog to see all of the details on these new subscriptions. I did some mixing and matching with the new July Layering Stencil of the Month, the sweet sandcastle dies from the July Card Kit of the Month, and some older products that work so beautifully with these ocean-themed goodies.

For my first card, I created a sweet shaker card using the July Layering Stencil of the Month, which creates a fun ocean background using four different stencils. I blended Mist, Paradise, and Bermuda inks with the layering stencils, then added some light blending around the edges of the A2 panel using Paradise ink, creating a bit of a spotlight on the center of the patterned panel. I used some leftover stamp packaging to create the pocket for the flat shaker card, then filled it with some coordinating blue and white sequins. These flat shaker cards are such fun and such an interesting way to use an entire blended background!

For the front of the card, I stamped a greeting from Sea Quotes using Bermuda ink, then stamped over the top with embossing ink and added some Iridescent Blue embossing powder for added shimmer and shine. I also stamped and embossed the “you’re amazing” from Message Strips. To add a little more textural interest and sparkle to the front of the card, I added a few glittery white die cuts from the older standalone Sea Creatures die set. I popped the sentiment die cuts up with some foam adhesive, then added the glittery accent die cuts with some liquid adhesive to add multiple layers of height.

For my second card, I paired the adorable standalone sandcastle dies from the July Card Kit of the Month with some alcohol marker coloring and another sentiment from the Sea Quotes set. I die cut the sandcastle dies from plain white cardstock and used OLO Markers to color the images with grays and aquas. I used the fine tip of the brush point to add some “grains of sand” texture to the bottom of the sandcastle… I don’t know if there is actually gray sand anywhere in the world, but I’m going to take some artistic license here! I colored the bucket, shovel, and a few extra seashells and starfish cut using the Sea Creatures die set.

For the card base, I blended some Mist ink in the center of my white A2 card panel, then splattered the background with sparkling handmade watercolors for extra texture. I used another stamped and embossed sentiment from Sea Quotes and Message Strips, then arranged all of the die cuts in a cluster over the blended, splattered area. I adhered the different pieces with both foam adhesive and liquid adhesive, creating multiple layers of height. The final touch was to add a few sparkling gems to fill in a few of the blank spaces!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Now for some fun giveaway information:

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, July 7th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

You can see the full hop list HERE on the Hero Arts Blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero May 2024 Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! I am happy to be hopping along with this month’s My Monthly Hero release for my friends at Hero Arts. You can find the full hop list on the Hero Arts Blog! This month’s release (click HERE to see the entire release!) is totally appropriate for Hero Art’s 50th birthday. (I *know,* right?!?! FIFTY YEARS?!) It’s all about birthdays this month, and the new kit features some absolutely gorgeous items that are great for girly birthdays (my favorite) or more gender-neutral birthdays. To celebrate and to say thank you to their amazing customers for fifty equally amazing years, Hero Arts has even included some special gifts with the May 2024 kit. Incredible, right? Hero Arts is amongst the best of the best!!

Here’s a sneak peek at this month’s Classic Kit, an $80 value for only $36.99:

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Here’s a peek at the Premium Kit, which features all of the elements of the Classic Kit plus some amazing coordinating products that will work beautifully on their own or with the elements from the Classic Kit:

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I chose to go full feminine for these projects today, featuring one of my favorite color palettes: a pastel sunset ombré. I used my Holbein watercolors with the gorgeous images and the watercolor paper included in the kit to create this pair of pretty projects, so let’s get started with the details!

My Holbein watercolors are amongst my favorite watercolor tubes in my (embarrassingly vast watercolor collection); the color palette is simply stunning, very creamy, and a bit unique amongst fine art watercolors. Most of the watercolors in my collection are very vivid, intense jewel tones that can be diluted down with the amount of water added. The Holbeins, however, come in a variety of creamy pastel colors in addition to the vibrant options, making it super simple to keep that light and airy look that sometimes is a bit harder to achieve with the super intense watercolors.

