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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

my monthly hero

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


May My Monthly Hero Blog Hop!

Good morning! Today is the day…. the release of the May 2018 My Monthly Hero kit!  You should have arrived here from the amazing Amy Tsuruta’s blog, and your next stop is the incomparable May Park’s blog. There are so many sweet storybook silhouette 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 May 7th 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 May 11th.

This particular kit features an absolutely stunning and intricate tree frame die, to which I added some Copic coloring in this post on the Hero Arts blog. Today, I wanted to use some of the darling add-ons that are now available for purchase! I chose to create a super simple but sweet card using the Besties Stamp & Cut. I combined it with the beautiful and detailed Woodgrain card stock from the Hero Arts store for this ultra-CAS design!

Do you know the song “People Will Say We’re In Love” from Oklahoma? This stamp set reminds me of the line “Granting your wish, I carved our initials on that tree!” So sweet and romantic. I started with a slightly-smaller-than-A2 panel of Hero Arts’s Woodgrain Card Stock and die cut the heart using one of the dies from the Besties Stamp & Cut. I then die cut another heart from regular white card stock and stamped the heart wood slice image from the Besties stamp set using Wet Cement ink. I added the “u+me” using black embossing powder.

Next, I adhered my woodgrain panel to a black A2 card base. I inserted my stamped heart wood slice, creating the illusion of those carved initials from the song. Bonus is that the die cut inlay creates a lovely flat surface, easy for mailing! This card would be adorable for a long distance best friend, too!

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, May 13th 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:

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

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


April 2018 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop+Giveaway!

If you’re looking for the Autism Awareness Hop, please click here.

Good morning again! Today is the release date for the April My Monthly Hero kit… and it’s a fiesta in a box! There are so many sweet southwestern 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 April 2nd 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 April 6th.

You get so many fun, super festive goodies in this kit… including some absolutely amazing reactive ink cubes that I am dying to get my hands on! (They didn’t have them in time for us to get them for project creation, and boy oh boy do they look funnnnn!)I used the main kit for this festive little scene on the Hero Arts blog on Saturday, so I thought I’d make use of some of the fabulous add-ons, including Shake Your Bones and that amazing  Blanket Pattern Bold Prints for my blog hop post today.

I made a little trio of cards using the images in Shake Your Bones. I just watched the tail end of the movie Coco, and these images totally remind me of that movie, even if I only watched just the last 15 minutes of it! (And, let me tell ya, even if I only watched 15 minutes of it, it was still enough to make me absolutely bawl. I shudder to think of the weeping that would occur should I ever watch the whole thing!) I have always loved the combination of bright, sunrise yellow, super hot pink, and bright purple… I even have called it my “fiesta” combination. I kept that color combo in mind when creating my cards today. For each card, I kept the layout nice and clean, with lots of white space and pops of color and pattern.

I stamped each skeleton image and coordinating greeting using Hero Arts’s Intense Black ink onto some Radiant White card stock, then colored them using Copic markers, which I’ll list individually below. I kept the coloring simple on the bones, using just C1 and C3 along with my Colorless Blender to help add some subtle shading to the bones.

Once the coloring was completed, I stamped the Blanket Pattern Bold Prints onto some black card stock and heat embossed using clear embossing powder. I love the subtle texture that adding the clear embossing gives to the background. I trimmed each white stamped panel down to leave plenty of space around the border to keep that pattern plenty visible, then adhered the white panels to the black patterned panels with dimensional foam adhesive.

Aren’t those so cute!? Clean, simple, but those images are so darn cute that you don’t need a whole lot of  “extras,” amirite? Just some coloring, a bit of texture, and lots of clean white space. Perfect!

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, April 8th 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:

The Hero Arts Blog
Laurie Willison
Yana Smakula
Janette Kausen
Nichol Spohr
Ilina Crouse
Kathy Racoosin
Clare Prezzia
Lydia Fiedler
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Kelly Latevola
Jana Millen
Amy Tsuruta
Emily Midgett<— you are here
May Park
Libby Hickson

My Monthly Hero March 2018 Blog Hop+Giveaway!

