That's Life

Monday, 23 February 2026

Come Rain Or Come Shine...

Hello everyone....

Hope you've all had a good weekend and can you believe we're at the end of February already?!?! Where does the time go? But as always, the start of a new week brings a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week our theme is called WHATEVER THE WEATHER!

For my make, I chose to try and put a twist on the theme and was inspired by lyrics from one of my Dad's favourite songs by Billie Holiday called, Come Rain Or Come Shine. The beginning of this song says; "I'm gonna love you, like nobody's loved you...come rain or come shine" and that is how this project came to fruition, featuring two little bunnies, one caught in the rain and one ready for spring to come shine but both madly in love!

So here we go...it's time to show some love....

To begin with I created the backgrounds for these pieces, which includes an envelope and a miniature postcard.

BACKGROUNDS

For the backgrounds, I cut a panel of Distress Watercolour Card and spritzed the card with a light misting of water. I then applied my Distress Spray Stains in the following colours;

SPRAY STAINS: Speckled Egg, Frayed Burlap, Tumbled Glass, Old Paper

OXIDE SPRAYS: Speckled Egg, Tumbled Glass

Once I was happy with the mix of the colours, I allowed the card to dry, and then cut it into two smaller panels, approx 9.5 x 7cm in size.

I stamped the card in Black Soot Archival Ink, using Tim's Newsprint stamp set by Stampers Anonymous, inked the edges of each piece and then machine stitched a border around the outside.

I wanted to create a postage card frame around these panels, but I didn't have a postage card die that fit the size, so instead I used one of the dies from the Vault Edges Thinlits Die Set.

I cut a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock card and then used a pencil to draw the size of my inked card panel onto the cardstock. This gives a rough guide of where to place the dies to form the edges. With the die in position, I ran the card through the die cutting machine before repeating to create the four decorative edges for my card panel. You will need two of these panels for each piece.

Ink the edges of the postage stamp panels and then adhere the inked card onto each one. I have created one of my makes to be portrait and one to be landscape, so be careful when cutting the card panels that they read the right way.

To form my bases for each piece, I mounted the one panel onto a piece of Mountboard, painted blue and the other one, I mounted onto the front of an idea-ology coin envelope from the File Cards 2 pack. You can also use the Sizzix Collector die set but note that these are slightly smaller in size than the idea-ology ones!

On each of the pieces, I used a die cut circle that will sit behind the bunnies.

These are cut using the Sizzix Vintage Labels die by Tim Holtz. This die set is sadly retired but I'm sure many Tim Holtz addicts have this in their stash, but if not...just swap out with another circular die and build up the layers by die cutting different coloured card.

After inking the raised areas on the steel die with Fired Brick Archival Ink, I then ran this through my machine. I repeated this to create a second circle using Faded Jeans Archival Ink for the border.

I then cut a circle of polka dot paper from one of Tim's paper pads which I stuck in the centre of the label die cut. I then mounted each circle onto my bases.

BUNNIES

Both bunnies are created the same, just the addition of the glasses and the bows.

I began by cutting all the pieces for each bunny from Kraft cardstock, using the Vault Bunny + Chick Thinlits Die Set. With all my die cut pieces placed on my glass mat in front of me, I inked each individual piece using the following Distress Inks:

Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo

I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then layered the pieces to create the bunnies. I finished each bunny by die cutting the eyes, nose and mouth from black card and then added tiny whiskers with a black pen.

On the Mr Bunny, I added a pair of glasses and a bow tie, again die cut using the die that is in the Bunny + Chick Die Set...

....and on Mrs Bunny, I added the bow which was cut from a leftover scrap that I had in my scrap box.

DIE CUT ACCESSORIES AND HEARTS

All of the die cut hearts are die cut from Mixed Media Heavystock card coloured with Lumberjack Plaid and Barn Door distress spray stains, and cut using the hearts from the LoveBirds die set. I added some white pen highlights to each heart.