I started my first project by heat embossing a variety of the different elements from the May 2024 Classic Kit, which is full of gorgeous images and a huge variety of birthday and celebratory sentiments, onto the included watercolor paper using gold embossing powder. I then used my Holbein watercolors to add some Jaune Brilliant No 1, Jaune Brilliant No 2, Shell Pink, Brilliant Pink, and Quinacridone Red watercolor to the embossed floral cake and ombré cake slice. (I want a piece of cake with those colors! So pretty!) I also added some glittery gold watercolor accents for extra sparkle. Who doesn’t like a little extra sparkle on their birthday?

For the background, I taped an A2 panel of the watercolor paper included in the Classic Kit down to my watercolor board and added a very diluted spotlight wash of the same Holbein watercolors used for the cake. Once this was dry, I splattered it with some more glittery gold watercolor.

Once my background panel was completely dry, I trimmed it down and then matted it with an ever-so-slightly larger panel of Hero Arts’s gold glitter paper. I mounted that on a full size panel of creamy white cardstock, creating a double frame around my watercolor wash background. After die cutting the images and embossed sentiment with their coordinating dies, I popped them all up with a variety of heights of foam adhesive to give lots of interest and definition to the different elements. I like to keep two different heights of foam squares on hand, and then use them in single and double layers to get lots of interest! (I will link both styles below.) A smattering of coordinating sparkling gems finished the project off!

My second card features the marvelous balloon cling stamp from the Premium Kit. (You can also purchase the Premium Elements on their own without subscribing to the Premium Kit. Click HERE to see the Premium Elements on their own!) I heat embossed the image again using gold embossing powder on the watercolor paper included with the Premium Kit, then used the same shades of Holbein watercolors to create a luscious ombré background. Once the watercolors were completely dry, I added some sparkly gold splatters and confetti accents with my handmade gold glitter watercolors.

After completing the background, I trimmed the watercolored panel down and added some more gold glitter paper on only two sides of the panel. I nestled the two plain sides into the opposite corner of a creamy A2 panel of Antique Ivory cardstock.

For the greeting, I gold embossed the “make a wish” sentiment from the Premium Kit onto some more Antique Ivory cardstock and die cut the large “wish” sentiment with the coordinating die. (I just LOVE when companies provide coordinating sentiment dies!) I die cut a few balloons using the new Balloon Bunch Fancy Dies from the Add-On collection for this month, die cutting them in coordinating shades of peach, cream, and pink and adding some subtle ink blending on the edges. I popped the balloons and their glittery gold strings up using some foam adhesive and added a few sparkling gems for additional shine!

Well, that’s all for today’s projects. Now for some fun giveaway information:

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, May 12th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

You can see tons more inspiration from the entire Hero Arts Creative Team and special guests over on the Hero Arts Blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy, happy birthday to Hero Arts!

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero April 2024 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! I am happy to be hopping along with this month’s My Monthly Hero release for my friends at Hero Arts. You can find the full hop list on the Hero Arts Blog! This month, Hero Arts has released a collection of gorgeous and unique folk-themed products that you can use for so many different occasions!! (Click HERE to see the whole release!) Here’s a peek at this month’s My Monthly Hero Classic Kit:

And here’s a peek at the My Monthly Hero Premium Kit, which contains all of the components of the Classic Kit plus a bunch of marvelous coordinating products:

I have created a trio of projects using lots of different goodies from this release, so let’s get started with the details!

If you have followed my blog at all, you’ll know that I struggle with masculine cards, preferring instead to make basically every project pretty, pink, and covered in flowers. Well, the graphic images in this month’s kit may contain flowers, but when paired with the right color combination, I think these Scandinavian-inspired images create excellent gender-neutral cards! Whenever I am starting a card set, I like to set my color palette first, so I pulled out Mist, Paradise, and Soft Olive ink and lots of different coordinating shades of cardstock and got to work!

For my first project, I paired the new My Monthly Hero Classic Kit with Mist, Paradise, and Soft Olive ink, first die cutting the intricate cover plate die, which only cuts partial outlines so that the entire piece stays intact. I then used blending brushes to blend Mist, Paradise, and Soft Olive with the included layering stencils, centering the images with their die cut outlines. So simple and so fast! I think these stencils would be so fun to use with glitter paste or even some DecoFoil gel and add some shining foil accents. Stencils are such a workhorse for your craft room!

