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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

my monthly hero

Hero Arts October 2023 My Monthly Hero Countdown-Day 3!

Hi friends! I have (another) sick little guy this weekend (preschool germs are rough, I tell you!!) and so I’m just popping in quickly to share my project for Day 3 of the October 2023 My Monthly Hero Countdown! You can check out Days 1 and 2 HERE.

We’re building detailed winter scenes this month, using the standalone cover plate dies that Hero Arts does so well to create this gorgeous layered scene!

I used only elements from this month’s Classic Kit to create this card, including the gorgeous pearlescent blue cardstock and the beautiful word dies, which I die cut from some of Hero Arts’s beautiful white glitter paper and Layering Vellum. I die cut all of the layers to this peaceful winter scene from white cardstock and layered them on the blue background with liquid and foam adhesive.

After I had adhered all of my layers, I wanted to really capture the shimmer of a sparkling winter landscape with some glittery snow. I added some Sparkle Pen to the different layers and sprinkled some Icicle Glitter over the top of it while it was still wet to create multiple types of sparkle and add some super festive shine to this peaceful wintry holiday card!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Be sure to check back tomorrow for the full reveal of the October 2023 My Monthly Hero Kit and marvelous Add-Ons. This kit is unbelievably beautiful and the add-ons are spectacular. You won’t want to miss it!! And be sure to check out the Hero Arts Blog to see more inspiration from the Creative Team using this beautiful kit. Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!

Hero Arts September 2023 My Monthly Hero Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! Hero Arts is releasing their utterly gorgeous September 2023 My Monthly Hero Kit + Collection today, and we’re hopping along to celebrate and inspire! You should have arrived here from Dana Joy, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. You can also start back at the beginning at the Hero Arts Blog! Feast your eyes upon this glorious, autumn-themed Classic Kit, with contents individually valued at $73, but available for purchase for only $36.99:

Our September release includes one of our most popular product combinations – a window die with coordinating layering stencils! In this beautiful fall-themed kit, the window is decorated with leaves and mushrooms, ideal for the autumn season. The Classic Kit‘s 4×6 stamp set features decorated script messages which can nestle perfectly within the window. There are four ink cubes to use with the layering stencils, and a white lacquer pen for adding spots to your mushrooms – or for any other creative ideas you may have! And calling all shaker card aficionados – we’ve got you covered with clear card panels in the kit, too.

Now for a peek at the Premium Kit, which contains all of the elements of the Classic Kit as well as some fantastic additional coordinating items valued at $111, but available for purchase for $49.99:

The Premium Kit includes additional elements to extend the potential for more cards and techniques – even more Creativity In The Box! In addition to all of the Classic Kit components, the highlight of our expanded kit is a 4″ x 6″ stamp set with adorable dancing critters. Use the images individually, or build a scene of them dancing around a bonfire in a pumpkin patch on a crisp fall evening! There are coordinating dies for the stamps as well as extra leaf and mushroom dies. Take your coloring up a notch by trying our Contour Ink, helpful for “no line” coloring. The Premium Kit is rounded out with two sheets of our shimmery Bronze Glitter Paper.

If you don’t want to subscribe to the Premium Kit, you can also purchase just these additional My Monthly Hero Premium Elements separately. Such a great option to get these beautiful additions! (You can always subscribe to be guaranteed a kit each month, because they sell out frequently and are not restocked!)

I am honestly not huge on orange, which is a bit of a problem when creating autumn-themed projects! For some reason, I think of the orange of the 1970’s, with orange couches, orange tupperware dishes, orange shag carpet… meh! While I don’t love orange on it’s own, I do love it when paired with pink, magenta, fuchsia, plum, and/or mustard. The bright pinks and purples help to liven the orange up and modernize it a bit to make it palatable to my eye.

The Classic Kit and Premium Kit both feature such stunning woodland themes, but the oval fancy window die from the Classic Kit made me audibly gasp with it’s beauty! The Classic Kit includes layering stencils to make adding color to these images a cinch, but I wanted to stretch my watercoloring legs and create some super colorful and vibrant mottled color on this crown of autumn leaves.

