Simon Says - You're My Cup Of Tea

Hello my friends, I'm back to share another card made with the Best-Teas 6" x 8" stamp set and Carta Bella Coffee Shop 6" x 6" patterned papers from Simon Says - Best-Teas August 2025 Card Kit. You can find details of what is included in the kit, how to subscribe to the monthly kits or buy individual items from the kit HERE.

I trimmed one of the Carta Bella Coffee Shop papers to 4" x 5.1/4" and fixed to an A2 white card blank created from the Neenah 110lb cardstock included in the kit. I stamped the sentiment from the Best-Teas 6" x 8" stamp set, inked with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.

I selected one of the toppers from the Carta Bella patterned paper, trimmed out the centre to create a frame and fixed to the card with Simon Says Thin Foam Squares to add dimension.

I stamped the images from the Best-Teas stamp set on to Distress Watercolor card, inked with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink, coloured with Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils using a Distress Detailer Brtush, fussy cut and fixed in place with Simon Says Thin Foam Squares.

Have fun with whatever you are making.

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Best-Teas August 2025 Card Kit

Hello my friends, I'm always excited when the new Simon Says Stamp card kit arrives in the cubbyhole. The August 2025 Best-Teas card kit is filled to the brim with lots of goodies for you to make beverage themed cards and I can't wait to try out the new Pawsitively Perfect White Splatter Medium. You can find details of what is included in the kit, how to subscribe to the monthly kits or buy individual items from the kit HERE.

I created a card using the Best Teas 6" x 8" stamp set, the patterned paper and topper from the Carta Bella Coffee Shop 6" x 6" paper pad and whether you love coffee, like me or prefer a nice cup of tea in the morning, the stamp set has you covered with lots of adorable images and great sentiments.

I trimmed patterned papers from the Carta Bella Coffee Shop 6" x 6" paper pad to create a 4" x 5.1/4" panel, added the topper and fixed to an A2 card blank scored and folded from the Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock included in the kit.

I stamped the images from the Best-Teas 6" x 8" stamp set on to Distress Watercolor card, inked with Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and coloured with Zig Clean Color Brush Markers.

There are co-ordinating dies available for the stamp set but I don't have them yet so I fussy cut the images using my trusty Tim Holtz Mini Recoil Snips and fixed to the card using Simon Says Thin Foam Squares to create dimension.

I'll be back soon to share more projects using products from this fabulous kit.

Hugs Kath xxx

Distress Oxide Minis and Mini Blending Brushes

Hello my friends, I'm back to share what I made using the remaining 3 packs of Distress Oxide Minis and the pack of 3 Mini Blending Brushes.

I created a trio of masculine themed cards using the colours from each pack along with Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Linked Circles and Gradient Dot Mini Layering Stencils and the Mini Blending Brushes to add interest to the backgrounds.

To create the backgrounds, I trimmed Distress Watercolor card to 4" x 5.1/4" to make 3 panels, smooshed the lightest colour from each pack, Antique Linen, Shaded Lilac and Weathered Wood on to my craft mat , spritzed with water, pulled the panels through the ink, dried and tapped back in to pick up the remaining ink droplets.

I applied Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide inks through Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Linked Circles Mini Layering Stencil from Set 52, wiping the Vintage Photo ink off on kitchen towel before repeating with Walnut Stain. These Mini Blending Brushes are the perfect size for using with the Mini ink pads and Mini Layering Stencils.

To complete the background, I applied Black Soot Distress Oxide, the last colour in the pack, through Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Gradient Dot Mini Layering Stencil from Set 39.

I repeated the process on the other two panels using the 3 remaining colours from each pack.

I inked the images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Dapper and Distinquished with the Black Soot and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Mini Ink Cubes and stamped repeatedly to darken the images.

I used the Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Mini Ink cube with a Tiny Blending Tool to add light shading around the edges of the panels.

I added the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Small Talk Stickers to a scrap of Distress Watercolor card, trimmed, darkened the edges with a Momento Black Marker and fixed to the panels using Simon Says Stamp Thin Foam Squares.

