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Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

olo markers

OLO Marker Artists’ Picks!

Hi there! Today, I wanted to share with you some interesting (and exciting) news: I have curated a collection of markers for OLO Markers! I have been working with the OLO markers for a little over a year, and I find them to be extremely user-friendly, not to mention vibrant, with super smooth blending. I have no trouble recommending them to both novices and experienced colorists alike! For the Emily’s Picks Color Collection, I selected a wide variety of colors that create a large spectrum of color values, from light to dark, with a color palette that is especially perfect for working with florals!

Each color family that I’ve selected is meant to allow you freedom to blend in gradients from super dark to super light, so that you can achieve great depth of shadow and lightness of highlight. I primarily work with florals, and these are the color families for which I find myself reaching the most! I tried to select a color family from each area of the rainbow so that you would have plenty of colors to choose from just with this one marker collection.

For the illustration above, I used four of the color families from the Emily’s Picks Color Collection. You’ll notice the great depth of color in the largest peony; this was colored using the RK-RG.7-R5.7-R5.5 family. I find that adding touches of black or gray to your large images helps to increase the drama and add incredible depth of shadow; OLO markers have RK (which is red-black) and BK (blue-black), both of which are included in my collection and are perfect for adding extra dimension and depth to your projects when added into the appropriate color family.

There are also quite a few very light markers, which are perfect for using to “glaze” your other color families to create completely custom colors. (You can check out a project that I created using OLO glazing HERE) You can see in the detail photo above the incredible range of colors that you can achieve with these Emily’s Picks markers-and this is only four of the seven color families in the collection!

If you were contemplating purchasing OLO markers, this collection would be a great starter pack! The folks at OLO have also given me a 10% discount code for use with my collection. Simply input code emilycolorpicks at checkout for the Emily’s Picks Color Collection to receive the discount!

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

Simon Says Stamp Dear Friend Release + 2 NEW Illustrations!

Hi friends! Simon Says Stamp is releasing their new Dear Friend collection tonight, and I have illustrated two new stamp sets for this release: Peony Background and Blissful Bouquet! I have a minor (okay, major) love affair with peonies, and my friend Caly Person (you can check out her blog HERE) sent me the most stunning photos of peonies from her garden last year… I couldn’t resist drawing them, and then Simon Says Stamp turned my illustration into a big, bold, red rubber background stamp!

I immediately stamped the Peony Background stamp on both Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper and Hammermill paper with black ink so that I could do some watercoloring and some alcohol marker coloring. These huge peony images are perfect to sit down and relax with your favorite coloring medium…. they’re so huge that you can really dig down into the nooks and crannies and practice adding dimension and depth. I colored the watercolor panel with Karin Brushmarker Pro markers (I find that the Fabriano Hot Press watercolor paper works beautifully with the Karin Brushmarkers; the markers’ dye is transparent and I find that that transparency works wonderfully with the super smooth surface of the hot press paper.), and I colored the Hammermill panel with OLO markers. I decided to focus on the OLO panel for today’s cards and save the watercolored panel for a rainy day!

The large Peony Background creates a slightly larger than 5.5″ square panel, which makes it perfect for use on an A2 card, creating a square card, mini slimline… or, as I’ve done here, cutting it in half and creating two different cards! I stamped the Peony Background onto my Hammermill cardstock using Hero Arts’s Intens-ified Black ink, my go-to for alcohol marker coloring or watercoloring, stamping a few times to be sure of a crisp black line. I then used my OLO markers to color the peonies in bright shades of bubble gum pink, deep magenta, and a dark lilac purple (a peony color which I don’t believe truly exists in real gardens, but it’s fun to dream!), adding beautiful emerald to the leaves. Once I had finished coloring the images themselves, I added black marker to the background to make sure that those brightly colored peonies were the stars of the show!

To create the A2 card and mini-slimline card, I cut the 5.75″ square panel in two sections, one 3″x5.5″ for the mini-slimline, leaving the remaining 2.75″x5.5″ for the A2 card. I was sure to keep as much of the two large peonies intact as I could, which worked out well to keep the majority of the cool pinks to one side and the deep magenta on the other panel!

For the first card, I used the A2-sized panel as the jumping off point for the rest of my project. I trimmed a very thin piece of Amethyst cardstock from Hero Arts, as it worked perfectly with the beautiful purple peony “marshmallow” buds in the corners and picked up the cool purple tones in the larger bubble gum pink peony nicely. I also clear embossed the entire Peony Background on a panel of Pitch Black cardstock using clear embossing powder to add a bit more interest to the black panel. I placed the colorful panel along the right edge of my black embossed panel, then nestled the purple strip right up against the other edge of the colorful piece to create a touch of contrast between the two patterned pieces.

