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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

my monthly hero

October 2018 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Good morning! Today is the monthly Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Blog Hop celebrating the fabulous new My Monthly Hero kit! This month, we are featuring a beautiful holiday kit, chock full of gorgeous vintage-y holiday images! For today’s hop, you should have arrived from Debi Adam’s blog, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse’s blog! The My Monthly Hero kits are always an excellent value, and this month is no exception. Here’s a sneak peek at the full kit:

Absolutely fabulous, right?! The full 6×8 stamp set with gorgeous snowy images… the beautiful sparkly paper… and can we just talk about the iridescent shimmer watercolor?! A fantastic value that is worth over $70 retail is available for purchase now for only $34.99! 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, October 1 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, October 5, 2018.

I have a couple of projects for you today, featuring both the kit and a few of the add-ons available for purchase today, as well. First up: A wintry, romantic shaker made using the sweet skating pair from the kit, some mistletoe, and some gorgeous chunky glitter. Let’s get started with the details!

To start, I stamped the skating pair, mistletoe, and frozen pond from this month’s My Monthly Hero kit onto some white, Copic-friendly card stock using Intense Black ink, then die cut the individual pieces with the coordinating dies included in the kit. I colored them with my Copic markers in coordinating color combination, also adding some sparkle pen to the frozen pond to make it really icy.

To create the shaker, I die cut a circle using the Circle Infinity Dies from another piece of white card stock, then backed it with acetate. I stamped the greeting from the main kit at the bottom, again using Intense Black Ink. After my sentiment had been stamped, I added some foam tape to the the back of my window panel, filled my shaker with some Snowfall Glitter, die cuts from the Snowfall Confetti Cuts cover plate, and some white sequins from Hero Arts. I added the frozen pond to the card front first, then added the ice skating couple and mistletoe to complete my snowy little scene. Wouldn’t this card be just perfect for newlyweds to send for their first Christmas together?

For my second project today, I wanted to whip up some quick little tags to get started on my tag stash for this holiday season. We have some fantastic new tag dies as add-ons this month, and you don’t need to add a whole lot to them to create a cute little gift topper. For the new Ornament Tag, I simply die cut it from white card stock, then added a background using the new Delicate Snowflakes Bold Print background using light gray ink and a sentiment using the new Merry and Bright Messages in dark gray, finishing it off with some black twine. For the tree, I used the new Tree Tags Fancy die cut from some more white card stock, then heat embossed a greeting from the new Peace, Love, and Joy stamp set using silver embossing powder. To add some color, I blended some Aegean ink over the top to create a vibrant green Christmas tree. Some twine at the top finished it off. Simple and quick enough that I won’t be saddened when they are casually thrown in the trash along with the wrapping paper at Christmas haha!

Well, that’s all for me today! The holidays are in full swing in my craft room, even if it is 80* outside haha!

Now for some fun giveaway information! Hero Arts is giving away an October My Monthly Hero kit to one lucky winner (and if you purchase a kit and then win, they will reimburse you!). All you have to do to enter is comment on the blog hop posts. The more comments you leave, the more chances to you have to win! Here’s the full lineup in case you get lost:

The Hero Arts Blog
Caly Person
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jennifer McGuire
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Julee Tilman
Kelly Latevola
Laurie Willison
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr
Yana Smakula

Thanks so much for dropping by today! Happy hopping!


More fun with the My Monthly Hero kit!

Good morning! I have another project using the September My Monthly Hero kit. The kit has SO many gorgeous images, including several vases for creating your own floral arrangements, as well as many different options for foliage and branches. The options are really endless! Today, I combined the images from the kit with some of the beautiful add-ons, so let’s get started with the details!

I started by die cutting and stamping the vase and some of the foliage from the main kit onto some watercolor paper using Intense Black ink. Next, I used the Hero Arts watercolors to add color to the images. I also stamped and die cut some of the gourds from Autumn Bounty and watercolored them, as well.

For the background, I embossed the beautiful new Patterned Lanterns Bold Prints background using Gold Sparkle embossing powder. I arranged the die cuts in a cluster and adhered them using both liquid and dimensional adhesive. I added a greeting: a heat embossed thankful from the main kit on a strip of red card stock.

