That's Life

Monday, 24 August 2026

Harvest Moon...

Hello everyone...

Hope you've all had a good weekend and you're now ready for a new week, and a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

This week, our theme is all about LOTS OF LAYERS and we'd love to see how you will interpret this theme and can't wait to see what you create.

For my make, I chose to create a card to celebrate my favourite season, Autumn/Fall and not only did I add layers to build up the card base, I also added layers of die cuts and layers of Distress Inks, to bring the scene to life.

So, let's get started, it's time to take you through all the details of how I made this layered card.

To begin with I created a black card blank, measuring 20 x 15cm.

CARD LAYERS

To build up the layers of the card, I began by cutting another panel of black card, 19.5 x 14.5cm and I lightly spritzed this layer with Decayed and Unravelled Mica Sprays. I don't want a solid block colour on this panel, just a splatter of shimmery dots. Mount this layer onto the black card blank.

I then cut a piece of silver metallic Kraft card and layered this onto a panel of slate grey card, 18.5 x 13.5cm, which leaves a border of the darker card showing. Mount these layers onto the card blank using foam pads.

The layers are now ready for the background scene...

BACKGROUND

Cut a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock card, 17.5 x 12.5cm.

To create the moon, I used the middle sized, solid piece from the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Moon Mask Stencils and placed this on the left hand side of the card panel, positioning it so it's off the edge of the card.

I then used the following colours of Distress Ink to create the night sky, blending the colours in layers.

DISTRESS INK: Black Soot, Villainous Potion, Uncharted Mariner, Ground Espresso

Starting with the blue, followed by purple and ending with the two darker colours, I applied each of these colours with a Blending Tool, and building them up to create the moody sky.

Once I was happy, I removed the mask and then placed the co-ordinating detail mask back onto my panel.

I blended Hickory Smoke through the stencil before removing it and then blended Antique Linen and Fossilised Amber over the entire moon area to create the glow.

Finally, I splattered some Decayed Mica Spray across the skyline and allowed this to dry.

Once I'd machine stitched a border around the outside of the card panel, the scene is ready to bring this story to life.

SCENE BUILDING

For this I used The Scarecrow Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz stamp set and the co-ordinating dies from SSS and firstly, I stamped the bats over the top of the inked moon, using Black Soot Archival Ink.

Now for the fence that you can see sitting at the back of the scarecrow. This is die cut from black card using the Seth Apter Gridiron Die Set by Sizzix. I then cut the die cut down to the size I needed to create my fence and applied Gilding Wax over the surface to add a bronze shimmer to the die cut.

I applied foam pads to the back of the gridiron die cut, placing them where they won't be seen and will be covered by the scarecrow and grasses and attached the 'fence' to my background.

Next I stamped and coloured the scarecrow. I stamped this onto Distress Watercolor Card and then watercolored the image with Distress Watercolour Pencils before using the SSS Co-ordinating dies to die cut the image.

I then stamped the two grasses in Peeled Paint Archival Ink and again used the co-ordinating dies to die cut each piece. I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I attached these pieces to my card using foam pads to add dimension.

I then added some moss and dried grasses around the base of the images.

To complete the card, I stamped the Happy Fall onto the bottom left hand corner....

...and then added some gold stars to the sky. These stars are die cut from gold metallic card, using the waste product from the Falling Stars Die Set but if you don't have this die set, any die that features stars will work.

Finally, I attached the ':' idea-ology Type Chip as a decorative element in the top right hand corner....

So, that's my layered card finished and I hope you love this little scene that was bought to life using many layers.

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:

SSS/Tim Holtz Stamps and Dies Bundles: The Scarecrow

Stampers Anonymous: Moon Mask Stencils

Sizzix: Big Shot, Gridiron, Falling Stars

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain, Black Soot, Villainous Potion, Uncharted Mariner, Ground Espresso, Hickory Smoke, Fossilised Amber

Mica Spray: Unravelled, Decayed

Distress Watercolour Pencils

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Foam Pads, Black Soot Archival Ink, Peeled Paint Archival Ink, Gold Luster Wax, Rose Gold Luster Wax

Surfaces: Watercolour Card, Mixed Media Heavystock Card, Metallic Kraft Classics, Black Card

Glass Media Mat

Heat Gun

Moss

Dried Grasses from my own stash

Monday, 17 August 2026

Take Me To The Beach....

Hello friends....

As always, a brand new week means we have a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week, our theme is all about being ON or UNDER THE SEA and we hope you'll join us and play along!

For my project, I created a framed panel all about calm and tranquility, with smooth waters and gentle ripples and used Tim Holtz products from Sizzix and Stampers Anonymous to tell the tale of a little fish, just swimming around in his happy place.