I started by die cutting the large fancy window die from the Classic Kit from some heavyweight hot press watercolor paper. I added color to the images using my Karin watercolor markers, scribbled out onto my glass work mat and picked up with my damp paintbrush. I kept the color scheme very autumnal, with touches of muted brown for the mushrooms, adding lots of vivid color to the fall foliage dancing around the window. To allow the colors to meld seamlessly into one another, I simply wet each individual leaf and dropped different colors onto the wet areas, allowing the wet watercolor to bloom into each other and blend together to create these vibrant and colorful leaves!

After I had finished watercoloring this super gorgeous, detailed die cut, I heat embossed a greeting from the Classic Kit onto the center of a panel of white cardstock using Brass embossing powder. I then lightly blended Spicy Mustard, Pumpkin, Azalea, and Plum Core Inks onto the embossed sentiment panel. I love that these inks coordinate so beautifully with the watercolored images! I popped up the watercolored die cut panel with some foam tape over the blended background panel. I am totally in love with this card, in spite of my general dislike of the color orange!

My second card features the precious images from the stamp set in the Premium Kit, which also comes with Contour Ink, my favorite ink for use with no-line coloring. I stamped the sweet fox and autumnal accessories onto some watercolor paper using Contour Ink, then again used my Karin watercolor markers to add some vivid color to the images. I also die cut several of the standalone leaf dies included with the frame cuts in the Premium Kit and watercolored them using the same wet-on-wet technique that I used on the first card.

For the background, I used more shocking pink to help enliven the orange tones on the watercolored images with some of the new(ish) Fuchsia + Gold Metallic Spray from Hero Arts. I spritzed the white background panel once with the spray, creating an area upon which I could build my scene. The shimmer from these sprays is unreal and so hard to catch in a photograph! I popped up my watercolored die cut fox to the vivid magenta panel and then built my scene with the pumpkins, mushrooms, and leaves, adhering some with liquid and some with foam adhesive to add extra dimension. I embossed a sentiment from the Premium Kit using more Brass embossing powder, then trimmed it down to a smaller rectangle and tucked it amongst the leaves swirling on the background. I mounted the panel on a slightly larger piece of gold glitter cardstock, then mounted that on a full size A2 panel of Plum cardstock. The final touch was to add a few sparkling gems!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! (I have lots of ideas for the fabulous Add-On Products, just not enough hours in the day! You should check them out!) Now for some fun giveaway information:

To celebrate this release, Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, September 10th 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 today, and happy hopping!

August 2023 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! It’s the first Monday of the month, and that means a new My Monthly Hero release from Hero Arts! We are hopping along to celebrate and inspired with the new goodies! You should have arrived here from Dana, and your next stop is Jessica. You can also start back at the beginning at the Hero Arts blog!

This month’s theme is all about traveling. The United States has such a diverse landscape, and is full of natural beauty that is unique to the United States! Here’s a peek at the Classic Kit:

The Classic Kit includes: Clear Stamp Set, 4″ x 6″, 4 Park Scene Fancy Dies, 1 Sheet each of Papaya, Canary, Palm, Kiwi, Woodland and Mist Cardstock, 5.5″ x 8.5″, Brass Embossing Powder, 0.5 oz., and Gold EarthSafe Glitter, 0.5 oz. The individual contents of this kit retail for $73, but can be yours for only $36.99! Score!

The My Monthly Hero Premium Kit features all of the elements from the Classic Kit, but with several fabulous coordinating additions! The Premium Kit includes: everything from the Classic Kit plus Poppy Clear Stamp Set, 3″ x 4″, 7 Poppy Coordinating Frame Cuts, 4 Sheets of Cactus Hero Transfers, 6″ x 8″, and Spring Green & Gold Two-Tone Spray, 2 oz. (Color may be substituted). The individual contents of this kit retail for $107, but can be yours for only $49.99! (I shared some colorful poppy inspiration using the Premium Kit in my blog post yesterday, which you can check out HERE.) If you don’t want to subscribe to the Premium Kit, you can also purchase just these additional My Monthly Hero Premium Elements separately. Such a great option to get these beautiful additions! (You can always subscribe to be guaranteed a kit each month, because they sell out frequently and are not restocked!)

Because this kit was not my usual aesthetic, Pinterest was my friend. I typed in “California graphic aesthetic” in my Pinterest search bar and found lots of options for inspiration. The images that I found the most striking were the ombré color blocked strip “sunsets,” and I used those to create the backgrounds for the fancy die cut silhouettes. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

To create my color blocked sunset for this slimline card, I selected a rainbow ombré of cardstock from the Hero Arts Premium Cardstock lineup: Passion Flower, Periwinkle, Arctic, Canary, Papaya, Coral, and Azalea. I trimmed them down in strips, gradually getting thinner as I went down the card front. I mounted them all on a slimline Pitch Black card front, spacing them equidistant so that there was a thin black strip between each color.