After I had finished blending the pretty folk patterns on the die cut background, I used the standalone dies included in the Classic Kit to die cut some vellum butterflies and floral accents from colored cardstock, layering the floral accents on top of the vellum butterflies to help make them extra special and to help them be even more visible amongst the busy background. I think vellum and butterfly dies were made for each other; the semi-transparent vellum definitely conveys the lightness of fluttering butterflies! For the greeting, I stamped one of the sentiments from the Classic Kit onto some Mist cardstock using Paradise ink, then stamped it again using embossing ink and covered it with the new Iridescent Green Embossing Powder. This embossing powder adds such a beautiful, luminous shimmer to my sentiment and helps it to stand out from the Mist cardstock so well! I matted the sentiment strip on some Paradise cardstock, then popped up the greeting with some foam adhesive and added the butterflies using some tiny dots of liquid adhesive. Such a pretty kit with so many different elements that you can mix & match!

My next card uses the same shades of ink, this time paired with the new Folk Art Stamp and coordinating layering stencil. I first stamped the new Folk Art Stamp onto some white cardstock using embossing ink, then used the Iridescent Green Embossing Powder to emboss the image. Using the Iridescent Green Embossing Powder alone without any colorful ink beneath creates almost a tone-on-tone effect, very subtle, but beautiful when the light catches it just right. After embossing, I used the coordinating Folk Art layering stencil to blend Mist, Paradise, and Soft Olive inks.

After my focal point was finished, I trimmed the panel down and matted it on a slightly larger panel of Pinkfresh Studio Ocean Breeze glitter cardstock, creating a super delicate glittery border around my stenciled background. I adhered it to a full size A2 panel of Kiwi cardstock using liquid adhesive. For the greeting, I kept things super simple, heat embossing a “happy birthday” sentiment onto some more Kiwi cardstock using white embossing powder and matting the greeting with some Paradise cardstock. I popped the sentiment up with some foam adhesive, then added a few Trinity Stamps Imperial Crystal Rhinestone amongst the embossed and stenciled pattern. I love that this pattern is symmetrical, a hallmark of Scandinavian folk art. It makes my symmetrical-loving, right angled design brain happy!

For my last card, I used the adorable new Bird Family Fancy Die set to create a baby card! I stuck with the same color palette, allowing the pretty aquas to be the star of the show on this project, which I think are basically gender-neutral at this point and can be used for both boys and girls. I die cut the momma and baby bird from some iridescent white shimmer cardstock to make them extra special, then die cut the flowers and foliage from the Bird Family Fancy Die set using iridescent white mirror cardstock and some scraps of Kiwi and Paradise cardstock.

For the greeting, I used some of the recently-released A-D Alphabet dies and W-Z Alphabet Dies to create a large “BABY” word die cut. I cut these larger letters from Arctic cardstock, and because these letters are so large, they suit an A7 card beautifully! I trimmed down an A7 panel of Mist cardstock, then used some masking tape to mask the edges of one corner and blended some Paradise ink in just one corner. I also stamped and embossed an appropriate greeting from a stamp set that has sadly been discontinued. I popped all of the different die cut elements up on my blended background, using the bottom blended line as my guide for my die cut letters to keep them nice and straight. Finally, I added some Moonstone rhinestones for extra sparkle. This would be a super easy card to customize for twins or multiples! (those cards are so difficult to find; ask me how I know haha!!)

