Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

no line copic coloring

Simon Says Stamp August 2025 Card Kit of the Month: Best-Teas!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I have a trio of cards to share with you today using goodies from the fabulous new Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month for August 2025, called Best-Teas! In this kit, you will find the most marvelous assortment of coffee- and tea-themed products that coordinate beautifully together or with other goodies from your stash. You will receive essentially everything that you need to create tons of different projects, and the value of these card kits is always sensational. Here’s a peek at the contents of the kit, which you can find in more details HERE:

I always love the patterned paper included in these kits, especially, and find myself so inspired by the color palettes and themes that I end up using so much more patterned paper than I normally would on cards. (instead of hoarding it like I normally do!) Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

My first project uses the stamp set included with the Best-Teas Card Kit of the Month, also called Best-Teas! This fabulous stamp set provides you with all of the goodies you could possibly need to create your favorite flavor of card, whether it’s tea, coffee, or pastry! I did some no-line coloring and then created a custom patterned panel using white pigment ink and several of the images form the Best-Teas stamp set. I began by stamping the coffee pot, cup, and some florals and greenery onto some white cardstock using no-line coloring ink, then used my Copic markers in shades of peach and green to add color to the images, adding some shine to the pottery with a white paint marker. I die cut the finished pieces with their coordinating dies.

To create my background panel, I stamped several images on a panel of the Sage cardstock included in the Best-Teas Card Kit of the Month using Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink. I started with the largest image, rotating both the cardstock and the stamp block to create the look of a continuous pattern. I used the coffee pot, cup, daisies, greenery sprig, and tiny heart in order of largest-smallest, filling in the gaps wherever there was a blank spot with the next smallest stamp set. Finally, I added some dots of a white paint pen to fill the pattern out completely.

After I had completed all of the stamped elements, I stamped the sentiment from Best-Teas using Lisa Horton Crafts Bronze Metallic Pigment Ink then used the coordinating die to cut the sentiment out. I trimmed a strip of Simon Says Stamp Ice Vellum paper and arranged my die cuts in the center of it, adhering each piece with a single or double layer of foam adhesive squares. To cleanly adhere the vellum to my stamped panel, I added small dots of liquid adhesive to the back of the vellum strip behind the solid die cuts to keep things clean. Finally, I added a few shimmering Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for added sparkle!

These next two cards are made up using bits of the patterned paper and embellished with some perfectly simple Plentiful Petals die cuts! Super simple and quick to put together.

The most challenging part of cards like this is deciding which bits of patterned paper work nicely together, then coming up with a layout. I decided to create a bit of a collage for this first card with no real sentiment, just kind of a general card that would work nicely with a coffee shop gift card! I added some pretty pink blooms and shiny foil cardstock to make it extra special.

My second card uses one of the larger panels in the Carta Bella Coffee Shop patterned paper that comes with the kit. I trimmed it down and mounted it on a slightly larger rectangle of Sage colored cardstock, creating a coordinating green frame. This solid frame helps to keep the pattern around the edge of the central focal panel from competing with the subtle pink patterned paper covering the entirety of the A2 card front! I added a few more Plentiful Petals blooms to the corners of the focal point to accent the florals on the coffee cup and add a bit more texture to the card front.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Mixing and matching patterned papers is such a fun way to spend an afternoon, but I just love the results. This kit is so full of amazing products and even more amazing value! The Simon Says Stamp Card Kits are such an incredible value; the value of the individual elements of each kit equals far more than the $44.99 price tag, so you’re getting incredible bang for your buck. If you are consistently interested in the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month, you can sign up HERE to become a subscriber for an even bigger discount on these carefully curated products. As always, Simon also makes each individual element of the kits available a la carte, so that you can pick and choose what you would like to purchase if buying the entire kit isn’t really your thing. Who can say no to such incredible value though, right?

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

“Comfort Coloring” with Simon Says Stamp!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am back today with a vibrant Copic card featuring some “comfort coloring.” You know how people have “comfort food” and “comfort shows,” things they eat or watch or listen to when they need to feel better? Well, sometimes coloring fulfills that role for me, especially when things get a little crazy both personally and in the world at large. The last few months have been more than a little stressful for me for a variety of reasons, and I am not sure when that stress will start to abate, but now that the holidays are officially over and my kiddos are all back in school, I’m hoping that things will start to resemble something like normalcy. I needed some stress-relief the other day, so I began looking through my Simon Says Stamp bins and pulling out things that just made me happy to look at, including the beautiful Anemone Cluster embossing folder. I am always up for a gorgeous embossing folder, adding some vibrant color and enhancing the already-exquisite details with some intense coloring.