Mr Bunny's umbrella and Mrs Bunny's kite are cut from card scraps that I keep in my "just in case they come in useful ~ never throw anything away" box, using dies from The Park die set.

CORRESPONDENCE STAMPS AND DIES

The final pieces are all stamped and die cut using the Simon Says Stamp Coordinating Dies for the Tim Holtz Correspondence Stamp Set by Stampers Anonymous. I chose to stamp these pieces in a combination of blue, red and black inks before die cutting them using the coordinating die set.

From my photos, you will be able to see which stamps I used for these pieces....

CREATING THE SCENES

Once I had all my pieces cut and ready, I can now build the scene on both pieces.

MRS BUNNY is attached with foam pads, slightly off centre on the die cut circular label, I positioned her to the right of the circle. I then placed the "postal card' die cut in her paws, so she appears to be holding it.

I added some more of the Correspondence die cuts to the top right hand corner.

I added some hearts and arranged these to fall all around her, and then I attached the kite.

MR BUNNY is sitting in the centre of a coin envelope.

I attached him with foam pads, and placed him to sit on one of the Correspondence die cuts, the Via Air Mail label.

On the star in the centre of the die cut, I placed a Metallic Droplet.

As with Mrs Bunny, he has the hearts all around him and I attached these with foam pads to add varying heights and different dimension to each heart.

I then added the little umbrella die cut in his paw, and the word LOVE, which is from an older Remnant Rub set that I have in my stash.

To complete the envelope, I added another Correspondence piece to the top right hand corner and a Labeled Remnant Rub in the top left hand corner.

Finally, I added the final stamped and die cut Correspondence pieces to the envelope flap...

I hope you love what I've made and the inspiration behind these projects...

As always, if you make anything, or if you've been inspired by anything that you've seen here on my blog ~ then please, let me know by tagging me on social media or leaving a comment here and I will be right over to take a look! Also, if you have any questions, then please...just ask away!

Don't forget that every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $25 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp and you can join in up to 5 times, which means you could have 5 chances to win. You have until next Monday at 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today...see you all again very soon!

Love Emma xx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous: Newsprint, Correspondence Stamps and Simon Says Stamp Dies Bundle

Tim Holtz for Sizzix: Vault Bunny + Chick, Lovebirds, Vault Edges Thinlits Dies, The Park, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Big Shot Foldaway

Distress Spray Stain: Speckled Egg, Frayed Burlap, Tumbled Glass, Old Paper, Antique Linen, LumberJack Plaid, Barn Door

Distress Inks: Walnut Stain, Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo

Tim Holtz idea-ology: File Cards, Labeled Remnant Rub, Metallic Droplets

Archival Ink

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Sizzix Adhesive Sheets, Foam Squares

Surfaces: Distress Watercolor Card, Kraft Heavystock, Mixed Media Heavystock

Glass Media Mat

Blending Tool and Tiny Blending Tools

Tim Holtz Paper Trimmer

Heat Gun

Stamp Platform

Sunday, 22 February 2026

Dreams....

Hello friends...

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

Today, I'm really happy to be sharing a make over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog and below is a little sneak peek of what you'll find when you pop on over by clicking HERE!

Hope you love the make and will be inspired by all the tips and techniques!

See you again very soon... Emma xx

Monday, 16 February 2026

The Travelling Man...

Happy Monday friends...

Hope you all had a great weekend and you're now ready for a week of crafting and the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week our theme is all about THINGS WITH WHEELS and the DT would love for you to join us and play along.

For my make, I chose to create a masculine style Etcetera Tag and used many gorgeous Tim Holtz items to tell the story of this travelling gentleman and his journey.

So, let's get started because it's time to share how I created my tag...

TAG

To begin with I used the Mini Etcetera Tag and placed Design Tape trim around the edges.

I then cut two strips of paper from the Orange 8" x 8" Palette Paper Collection and adhered these down each side of the tag using Matte Collage Medium, slightly overlapping the design tape trim. This will create a faux border of paper, without using a whole sheet of your precious stash.