Well, what do you think? I love this September My Monthly Hero kit… it’s got so many fun bits and pieces. There are still a few kits left, so if you’re on the fence about purchasing this month’s kit, be sure to head over to Hero Arts and get your kit on! These kits are limited edition, so once it’s sold out, it’s gone for good!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!


September My Monthly Hero Blog Hop+ Giveaway!

Good morning! Today is the monthly Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Blog Hop celebrating the fabulous new My Monthly Hero kit! This month, we are featuring a beautiful autumnal kit, chock full of gorgeous botanical images with a bit of Asian influence! For today’s hop, you should have arrived from Jennifer McGuire‘s blog, and your next stop is Caly Person‘s blog! The My Monthly Hero kits are always an excellent value, and this month is no exception.

This kit, including a large 6×8 stamp set, coordinating dies, beautiful fancy oval frame die, and accessories is valued at over $70, but is available for purchase now for $34.99! 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 Tuesday, September 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, September 7th.

I combined the gorgeous autumnal fancy frame die with the new Glimmer Metallic Inks in my countdown post here, but today I wanted to show some of the beautiful botanical images included in the main stamp set. There are some stunning florals included, which the ever-knowledgeable Jessica Frost-Ballas informed me are Chinese lanterns. These plants have a bright red bulb-like flower that drip off of the main stems so gracefully… I knew I needed to do some watercoloring with these gorgeous flowers.

I began by stamping and die cutting several of the Chinese lantern images from the kit using Hero Arts’s Intense Black ink,  a waterproof ink that stays nice and crisp even on watercolor paper. I then watercolored the images using the new add-on Orange Liquid Watercolor, followed by some shadows created with the Red Glimmer Metallic Ink. I used the Glimmer Ink instead of just using Strawberry Liquid Watercolor because the Glimmer Inks are a bit more bold and slightly more intensely pigmented than the regular liquid watercolors…. plus, they’re metallic, so yay! They react similarly to the watercolors in that, when you lay down the concentrated color, you can create a nice fade with a clean, damp paintbrush. I added touches of the Red Glimmer Metallic Ink over the top of the orange, then pulled the color out with my wet paintbrush to create almost a glaze of metallic shimmer. I added some Moss Liquid Watercolor to the foliage, as well.

For the background, I used the new Patterned Leaves Bold Prints, stamped in Red Royal on some red card stock. I love the subtle texture that the tone-on-tone background provides for the floral bouquet. It’s just enough to add interest to the background without distracting from the beautiful floral images. I adhered my bouquet of exotic flowers to the card front using liquid adhesive, then added a stamped sentiment strip to the bottom of the card front using dimensional foam adhesive.

Now for some fun giveaway information! Hero Arts is giving away a September My Monthly Hero kit to one lucky winner (and if you purchase a kit and then win, they will reimburse you!). All you have to do to enter is comment on the blog hop posts. The more comments you leave, the more chances to you have to win! Here’s the full lineup in case you get lost:

The Hero Arts Blog
Ilina Crouse
Lydia Fiedler
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson
Janette Kausen
Amy Kolling
Kelly Latevola
Jennifer McGuire
Emily Midgett<— you are here!
Caly Person
Michelle Short
Jenn Shurkus
Yana Smakula
Nichol Spohr
Julee Tilman

Well, that’s all for me today! Happy hopping, and good luck!


Man Card Monday: August Edition!

Hi there! Popping in today for August’s Man Card Monday! I missed last month’s Man Card Monday installment, so I thought I’d create two projects for this month to make up for it! Every month, I try to set aside at least one day in the month to create some masculine cards to build up my stash in case an unexpected (ahem, inadvertently forgotten) man-birthday comes up. I hate buying a card from the store when I have an office stuffed with stamps. The My Monthly Hero kit and add-ons for the month of August were absolutely perfect for masculine cards. No flowers, no frills, just a nice, strong cup of coffee is perfect to create a card for that uber masculine guy in your life. There are a few of these kits left, so if you’ve been on the fence, hurry over and grab one, because once they sell out, they’re gone for good! You can also subscribe if you are afraid to miss out on any future kits, as well.

