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

HOP ORDER

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Nichol Spohr

Caly Person

Suzy Plantamura

Amy Rysavy

Sandi MacIver

Emily Midgett

Lisa Addesa

Emma Williams

Lea Lawson

Kath Stewart

Alberto Gava

Laura Williams

Hanh Nguyen

Nicki Baxley

Susan Valle

Click HERE to shop for products

Simon Says Stamp: Stamps and Dies Label Slides Christmas Set, Narrow Holly Cluster

Stampers Anonymous Stamp Sets: Sparkles and Christmas, Department Store, Postcards, Correspondence

Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Frayed Burlap, Candied Berries, Lumberjack Plaid, Old Paper, Walnut Stain, Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness, Forest Moss

Distress Paint: Lumberjack Plaid

Mediums and Adhesive: SSS Precision Glue, SSS Foam Squares, SSS Tape Runner, Black Soot Archival, Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo Archival Ink, Glossy Accents, Snowflakes

Surfaces: Kraft Card, Distress Watercolour Card, Midnight Green Card, Metallic Kraft Stash

Tim Holtz idea-ology: Christmas Ephemera, Cello Stickers, Christmas Jute String, Metallic Droplets, Holiday Bells

Tools: Blending Brushes, Blending Tool

Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat

Sizzix Big Shot Foldaway Machine