Hi friends! Simon Says Stamp has had a special surprise release today: Exclusive Dies to match previously-released Tim Holtz cling stamp sets! These new coordinating die sets are exclusive to Simon Says Stamp and make crafting with these cling stamp sets such a joy. Click HERE to see all of these Specialty Bundles! I created three different projects highlighting these fabulous new dies, so let’s do a brief rundown of each project.
For this first project, I decided to do a fun vertical ombré with several different shades of blue to green Pawsitively Saturated Inks. I began by blending Spring, Dublin, Tropic, Ocean, Cadette, and Royal inks from left to right on a horizontal A2 card front. I went over the first layer with a second layer of ink blending to ensure a smooth gradient from color to color. To add some whimsy to the background, I splattered some diluted white gouache over the entirety of the panel.
I also used the same shades of ink to stamp the images from the Tim Holtz Wildflowers stamp set on white cardstock, then die cut them with the new coordinating dies. The white splatters on the background complement the white edges of the floral silhouette die cuts! I also white embossed a sentiment from Airy Greetings onto a strip of coordinating teal cardstock, then backed it with a slightly larger strip of coordinating blue glitter cardstock. I popped up the floral die cuts on their coordinating color stripe with foam adhesive, then added the sentiment strip over the top with a double layer of thin foam adhesive squares. For a final sparkling touch, I added a couple of Prism Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to each side of the greeting.
For my second project, I thought I would pair the delicate florals in the Mini Bouquet bundle with the feminine, lacy borders in the Ornate Trims bundle! When I was first learning to watercolor, I used Distress Inks, so this project took me back to my roots, for sure! I stamped the floral images from Mini Bouquet using Milled Lavender Distress Ink, then tapped Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, and Iced Spruce out on my glass craft mat and used a damp paintbrush to pick up the color to do some delicate no-line watercolor with these pretty florals! Though these images are dainty, a paintbrush with a nice, crisp point and some patience to allow each section to dry will ensure that those details are not lost! After painting, I die cut the finished Mini Bouquet images with their new coordinating dies.
To further enhance the slightly “shabby chic” feel for this card, I stamped two of the different borders from the Ornate Trims bundle on a piece of white cardstock using Simon Says Stamp’s Petunia Pawsitively Saturated Ink. I die cut the stamped borders with their new coordinating dies, then adhered them in the center of a white A2 card front with some thin foam adhesive. Layering the trims reminds me so much of crocheted lace, like on the edge of a linen sheet or curtain! I arranged the watercolored florals in a swag, popping them up with a double layer of foam adhesive to achieve extra dimension, then tucked a die cut deep plum “hugs” dimensional die cut next to the bouquet. I added some Lilac Pawsitively Dazzling Gems and tucked a twine bow into the bouquet. I absolutely love how this one turned out! Clean and feminine with a hint of shabby chic.
For my final project, I was inspired by Tim Holtz’s incredible mixed media projects to try my hand at some mixed media of my own! I enjoy pushing myself outside of my typical symmetrical, carefully constructed projects to do something a bit more whimsical occasionally, and this frame that I found at my local dollar store provided me the perfect canvas to create some splattery mixed media goodness! I painted the wooden shadow box frame with a pearlescent royal purple, then selected Pawsitively Saturated Inks that worked nicely with the vibrant purple frame: Amethyst, Sky, Dew, and Heather. I lightly blended these colors on my 6×6 background panel, creating an ethereal blended background, then used the Bokeh Lights Stencils to add some interest to the background. To keep a semi-tone-on-tone background, I carefully blended the same colors on the stencils as the blended background behind it, which I think adds to the ethereal feel of the background. For the stencil with the largest dots, I used Tim Holtz’s Frozen Fog Mica Spray to add some subtle shimmer; I also splattered some handmade iridescent watercolors on the background for lots of different elements of shimmer and shine!
After I had created the background, I worked with the new stamp and die bundles to create a magical meadow. I heat embossed the butterflies from the Flutter bundle onto some vellum using silver sparkle embossing powder, then die cut them with their coordinating dies. I love embossing butterflies onto vellum; I think it makes them even more delicate and weightless! I also heat embossed some florals from the Wildflowers bundle using White Satin Pearl embossing powder. Before die cutting, I used residual ink from my blending brushes to lightly blend Dew ink on the foliage and Amethyst and Heather on the florals, which when die cut creates a lovely and ethereal emboss/resist effect!
I layered all of the die cuts on the blended background panel with so much (and I do mean SO MUCH) foam adhesive, creating multiple layers and heights by doubling it up for die cuts in the foreground. Finally, I added a “magical” die cut, cut from holographic mirror foil cardstock, but unfortunately I see that that die has been discontinued. You could recreate this with some individual alphabet letter dies, however! I think this finished product is just so much fun and such a departure from my regular projects.
Well, that’s all for me today! If you love Tim Holtz stamps but have been yearning for coordinating dies to make your life easier, Simon Says Stamp has made your wishes come true. I hope you’ll check out all of the fabulous bundles available, because Simon has a variety of bundles for many of Tim Holtz’s stamp designs available. You can check them all out HERE! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!
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