Saturday, 8 August 2026

Tim Holtz Halloween Stamps and Simon Says Stamp Co-Ordinating Dies Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest Blog Hop featuring the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive co-ordinating dies that have been released to work with some of Tim Holtz's wonderful Halloween and Autumn stamps and of course, new dies mean there is no more fussy cutting. 

I’m thrilled to be joining this hop, especially as my dies didn’t arrive until mid morning on Wednesday and it was getting really tight! But once they landed, nothing was going to stop me, because in my opinion it's never too early to start thinking about my favourite time of year, and with this set of stamps and dies, you will definitely be spoilt for choice...

So, let's get started and if you're hopping along, you might have arrived here via Cathy Zielske'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 and many more, then just pop on over to HERE.

For my make, I have used the Scared Silly stamp set and co-ordinating dies to make a trio of miniature projects that includes a tag, envelope and miniature card.

For these projects you will need to make and die cut;

1 x Collector Envelope using the Collector Thinlits Die Set by Tim Holtz ~ Black Heavystock

1 x Mini Card die cut using the SSS Arch Die Set ~ Black Heavystock Card

1 x Tag die cut with the SSS Arch Die Set ~ Black Heavystock Card

You will also images and sentiments from the Scared Silly stamp set, and die cut using the brand new co-ordinating die set. All the images were coloured using Distress Watercolour Pencils and Polychromos Pencils and inked around the edges with Frayed Burlap and Lost Shadow Distress Ink.

Once you have all your pieces cut...it's time to start making each of these mini projects and we'll start with the envelope.




HOCUS POCUS COLLECTOR ENVELOPE

This fun envelope can be used for many things, whether you make a matching mini card or use them as table settings for guests at a Halloween party, and add a menu inside, the choice is yours and you do you but I will be using these for gift cards.

Before assembling the envelope, place it onto your craft mat as we're going to stamp the entire die cut with some spider webs using the Stampers Anonymous Tangled Webs stamp set by Tim.

I stamped the webs in Versamark Clear Embossing Ink and then sprinkled Fine Detail Silver Embossing Powder over the top.

Once I'd tapped off the excess powder, I heat embossed it until molten and shiny. I then assembled the envelope by folding along the scorelines and adhering the piece together to form the envelope before I spritzed the surface with Phantom Mist Mica Spray.

I then added some matts and layers to the front and cut my first panel from black Heavystock card, measuring 6.5 x 9cm. I spritzed the card with some Mica Sprays, Wicked Elixir, Bubbling Cauldron and Unravelled. After heat drying the card panel, I matted it onto a piece of silver metallic Kraft card and mounted it onto the front of the envelope.

I then spritzed a second panel of black card with the same Mica Sprays as I just used but this time I used a Postage Stamp die set that I have in my stash. I think it was a long retired Tim Holtz die but there are many postage stamp dies available if you don't own this particular one.

I cut the layer and as before, I matted this onto silver metallic card before mounting it onto the envelope with foam pads.

I then cut a circle of black card using the Basic Circles Die Set from SSS and spritzed this with Unravelled Mica Spray. Once dry, I stamped the webs onto the circular die cut with clear ink, and then sprinkled with silver embossing powder before heat embossing.

Using the same circle die from the Basic Circles die set and the next size down, I placed these together to form a frame and die cut this from silver metallic card. I then attached the frame to my stamped circle before attaching the die cut to my envelope. To knock back some of the shine from the metallic card, I did smear some Ground Espresso Distress Paint over the top.

Taking one of the stamped and die cut images, I used the witches hat and the skull and crossbones for this piece ~ I attached them with foam pads to my envelope. I then stamped the 'hocus hocus' sentiment in clear ink, heat embossed and then used the co-ordinating die to die cut it. 

I attached the sentiment directly beneath the image using foam pads that I cut into small pieces.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN MINI CARD

Sometimes, mini can be just as impactful as large and this mini greetings card is packed full of tiny details to draw the eye into the scene.

I began by cutting two of the arches from black card using the SSS Arches Die Set to make my card blank. The height of this card is approx 13cm. With the arch at the top, I then scored across the top section of one of the die cuts, and applied glue above the scoreline before placing the second die cut directly over the top.

