Skip links

Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

snowflakes

Video: Adding Tons of Sparkle to your Holiday Cards!

Hi there! Today, I am over on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel with this holiday card that has so much sparkle, you might need some sunglasses to look at it! Sparkle is one of my favorite ways to differentiate my holiday cards from the cards that I make the rest of the year. If you can’t add sparkle on Christmas cards, when can you add sparkle? It just makes them so terribly festive!! Here’s the video:

Or you can click HERE to watch it on YouTube in HD.

This entire card began when I was experimenting with the new-ish Snowflakes Hot Foil Plate. I love the look of hot foiling on vellum, but I get mixed results, and I read somewhere that you could heat emboss on Hero Arts’s acetate. I thought to myself “if you can heat emboss on it, can you hot foil on it?” I feared that it would melt and ruin my plate, but it was a risk I was willing to take… and just look at the result!! I am so in love with this new-to-me technique, and I can’t wait to apply it to other projects. I hot foiled the Snowflakes Hot Foil Plate on some acetate using Speckled Prism hot foil from Spellbinders, which creates a beautiful, iridescent effect, which is particularly striking on the clear acetate!

Once I had my snowflake acetate panel, I knew that I wanted to create a snowy scene with snowflakes in various sizes, so I heat embossed the Snowflakes Background stamp on some watercolor paper using White Satin Pearl embossing powder. I taped the panel down to my watercolor board, spritzed the entire panel with some clean water using a fingertip sprayer, then used Sennelier watercolors to add some diagonal color. I started with a few stripes of blue, blended that into some minty turquoise, then created a custom purple by mixing the same blue with some bright magenta. The already-damp watercolor paper helped the colors to meld together beautifully and seamlessly. I hit the very wet panel with my heat gun and added some Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium along the blue areas to create a sparkly, wintry, almost Aurora Borealis effect on my background. Once that had dried, I added some Payne’s Grey around the edges, pulling the color out to a nice fade using a clean damp brush, which created a halo effect around my sparkly AB background.

While my panel was drying, I created a frame using some pure white glitter cardstock and the Stitched Rectangles Essentials Dies. I used some super strong tape to adhere my clear snowflake panel to the sparkling frame. Once my watercolor panel had dried, I used some thin foam squares to adhere the framed acetate panel to my watercolored piece. I love how the foiled snowflakes look as though they’re floating on the watercolored background!

For the greeting, I heat embossed two different sentiments from the Ornaments Stamp set onto some Spellbinders Waterfall cardstock using white embossing powder. I used the Ornaments Dies to die cut the cursive greeting, which I think makes it look so incredibly clean and polished. I die cut the solid halo piece from the Jeff Alpha dies from some more Waterfall cardstock, then die cut the detail layer using the same white glitter cardstock, adhering them together with liquid adhesive. I added them to the clear snowflake panel with small dots of liquid adhesive to keep everything nice and clean, orienting them in the bottom right corner to allow the hot foiled snowflakes and watercoloring to take center stage!

Well, that’s all for this project and video! I can’t wait to try this hot foil-on-acetate technique out on more projects, and I hope you’ll try it out too. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

More Simon Says Stamp Cozy Hugs!

Hi there! I have a bit more inspiration using some of the new goodies from the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Hugs release, featuring one of my most favorite holiday themes: snowflakes! The beautiful new Glistening Snowflakes stamps are full of a variety of snowflakes, in tons of different sizes and arrangements, so you can create super simple and elegant cards with some heat embossing and colored cardstock, or you can go all in with sparkly embossing, ink blending, and die cuts! I, of course, had to go all in and create a festive wintry holiday card, perfect for a Christmas card or even a winter birthday! Let’s get started with the details.

I began by heat embossing many of the individual snowflakes and the snowflake “ornaments” from Glistening Snowflakes onto some heavyweight vellum using sparkly silver embossing powder. I die cut the embossed images using the coordinating dies (which are on reserve at the moment, but you can purchase with your regular order and they will be shipped as soon as they arrive at the warehouse!). I love the heat embossed snowflakes on the vellum; it creates such an ethereal look for the snowflakes, like they’re gently floating down your card front!