To create the final layer, I cut another panel of paper from the collection, the Liverpool map design and cut this to fit down the centre of the tag. After machine stitching a border down each side, I added some small rips and tears and then adhered the paper to my tag.

I also attached a ruler ephemera piece from the Memoirs Ephemera pack, and placed this across the bottom section of the tag.

...and then adhered a postage stamp ephemera piece in the top right of the tag, complete with a cello tape sticker over the top.

Apply a coat of Collage Medium over the top of the entire tag and then once that is dry, I used my Gathered Twigs Distress Crayon along the edges of the paper, blending out any harsh lines with a damp baby wipe.

The tag is now ready for the embellishments...

PHOTOGRAPH

We'll begin with the photograph, and for this I chose the image of the 2 gentlemen standing by their car from Tim's Snapshots pack. I cut this image down to show only the man on the left and the car ~ you can keep the other image for a second project.

I colour tinted the image using Distress Crayons and a waterbrush, and added foxing to the photo to create more of a vintage feel.

I then placed the image onto a piece of mount board and added a frame from the Photo Studios Layers over the top. Once again, I added some rips and tears around the edge of the frame, and used the Gathered Twigs Crayon to add foxing and colour to the edges.

To add some details to the photo, I used a Labeled Remnant Rub, "Tag No." in the top right hand corner, with a piece of Cello Sticker Tape over the top and then attached an Ephemera label in the bottom right hand corner before mounting the photo onto the etcetera tag using foam pads.

To the top of the frame I clipped a Large Hinge Clip, which I had altered with the following colours of Distress Paints;

Black Soot, Crackling Campfire, Antique Bronze, Vintage Photo, Lumberjack Plaid

Apply the paints one layer at a time, building up the colour and the intensity. If you need to add more of any colour, just keep repeating until you're happy, but always remember to dry the layers in between otherwise they will become muddy in their appearance.

I then stuck a Star Adornment in the centre of the clip, which I painted with a layer of Lumberjack Plaid Distress Paint, followed by a dry brushing of Black Soot Distress Paint over the top.

I added some chain to the clip, and hung a Key Adornment from the end. To create the rusty patina finish to the key, I used Salvaged Patina, Black Soot, Rusty Hinge, Salvaged Patina and Crackling Campfire. Once the painted layers had dried, I applied a light coverage of Gilded Foundry Wax over the raised areas to accentuate the detail and the wording. Heat set the wax.

GEARS

Now to create the selection of metal idea-ology pieces and for this I chose to use, Industrial Gears, Gauge Dials, Gauge Frames, Screwheads, Mini Sprocket Gears and Sprocket Gears. Taking a selection of all the gears, I altered the surface using the same paints as I used on the key. For the Gauge Frame, I used Salvaged Patina as a base coat and kept the majority of this showing, adding only a light touch of the remaining paint colours.

Behind the gauge frame, I attached a gauge dial which shows a compass, inking the surface of the piece to add more of a vintage feel.

Once all my painted metal work was dry, I arranged the pieces around the bottom of the photograph, layering the pieces over the top of one another to create various heights and dimension.

All the pieces are attached with Matte Collage Medium and in the centres of some of the gears, I added idea-ology Screwheads.

FINISHING DETAILS

We're nearly there and all that's left is those all important finishing details.

I attached a Type Chip with the number ¼ to the left hand side, placing it at the top of the cluster of gears.

I then added the Quote Chip Label, "A Little Magic Can Take You A Long Way", which sits over the top of the gears.

Finally, I added the paper roll or a little map. This was a piece cut from the same paper as I used on the background, and then rolled up tightly. I wanted the wording "Liverpool" to be facing upwards, so I ensure that when I rolled the paper this would be in place. I added twine to either side of the paper roll and secured these with a knot before attaching then roll to my tag, placing it centrally, just underneath the gear arrangement.