This forms the mini card blank, which I then stamped with the webs stamps and embossed with silver powder.

Using the next size down of the Arch die set, I cut a piece of silver metallic card stock. Taking the next two sizes down, I placed the smaller die inside the larger one to form a frame and cut black heavystock card. You will need three of these die cuts. I then layered each of the die cuts over the top of one another to form a frame, applied some Gilding Wax over the entire surface before I adhered the frame to my silver layer and then mounted this onto my card blank.

Finally using the smaller size of the Arch die, this will fit inside your frame, I cut a further piece of black card. I used the same Mica Sprays as I used on the envelope, Wicked Elixir, Bubbling Cauldron and Unravelled to spritz the surface.

Once dry, I stamped webs from the Tangled Webs stamp set across the top section of the die cut and embossed them with white powder.

After machine stitching a border around the outside of the arch, I attached the panel with foam pads in the centre of the frame.

For this mini card, I used the tiny Frankenstein and the tombstone to make a scene, then attached the 'happy halloween" sentiment. 

All the die cuts are attached with foam pads to add dimension.

I completed the card with some bats, die cut using dies from the Sizzix Vault Wicked Die Set by Tim.

TRICK OR TREAT TAG

The tag is cut from the black card using the Arches Die Set and then spritzed with the same Mica Sprays as I've used on the other two projects.

For this tag, I use the ghost from the stamp and die set and finished the piece with the Trick or Treat Sentiment.

I cut a circle from more black card using the Basic Circles Die Set and a piece of silver metallic kraft card using the Stitched Circles Die set by Simon Says Stamp. I then spritzed the black card with more of the the Mica Sprays before matting and layering the circles onto my tag.

I then punched a hole in the top with a Crop A Dile and added an eyelet before threading some Mummy Cloth through the hole. Finally, I completed the tag with some more of the tiny die cut bats.

So that's my trio of Halloween projects made and I hope you love these fun little makes and they inspire you to create some of your own.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and now it's onto the next stop of this hop...
See you again soon, love Emma xxx


HOP ORDER:


Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Nina-Marie Trapani

Heather Hoffman

Nichol Spohr

Cathy Zielske

Emma Williams

Barbara Tarayao

Kath Stewart

Mindy Eggen

Stacy Hutchinson

Jean Doeringsfeld

Tami Bastiaans

Barb Engler


RECIPE FOR PROJECT


CLICK HERE to shop all products used to make this card

Tim Holtz/Simon Says Stamp Co-ordinating Dies and Stamps: Scared Silly
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Tangled Webs
Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Frayed Burlap, Lost Shadow
Distress Paint: Ground Espresso
Tim Holtz idea_ology: Mummy Cloth

Monday, 3 August 2026

Sweet Little Sixteen...

Hello friends and welcome to the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week, we challenge you to create a project to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY because we're celebrating Simon Says Stamp's 16th Birthday and the DT are showcasing the products of PaperArtsy.

For my make, I created a card that uses PaperArtsy Infusions to make a background for a very special delivery from Theodore the Bear.

So, let's get started, it's time to say Happy Birthday and make a card!

To begin with I created a card measuring 13.5 x 19cm tent fold card blank using white card.

CARD LAYERS

This card has multiple layers to frame the focal point, and to begin with I cut a panel of Watercolour Distress Card, 11.5 x 17cm and a second piece measuring 8.7 x 13cm. I lightly misted the card with water and then sprinkled the PaperArtsy Infusions over the card, focusing on the centre of each piece and leaving white space at the top and bottom.

I misted more water to start blending the powder ~ Infusions are water soluble particles with a dye colour pigment and all you need to do is use the smallest amount, less is more! 

Between each layer, I tend to heat dry and once the first layer was dry, I then spritzed droplets of water across the card, and added some more of the Infusions ~ The Sage and Sleight Blue. If you feel there's too much colour, just dab some away with a towel but I just kept going until I achieved the desired effect.
After heat drying the cardstock, I added some random stamping to the larger panel, using the Seth Apter/Paperartsy cling stamp, sam 033 inked with Black Soot Archival Ink and then machine stitched a border around each panel. 
Put the smaller panel to one side whilst we add the first layers to the card blank.

Matt the larger panel onto a piece of storm cloud cardstock and then mount onto the centre of the card blank.