Once I had created my slimline sunset background, I used the fabulous detailed Fancy Dies included in the Classic Kit cut from more Pitch Black cardstock to create tons of contrast for the silhouette images. I adhered the trees directly to the background using Precision Glue, then used foam adhesive to pop up the grassy die cut to add a little more dimension and to help it stand out from the treeline.

For the greeting, I white embossed one of the fabulous sentiments from the stamp set included in the Classic Kit onto a strip of Pitch Black cardstock. I added some foam adhesive to the back, then added some liquid adhesive to the back of the foam adhesive so that I could ensure that it was straight on the card front! Those few seconds of wiggle room that are achieved with the liquid adhesive are so helpful with sentiments especially!

My second card utilizes the color blocked sky technique again, this time creating a bright blue sky to accent my navy blue bears and treeline from the gorgeous new Bear Family Fancy Die set. I began by trimming down some strips of cardstock using Peacock, Adriatic, Paradise, Arctic, and White cardstock, again gradually making each strip slightly thinner than the last. I mounted all of the cardstock strips on an A2 panel of Nautical cardstock, again placing the strips equidistant from each other to create thin strips of navy blue between each color.

For the bears, I die cut the tree line, momma bear, and her twin baby bears (how appropriate for this double twin momma!!) from Nautical cardstock. I added some light shading to the bear die cuts using a deep navy blue Copic marker, softening the edges with the colorless blender. I added the tree line to the bottom of the ombré sky with some foam adhesive. To accent my little forest, I die cut an arched frame using the Arches Infinity Dies from some more Paradise cardstock and popped it up with foam adhesive, as well. I added momma and babies to the bottom of the card. The light turquoise frame and the subtle shading on the bears helps the bear family to stand out a bit more from the navy tree line!

For the greeting, I heat embossed a sentiment from the sweet new Bear Hugs Stamp & Cut set. I heat embossed the “sending bear hugs” on a strip of Nautical cardstock using white embossing powder, then nestled it amongst the trees and popped it up with some foam tape.

Well, that’s all for my projects today!

To celebrate this release, Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, August 13th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Jessica is your next stop. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

My Monthly Hero August 2023-Countdown Day 3!

Hi friends! The August My Monthly Hero Countdown has begun, and we are sharing some sneak peeks of the upcoming My Monthly Hero Classic and Premium Kits that will be available tomorrow, August 7, 2023 at 1 pm EST! I have some inspiration to share with you using the Premium Kit, which features all of the goodies from the Classic Kit plus more products that coordinate beautifully with the main kit.

This month’s theme is all about travel, with lots of imagery from the Western part of the United States and the National Parks. I was assigned to work with the Premium Kit today, and it features some beautiful poppy arrangements-right up my alley! I searched on Pinterest for “California Poppies Aesthetic” and was treated to a variety of beautiful images, including a graphic that featured a monochromatic outline of California filled with vibrant poppies. I thought I could recreate that same idea using the Arches Infinity Dies and the beautiful poppy stamps in the Premium Kit.

I stamped a ton of the different poppy arrangements using Intens-ified Black ink onto some white, alcohol marker-friendly cardstock, then colored them with Copic markers in vibrant shades of yellow, orange, and red. I knew that I wanted to layer the die cuts on a turquoise cardstock similar to my inspiration image, so I selected a marker to perfectly match the Paradise cardstock that I had chosen for my background and edged all of the die cuts with that blue marker, creating a cohesive, vibrant card!

I die cut an Arches Infinity Dies from the Paradise cardstock and layered it on an A2 card front of the same shade using foam adhesive. I then used liquid and foam adhesive to add my vibrantly colored poppy flowers, allowing them to hang over the edge of the turquoise arch die cut. I think it looks just like a field of poppies! I stamped a greeting from the August My Monthly Hero Classic Kit stamp set with black pigment ink and clear embossed over the top to coordinate with the crisp black lines on my flowers. I popped the sentiment strip up with a double layer of foam tape to help it stand out from my field of poppies!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Be sure to check back tomorrow to see my projects featuring the new August My Monthly Hero Kit plus the fabulous add-on products during our monthly blog hop! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero July 2023 Blog Hop + Giveaway!