After I had created my background, I set to work on my sentiment. I die cut the Big Hugs die from some glittery black foam from Spellbinders, adding extra dimension, height, and texture, but keeping those crisp, dramatic black accents true! I also trimmed down one of the greeting strips from the new Reverse Bold Hello Sentiment Strips and popped it up beneath the glittery black foam greeting with some black foam adhesive.

Once I had adhered the sentiment components, I added a few Perfume Bottle gems from Trinity Stamps to accent the purple tones in my card.

I kept things very simple for my mini-slimline card, simply trimming down the large floral panel to 3×5.5″, which I matted on a 3 1/8″x5 5/8″ panel of pink cardstock to create the slimmest of hot pink outlines around my colorful background, accenting the vivid colors on my black mini slimline (3.5″x6″) card front.

For the greeting, I die cut the Here For You die from some of Simon Says Stamp’s Glossy Black cardstock and adhered it towards the bottom of my card front so that I wasn’t covering up too much of my meticulously-colored magenta peony bloom. The final touch was to add a few iridescent black Melanite Magic gems to add a touch of sparkle. This card is simple in layout, but those enormous flowers make such a huge statement on their own; you don’t really need much more to create a dramatic card!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I have a few more projects to share with you during the blog hop, so be sure to stop back by on Saturday to see some more inspiration using the new Simon Say Stamp Dear Friend release! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Introducing Bibi’s Hummingbirds from Spellbinders!

Hi there! I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend! I am so excited to share these projects with you today… My friend Bibiana Cameron reached out to me a few months ago and asked if I would be interested in helping introduce her new Bibi’s Hummingbirds collection from Spellbinders, and I immediately said yes! I loved working with her gorgeous Bibi’s Butterflies collection last year (you can check out that post HERE), so I knew the new Hummingbirds collection would be just as gorgeous. It certainly fulfilled my expectations! I have two super saturated cards filled with details to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

I created a set of cards featuring a bright fuschia purple and teal color scheme. I was inspired by hummingbirds that I found on Pinterest; hummingbirds come in such a wide variety of colors, and the iridescent sheen of their feathers can make them virtually rainbow-colored! Each of these cards features a different technique to achieve the vibrancy and richness I desired. Let’s get started with the details!

My first card features the Hummingbird and Lily dies. One of the attributes that I enjoyed most when working with these dies was the ease of construction. The die cuts have areas of debossing that show you exactly where the different pieces are to be adhered so there’s very little guesswork in determining where they are to be placed! I die cut all of the elements for the Hummingbird and Lily from white cardstock, then used blending brushes with a variety of inks from Pinkfresh Studio. (I will link all of the inks below in the link list.) To keep the purple and teal from becoming muddy, I simply made sure to keep a band of very light blending between the two colors. The blue in the teal and the red in the purples meld together nicely in that lightly blended area to create a lovely fade between the two contrasting colors. I did use some alcohol markers on the foliage of the lily to enhance the shadows and the shape, as well as to add some little dots on the petals of the flower.

To create a ground for my flower and hummingbird scene, I die cut the Essential Four Petal Labels from some Teal Topaz cardstock. I then used the same turquoise inks that I used to ink blend on the hummingbird to blend around the edges and create a dramatic background for my bird and flower. I also die cut the Scrolled Punch & Pierce Plate from some Blue Spruce cardstock and backed it with a panel of Waterfall cardstock to allow lots of contrast, showcasing that beautifully intricate design of the cover plate. I adhered the blended label die cut to the pierced cover plate panel with some foam adhesive, then added the hummingbird and lily die cuts with more foam adhesive as well as liquid adhesive, creating a double layer of adhesive in some spots.

For the greeting, I heat embossed one of the lovely Hummingbird Sentiments on a rectangle of Blue Spruce cardstock using white embossing powder. I popped it up with some more foam tape, as well, nestling it amongst the bird and flower. The final touch was to add some iridescent yellow gems to the stamens on the flower and some iridescent black gems to the eye of the hummingbird. I love that you can create your own custom colored cardstock with a few ink pads, blending brushes, and white cardstock!