After adding some stamping to the smaller panel, the "Special Delivery' stamped in Fired Brick Archival Ink, across the bottom of the panel and the 'Received" stamp mark in Black Soot Archival in the top left hand corner...
...both stamps are  from the Stampers Anonymous Correspondence stamp set, I matted the panel onto silver metallic Kraft card. I then use the AALL & Create Quirky Post Dies to cut another piece of the Cloud Blue cardstock, and then mounted the inky blue layered panel onto the die cut before attaching the layers to my covered card blank using foam pads.

I added small piece of Cello Sticker Tape to the small panel and the larger panel.

THEODORE

Now for Theodore who is delivering a birthday card inside an envelope, ready for the special day!!

I used the new released Mini Theodore from Tim Holtz and Sizzix and cut the pieces from inked Mixed Media Heavystock Card.

I used various shades of brown tones of Distress Spray Stain which I spritzed onto the card, misted with water to blend the colours and then once dry, I ran them through my die cutting machine.

I assembled Theodore to make the character and then added some white pen work to add highlights and on the bridge of his nose, I added a pair of glasses. The glasses are from the Mini Accessories Colorize die set.
I then placed Theodore onto the right hand side of my card using foam pads to add dimension.
THEODORE'S ACCESSORIES

The balloons are die cut using the Mini Accessories Colorize Die Set, and I cut them from inked Mixed Media Heavystock card that I had in my stash. I chose pink and yellow for this fun make, with gold metallic strings. I attached the balloons with foam pads.
I added a little bow tie to Theodore, again cut using dies from the Mini Accessories Die Set and card in my scrap box.

Finally, I added the oversized envelope and I cut a scrap of some of Tim's patterned paper, using the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Love Notes Sidekick Dies and Texture Fade Set.

After folding the die cut along the scorelines to create the envelope, I attached the flaps with glue and then placed a small piece of Cello Sticker Tape. Finally I added a Remnant Rub, "hello friend" to the envelope. I believe this is from a retired set of Remnant Rubs, so if you don't have it in your stash, then you can always handwrite the message.

I attached the envelope to Theodore's paw.

Finally, I added the quote that sits at the bottom of the card. This is a sticker from the Small Talk Snarky Sticker Book, and I thought it was perfect for this card. After all, Theodore is ready to party and it would be rude to not have cake.....

For the finishing touch, I added two Screw Heads to either Side of the Small Talk Sticker.

So that's my card complete and I hope you love the piece I've made because it was so much fun to create....

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 $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp and you can join in up to 5 times, which means you could have 5 chances to winYou 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 soon!
Love Emma xxx

Monday, 20 July 2026

Can I have your attention please....

Hello everyone and welcome to the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week, our theme is all about ADDING SOME TEXT and with this in mind, I thought what would be better to add some text than creating a project with a typewriter as the focal point.

So, let's get started and it's time to share all the details of how I made this week's project!


For this make, I used a Stampers Anonymous Size 8 Etcetera Tag, a size 8 Mixed Media Heavystock Tag and one of the Etcetera Facades.

ETCETERA FACADE

I chose to use the pointed arched shape Etcetera Facade from the pack of 4 and flipped the tag so that the point of the facade is downwards.

I covered the facade with the Typewriter advertising paper from the Neutral Palette Paper Collection and adhered it with Matte Collage Medium, applying a coat of the medium over the top.

I then used Walnut Stain Distress Crayon around the edges, blending the colour with my fingertip.

TAG BACKGROUND

For my background and for this I used the Size 8 Mixed Media tag.

I placed the Typo Layering Stencil over the top of the tag, and then spritzed Tim Holtz Resist Spray through the stencil, focusing on the right hand side and the top right corner. Remove the stencil and wash immediately.

Once the spray was dry, I misted the tag with a light spritz of water and than added the colour using Distress Spray Stains, Oxide Sprays and Mica Sprays in the following colours:

DISTRESS SPRAY STAINS: Ground Espresso, Chipped Sapphire, Speckled Egg and Crackling Campfire

OXIDE SPRAYS: Speckled Egg

MICA SPRAY: Crooked Broomsticks

I applied the Distress Spray Stains first, and after another spritz of water to blend the colour, I heat dried the surface before adding splatters of Speckled Egg Oxide Sprays. Finally I misted the Mica Spray over the top.

