That's Life

Monday, 16 March 2026

Spring Is Here....

Hello everyone and welcome to the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week we challenge you to create some Beautiful Blooms and the DT are really looking forward to how you will interpret the challenge.

For my make, I chose to make a framed panel and for my beautiful blooms, I used one of my favourite floral stamp sets from Tim Holtz, Floral Trims. I combined this with another favourite product, this time The Park die set to create a springtime scene with a Mary Poppins theme...

So, let's get started, it's time to create....

For this make, I used a 6" x 8" framed panel. This is one of Tim's but is now sadly retired, but any frame of choosing will be perfect for this piece, or you can just use the inspiration for a card, tag, really anything you choose.

The original framed panel does come as bare wood, so if you do have one still in your stash then, I layered Distress Paints ~ Black Soot, Walnut Stain and Antiqued Bronze to add colour to my frame and the baseboard. I added Design tape Trim around the edges to give a border to my finished piece and then attached the frame to the board, adding some gilding wax to accentuate the beading. The panel is now ready to decorate.

BACKDROP

For the background to this panel, I cut a panel of watercolour card aprox 13.5 x 19cm. I then inked one of the floral trims stamps with Black Soot Archival Ink and stamped the trim down the left hand side of the card, making sure the stamp started in the top left hand corner. This stamp doesn't fit the entire length to the card panel but don't worry about that.

Using Distress Watercolour pencils, I added colour by watercoloring the image in a very loose style.

COLOURS: Mustard Seed, Fossilised Amber, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss

Once my watercoloring was complete, I applied colour to the plain background using a large brush dipped into water and applying a colour wash of Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.

After inking the edges of the card panel with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, I smooshed some Frayed Burlap Oxide Ink onto my craft mat, spritzed with water and then dipped the edges of the card into the ink to form some droplets on the card. I also added some white paint splatters over the background.

I heat dried the inks and then added some stamping to the background. I inked the script only from the one of the Botanic Collage stamps with Hickory Smoke Archival Ink and randomly applied the stamp to the blue section of the background.

Now to cover that plain section of card across the bottom, and for this I cut a piece of paper from the Backdrops Vol 5 pack. I used a yellow tiny prints design, cut to fit perfectly and then adhered it into position using Matte Collage Medium.

With the panel complete, I machine stitched a border around the outside and then attached the panel, placing it centrally onto my framed panel.

DECORATIVE TRIMS

Using the Sizzix Decorative Trims die set, I cut some more of the yellow tiny prints paper to fit two scalloped Etcetera Trims. I used the middle size of the narrowest trims.

The paper is attached using Matte Collage Medium which I also applied over the top to seal them, and then once dry I applied the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to age the paper.

I attached the first trim directly onto my panel, placing it so that it hides the join in the two sections of card and paper on the background. The second trim was then placed above the first, but I attached it a slight angle.

THE PARK

We can start to bring this scene to life....

I started by die cutting the figures using The Park Die Set by Sizzix/Tim Holtz. I cut each piece which includes the umbrellas and the kite, 3 times from black card and then layered them over one another to create the thickness of chipboard.

After adding some white pencil and white pen highlights to the die cuts, I attached these to the background with foam pads, placing them on the right hand side of the backdrop and standing them on the trim.

Around the base of their feet, I applied some moss, attaching small clumps along the entire length of the trim. I then attached some Bouquet Findings flowers to either side. This is another product that is retired but if you're like me, you probably have a good stock of these. I coloured them with Mustard Seed Distress Spray Stain and once dry, snipped the individual flowers from the bouquet, before attaching them to my project. In the centres of each flower, I added some Platinum Stickles Glitter Glue.

Finally, I added some dry grasses that I had in my stash and can be bought from any craft store that sells floristry items....

...and then in the top right hand corner, I had a few hearts left over on my desk from a previous project and I thought these were perfect for this make and attached them to the background.

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

FINISHING DETAILS

I began these tiny finishing details by adding a Theories Quote Chip beneath the trims using foam pads. I sanded the edges of the chip and then inked them with Walnut Stain Distress Ink before attaching a Screw Head to either side. The screw heads are altered with Black Soot, Crackling Campfire and Antiqued Bronze Distress Paints and attached with Matte Collage Medium.

I then pinned a mini pin to the stitching on the watercoloured panel....

After a couple of Cello Sticker Tape pieces are attached to the panel....

...I finally a Labeled Remnant Rub in the top left hand corner.

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

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...see you soon!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Floral Trims, Botanic Collage, Etcetera Facades, Scalloped Etcetera Trims

Sizzix: Tim Holtz Big Shot Foldaway, The Park, Decorative Trims

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Crackling Campfire, Antique Bronze, Walnut Stain

Distress Watercolor Pencils

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Screw Heads, Cello Sticker Tape, Backdrops Vol 5, Bouquet Findings, Theories Quote Chips, 6' x 8" Framed Panel, Labeled Remnant Rub, Mini Pin

Surfaces: Distress Watercolour Card, Black Card

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Foam Pads, Polychromos Pencils, Black soot Archival Ink, Hickory Smoke, Platinum Stickles

Moss

Glass Media Mat

Heat Gun

Monday, 9 March 2026

Lucky Man...

Hello everyone...

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and as we head into a new week, it's time for the new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge to begin. This week our theme is all about adding A Bit O' Green to your projects and we hope you'll join us and play along.

For my make, and with St. Patrick's Day in mind, I chose to go full on green and used a combination of Tim Holtz products from Sizzix and Stampers Anonymous to create my project which features plenty of layers.

