That's Life

Tuesday, 4 November 2025

Tim Holtz Stamps and Simon Says Stamp coordinating Holiday dies Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to the Inspirations Blog Hop featuring the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive co-ordinating dies that coordinate beautifully with some of the Tim Holtz Christmas stamps.

I'm so excited to be joining this hop, and you might have arrived here via Nicol Spohr's blog but if not, and you want to catch up with everyone who is participating in this hop, then don't worry because you can head back to the beginning, by clicking HERE. Also, if you would like to see the entire product release, then pop on over to HERE.

So, let's get started and I'll can't wait to share all the details of how I used one of the amazing co-ordinating die and stamps sets to create my Christmas card, packed full of vintage goodness and layers.

To begin with I created a card base from kraft card, to measure, 19 x 14.5cm.

BACKGROUND

For my first layer, I cut a panel of Mixed media Heavystock card measuring, 17 x 12.5cm. Using Fired Brick Archival Ink, I chose to use one of the Stampers Anonymous Ticking and Grain background stamps by Tim Holtz and stamped the stripes, horizontally across the card panel. You will need to re-ink and line the stamp up with the previous stripes to create the repeat pattern.

I then spritzed the card panel with Antique Linen Distress Spray, before inking the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I added some splatters of Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, before completing the panel with a machine stitched border around the outside edge.

I matted this panel onto a piece of silver metallic Kraft stock, followed by ivory cardstock, and finally a layer of Christmas Sparkle Plaid Kraft card that was part of the 2024 Tim Holtz idea-ology release and like me, you might be lucky enough to have some in your stash. If not, don't worry because a piece of patterned paper will work just as well.

Mount these layers onto the card base and set this to one side to move onto the focal point.

CoORDINATING DIES AND STAMPS

For the focal point of this make, I used the Festive Collage stamp and the new release from this collection of coordinating die sets.

I began by cutting my postage stamp layer using the AALL & Create Quirky Postage Stamp die set. This is the postage stamp die set that I own but you can also use the SSS die set that is available HERE.

You need the largest die in this set, together with the die that will create the jagged edged matt that will sit over the top. I cut the postage stamp frame from Distress Watercolour Card, and added the neutral colour tones using Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain before inking the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. To accentuate the decorative postage stamp edge to the die, I used gilding flakes.

With a sponge, I applied a light coverage of glue, just adding it to random areas around the edge of the die cut. Once the glue is tacky, I then added the gilding flakes. I use a stiff brush to remove the excess flakes from the cardstock to reveal that gorgeous vintage shimmer and shine.

I used foam pads to attach the postage die cut onto some red kraft card from the Warm Kraft Stash by Tim, leaving a narrow border of red showing around the edge of the die cut.

With the second jagged edged die from this AALL & Create die set, I cut a further piece of Watercolour card.

On this piece of card, I used Black Soot Archival ink to stamp one of the Festive Collage images, the Holly Branch, in the centre of the matt. I then stamped a second image onto another piece of watercolour card.

I inked the background of the jagged edge matt with a combination of the sprays and inks that have been used throughout, Antique Linen Distress Spray, Walnut Stain and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink before I misted some Antique Linen Distress Spritz over the entire surface to add a subtle shimmer to the cardstock.

After machine stitching around the outside of the card layer, I matted it onto gold metallic kraft card before using foam pads to attach these layers to my card front.

For my final layer, I took the second stamped holly branch image, and watercolored this with Distress Watercolour Pencils. I then used the coordinating die from the Festive Collage Die Set to cut the image. I inked the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, and then mounted the die cut over the top of the previous stamped image using foam pads,

Finally, I added a sentiment, "Season's Greetings", stamped in Fired Brick Archival Ink, and then die cut using the Scribbly Christmas sets. I placed this across the stem of the branch, using foam pads.

FINISHING DETAILS

In the top right hand corner, I used a Labeled Remnant Rub, "Letter Parcel" and I also added some Cello Sticker Tape around the edges of the matts and layers.

I completed the card by attaching some Hardware Heads, painted with Lumberjack Plaid Distress Paint, and attached two to the background on either side of the card....