If you’re looking for my Reverse Confetti Countdown post, please click here. 

Good morning again!! You should have arrived here from the crazy talented Yana Smakula’s blog. Today’s the day! The March My Monthly Hero is finally available for purchase! The Creative Team has been tantalizing you with projects for the last several days…. isn’t this kit just fantastic? Truly a must-have. (And I don’t say that lightly!) These kits frequently sell out in the first twenty-four hours, so if you’re even a little on the fence, err on the side of caution and purchase yours ASAP!

This kit is chock full of fabulous basics perfect for a beginning stamper or an experienced crafter:

Kit Contents:
6″ x 8″ Clear Stamp Set
4 Fancy Word Dies
7 Fancy Shape Dies
4 8.5″ x 5.5″ Sheets Basic Kraft Cardstock (80 lb cover)
4 8.5″ x 5.5″ Sheets Basic White Cardstock (80 lb cover)
4 8.5″ x 5.5″ Sheets Basic Black Cardstock (80 lb cover)
Sparkly Sequins 1.5 oz
Silver Sparkle Embossing Powder 0.5 oz
Unicorn White Ink Cube

Kit Value: The value of the kit is $70, but it is sold at $34.99. Fabulous value, right? Those word dies alone are worth it, in my view! Plus all of the other fabulous extras you get…. icing on the cake!

I used several of the main elements of the kit in my Countdown post yesterday, which you can see here, and today I’ve combined some of the main kit pieces with some of the add ons along with some older Hero Arts sets. I love when new and old pieces can work together seamlessly! I created a baby card duet for today’s Blog Hop using the add-on Alphabet Window Fancy Die. Any time I see anything “alphabet” it immediately makes me think…. kids… baby…. baby card! Let’s get started with the details!

One of my favorite ways to use detailed cover plate dies like the Alphabet Window Fancy Die is to create a subtly textured white-on-white background. For this first project, I started by die cutting the Alphabet Window Fancy Die from plain white card stock and mounting it on an A2 card base. I stamped the darling little elephant (and several other critters) from Fun in the Rain onto some watercolor paper using sticky black ink, then heat embossed it in clear and cut it out with the coordinating Frame Cuts.  I watercolored my critters using the Zig Clean Color markers and a damp paintbrush.

For the greeting, I die cut one of the flagged banners from the included dies in the main kit and stamped a sentiment from the older Little One stamp set in black. I also cut a gorgeous scripty “hello” die from some black card stock. I adhered the hello die cut with dimensional adhesive, then added the elephant using dimensional foam adhesive. I snipped off the end of the flagged die cut and nestled it beneath the elephant. The last little touch was to add a few Blue Ombre sequins to help the blue umbrella pop even more.

For this next project, I used the same Fun in the Rain stamp set to color a little duckie family (side note- as a mom of twins, I always love finding/seeing baby cards that are geared towards families with multiples. This little duck family is just perfect for a baby shower card for a family getting ready to welcome multiples! Also, my baby shower theme was “Make Way for Ducklings” and this card would have been perfect haha!) I repeated the process for the card base, die cutting the new  Alphabet Window Fancy Die from white card stock and adhering it to a white card base. Next, I stamped the sweet Winnie The Pooh sentiment from Little One onto a rectangle of card stock and matted it with black card stock. I adhered both the greeting and the little duck family using dimensional adhesive.

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you have gotten some inspiration from my projects! I think the March My Monthly Hero kit is going to be an awesome addition to your stamp collection. Remember, these are limited edition kits, so if you are waffling about whether to buy it or not, just go ahead and get it in case it sells out! Once they’re gone, they’re gone! You can also subscribe to ensure that you will receive your My Monthly Hero kit.

You also have the opportunity to win a kit from Hero Arts! All you have to do to be entered in the giveaway is leave a comment on the blog hop stops. One random winner will be selected from amongst the comments on ALL blogs, so the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win your own kit! The giveaway closes on March 11th at 11:59 pm, and the winner will be announced the next day. (Hero Arts is so awesome that if you’ve already purchased your kit, they will reimburse you for your purchase if you are the random winner!) Your next stop is the fabulous Wanda Guess. Here’s the full blog lineup:

The Hero Arts Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Yana Smakula
Emily Midgett<—- you are here
Wanda Guess
Janette Kausen
Ilina Crouse
Lydia Fiedler
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Michelle Short
Laurie Willison
Jana Millen
Clare Prezzia
May Park
Amy Tsuruta
Libby Hickson

Have a marvelous day, friends! Thanks for stopping by!