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Now for some fun giveaway information:

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, April 7th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

You can see the full hop list on the Hero Arts Blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Hero Arts March 2024 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! I am helping my friends at Hero Arts introduce their new My Monthly Hero kit collection for March 2024, and this month’s theme is so beautifully timeless, featuring cherry blossoms, luscious textures, and even a bit of whimsy. We are hopping along today, and you can find the full list over on the Hero Arts Blog. Here’s a peek at this month’s Classic Kit:

Classic Kit Contents:

  • Clear Stamp Set, 6”x 8”
  • 17 Coordinating Frame Cuts
  • Cover Plate Window Die
  • 2 Rub-On Transfer Sheets
  • 3 Ink Cubes (Cherry, Periwinkle, Deep Ocean)

And here’s a peek at the Premium Kit:

Premium Kit Contents:

  • Clear Stamp Set, 6”x 8”
  • 17 Coordinating Frame Cuts
  • Clear Stamp Set, 4”x 6”
  • 10 Coordinating Frame Cuts
  • Cover Plate Window Die
  • 2 Rub-On Transfer Sheets
  • 3 Ink Cubes (Cherry, Periwinkle, Deep Ocean)
  • Translucent Pinks Hero Hues Enamel Dot

You can also purchase the Premium Kit Elements a la carte, which includes the beautiful Cherry Blossom stamp set that I used on my project today. The individual contents of both the Classic Kit and the Premium Kit are valued well over double the kit price, so these kits are definitely a bargain!! I used lots of elements from the Premium Kit to create this pretty-in-pink project today, so let’s get started with the details!

To begin my project, I die cut the beautifully intricate coverplate die included in the Classic Kit from a panel of Peony cardstock from Hero Arts. This new die features both a cover plate that impresses a unique pattern into your cardstock without actually cutting that also leaves a circular area in the center of your panel, as well as a circular patterned die that fits in that open circle space and cuts a delicate pattern in the center of your cardstock. This circular pattern die is is also removable so that you can place it wherever you wish! After die cutting my panel of pale pink cardstock, I trimmed it down 1/8″ on all four sides, then used a blending brush to lightly blend Peony ink around the edges of my cardstock. This blending helps to enhance the debossed pattern on the background and add some extra depth to the area behind the focal point!

To frame the detailed circular patterned section, I heat embossed the beautiful cherry blossoms in the 4×6 stamp set featured in the Premium Kit using Rose Gold embossing powder on some vellum from Hero Arts. To help enhance the pretty blooms, I added some simple color on the back of the floral images with an OLO marker. I made sure to select a marker that was fairly vibrant, because the semi-opaque vellum mutes the color considerably. I die cut the floral images with the coordinating frame cuts.

After I had finished creating my floral images, I heat embossed a greeting from the cherry blossom set onto some pearlescent blush cardstock, again using Rose Gold embossing powder. I die cut the sentiment with the coordinating frame cut. I backed the die cut window opening with some more of the pearlescent blush cardstock, adding a touch of shimmer to the card front. I popped up the blended, debossed panel on a full size A2 panel of Peony cardstock using foam adhesive, then arranged my flowers in a swag around the circular die cut opening, hiding the adhesive behind the solid the flower centers where the heat embossing was very dense. I popped up the greeting die cut, then added a few of the translucent enamel dots included in the kit for one last pop of color and texture!

My next pair of cards features the utterly lovely Cherry Blossom Cover Plate die. I was so entranced by the beautiful pearlescent blush cardstock that I used on my first project that I wanted to feature it more prominently with these stunning, super intricate and delicate Cherry Blossom Cover Plate die cuts. As you can see, this beautiful cover plate is gorgeous when used as intended as well as when snipped apart to create custom arrangements.

Both of my projects feature ink blended backgrounds using some luscious pink inks from Hero Arts: Peony, Ultra Pink, and Raspberry Jam. For my first project, I concentrated the ink blending towards the bottom of my card front, first blending Peony ink over nearly all of the card front using a large blending brush, then adding Ultra Pink around the bottom and sides of the card front, then lightly blending some Raspberry Jam around the very edges of the bottom edges of my card front, creating an ombré fade down my card front. After I had blended my card front, I splattered the background with some super sparkly watercolors to add some extra interest and texture to the background.

To enhance the background, I die cut the new Cherry Blossom Cover Plate from that beautiful pearlescent blush cardstock from my stash and mounted it using Precision Glue. For the greeting, I die cut the large “love” Fancy Die from the Love You Stamp & Cut XL from some rose gold foil cardstock and heat embossed a coordinating greeting on a strip of bright pink cardstock using some Rose Gold embossing powder. I popped the greeting pieces up with foam adhesive over the top of the cherry blossom background, then added a few iridescent pink pearls for added shimmer and shine!