...and the finishing touch was to place a Mini Pin, pinned to the edge of the card.

So, that's my card finished and I hope you love what I've made.

HOP ORDER:

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RECIPE FOR CARD

CLICK HERE to shop all products used to make this card

Simon Says Stamp Co-ordinating Dies and Stamps: Festive Collage, Scribbly Christmas

Stampers Anonymous: Ticking and Grain

AALL & Create Quirky Postage Stamp Die Set

Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain

Distress Paint: Lumberjack Plaid

Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains: Antique Linen

Antique Linen Distress Spritz

Distress Watercolour Pencils: Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Gathered Twigs, Lumberjack Plaid, Candied Apple

Tim Holtz idea_ology: Hardware Heads, Mini Pins, Cello Stickers, Labeled Remnant Rubs

Mediums and Adhesive: SSS Foam Squares, SSS Tape Runner, Black Soot Archival, Fired Brick Archival, Gildling Flakes, Gilding Glue

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock Card, Classic Metallic Kraft Stash, Warm Kraft Stock Card, Distress Watercolour Card, Ivory Cardstock

Tools: Blending Brushes, Blending Tool

Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat

Sizzix Big Shot Foldaway Machine

Monday, 27 October 2025

Vanishing Visitors

Hello everyone...

Starting today, we have a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week, we want you to ADD TEXTURE!

There are so many interpretations of the theme and so many products that can be used to create texture on your projects ~ so, I think you'll be spoilt for choice and the DT can't wait to see what you create!

For my make, I chose to make one more Halloween themed project ~ the tale of the vanishing visitors, and I created the texture on my Etcetera Panel by using papers, Tim Holtz's Distress Crackle Paste and a generous helping of moss.

So, let's get started because it's time to share all the details of this panel...

For this make, I used the larger sized Square Etcetera Panel by Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz and painted the edges of the panel with Black Soot Distress Paint.

COVERING THE PANEL

To cover my panel, I chose a panel of paper from the Halloween Backdrops paper pack, and some photos and various other pieces from the Halloween Collage Pack.

I began by cutting my patterned paper choice, that I will be adhering to the right hand side and kept the width of the paper but cut a section from the bottom. I added some rips and tears around the three outside edges, but not adding any to the left hand side.

I then machine stitched a border around these three edges before I adhered the paper to my etcetera panel, leaving the corners slightly crumpled and folded back to show the panel underneath.

With the remaining piece of patterned paper that was cut away, I trimmed this piece into narrow, 1cm strips. I then adhered these narrow strips down the left hand side of the panel and because I only wanted a hint of the pattern, these worked perfectly.

Where the etcetera panel is showing from underneath the paper, I added some Crackle Paste ~ I particularly wanted those corners where the paper is folded back to have a good amount of crackle showing. Leave the paste to dry and the cracks to appear.

Whilst the paste is doing it's magic, I chose the images and strips from the Collage Strips pack.

I cut the Collage Strips into individual pieces, so that these will then fit down the left hand side of the panel.

I wanted the photos to be raised from the panel, adding some dimension to that side and to do this I mounted them onto Etcetera Tiles.

The photos don't fit the tiles but using a Kraft knife and extreme care, I cut through the tiles to create the perfect size.

Once I had my three tiles, I painted them with Black Soot Distress Paint, allowed them to dry and then mounted the photos onto each of the tiles, using Matte Collage Medium. I also applied a coat of medium over the top of the tiles to seal them.

I then adhered all the pieces onto the panel, attaching them down the left hand side.

Once the medium is dry, I ran my Walnut Stain Distress Crayon around the edges of the panel, and over the areas that had crackle paste applied, blending the colour from the crayon over the papers, using my fingertip.

At this stage, I also used Distress Crayons to add some colour tinting to the photos.

Finally, I used some Halloween Remnant Rubs from my stash, to add the numbers (years) onto the photos of the children, and the vanishing visitors.

I also added some Cello Stickers to the photos...

DREADFULLY WICKED FOCAL POINT & FACADES

The background is now complete, and it's time to move onto the focal point that tells the story...