February 2018 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop!

Good morning! We are celebrating the release of the darling February My Monthly Hero kit with a blog hop full of inspiration for both the main kit as well as the super cute add-ons, all of which are now available for purchase! Here are some details of the kit:

Kit Contents:

6″ x 8″ Clear stamp set
24 Coordinating dies
3 Ink cubes (Nest, Robin’s Egg, Feather)
2 5½” x 8½” sheets Stone woodgrain cardstock (111 lb. cover)
2 5½” x 8½” sheets Bubinga woodgrain cardstock (111 lb. cover)
2 Mini grapevine wreaths
This kit contents are individually valued at over $70, but Hero Arts has priced them at $34.99…. such a great value! The kit is available for a limited time only – once it’s gone, it’s gone. Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Friday February 9th. You can also subscribe to receive the kits every month to ensure that you never miss a kit!
I used the main kit in my countdown post on the Hero Arts blog (which you can see here), so I thought I would use one of the adorable add-on sets for my blog hop post today: A Little Bird Told Me.

To start, I die cut a little bird house using one of the new Infinity dies (available at certain retailers now, but will be available at the Hero Arts store on February 15!) and a Circle Infinity die from some Pool Layering Paper and Midnight Mix papers. I stamped the birdhouse using a (sadly) retired Hero Arts woodgrain background stamp, but you could also use the lovely embossed woodgrain papers that come with the kit! (I didn’t have those papers when I made this card, but expect to see them soon, because they’re GORGEOUS.)

I stamped the bird from A Little Bird Told Me and a few of the flowers using the “rock ‘n roll” technique. Essentially, you stamp your image once with a lighter color, then add some “shadows” with a darker color. For the bird, I stamped first with Wet Cement, then added some robin-esque details with the Vintage Ombre Metallic Rust. I repeated the process with the flowers using Soft Pink and Ultra Pink. I used a similar technique for the branches; since they are all one piece, I stamped the brown part of the branch after wiping the brown ink from the leaves, then added the green, being sure to wipe any extra green from the branches so as not to create a muddy mess. I die cut all of the different elements with the coordinating dies and set them aside.

For the card base, I blended some Pool ink around the edge of an A2 Snow panel to create an ethereal “sky,” then added some vellum and white clouds cut with the Nesting Cloud Infinity dies. I arranged all of the die cuts on the card front to get an idea of placement, then stamped my sentiment from the A Little Bird Told Me stamp set using Intense Black ink. After adhering all of the die cuts, I decided that the branches needed a little more fullness, so I added some of the standalone die cut branches from the main kit die cut from plain white paper, then colored with some aqua and brown Copic markers and adhered them directly to the card base. I like doing a mixture of dimensional and liquid adhesive to add lots of depth to the card.

The final touch was to add some of the new Hero Arts Lacquer Pen to some of the flowers. (This accent pen is part of the new catalog and will officially be released in the Hero Arts store on February 15!) And that’s all! Lots of layers and dimension on this project, and that’s okay by me! Sometimes you just need depth and texture on a project.

Now, for some giveaway fun! Hero Arts will select one winner from the comments across the blog hop… the more comments you leave, the more entries you have, and the more chances to win! Giveaway closes Sunday, February 11th at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced the following week. (If you have already purchased the kit, Hero Arts will reimburse you!)

Now, your next stop on the hop is the incomparable Jessica Frost-Ballas!

The Hero Arts Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Yana Smakula
May Park
Emily Midgett
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Wanda Guess
Lydia Fiedler
Amy Tsuruta
Janette Kausen
Michelle Short
Ilina Crouse
Clare Prezzia
Libby Hickson

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you enjoy the hop! So much beautiful inspiration to see… good luck with the contest! Have a marvelous day!