So, let's get started and it's time to share all the details of how I created this lucky man...

To begin with I used a Size 8 Stampers Anonymous Etcetera tag and a Facade which I twisted around to have the point at the bottom.

FACADE

The facade is covered with some of the Large Collage Strips from Tim's idea-ology range. I cut the strips down into smaller sections, so that they fit the facade perfectly and then attached them using Matte Collage Medium.

I applied a coat of the medium over the top, and once this was dry I used the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to add a vintage touch, applying it around the edges of the facade and in between each of the joins of the collage strips.

At the bottom of the facade, I placed a Machinery Head which I painted green with Rustic Wilderness Distress Paint. I then added a touch of gold Gilding Wax over the top.

TAG

Moving onto the tag and for this I used a Size 8 Mixed Media Heavystock Tag and the size 8 Etcetera Tag.

To begin with I lightly misted water onto a Heavystock tag before applying the colour using the following Distress Stains and Oxide Spray.

Distress Spray Stains: Speckled Egg, Rustic Wilderness, Black Soot

Oxide Spray: Speckled Egg

Once I was happy, I heat dried the tag before inking the numbers strip stamp from the Stampers Anonymous Curiosity Shop Stamp Set by Tim with a Versamark Clear Embossing Pad. I stamped the numbers down the right hand side and then sprinkled the ink with gold embossing powder. Heat set the powder until molten.

To add more detail to the background, I used the Botanic Collage stamp set and used Black Soot Archival Ink to stamp the print from one of the stamps in this set down the left hand side.

After machine stitching a border around the outside edge, I mounted the tag onto the Etcetera Tag using Matte Collage Medium and then mounted this onto my covered Etcetera Facade using the risers from the facade pack to add height to this piece.

COLOUR WHEEL

Now to create the colour wheel and using the round viewfinder dies from the Picture Show Die Set, I cut the solid piece and the top layer, together with the smaller inner pieces that will become the shades of green that sit around the wheel.

I added colour to the main wheel with Old Paper and Frayed Burlap Spray Stains, and once these were dry, I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. Adhere the top layer to the bottom layer.

I inked the small die cut squares with shades of green Distress Inks. You can choose which colours of green you prefer for this.

I then inked the edges of each square with Walnut Stain DI before placing each one into the wheel.

To complete the wheel, I attached Screw Heads and altered these with Black Soot, Antique Bronze, Crackling Campfire to add a rusty finish to the metal.

With the colour wheel complete, I wanted to build up the central section and used the Sizzix Vintage Labels Die Set by Tim Holtz (unfortunately this is now retired and if you don't own it, then you can replace this layer with a circle cut from red card), and the SSS Basic Shapes Circle Die Set to cut 4 circles, 3 from Mixed Media Heavystock card and 1 from gold metallic Kraft stock. The size of the first circle needs to fit in the centre of the wheel and the remaining 3 circles are in descending order.

After inking each circle, I layered them and attached the completed layers to the centre of the picture wheel using foam pads.

Mount the wheel onto the tag using foam pads to add height and dimension.

TAILORED

In the centre of the colour wheel, I used the bowler hat and the suit and bow tie from the Tailored Die Set. I cut all my pieces from inked and stamped cardstock that I have in my scrap box. This is such a great way of using up these tiny pieces of scrap card, and of course you can choose to create unique designs to the clothing.

All the pieces were assembled them to create the two pieces of clothing.

After adding the button from my stash to the centre of the bow tie, I mounted each piece onto the layered circles, again using foam pads to add even more height.

I then placed the 13￠ piece from the Junk Drawer Baseboard pack in the centre before attaching a screw head to either side of the piece, again altered with the same colours of Distress Paint as used previously.

LUCKY CLOVER

For the clover leaves, I used the stamp from the Curiosity Shop stamp set, together with coordinating SSS die.

I stamped four separate images of the clove leaf with Versamark clear embossing ink onto card inked with Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink and then sprinkled the gold embossing powder over the top. Heat emboss until molten and glossy.

Die cut each of the four leaves and then layer them over one another, attaching them by the centres and shaping the leaves to create two dimensional pieces.

Attach the two leaves to the tag, placing them in the bottom left corner. In the centres of each leaf, I added a gold Metallic Droplet.

I had the Air Mail label, stamped and cut from the Correspondence stamp and die bundle leftover on my desk from a previous project and I thought it was perfect for this make. I attached this to the clover arrangement using foam pads.

FINISHING DETAILS

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

I added a mini book ring through the hole at the top of the tag and a Mini Pin to the stitched section on the right hand side...

...before finally completing the project by adding a "Lucky" sticker to the top left hand corner of the tag.

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

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today...

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Etcetera Facades, Size 8 Etcetera Tag, Curiosity Shop stamp and die bundle, Botanic Collage

Sizzix: Tim Holtz Big Shot Foldaway, Picture Show, Tailored

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain and various shades of green inks

Distress Spray Stain: Speckled Egg, Rustic Wilderness, Black Soot, Old Paper, Frayed Burlap

Oxide Spray Stain: Speckled Egg

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Antique Bronze, Crackling Campfire, Rustic Wilderness

Distress Crayon

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Cello Sticker Tape, Screw Heads, Collage Strips, Junk Drawer Baseboard, Machinery Head, Metallic Sticker Book

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Foam Pads, Versamark Clear Pad, Antique Gold Embossing Powder

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock Tag, Metallic Kraft Stash, Distress Watercolour Card

SSS Basic Shapes Circle Die Set

Glass Media Mat

Waterbrush

Heat Gun

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.