I sanded the edges of the panels using Tim Holtz Sanding Disks, fixed to A2 panels of Idea-ology Neutral KraftStock and fixed to top-folding A2 white card blanks.

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Make Your Own Background

Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for joining us for last week's challenge and we hope you can join us this week too because

and the theme for this week is...

MAKE YOUR OWN BACKGROUND

I used Tim Holtz/Ranger Neon Alcohol Inks to create two bright and colourful backgrounds on Translucent Yupo, matted on to Distress Black HeavyStock panels and decorated with Tim Holtz/Sizzix Artsy Stems die-cut flowers and Idea-ology Label Thoughts and Sentiments Stickers.

I added drops of Hyper, Fluorescent and Radioactive Neon Alcohol Inks to my White Studio Mat, spritzed with Rubbing Alcohol and dragged a 3.3/4" x 5" panel of Translucent Yupo several times through the inks.

I repeated the process with Atomic, Razzle and Electric Neon Alcohol inks on a second panel of Translucent Yupo and added spatters of Snow Cap Mixative. At this stage I couldn't decide whether to mat the panels on to white or black cardstock but chose to go with my favourite Black Distress HeavyStock.

I die-cut Tim Holtz/Sizzix Artsy Stems from Distress Watercolor card and fixed in place with small dots of Ranger Glossy Accents.

I wound white hemp twine around the panels and tied off with a bow.

I fixed the panels to Distress Black HeavyStock trimmed to 4" x 5.1/4", added black foam tape on the back and matted on to A2 top folding white card blanks. To finish I fixed the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Thoughts and Sentiment Label Stickers to scraps of Distress Watercolor card, trimmed to leave a small border and fixed to the panels with Ranger Glossy Accents.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, just click on the links below

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and as always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2pm CET to join in with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend online at Simon Says Stamp

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

New Distress Oxide Minis Launch

Hello my friends, I can hardly contain my excitement at the news that Tim Holtz and Ranger have now launched Distress Oxide inks in the mini sized version starting off with 24 colours in 6 packs of 4. We didn't think this would ever be possible because of the pigment/dye composition of these inks so it's a big round of applause to the Ranger chemist who finally made this happen. And how cute is the pack of 3 Distress Mini Blending Brushes, perfectly sized to use with the smaller ink pads.

I chose 3 of the Distress Oxide Mini packs to create backgrounds showcasing the variety of colours in each pack using Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Brushstrokes, an all time favourite stamp set along with the images and sentiments from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Abstract Florals.

I began by trimming Distress Watercolor card to create 2 - 4" x 5.1/4" panels. I stamped the Tim Holtz/Brushstrokes stamp, inked with the colours from each pack of Distress Mini Oxide ink pads, spritzed with water and dried.

I dried the panels thoroughly, stamped the floral images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Abstract Florals with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink, sprinkled with Ranger Black Fine Detail Embossing Powder and heat set.

I stamped the sentiments from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous on to Distress Black HeavyStock, inked with Versamark ink, sprinkled with Ranger White Fine Detail Embossing Powder and heat set.

I trimmed around the sentiments with my trusty TimHoltz/Tonic Studios Mini Recoil Snips and fixed to the panel using black foam squares to add dimension.

Distress Black HeavyStock is my favourite black cardstock but it's precious and I'm a canny Scot, so I trimmed out the centres of A2 panels, saved in my scrap storage and fixed the outer frames to A2 white card blanks.

If you follow my blog you'll know that my go-to adhesive for a very long time has been Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Collage Medium. But when I received a small bottle of Simon Says newly released Pawsitively Perfect Craft Glue in the latest card kit I thought I would give it a try to fix the panels to the cards. I have to say it's a great glue, slightly more liquid, dries a little faster and so far it comes a very close second to my all time favourite. 

I'll be back soon to show what I made with the remaining 3 packs of the Distress Oxide Minis along with the Distress Mini Blending Brushes. In the meantime, have fun with whatever you're making.

Hugs Kath xxx