Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

shaped card

Simon Says Stamp Sending Cheer Blog Hop- Day 2 + Freebie + Giveaway!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon! *I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

Hi friends! I am so excited to be hopping along with my friends at Simon Says Stamp to celebrate their new Sending Cheer Release! (Click HERE to see everything!) You should have arrived here from Nina-Marie Trapani and your next stop is Sandi MacIver. You can also start at the beginning at the Simon Says Stamp Blog!

I just love Christmas crafting. I love the colors, the excuse to use excessive sparkle and shine, the imagery, the textures… I can’t get enough. My love of Christmas meshes nicely with my love of coordinated gift sets, and it is with that in mind that I created this festive set of tags and a matching holiday card using new (and old!) dies. Let’s get started with the details on my projects!

The new Beautiful Bows embossing folder with coordinating dies was an immediate favorite of mine from this release. I absolutely love the incredible detail and texture that the embossing folder provides, and the option to create die cut embossed bows just adds to the versatility of this product! Now, embossing on regular cardstock is gorgeous, but embossing on foil cardstock is absolute magic. I used Simon Says Stamp’s Matte Red Metallic cardstock with the Beautiful Bows folder and dies and it is *perfection* for Christmas! I created a detailed and sparkling holiday card filled with texture and layers, then created two very simple-but-effective tags that coordinate perfectly with the card!

For the card, I die cut some sparkling silver glitter bells using the new Bells dies, which come in multiple sizes and are just simple enough that you can embellish without restraint! I created a background with the timeless Thread Plaid embossing folder and Simon Says Stamp’s Fog cardstock, embellished with some strips of red glitter and silver foil cardstock at the bottom. I created a dimensional die cut greeting with the spectacular Timeless Merry Christmas die, cutting twice from plain white cardstock and adding a top layer of red glitter cardstock to give it lots of dimension and sparkle. I arranged the bells and the die cut red foil Beautiful Bows, then filled out the arrangement with matte silver foil Budding Branches die cuts. Multiple textures of specialty paper helps add to the luxury of the card! I finished the card off by adding bejeweled “berries” to the foliage with Cherry Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. I just love how this card turned out, and it would look so pretty in so many different color ways!!

For the tags, I took advantage of the variety of sizes included with the new Bells die set and paired them with more of the gorgeous embossed, die cut red foil Beautiful Bows. I die cut both sizes of bells from silver glitter cardstock, as well as a small tag from the previously-released Rounded Tags die set, cut from Simon Says Stamp’s Lipstick Red cardstock. I layered the bows atop the silver glitter bells; I think the pop of shiny red looks wonderful against the sparkling silver glitter cardstock!

To create the folded tag for the larger silver bell, I used a folded piece of cardstock and placed the same size Bells die on it, making sure that the fold was below the top of the bell so that the die created a shaped card! I adhered the silver glitter bell to the folded tag with liquid adhesive and added the smaller silver glitter bell and bow to the red tag with foam adhesive. Finally, I added some silver cord to allow for easy application to a holiday gift! These tags are simple, but they are so very festive and, I think, very elegant, like something from an upscale stationery store!

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

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon to one lucky winner from every stop on the hop! The winners will be selected from each blog’s comment section. Winners will be selected and posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog!

On top of the giveaway, Simon Says Stamp is also running a special freebie! You can receive the not-yet-released Hedge Hugs stamp set for free with any purchase from the Sending Cheer collection! (Click HERE!) No code necessary; the free set will be added to your cart automatically with any purchase from Sending Cheer!

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

Serene Green Botanical Shaped Card with Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I have a fun shaped card to share with you today featuring some goodies that were released earlier this year for the Friend Like You release. The fabulous A2 Arches dies feature an abundance of perfectly-shaped arch dies nestled amongst each other, with the largest being just the right size to create a shaped arch card as I’ve done here! I tend to focus on flowers, so for this card, I thought I would keep things a bit simpler, using some gorgeous leaf dies and a simple sentiment, perfect for any recipient. Let’s get started with the details!

*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, I die cut the largest arch from the A2 Arches Nesting Dies once from regular white cardstock, then again from a side-folding A2 card base, making sure that the edge of the die was past the fold on the card base. After running the die and card through my die cut machine, I had a fabulous shaped card base! I used blending brushes to blend Ink Trio 31: Jade, Eucalyptus, Juniper Pawsitively Saturated Inks along the card front, starting from the bottom with the darkest shade and working my way up. I adhered this blended die cut to the arched card base, ensuring that the recipient would see the entire arch shape on the front while the base was slightly smaller due to having to cut off the edge to ensure the fold was included in the card base.