For the background, I started by blending Heather, Seafoam, and Morning inks on an A2 panel, then ran the blended panel through my die cut machine with the Filigree Snowflakes Embossing Folder. To help add a little bit of emphasis on the beautifully detailed snowflakes, I swiped the Hero Arts Dove White ink pad lightly over the top of the raised areas. I splattered some sparkly silver handmade watercolors on the blended panel, as well, to make it even frostier and more sparkly!

Because vellum can be tricky to neatly adhere to your card front, I decided to help “hide” some of the adhesive by adding a die cut frame, cut from some pearlescent lilac cardstock using the Nested Domed Arches dies. I popped it up on the card front using some Simon Says Stamp Foam Tape, then tucked the dangling snowflakes behind it. I also die cut a “snowy greetings” sentiment, cutting the outline layer from some pale ice blue cardstock and the detailed word layer from some Spellbinders Silver Glitter Foam. (I am slightly obsessed with these glitter foam sheets. They make adding dimension so incredibly quick and easy and come in a ton of different colors!) I popped the rest of the snowflakes using some clear foam tape, then added a smattering of Rock Candy Confetti from Trinity Stamps.

Well that’s all for my project today! The combination of different textures, snowflake sizes, sparkly silver splatters, and confetti helps make this card super festive and sparkly! I hope you enjoyed this wintry project. Christmas is coming, no mistake about that! Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!

More Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Inspiration!

Good morning! I know…. four posts in 24 hours? September is a busy month! I have some more inspiration using the new Snowflakes Hot Foil and dies from yesterday’s Pinkfresh Studio holiday release (check out the whole release HERE)! I shared this card over on Instagram for the Pinkfresh Studio Instagram Hop (you should check it out…there are a bunch of prizes up for grabs!), but I wanted to share the details of my card over here! I absolutely love classic, elegant holiday images like the new Snowflakes Hot Foil set. So many ways to customize this design! This card would be so pretty with holographic foil or even rose gold or pale blue, too. Let’s get started with the frosty goodness!

I began by hot foiling the Snowflakes Hot Foil plate several times on white cardstock using Matte Silver Foil from Spellbinders, as well as some vellum. I also used the leftover negative foil pieces with the Solid Hot Foil plate. I die cut the finished foiled pieces with the coordinating die, leaving one of the foiled pieces intact for the card base. (I love that it’s one piece so you can cut all four foiled snowflakes at once. Great for holiday mass production!) I love how elegant this monochromatic look is, but it would look equally beautiful with colorful metallic foil and colored cardstock!

I also die cut the new Joy Die from glittery white cardstock. I also heat embossed a greeting from the new Ornaments stamp set using silver embossing powder on some more white cardstock. I die cut a white Nested Hexagon frame to help ground the die cut images.

Finally, it was time to assemble all of the pieces. I used foam tape to adhere the frame and sentiment die cuts. Then, I arranged the snowflakes over and around the hexagonal frame, overlapping some of the solid hot foil die cuts with the vellum snowflakes, hiding the adhesive behind the solid die cuts. (Vellum can be tricky!) The final touch was a few Metallic Silver Pearls sprinkled throughout the card front.

Well, that’s all for my project today! The new Holiday Release is absolutely fabulous… so many different styles and types of products that are great for holiday card mass production. I hope you’ll check it out! And don’t forget to take a peek over on the Pinkfresh Instagram Hop… lots of great prizes available, including the entire release over on the PFS Instagram page! Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!

Tonic Studios Snowmies Stamp Club Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi there! I’m super excited to be helping my friend Maria Wills and the folks at Tonic Studios to introduce the October Stamp Club release; this month’s theme is Snowmies! We’re giving you lots of inspiration with a blog hop. You should have arrived here from Mindy Eggen, and your next stop is Michelle Short. You can also start back at the beginning at Maria’s blog. Here’s a peek at this month’s stamp, die, and stencil set:

The Snowmies kit is so cute, and the huge variety of dies (both coordinating and standalone) included with the kit make this super versatile, with so many options! I’ve used the stencil and standalone snowman dies as the main focal point for my project today, so let’s get started with the details.