So, let's get started ~ it's time to make this week's project!

For this project I used an idea-ology Mini Framed Panel. I'm sure many Tim Holtz addicts have this older item in their stash but if not, you can use any frame that is available. The size is approx 6.5" x 4.5". You can also use these ideas for a card or tag...the choice is yours!

FRAME

I wanted to get a worn whitewash appearance to the frame and began by painting the sides and back of the backing panel, (you don't need to paint the front of the backing panel, as you'll be doing this in the next step), and the wooden frame with PaperArtsy Heavy Cream Chalk Paint.

I allowed the paint to dry before applying another layer of paint, this time Ground Espresso Distress Paint and picking up some paint with a dry brush, I lightly applied the paint over the surface, allowing the brush to just lightly touch. If you feel it's too heavy in places, you can always re-apply the paler colour to those areas.

Once I was happy with the colour of the frame, I applied a coat of Matte Collage Medium to seal the surface.

BACKGROUND

To create the background, I used the Sizzix Bubbling Die by Tim Holtz to cut a piece of Mixed Media Heavystock card.

I then adhered the die cut to the back panel of the frame with Matte Collage Medium.

Once the medium was dry, I painted the surface with Speckled Egg Distress Paint. Allow the paint to dry before grunging up the background. For this I scribbled Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the entire surface of the die cut, before wiping away any excess crayon with a semi dry baby wipe.

To assemble the framed panel, I attached some Design Tape Trim to the background panel, placing the tape so that it will form an inner layer to the wooden frame.

I then attached the frame over the top, sticking it into position with Matte Collage Medium.

The frame is now ready to create the scene....

MAKING THE SCENE

To create the scene, I used a stamp and co-ordinating die from the Sea Life Tim Holtz/SSS bundle, a selection of greenery from Funky Nature, and Wildflower Die Sets by Sizzix and the sign post, which is die cut using the Road Trip die set.

We'll start with the greenery, which is placed along the seabed. For this, I coloured three separate pieces of Distress Watercolour cardstock using various shades of green Distress Spray Stains and Distress Spritz:

DISTRESS SPRAY STAIN: Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Bundled Sage, Rustic Wilderness

DISTRESS SPRITZ: Rustic Wilderness, Bundled Sage

Once I'd blended the colours and heat dried the cardstock, I used the dies to cut a selection of the foliage and shaped the pieces to create curves and dimension. I then attached each piece of foliage along the bottom edge of the frame.

I also snipped into some pieces, so that they will create different heights. You can see the dimension in the photo below.

Using a hot glue gun, I attached some moss along the bottom of the frame to cover the joins of the foliage.

With the moss in place, I wanted to add some texture and for this I used a product called Meyer Cork Chips. I drizzled some Glossy Accents onto the places I wanted to add the texture and then sprinkled the chips over the top. Tap away the excess and allow to dry.

Once dry, I painted the chips with a layer of gold acrylic paint, allowed this to dry before adding Ground Espresso Distress Paint over the top.

To complete the seabed, I cut a signpost using the Road Trip die set by Sizzix/Tim Holtz.

I cut the pieces from Kraft card and inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink before assembling each die cut to make the post. I then added a tiny brad through the top section of the sign before applying a Tiny Text Remnant Rub ~ "my happy place".

I then attached the signpost to the right hand side, and added a little moss.

FISH

There's just one thing left to do now, and that's the fishy.

I inked the image of the fish with Black Soot Archival ink ands stamped this onto watercolour card. I then watercolored the image with Distress Watercolor Pencils before using the co-ordinating Sea Life Die Set from Simon Says Stamp to die cut the image.

After inking the edges, I attached the fishy to my project using foam pads.

We're nearly there and to complete this make, I added some Splash Droplets to represent the bubbles from the little fishy's mouth.

...and as the very final detail, I used foam pads to attach the banner flag, 'nature findings', which I shaped, creating a slight wave to the piece, which is from 49 & Market's Faded Memory Lane Ephemera Pack.

So, that's my project finished and I hope you love what I've created...

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: Sea Life

Sizzix: Big Shot, Bubbling, Road Trip, Funky Nature, Wildflowers Set 1, Wildflowers

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain

Distress Spray Stain: Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Bundled Sage, Rustic Wilderness

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Antique Bronze, Crackling Campfire, Speckled Egg

Distress Crayon: Gathered Twigs

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Cello Sticker Tape, Design tape Trim, Tiny Text Remnant Rub

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Foam Pads, Heavy Cream Chalk Paint

Splash Droplets

Surfaces: Watercolour Card, Mixed Media Heavystock Card,

Faded Memory Lane Ephemera

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.