To adorn my blended card front, I put the Juniper ink pad directly to my white cardstock and swiped the ink, creating a custom cardstock color that was beautifully saturated and matched the blended background perfectly. I used the Rose Branch die to cut as many pieces of foliage as I could from this custom cardstock color, then arranged them on my blended arch die cut, snipping off any overhang and using these leftovers to fill in any blank spots.

For the greeting, I used Juniper ink to stamp sentiments from the Smile set from CZ Design using some speckled cream cardstock. I selected this creamy cardstock because it reminded me of handmade paper, which worked beautifully with the natural, botanical aesthetic of the rest of the card. I die cut the sentiments that had coordinating dies, then used my trimmer to trim the sentiment strip and adhered them to the card front with foam adhesive. Finally, I added a few Opal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems and a rustic twine double bow for some added natural texture.

Is this just so fun? I love a good shaped card! They’re so easy to create with the right dies and make such an impact, I think! And who couldn’t use more gender-neutral cards in their stash, right? Thanks so much for stoping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Make A Wish with Stenciling on Kraft Cardstock!

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

Hi friends! I have a celebratory shaped birthday card to share with you today using a fun layering stencil and die set from Simon Says Stamp! The Big Birthday Cake product suite features a fabulous layered stencil set that creates a beautifully detailed layer cake, complete with candles and sprinkles! I took the project a couple of steps further by adding in some kraft cardstock and white pigment ink, as well as creating a shaped card to make things super special. Let’s get started with the details!

*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, I die cut the generously-sized birthday cake image from the Big Birthday Cake product suite using Neenah Desert Storm cardstock, which is a lighter Kraft cardstock and makes even the brightest blended colors more subtle and muted. I made sure to die cut the image first so that I had a better idea of where to line up the stencils. To make sure that my die cut stayed perfectly in place, I used the Pawsitively Perfect Craft Tacky Mat to hold down the die cut and the negative so that I could perfectly line up the stencils over the die cut opening. The Craft Tacky Mats come in a variety of sizes and are incredibly useful for lots of different projects and techniques. Totally worth the investment!

For the stenciling, I first blended Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink on the first, largest layer to create a bit of a barrier between the tan cardstock and the colorful inks. I then used Pawsitively Saturated Ink in shades of Cheeky, Blush, Rhubarb, Cranberry, and Honey to add each layer, sometimes using multiple colors on each layer, sometimes creating extra dimension by slackening the pressure on some of the layers to create a more subtle colored layer. After I had finished blending each layer, I used some sparkling metallic watercolors to add extra shimmer to the sprinkles and the candles, then covered them with some Hero Arts Lacquer Pen accents, keeping the sparkles in place as well as providing extra texture and shine. I also added a few white gel pen accents, adding another element of white to go along with the white embossed Birthday Basics sentiment!

To make the card extra special and to take advantage of the generous size of the main image, I decided to create a shaped card. I simply created a basic side-fold A2 card base, then used the large birthday cake die from the Big Birthday Cake product suite to die cut the card base, making sure to overlap the folded edge of the card base with the edge of the die so that the fold remained intact. I adhered the finished blended card front on the shaped base and added a quick “happy birthday” message inside!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I love using colored cardstocks to do some different and unique techniques, like ink blending on the tan cardstock. It takes your typical crafting and adds a special twist to it! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

No Line Coloring with New Hey Sweetie Stamps from Simon Says Stamp!

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

Hi friends! I have some super sweet inspiration to share with you today to start your April!! This week happens to be both my mom’s birthday and my little boys’ fourth birthday, so I wanted to create some birthday inspiration using the new Hey Sweetie from the Simon Says Stamp Be Bold release. I love pairing whimsical images with my attempt at realistic no-line coloring, challenging myself to add as much shadows and shape as I can to the images. For my cards today, I challenged myself to do some no-line OLO marker coloring and some no-line Distress Ink watercoloring to create two festive projects. Let’s get started with the details!

My first card is a unique one for me, featuring a shaped card created with the new Hey Sweetie stamps and dies. I started by stamping the large milkshake image onto some Hammermill white cardstock using Contour Ink, then used my OLO markers to add lots of vivid color to the image. I tried to pay special attention to the direction from which the light was coming, adding extra dark shadows on the right hand side, implying that the light was coming from the left side.

After I had finished coloring my milkshake and a cherry to go on top, I used the coordinating dies from Hey Sweetie to die cut the images. I wanted to create a shaped card, so I created a card base that was slightly smaller than the milkshake image and placed my die so that the folded edge of the card was contained within the die and ran it through my die cut machine. This created a shaped card base upon which I could adhere my colored die cut.