One of my favorite attributes of standalone dies is the ability to use scissors to customize them for a new look. For my second project, I die cut the Cherry Blossom Cover Plate again from the pearlescent blush cardstock, then used my scissors to trim the individual branches off so that I could arrange them a little differently! I blended some more Peony, Ultra Pink, and Raspberry Jam around the edges of my card front and splattered the blended areas with some more glimmering handmade watercolors. I oriented my blended background horizontally, then arranged my cherry blossom die cuts across the top, adhering some with liquid adhesive and some with small pieces of foam tape. I created another greeting using the Love You Stamp & Cut XL, popping it up with some foam adhesive. Finally, I embellished the card with some more iridescent pink pearls!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Now for some fun giveaway information!

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by  Sunday, March 10th at 11:59pm PT, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog  the following week.

You can see the full hop list on the Hero Arts Blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero February 2024 Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! I am joining the blog hop to help introduce the new My Monthly Hero kit and Coordinating Add-Ons from my friends at Hero Arts! This kit features some beautiful floral images and gorgeous sentiments, perfect for so many different occasions. I found the sentiments especially poignant and incredibly useful for sympathy cards. I have a pair of cards to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

Here’s a peek at this month’s Classic Kit:

And the Premium Kit, which contains all of the elements of the Classic Kit plus some marvelous extra coordinating products:

Such beautiful, serene imagery included in this month’s kit, with lots of lovely sentimental messages that work for a huge variety of occasions!

My first card features elements from both the Classic Kit and the Premium Kit.

To start, I stamped the large bouquet of calla lilies, vase, and bow (I love the shape of that bow-such lovely movement and grace!) on watercolor paper using black pigment ink, then covered it in White Satin Pearl embossing powder to create a lovely pearlescent charcoal embossed image. I used my Sennelier watercolors to add some muted color to the calla lilies, foliage, vase, and bow, keeping the calla lilies “white” by painting around them with some pale aqua watercolor. Once I had finished watercoloring the images, I used the coordinating dies included in the kit to cut them out.

To accent the background while still keeping things simple, I lightly blended some Bermuda ink on an A2 Arctic card front, splattering the background with some sparkling silver watercolors. For the greeting, I heat embossed the “sending” from the Classic kit in silver on a piece of Adriatic cardstock, then die cut the embossed sentiment with the coordinating die as well as the “peace” fancy word die cut from the Premium Kit. I popped up the die cuts using foam adhesive, then added a few iridescent gray pearls for some sparkle and added textural interest.

My second card features the beautiful new Cosmos and Lavender Bundle. I wanted to create a sympathy card and thought that the simplicity of white-on-white would be perfect accented with some soft blues and grays. I stamped the cosmos bouquet from Cosmos and Lavender Bundle onto some white cardstock using my favorite ink for no-line coloring: Contour Ink. I used OLO markers to add some soft grayish blue to the flowers and some warm gray foliage. Once I had finished coloring, I stamped a couple of the greeting stamps using Wet Cement ink and die cut the images with the coordinating dies. I love that the sentiments also have coordinating Frame Cuts. It makes it so much easier to have sentiments with multiple lines when you don’t have to try to stamp them in a perfect line!

For the background, I used the individual floral stamps included in the Cosmos and Lavender Bundle with Contour Ink to create a very softly patterned background, starting with the largest stamp and working down to the smallest to create a cohesive pattern. I also die cut a white hexagonal frame using the Hexagon Infinity Dies, offsetting it to the left side of the card and snipping off the excess. I popped up the colored bouquet and sentiment die cuts using a double layer of foam adhesive to help them pop from the white background, finally adding some white gems for a touch of subtle sparkle.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! To celebrate this release, Hero Arts is giving away a $50 shopping spree. The winner will be selected from comments along the hop, so be sure to leave comments on each stop for maximum chances to win. Enter by Sunday, February 11th at 11:59pm PT, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

You can find the full hop list on the Hero Arts blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!