My second project features the utterly delightful Delicate Floral Hummingbirds. Instead of using ink pads and ink blending, I decided to utilize my OLO markers to create stunningly dramatic images. I die cut all of the components of the Delicate Floral Hummingbirds from plain white cardstock. I then used the OLO Teal Markers and OLO Purple Markers (carried in Spellbinders’s store) to create these lovely, incredibly vibrant hummingbirds. I’m not an ornithologist, so I’m sure these birds are far more vibrant and imaginative than real hummingbirds, but I love how beautifully the bold purple pops from amongst the turquoise foliage background! These contrasting colors would at first thought not blend nicely together, but I was able to blend the lightest purple and lightest teal markers together to create a seamless blend between the color families. I also did some “glazing” on the tail feathers with the medium purple marker, first coloring the tail feathers with the dark teal markers, then adding some swipes of purple and blending it out with the teal markers, leaving the tiniest hint of purple along the tail feathers. I also added some shimmer to the birds using a sparkle pen, though it is difficult to tell in the photos.

To slightly simplify the coloring for the large, intricate foliage on the background (this is a 5×7 card, in case you were wondering! The Delicate Floral Hummingbirds set is so big and gorgeous!) I first colored the entirety of the foliage die cut with the lightest aqua marker, then went back in and added a few details to the individual leaves with some darker markers, blending the color out with the lightest markers. Once I had finished adding color to the foliage background, it was time to add the colorful birds, flowers, and individual leaves using liquid adhesive. The purple colored images pop so beautifully and dramatically from the aqua background!!

To create a coordinating background for the intricate die cut images, I trimmed down a panel of 5×7 Teal Topaz cardstock. To add some interest to the flat colored cardstock panel, I again blended the dark teal inks around the edge, also adding the tiniest bit of dark, dark blue ink around the very edge. So dramatic and interesting! I adhered the die cut background to the blended cardstock panel using foam adhesive to add lots of dimension and to keep it from blending into the monochromatic background. I heat embossed and trimmed out another greeting from the Hummingbird Sentiments and popped it up with some more foam tape. I added the stamens to the flowers, cut from some White Glitter Foam, as well as a few iridescent white gems. Such an intense, vibrant card with eye popping color and shimmering details!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! The new Bibi’s Hummingbirds collection features such a beautiful variety of products. I hope you will check it out! Thank you so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

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

Hi there! The first Monday of the month means a new My Monthly Hero release from Hero Arts, and this month we are introducing a gorgeous new collection with super fun graphic flowers, patterns, and textures to create cards in a variety of styles, including mixed media! You should have arrived here from Dana Joy, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Here’s a peek at this month’s Classic Kit:

The contents of the Classic Kit (shown above) retail individually for over $75, but is available for only $36.99! Such a great bargain. And, if you want even more value and incredible products with which to play, you can purchase the Premium Kit, shown below:

The contents of the Premium Kit retail individually for $107, but are available as a kit for a great value of $49.99. You receive all of the elements of the Classic Kit, plus a huge set of amazing standalone dies, stencil, and colorful enamel dots. I have two projects, featuring elements from both kits, to share with you today, so let’s get started with the details!

I kept things crisp with black and white for these cards, adding some fresh pops of blue and minty green to complement the crisp black and white.

This card uses only elements from the Classic Kit. I stamped the flowers and foliage with Intens-ified Black Ink using stamps from the large 6×8 stamp set, then used my OLO markers to color them in a beautiful shade of periwinkle blue with some minty green foliage. I die cut them with the coordinating Frame Cuts, which are included in the Classic Kit.

To create the accent strip, I used the little decorative flourish stamp (which I think is intended to decorate the pitcher stamp) to stamp a pretty black and white pattern. I trimmed the strip down and backed it with a slightly wider strip of Pitch Black cardstock (which is currently in stock-hooray! This is hands down the best black cardstock I’ve used.) I popped up the strip on my white A2 card front with some foam tape, then arranged my flowers in a graceful swag and adhered them with some more foam adhesive. I heat embossed a greeting from the Classic Kit onto some vellum using black embossing powder, then die cut it with the coordinating die (love that the sentiments are included with the frame cuts!) and added it to the card front with some more foam tape. A few iridescent gems finished it off.

My second card features the fabulous standalone dies found in the Premium Kit. We all know how expensive dies are, and there are a *ton* of standalone dies included with the set in the Premium Kit. I used them to create this sweet floral bouquet, cutting the foliage from some Shamrock cardstock and the blue flowers from Lapis and Periwinkle cardstocks. I die cut a vase from some more Pitch Black cardstock and arranged a bouquet inside this super tall vase. The Premium Kit die set includes vases in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, as well as several different sizes and styles of flowers and foliage to give you so many options for layouts and combinations!