This part is made up from two Etcetera Facades ~ I used the arch shape, which is the centre of one of the facades and teamed this with a second shape from the pack. If you look on the front of the pack itself, there is a guide to the shapes ~ I used the two facades on the right hand side.

I covered the larger facade with a co-ordinating paper from the Backdrops pack.

Using the arch shaped piece that I removed from the centre of the second facade, I covered this with a good amount of Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paste and allowed this to dry and crackle, and create some amazing texture.

Once the paste had dried thoroughly, I applied Black Soot and Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the surface to accentuate the crackles, wiping away any harsh colour with a baby wipe.

This piece was then attached to the centre of the paper covered facade using Matte Collage Medium, before being mounted onto the right hand side of the Etcetera Panel.

For an added detail and to elongate the facade, I added a pinked Etcetera Trim, that I covered with more of the papers, die cut using the co-ordinating Sizzix Decorative trim dies by Tim Holtz.

I attached this to the bottom edge of the facade, which you might be able to see in the photo below.

PAPER DOLL PORTRAIT AND ROSES ARRANGEMENT

Now, the fun will start and I used Distress Crayons to colour tint a Paper Doll Portrait from the Halloween Layers and Paper Doll pack, before attaching her over the top of my layered facade using foam pads to add some height.

I then attached two of the roses ephemera pieces from the same pack, arranging them to cascade around the base of the portrait, and once again attached these with foam pads.

I then added some Spanish Curly Moss to the arrangement, attaching the moss by tucking small pieces behind the roses. You will also notice that there is a little idea-ology spider, hidden and nestling amongst the moss. This is from the Halloween idea-ology Adornments pack and painted with Distress Paints, before being attached with Matte Collage Medium.

Finally, I used the Dreadfully Wicked quote from the Halloween Baseboards pack and placed this over the top of the arrangement. Adding two Screwheads to either side, painted with Crackling Fire, Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot Distress Paints to create a rusty, vintage look to the metal.

EMBELLISHMENTS AND FINISHING TOUCHES

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

I added some Hardware Heads around the edge of the larger facade, and as with all the metal hardware, I painted these with Distress Paints; Crackling Fire, Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot.

I adhered a final strip into place, 'E Blurton, Stourbridge', cut from the Collage Strips that were used down the left hand side, and I placed this in the bottom right hand corner...

...and I adhered a small ephemera piece from the Halloween Ephemera pack 'No.72', in the top left hand corner of the main section.

Finally, I added the Hinge Clip that I painted with Distress paints and clipped this to the side of the panel, complete a Swivel Clasp hanging from the clip. As the finishing touch, I attached the lock and key from the Gothic Gates idea-ology pack to the end of the swivel clasp.

To add an extra shimmer to all the metal hardware, I applied a light touch of Metallic Wax over the top.

So, that's my final Halloween make of 2025 complete and I hope you love the piece I've made and enjoyed the process of how I created it.

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!

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...

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Square Etcetera Panel, Pinked Trims, Etcetera Facades

Etcetera Mosaic Tiles, Etcetera Large Tiles

Sizzix: Tim Holtz Big Shot Foldaway, Decorative Trims

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Candied Apple, Crackling Campfire, Antique Bronze

Distress Crayons

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Halloween Backdrops, Halloween Layers and Paper Dolls, Cello Sticker Tape, Screw Heads, Halloween Adornments, Halloween Ephemera, Halloween Collage, Gothic Gates, Halloween Baseboards, Hardware Heads, Swivel Clasp, Large Hinge Clips

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Foam Pads, Lisa Horton Metallic Gold Wax, Crackle Paste

Glass Media Mat

Waterbrush

Heat Gun

Moss from my own stash

Saturday, 11 October 2025

Simon Says Stamp Sugar and Spice Blog Hop ~ Day 2

Hello everyone and welcome to Day 2 of the Sugar and Spice Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop!

I'm so excited to be joining this hop, and you might have arrived here from Lisa Addesa's blog, but if not, and you want to catch up with everyone who is participating in this hop, then don't worry because you can head back to the beginning, by clicking HERE and if you would like to see the entire product release , then pop on over to HERE.