After I had created my shaped card base, I adhered my colorful die cut to the front of the card with some Tear-rific Tape. I stamped a sentiment from Hey Sweetie onto some more white cardstock using black pigment ink, then embossed it with clear embossing powder to make the greeting super crisp. I die cut the sentiment, then popped it up on the card with some foam squares. Finally, I added a few Rainbow Splash Drops to create little bubbles of condensation on the glass!

For my second project, I did some no-line watercoloring using Distress Inks with the sweet cupcake from Hey Sweetie. I began by stamping the cupcake on Distress Watercolor Cardstock using Scattered Straw ink. To watercolor the image, I used Distress Inks in shades of Speckled Egg, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, and Scattered Straw. Distress Inks make great watercolors, because they’re water reactive and blend beautifully together, so you can create all kinds of custom shades outside of the gorgeous rainbow of colors in the Distress line! I mixed and matched these four shades to create lots of dimension on this cupcake image, then used some opaque glitter watercolors from my stash to make an extra special bow around the cupcake base.

For the card base, I die cut the Box and Ribbon Gift Card Holder die from some plain white cardstock. This die is amazing; you can use the base with the large bow die as I did in THIS post, but you can also use it on it’s own to embellish with whatever stamps and dies you choose! I used my scoring board to get a really crisp fold line, then added some ink blending on the front of the card. I first lightly blended some Tattered Rose ink on its own, then used the Twinkle Stars stencil to blend some Victorian Velvet stars and splattered some more glittery watercolors over the blended and stenciled area. I love the magical effect the combination of the blending, stenciling, and splatters creates, especially for a birthday card!! Who doesn’t want a bit of magic on their birthday, right?

After I had finished with my card base, I die cut the Fancy Happy Birthday die from some of Simon Says Stamp’s Rose Gold Metallic cardstock. I popped up the die cut cupcake and sentiment with some foam adhesive, then added a few Lilac Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit of added sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today, projects honoring my mom’s and my little twin boys’ birthdays this week. Side note: I can’t believe that my little guys are turning four. It seems like a lifetime ago that they were the teeniest little peanuts all snuggled into me, and now they’re big boys (literally… they’re both 95th-plus percentile for height!) who go to school, make friends, practice their writing, sweetly sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” play together and separately, give the most precious hugs, and use their imaginations so beautifully. The days are long sometimes, but the years are oh, so short. We were going to take them on their first “little boy only” trip to the zoo tomorrow, but I think the weather has other plans for us, unfortunately. Hopefully next week!

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

With Love on Valentine’s Day!

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

Hi friends! Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you feel loved today! I am not really huge on hearts; if I’m going to use a basic shape, I’d rather use something a bit more neutral. But, on a day celebrating love, hearts are pretty much the only shape that counts, right? When I was looking through the stamps which I’ve illustrated for Simon Says Stamp, I saw the floral heart in my Mother’s Day Dogwood set and knew that I needed to make a valentine out of it! Let’s get started with the details.

I began by stamping the dogwood heart arrangement from Mother’s Day Dogwood onto some Arches hot press watercolor paper using Contour ink, which is my favorite ink for use with no-line watercolor and alcohol marker coloring techniques. I have really been enoying using Distress Inks for watercoloring lately, so I pulled out my Distress Minis and selected several colors in muted shades of blush and olive green. For today’s project, I used Tattered Rose, Saltwater Taffy, Victorian Velvet, Bundled Sage, and Iced Spruce. I tapped them out on my palette, then used a damp paintbrush to pick the colors up and maneuver them around on my smooth watercolor cardstock. I find that hot press watercolor paper works beautifully with liquid watercolor mediums like the Distress Inks or Karin markers, while the super smooth surface picks up stamped details really well!

After I had finished watercoloring the image, I wanted to take advantage of the coordinating dies for the Mother’s Day Dogwood set to create a shaped card. I die cut the finished image, then trimmed down a piece of cardstock to create a small 3″ x 3.5″ card. I placed the heart die over the seam of the folded notecard and ran it through my die cutting machine so that it would create a shaped notecard. On the interior, I stamped a greeting from the So Much Love stamp set, which would be hidden behind the solid portion on the heart die cut. Such a fun way to take advantage of these detailed dies!

For the greeting on the front, I stamped the scripty “love” from the So Much Love stamp set onto Simon Says Stamp vellum using glittery embossing powder, then die cut it with the coordinating die. I adhered the greeting die cut to the front of my card using small dots of liquid adhesive, making sure to overlap the top portion of the die cut with the top of the floral heart image, adding some more stability to the delicate shaped card. For a final accent, I added a few dots of super sparkly metallic watercolors to the centers of the flowers and the dainty baby’s breath!

Well, that’s all for my project today. I hope you’ll try making a shaped card base the next time you need a special card… it really makes the project extra special and exciting! Thanks so much for stopping by, and Happy Valentine’s Day!