*I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

To begin my project, I ran a panel of white cardstock through my die cutting machine using the Anemone Cluster embossing folder. The detail on this embossing folder is absolutely spectacular on it’s own, but I wanted to add to the incredible texture by doing some really detailed coloring. This kind of intense coloring session is really therapeutic for me; it allows me to get lost in the details, working closely to make sure that I am keeping the edges of each petal as clean and crisp as possible and that the contrast between light and dark is extra visible. I used vibrant shades of purple and emerald green Copic markers to create these lovely purple anemones. Did you know that anemone flowers come in a huge variety of colors? They’re such beautiful blooms, and definitely one of my favorites!

After I had finished coloring all of the images, I used blending brushes to blend both Orchid & Morning Pawsitively Saturated Ink around the edges of the card front, creating an ethereal halo behind the flowers and enhancing the gorgeous purple of the blooms with the combination. Because the color on the blooms is so intense, I did not have to worry about the subtle blending changing the color of my meticulously-colored images.

For the greeting, I used some pewter toner foil with the You Sentiment Strips and a foiling machine to add lovely shine to the simple sentiment strips. I used my guillotine trimmer to trim the strips down, then paired the “wishing” and “love and happiness” strips with a die cut Fancy You. I cut the shadow layer from Simon Says Stamp’s Plum Glitter Cardstock and the detail layer from plain white cardstock, adhering the two together with liquid adhesive. I arranged the three sentiment components on the colorful card front, adhering them with foam adhesive for extra dimension. Finally, I added a smattering of Prism Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for added sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today. If you find yourself in need of some comfort, I highly recommend pulling out your favorite images and your medium of choice and lose yourself in your artistic efforts. It really does help to take your mind off of things that are weighing on you! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

April Showers Bring May Flowers: Copic Edition!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am back with another installment of my April Showers Bring May Flowers series, this time with some no-line Copic coloring featuring the absolutely gorgeous sprig from Wild & Free Flowers. This stamp set was one of my favorites when it was released a few months ago, and while I had my Copics out for another project this week, I thought I’d use the same color palette to create a large A7 project, fleshing out the single bouquet with some extra standalone die cuts. I love using standalone foliage dies to enhance my colored bouquets; a full, lush bouquet is a thing of beauty! Let’s get started with the details.

I started my project by stamping the delicate floral bouquet from Wild & Free Flowers using Altenew’s Permanent Mist Gray ink onto some Hammermill white cardstock. This was my first time using the Permanent Mist Gray ink with no-line alcohol marker coloring, and it worked like a charm! I used Copic markers to add lots of vibrant color to the images, creating a lush plummy focal point bloom and adding magenta sprigs, with vivid jewel green foliage. I added some metallic Karin DecoGel pen to the flower centers to add some extra interest and contrast, which showed up beautifully due to the level of opacity for the images. I die cut the finished bouquet with the super detailed coordinating die.

I had originally intended to color an entire background panel stamped with this image, but I have been feeling a bit under the weather the last few days and didn’t feel up to coloring the entire thing, so I decided it would work nicely as a subtly-patterned background for my vivid individual die cut bouquet. I trimmed down the panel and matted it on a slightly larger eggplant cardstock panel, then adhered these two pieces to a full size A7 panel of warm champagne matte foil cardstock from the Floral Elegance foil paper pad. I also added a glittery frame, cut using the A7 Nesting Frames dies and some coordinating warm champagne glitter cardstock.

Once I had created my background, I popped up my colorful bouquet using foam squares, then die cut a Privet Branch die from some white cardstock. I snipped this die cut apart using my scissors, then tucked the individual pieces behind my colorful bouquet, helping to fill it out a bit and allowing it to spill over onto the sparkling textured frames around the edges. There is just enough contrast in the debossed details of the die cuts to allow them to really stand out from the background! I heat embossed a greeting from Wild & Free Flowers using Platinum embossing powder, then die cut the script sentiment and trimmed the strip with my trimmer and tucked the pieces amongst the flowers and foliage. Finally, I added a few Taffy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for some extra sparkle and a bit of extra pink!

Well, that’s all for my project today. If you find your floral bouquet to be a bit lacking in size for your card front, but don’t want to color an entire second bouquet to fill it out, I highly recommend using your standalone dies to help fill things out and add extra texture. It works like a charm! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

April Showers Bring May Flowers: Peony Edition!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I am back with another project for my April Showers Bring May Flowers series, this time featuring the Blissful Bouquet stamp set that I illustrated for Simon Says Stamp. This stamp set features individual large dahlia and peony blooms, accompanied by several different types of “filler flowers” and a few options for foliage so that you can create super elaborate and lush bouquets, or you can create smaller floral swags, as I’ve done for today’s project! I’ve had this white glitter Half Spring Floral Mandala die cut on my desk for a few months just waiting for the right project, and I thought it was the perfect foil for some intricately-colored flowers. I selected a springy lavender-pink, aqua, and white color palette to create this vibrant birthday card. Let’s get started with the details!