Once the surface is completely dry, I moved onto the stencilling and adding some detail to that background.

STENCILS

The stencils that I used for the background were from the following set, Mini Layering Stencil Set 48

To add more layers to the background, I began by applying Lost Shadow Oxide Ink through the Halftone Stencil using a blending tool. I then added Walnut Stain Distress Ink through the Digits Stencil. I applied each of these layers to random areas over the surface of the tag.

To complete the background, I stamped the triple line border stamp from The Inspector set across the bottom of my tag using Black soot Archival Ink.

Once I was happy with my tag, I inked the edges and then machine stitched a border round the outside before I attached my tag to the Etcetera Tag using Matte Collage Medium.

I attached my finished tag to the facade using foam pads, or you can use the risers supplied in the facades pack.

STAMPING

Moving onto the stamping and for this I used the Curiosity Shop SA/Tim Holtz stamp set and the co-ordinating SSS die bundle.

I stamped the image of the typewriter on Mixed Media Heavystock Card, using Black Soot Archival Ink and then embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder. I added some shading to the image with Polychromos Pencils before die cutting the image with the co-ordinating die set.

I then stamped the paper that slots into the typewriter and once again used the die from the co-ordinating set to die cut the image.

On this piece, I used the hearts from the Lovebirds Sizzix/Tim Holtz die set and cut three hearts from inked Mixed Media Heavystock that was in my stash. This was inked with Lumberjack Plaid Distress Spray Stain.

I then attached the hearts to my little stamped paper image. Underneath the hearts, I stamped the "in my heart" sentiment from the Tiny Text stamp set in black ink.

I placed the paper into the slot on the typewriter, securing it at the back and then added a small piece of Cello Sticker Tape. 

After inking the edges of the image and attaching this to my tag using foam pads, I placed an ephemera piece from the Memoirs Ephemera Pack, directly underneath it, so that they typewriter appears to be sitting on it. 

On either side of the typewriter, I added a small piece of Mummy Cloth.

On the right hand side of the image, I added a small pointy finger. This stamp is from the Tidbits stamp set and I coloured it with Polychromos Pencils before fussy cutting around the outline and attaching it with foam pads to my typewriter.

I had a few die cut hearts on my desk from a previous project which were slightly smaller in size than the ones that I used on the note. I thought these worked perfectly around the top of the typewriter, so I decided to attach three of them.

FINISHING DETAILS

Now for all those tiny finishing details that matter...

Once again, I used the Tiny Text stamp set to stamp the sentiment, "Love You". I stamped it with clear Versamark Ink onto a piece of black card and then embossed it with gold embossing powder. I then used the Tiny Text co-ordinating die set from SSS to cut the sentiment. I added some red stitching to either side of the small banner before placing foam pads on the back and adhering it into position on my tag. 

To complete the sentiment, I added 2 small idea-ology Screw Heads to either side and altered these with Black Soot, Antique Bronze, Crackling Campfire Distress Paints to create more of a vintage, rusty look to the metal.

To complete the tag, I added some small offcuts of embossed silver metallic card that I placed around the edges of the tag. You can see them at the top, and on the left and right hand sides. These are always in my snippets box, all those precious pieces that I never want to throw away and were from a previous project that I made and the card was originally embossed using the Foundry Embossing Folder. After cutting these into tiny pieces, I attached them to the tag, and then altered them with the same colours of Distress Paints as I used on the Screw Heads.

Finally, I added some rope through the top of the tag, and pinned a Mini Pin to secure it into position.


So that 's my project finished and I hope you love the piece I've made and been inspired by the techniques I've used.

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 winYou 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:

SSS/Tim Holtz Stamps and Dies Bundles: Tiny TextCuriosity Shop
Distress InkWalnut Stain
Distress Spray Stain: Speckled Egg, Chipped Sapphire, Ground Espresso
Oxide Spray Stain: Speckled Egg
Oxide Ink: Lost Shadow
Distress Paint: Black Soot, Antique Bronze, Crackling Campfire
Distress Crayon, Walnut Stain
Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Cello Sticker TapeScrew Heads, Memoirs
Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock Tag, Mixed Media Heavystock Card
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