I began by doing some ink blending on a white A2 card base using some pale blue and light lilac ink and some blending brushes. Then, I used some Moonstone Glimmer Paste from Tonic to add some shimmery, glittery snowflakes using the stencil included in the club kit to the lightly blended background. I’m in love with the subtle shimmer and texture that it adds to the background.

Next, I used the standalone individual dies to create a cheerful, cozily-dressed snowman. I die cut some sparkling snowflakes and the dressing for the holiday gifts from some glitter paper, as well. I adhered all of the pieces together and used some foam tape to add the die cuts to the card front.

For the greeting, I used one of the sweet sentiments included in the Snowmies kit, white embossed on some bright purple cardstock and adhered to the card front using more foam tape. Because snowflakes come in all shapes and sizes, I like to vary the sizes and textures when doing a snowy background, so in addition to the stenciled glittery snowflakes and the glitter snowflake die cuts, I added some iridescent white pearls on the card front to help complete the effect of snowfall and add just that extra touch of sparkle and shine.

Well, that’s all for my project today! To help celebrate the Snowmies release, Tonic is sponsoring a fun giveaway!

One lucky winner will win a £50/$50 Giftcard to Tonic Studios and the Snowmies bundle! To enter, comment on every blog in the hop by 11:59pm PST on November 3, 2021/ 7:59am GST on November 4, 2021. Winner will be announced on November 5, 2021 on IG and FB so make sure you’re following all of the Tonic Studios social media accounts!

Your next stop on the hop is Michelle Short. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!

25 Days of Christmas Tags with Ellen Hutson!

Good morning! Today, I again have the pleasure of taking part in Tracey McNeeley’s 25 Days of Christmas Tags, this time as one of the representatives for Ellen Hutson! This season has seen some beautiful new holiday goodies added to the Essentials By Ellen line, and my favorite new die set from the newest release is the Pop Up Mittens die set, which has not only a pair of adorable mittens and the pop-up mechanism, but also some beautiful snowflakes in various sizes. I paired the snowflakes with the Classic Blocked Alphabet dies to create a custom sentiment on my blended, glittery tag base. Let’s get started with all of the details!

To start, I wanted to create a super unique background for my tag base. I was inspired by the fabulous Carly Tee Minner’s use of Nuvo Moonstone Glimmer Paste on colored card stock, and thought I’d add little something to it by adding some Distress Oxide Ink blending into the mix. I began by blending Cracked Pistachio and Spun Sugar Distress Oxide Inks on a panel of white card stock (I just love how fresh and minty this color combination is! Reminds me of Candy Land or something!), then covering the entire blended panel with a nice thick layer of Moonstone Glimmer Paste.

While my super sparkly panel was drying, I die cut several snowflakes from the Pop Up Mittens set using silver foil card stock and white card stock. I also die cut J and Y from the Classic Blocked Alphabet. I combined the die cut letters with one of the snowflakes to create my own “JOY.” After I’d allowed sufficient drying time, I began adhering my greeting to my glittery panel using dimensional adhesive, and my snowflakes using liquid adhesive.

I created a tag hanger by cutting a strip of card stock, folding it in half, and adhering it to the top of my glittery snowflake panel. I added a double pink twine bow, then decided to add some white Nuvo drops to add to the look of falling snow.

Well, what do you think? The sparkle on this tag is unreal, and sometimes, you just need that little extra something on a really special holiday gift. This would even be pretty on just a solid colored bag with some fluffy tissue, or a wine bottle wrapped in tissue and using this sparkly tag as the decoration!

Now, you’ll want to head over to Tracey McNeeley’s blog post to find out all of the details on the multitude of prizes available to win, not to mention the huge amount of inspiration to be had throughout the month! I tend to struggle with tags (I think it’s the smaller canvas), so seeing these beautiful projects are so inspirational! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous weekend!