To accent the vase, I stamped one of the textured background stamps included with both kits. I inked up the linen textured background with Cornflower ink and stamped it on an A2 card front. I popped up the floral bouquet with some foam tape, then added a simple black and white stamped and die cut greeting. A few iridescent white gems finished off the card!

Not to be outdone by this beautiful kit, the April Add-Ons are absolutely marvelous. I used the brand new Arches Infinity Dies to create this framed, shaped card. To start, I inked up the beautiful new Color Layering Bold Flowers Stencils with Dusty Blue, Stone Wash, Nautical, Kiwi, and Fresh Lawn inks using the super soft Blending Brushes from Hero Arts. I used the largest of the new Arches Infinity Dies to cut a large patterned arch die cut background panel.

I thought the pretty blue and white patterned background would be perfect for a Mother’s Day card, so I die cut the Mother’s Day Window Fancy Die from some white cardstock, trimming the die cut sentiment out from the oval window to create a standalone sentiment die cut. I also die cut a few flowers using the Shoes and Hat Fancy Die set to accent the flowers in the background.

To create my shaped card base, I created a regular A2 card with a side fold, then placed the largest Arches Infinity Dies on the card front, making sure to offset the die so that the card’s fold was within the die itself, keeping the fold intact. I ran the entire thing through my die cut machine, which created a shaped card! I adhered the patterned arch background to the shaped card base, then die cut a coordinating navy blue frame using the Arches Infinity Dies and some Nautical cardstock. I popped up all of the die cut elements on the patterned background using foam tape to create lots of dimension on this project. I added a few iridescent gems to the flower centers for some sparkle!

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 9th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Your next stop is Ilina Crouse, or you can start at the beginning at the Hero Arts Blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

More Inspiration from the Pinkfresh Studio February 2023 Release!

Hi there! Pinkfresh Studio released their newest collection of products yesterday, celebrating with a blog hop, and today we’re continuing the celebration with an Instagram hop! You can check out all of the details on how you can participate (i.e.-enter to win prizes!!) in the Instagram hop over on the Pinkfresh Studio Instagram page, as well as my own; I’m @eamidgett. I thought I’d share the details of my project over here on my blog, so that you can check out the new goodies that I used if you were interested!

I began by stamping the gorgeous new Arch Florals stamp. I love the Arch Florals and the new Circle Florals that I used for my card yesterday… the flowers in these companion sets are so delicate and lovely! I stamped the Arch Florals stamp using no-line coloring ink on some crisp white cardstock, then colored the images in a cool color palette of lavender and aqua using my OLO markers. (You can use code emily to receive 10% off your order!) I die cut the images with the coordinating dies (I love that you stamp all of the images with one stamp and die cut the images with one pass through your die cut machine!) and set them aside. I also heat embossed a greeting from Arch Florals with some sparkling platinum embossing powder, then die cut it with the coordinating die-so nice to have those sentiment dies included with the image dies.

To coordinate with the graceful floral swag, I used my Glimmer machine to hot foil some of the new Nested Arches Hot Foil Plates, making sure to use the negative leftover foils with the Pinkfresh Studio Solid Hot Foil Plate as well! I hot foiled the large arch on the card using the leftover Metallic Satin Pewter foil with the solid plate, then used the coordinating Nested Arches dies to cut the arch shape out. I arranged the florals around the edge of the foiled arch, adhering them with both liquid and foam adhesive. I also nestled a few solid white glitter leaves amongst the colored florals, which I die cut using the Leafy Branch die and trimmed up to fill out the floral bouquets.

I wanted a simple, subtly textured background for my foiled floral arch die cuts, so I die cut the Elongated Lattice Cover Plate die from some crisp white cardstock and layered it on a white A2 card front. I added the foiled floral arch with some foam adhesive. Lots of dimension and height on this card front! I contemplated adding a few gems, but I thought there were so many different textures and elements of shine with the foil and glittery die cuts and sentiment that it didn’t need anything further.

Well, that’s all for my project today! If you haven’t checked out the new February 2023 Release from Pinkfresh Studio, I hope you will take a peek…. so many wonderful useful new products. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and don’t forget to hop over to Instagram to enter to win more prizes from the Instagram Hop! Happy hopping!