For my card, I used the beautiful Narrow Holly Cluster die set and the Christmas Stamps and Dies Label Slides to create a vintage style Christmas card, which I hope you love.

So, here's how I created this project...

To begin with I made a 18.5 x 14cm (7¼" x 5.5") card base from Tim Holtz's Heavystock Kraft card.

I matted a layer of Midnight Green card over the top, cutting it slightly smaller than the card blank.

BACKGROUND

Moving onto the background and I began by cutting a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock card, 16.5 x 11cm and inked up the Sparkles stamp from the Stampers Anonymous Sparkles and Christmas stamp set using Frayed Burlap Archival Ink and stamped the design in the centre of the panel.

To add more layering to the background, I then stamped again, this time with Vintage Photo Archival Ink, using the music score stamp from the Department Store Stamp Set. I didn't want a solid stamped image, just hints of the score here and there, so with this in mind I rolled the stamp across the surface, just catching the cardstock where it touches.

I inked the card using Old Paper Distress Ink, and Walnut Stain Distress Ink around the edges, before adding splatters of Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and Gold Acrylic Paint, across the surface.

Once dry, I used the SA/Tim Holtz Post Card stamp set to stamp the Post Card wording at the top of the panel in Black Soot Archival Ink.

I added a frame of Design Tape around the edge of the stamped panel and then machine stitched a border around the outside.

With the background complete, I matted it onto gold metallic cardstock, followed by a layer of red Kraft card from the Warm Kraft Stash by Tim, each time leaving a narrow border of the previous card layer showing.

In the top right hand corner of the card panel, I added some Ephemera and a postmark. This piece is from the 2025 Christmas Ephemera pack, and I attached it with Matte Collage Medium. I then added the postmark ~ I used a Christmas Remnant Rub from my stash, which is now sadly retired but you can use the postmarks from the Holiday Postmarks stamp set.

Set this to one side to work on the die cutting.

HOLLY CLUSTER

The background is now ready for the Narrow Holly Cluster die.

I cut all my pieces, including extra singular leaves, from using Watercolor Cardstock and then inked the leaves and stem with Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness, Forest Moss Distess Inks before adding Candied Berries and Lumberjack Plaid DI to the berries.

After inking the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, I attached the cluster by placing it across my stamped card panel, adding some shape and dimension, so that it doesn't sit flat to the card itself.

I then added some of the extra singular die cut holly leaves and the extra berries, tucking these pieces into the branch and layering others over the top of the previous lease to add more dimension.

Finally, I applied Glossy Accents to the berries, before adding some all important sparkle and frosting to the cluster. I used the Ranger Ink Snowflakes glitter which contains glitter and Mica Flakes which I adhered into place with Glossy Accents.

SENTIMENT

Moving onto the sentiment and I used the Stamps and Dies Label Slides Christmas Set to create this. I cut the largest label slide and then stamped the sentiment, Season's Greetings onto the centre of the slide, using Fired Brick Archival Ink.

I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then attached some Christmas Jute String, so that I can wrap this around my background card panels, securing the ends at the back of the cardstock.

I then mounted the completed layered panels onto the front of my card blank using foam pads.

FINISHING DETAILS

I tied some more of the Jute Twine into a bow and attached this on the left hand side of the label slide, before attaching a Holiday Bell in the centre using a tiny safety pin. The bell was painted with Lumberjack Plaid Distress Paint, applying it directly onto the metal surface.

I added some pieces of Cello Sticker Tape on both sides of the panels....

...and to complete the card, I stamped the No.5 (from the Correspondence stamp set) in the bottom left hand corner and placed some Metallic Droplets around the cluster.

Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the blog hop from the blog comment section! So, this means you can leave a comment here and on every stop along the way to increase your chances. Winners will be notified and they will be posted on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday, 15 October and all winners will need to contact/email Simon Says Stamp to claim their prize.

Also, don't forget that you have until the 12th October at 11:59 EDT or whilst stocks last, to grab yourselves the exclusive and not yer release Warm Thoughts stamp set which will be automatically added to your cart.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and see you soon, love Emma x

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