For my first card, I wanted something simple and quick, something easily replicated and easily mailed. I used the updated Infinity die Teapot and Cups, both newly updated with inserts to cut out the handles! I cut both from some Pool Layering Paper, then used the new Doily background stamp to heat emboss a super detailed design onto the cup to add fabulous texture. I added the greeting from the new Spill The Tea add-on stamp set in black ink, then used liquid adhesive to adhere the teapot and foam adhesive for the teacup to add a bit more dimension. Simple, but effective! I could see this easily replicated with lots of different Bold Prints backgrounds and in all sorts of colors!

For my second project, I used the August My Monthly Hero kit to create an eclectic little cluster of coffee cups, like you’d see on a cafe table. I can just picture a group of friends, clustered around one of those tiny cafe tables, a variety of cups spread out in front of them because they all have different caffeine desires. 😉 I started by stamping and masking the coffee cups onto some watercolor paper, then left the masks on to clear emboss the new Doily Background to create some subtle texture. I then used the Daniel Smith Hero Arts Dot Palette to watercolor the cups, adding a coffee stain around the coffee cups using the new Cocoa Liquid Watercolor to help emphasize that pretty texture from the clear embossed background. I finally stamped a sentiment from the new kit onto a strip of white card stock and adhered it to the card front. Nice and flat and easy to mail!

Well, that’s all for this month’s Man Card Monday! I hope you enjoyed these projects using the new Hero Arts products from this month’s My Monthly Hero release, and that they inspired you to create some masculine cards of your own. It’s nice to have a little stash of man-friendly cards hanging out in my card container. Thanks so much for dropping by today! Have a marvelous week!


August 2018 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop+Giveaway!

 

Good morning! Today is the monthly Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Blog Hop celebrating the fabulous new My Monthly Hero kit! You should have arrived from Clare’s blog and your next stop is Ilina’s blog.  This month’s kit is coffee themed, with some fabulous coffee images and coordinating dies, as well as a fantastic fancy die that I used in this post. So many fun images, accessories, and that fabulous fancy die… here’s the breakdown of the items included in the kit:

6″x8″stamp set
3.5″x4.5″ window fancy die
11 coordinating frame cuts
Crystal Clear Lacquer Pen
White Puff Embossing Powder
2 8.5″x5.5″ sheets of coffee and tea hand dyed decorative paper

There are so many amazing coffee themed 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 August 6th 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, August 10th.

For my project today, I wanted to invoke those lovely chalkboards that you see so frequently in cafes and coffee shops. I love creating chalkboard cards with my colored pencils and black card stock, so I thought I’d recreate that feel with my stamps, some white ink, and a white colored pencil. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping the tall, footed coffee cup and some whipped cream from the main kit onto some black cardstock using Unicorn White pigment ink, as well as a few images from the new add-on stamp set Tea Time. I die cut all of the images using the coordinating dies.

I arranged my cluster of coffee shop goodies on my card front in approximately the spots that they would be on the final card, then began work on my custom sentiment. I love accenting certain words in sentiments with die cut letters, so I trimmed off the “coffee” of the “You’re the cream in my coffee” sentiment included in the main kit, then die cut the letters from white card stock. I stamped the partial sentiment in white pigment ink. I then used my gridded mat to arrange my die cut letters in a nice straight line, used washi tape to pick them up and add adhesive to the back, then adhered them to my card front.

I adhered my coffee die cuts using foam tape, then used my T-square to create a white frame around the edge of my card panel. Looks just like a sandwich board that you’d see outside a coffee shop, right? Love this technique!

Now for some fun giveaway information! Hero Arts is giving away an August My Monthly Hero kit (and if you purchase a kit and then win, they will reimburse you!). All you have to do to enter is comment on the blog hop posts. The more comments you leave, the more chances to you have to win! Here’s the full lineup in case you get lost:

The Hero Arts Blog
Amy Kolling
Amy Tsuruta
Clare Prezzia
Emily Midgett<— you are here
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jennifer McGuire
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Julee Tilman
Kelly Latevola
Laurie Willison
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr
Wanda Guess
Yana Smakula