The Half Spring Floral Mandala die reminds me of a lacy doily, but with a bit more updated and modern feel than a traditional doily that you might see at your grandma’s house. Flowers and lace go hand in hand in my book, perhaps reaching back to when I was obsessed with all things shabby chic right after I got married, or perhaps they’re synonymous because of lacy wedding dresses. Regardless, these pretty blooms from my Blissful Bouquet stamp set which I illustrated for Simon Says Stamp work beautifully with the lacy Half Spring Floral Mandala. I stamped the large peony and coordinating bud stamp, as well as some of the intricate foliage stamps using Contour Ink onto Hammermill white cardstock. I used my Copic markers to add vibrant color to the flowers and foliage for some intricate floral images, then die cut the finished images with the coordinating dies.

To help make my glittery white lace die cut pop and coordinate with the aqua foliage of my bouqet, I used a blending brush to blend some Dew Pawsitively Saturated Ink on the edge of my white A2 card base, keeping to roughly the same size and shape of the Half Spring Floral Mandala die cut. I adhered the die cut directly over the top of the blended area with liquid adhesive, then arranged my bouquet of flowers around the edge of the die cut, adhering them with foam squares.

For the greeting, I silver heat embossed a couple of sentiments from another of the stamp sets which I’ve illustrated for Simon Says Stamp: Lisianthus. I like to make sure that the sentiments included in my stamp sets are simple but meaningful, so that they can be used for lots of different purposes. I silver embossed the greetings onto some vellum, then used my sharp scissors to fussy cut the detailed Happy Birthday sentiment and trimmer to trim the longer sentiment strip. I folded and tucked the end of the sentiment strip behind the card front panel and added some tiny dots of adhesive behind the solid embossed areas to adhere the greetings to the card front. A few Surf Pawsitively Dazzling Gems finished everything off and added some extra sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today. I am headed to Ohio to work at CREATE in a couple of days, Simon Says Stamp’s big crafty event. If you see me, be sure to stop by and say hi!! I am so excited to see everyone and have some crafty fun! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

No-Line Coloring with 3D Embossing Folders!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi there! Today, I have some inspiration to share with you using the beautiful Floral Harmony 3D Embossing Folder from Simon Says Stamp. This gorgeous floral embossing folder also comes with coordinating dies to create even more dimension and texture on your card front. Don’t underestimate embossing folders; they’re having a renaissance right now and I am totally here for it. They’re so inexpensive and make such an impact. I have watercolored 3D Embossing Folders before, but I’ve never tried alcohol markers on an embossing folder until this week. Let me tell you, I think I might have found a new favorite technique!

I began by running a panel of white Hammermill cardstock with the Floral Harmony 3D Embossing Folder through my die cut machine. I also die cut the three large floral images from another panel of white cardstock, then placed them in the correct spot on the embossing folder and ran it through my machine again. The result is perfectly embossed individual die cuts that you can use in conjunction with the full embossed image or you can use the floral die cuts on their own. I definitely have plans to use them by themselves in a future project!

I pulled out probably half of my RV and V Copic markers (lol) and colored these blooms in the prettiest shades of plum, magenta, and bubble gum pink. The extra texture from the embossed portions enhances the intense, vivid colors so beautifully, I think!! I kept the emphasis on the flowers themselves, adding only some super pale gray shadows to the leaves, softening the lines with my colorless blender marker, which unfortunately did not pick up very well on the photos. I popped up the floral die cuts with some foam tape for even more dimension.

To accent the florals, while also keeping that crisp white background, I die cut a glittery white frame using the A2 Thin Frames dies from Simon Says Stamp. I adhered the frame around the edge with some liquid adhesive. Next, I die cut the “hugs” greeting from the Basic Trio die set, once from Eggplant cardstock and twice from white cardstock, adhering all three together using liquid adhesive to create a dimensional die cut greeting. I popped up the greeting with some more foam tape for even more dimension, then added a few Opal gems from Spellbinders for some more sparkle and texture.

Well, that’s all for my project today! I highly encourage you to check out the Embossing Folder section at Simon Says Stamp. Embossing folders can be used with so many different techniques and add such an incredible impact to your card without adding bulk or too much expense. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!