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Hi there! The new My Monthly Hero collection for July 2023 from Hero Arts is officially live, and we are hopping along with a blog hop to provide you with lots of inspiration! You should have arrived here from Dana Joy and your next stop is Kelly Taylor. You can also start back at the beginning at the Hero Arts blog. The new kit is absolutely marvelous, filled with serene botanical silhouette images that you can use to create beautiful cards for a multitude of occasions! I created a soothing aqua project in THIS post using only elements from the Classic Kit, pictured below:

The Classic Kit includes • Clear Stamp Set, 6″ x 8″, Dandelion Fancy Dies, 8 Pieces, Parklands Window Fancy Die, Linen Cling Stamp, 3″ x 4″, Blue to Green Reactive Ombré Ink Pad, which when added together retails for $71, but can be yours for only $36.99!

The Premium Kit includes all of the components from the Classic Kit, plus: 11 Picnic Basket Fancy Dies, 2 Picnic Scenic Detail Fancy Dies, Wildflower Ephemera Pack, 45 Pieces, 2 Sheets of White Woodgrain Paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 1 Sheet each of Pesto and Passion Flower Cardstock, 5.5″ x 8.5″. Individually, all of these components plus the Classic Kit components would retail for $104, but can be yours for only $49.99! (You can always subscribe to be guaranteed a kit each month, because they sell out frequently and are not restocked!)

Starting this month, Hero Arts is also offering the Premium Elements for purchase separately without a Premium subscription!

My projects for this month’s blog hop utilize lots of white space with bright pops of color to create some lovely meadow scenes, even featuring your best pal!

My first card features the My Monthly Hero July 2023 Premium Kit. The Premium Kit features all of the elements from the Classic Kit, but with the addition of some fabulous extra goodies that coordinate beautifully with the Classic Kit elements! This month’s “extras” are some utterly marvelous standalone picnic dies. I die cut all of the different picnic elements from Arches Cold Press watercolor paper. I used my Karin Brushmarker Pro markers to add lots of vibrant color to the different die cuts. I used to play dress up in my Grammy and Papa’s basement, and they had the most marvelous red picnic basket that I took with me on my adventures. It could be a suitcase, a treasure chest, a bed for puppies… but today, it’s just a picnic basket!

After I’d finished watercoloring all of the images, I wanted a subtle background to allow those vibrant colors to pop from the card. I stamped the large floral silhouette stamp in the stamp set using Granite ink. It embodies the peaceful background of a picnic without adding any extra bulk or color to the card!

I arranged all of the die cuts in a cluster over the gray floral silhouettes, then adhered them using a combination of foam tape and liquid adhesive for lots of dimension. Finally, I heat embossed a greeting from the Premium Kit‘s stamp set onto some vellum using silver embossing powder. I popped it up amongst the picnic using some clear foam adhesive.

My second project features the absolutely darling new Playful Pets bundle. This sweet set features several different pups with some accessories, friends, and special sentiments. After stamping this happy little fella using Intens-ified Black ink, I colored him using my OLO Markers, modeling him after my own dog, Barney. He’s the prettiest shade of blue-gray and has such happy ears and sweet expression, just like the pup in this stamped image! I colored him using the gray markers, then “washed” the entire die cut with a super pale blue-violet marker to give that “blue” undertone. I also stamped and colored a trio of red butterflies for him to chase!

To allow my pup and his pals to stand out, I stamped the new Meadow Floor Bold Prints stamp onto a panel of white cardstock using Granite ink. Even though this is a very soft gray ink, I wanted it to be even more subtle so that the crisp black lines on my pup and the bright red butterflies would really pop, so I stamped it again in the same spot using watermark ink and heat embossed it with White Satin Pearl embossing powder. The embossing powder tones down any ink color beneath it while also providing a very subtle shimmer and shine.

I stamped a greeting from Playful Pets onto a strip of white cardstock, then backed the strip with a slightly larger piece of Pitch Black cardstock to create a crisp black frame around my sentiment. I mimicked that framed sentiment by trimming down the meadow background slightly and mounting it in the center of a full size A2 Pitch Black card front, creating a stark black frame around the edge. I popped up the sentiment strip and die cut elements on the card front using foam adhesive. So simple, but very effective!

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

We will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, July 9th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

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