ATC Project with Simon Says Stamp Freebie - May 2026

Hello,

I just thought I’d share with you an ATC I made for a swap group that I’m in. I had to make 10 of these with the theme Graduation and wondered what I was going to do as I didn’t think I had any Graduation type stamps at hand. Or did I?

With a recent purchase from Simon Says Stamp, I was lucky enough to receive their freebie giveaway with purchase. 

It was the ‘Look Hoo’s Graduating Stamp Set and Coordinating Dies’. How lovely was that! 

And absolutely perfect for my ATC project. I decided to write my process up for my blog and here it is.

I made my ATC bases first - 2.5” x 3.5” on 300gsm white cardstock.

Then I created my backgrounds on top of these using the script sheet from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Palette Collection Blue. 

I tore strips to fit half of the ATC but before sticking down I painted the right hand side with Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Black Soot. I then stuck down the paper strips on the left hand side and rough brushed the edges to blend with the painted side. 

Then I took the Graduation Cap stamp from the set and with the Simon Says Stamp White Pigment Ink pad (it’s awesome), I stamped these randomly over the black side. It actually looks a bit like a chalkboard which I’m very happy with the effect.

I then stamped out my owl and book pile stamps with Distress Black Soot Archival Ink Pad and coloured these in using the Distress Watercolor Pencils with a water brush.

I cut out the word ‘Congrats’ in a black cardstock from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Celebration Words- Script 660223 using my Tim Holtz Sizzix Sidekick and added these to the left side of my ATC panel.

Using the accompanying Simon Says Stamp dies, it made short work of cutting out all the elements and I had these ready to add to my card in no time.

I layered these up with Simon Says Stamp 3D foam pads and then finally I added some Ranger Glossy Accents to the owls’ eyes.

And here’s my ATCs - all ready to swap.

I wanted to thank Simon Says Stamp for this freebie gift by putting this together and to inspire others that are looking at getting the Simon Says Stamps Look Hoo’s Graduating Stamps and Dies set. It really is very cool and a fun make.

Thanks so much for stopping by blog.

Have a great day

hugs,

Carol xx

You can find all the products I used on the Simon Says Stamp website here:

Simon Says Stamp Look Hoo’s Graduating Stamps and Dies

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/simon-says-stamps-and-dies-look-hoos-graduating-set1222lh

Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils Set 1 and 3

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-distress-watercolor-pencils-sets-1-2-3-bundle-ranger-ranger162-1

Tim Holtz Distress Black Soot Paint

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-flip-top-distress-paint-black-soot-ranger-tdf52937

Tim Holtz Sizzix Celebration Words - Script Thinlits 660223

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-sizzix-celebration-words-script-thinlits-die-660223

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 12 x 12 Palette Collection Blue
https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-idea-ology-blue-12-x-12-palette-paper-collection-th94463

Tim Holtz Distress Black Soot Archival Ink Pad

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-distress-archival-ink-pad-black-soot-ranger

Tim Holtz Ranger Water Brush

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-detailer-water-brush-ranger-watercoloring-tip33080

Tim Holtz Sizzix Sidekick Cutting Machine

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/tim-holtz-sizzix-sidekick-starter-kit-black-die-cutting-machine-664175

Ranger Glossy Accents

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/products/ranger-mini-glossy-accents-glue-adhesive-gac27898

Simon Says Stamp 3D Thin Foam Squares Small

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/collections/at-foam/products/simon-says-stamp-3d-thin-foam-squares-small-st0160

May DT Project 1 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Bugs and Bees

Hi All,

Just ‘buzzing’ in to say hello with my first DT project for May for Country View Crafts and Challenges on Facebook. The theme this month has been set by the lovely Claire and its ’Bugs and Bees’. 

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/164920247712393

You must use products from brands that Country View Crafts stocks and please list them in your entry. You can enter 5 times each month with different projects. We’ve got a fabulous £20 prize voucher that one randomly selected winner will win this month.

Beeing (😁) that I haven’t got all my craft stuff to hand but I do have the essentials, I thought I’d make a 3D scene of Beehives, made with the Tim Holtz Sizzix Paper Village 664741 die set. 

I cut the 3 houses out in plain white card and then cut them out again in the  Distress Holiday Woodgrain card. 

Lining them up, I cut these into segments to look like a layered beehive and glued them back onto the plain white card. I also made a little hole in the top of each one for the ‘bees to get in and out’. 

I cut a piece of MDF for my base to the size 15cm x 21cm and painted this with Distress Paint Rustic Wilderness. 

I cut up some green grassy moss into a finer blend and added this to my base with Matte Mod Podge.

With a hot glue yellow glitter stick, I blobbed the glue onto my craft mat to make some honey. 

I coloured my Idea-ology metal bee with Black Soot Distress Paint and Wild Honey. I added some Finnabair Lavender wax to the wings and added him to the top of a  0.9mm twisted wire which I threaded through a hole I'd made in the base. I wanted him to look like he's buzzing around. I then placed my beehives on the grass.

And here’s my beehive scene for this month’s theme. This was a bit of a challenge for me to make but I enjoyed coming up with the idea - I hope you like it and may be inspired to try something like this for yourself. 

And please do head on over to our group on Facebook to take a look at what my Design Teammates have been making - they’re so inspiring and I’m sure you’ll love seeing what they’ve come up with, as well as the fabulous entries from our group members. It's only the 12th of May, so you've got plenty of time to enter.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. 

Hugs

Carol xx 

You can find the products I used here:

(If anything is out of stock you can always contact Brenda at Country View Crafts to see if she can order it in for you, and she ships overseas too). 

Tim Holtz Sizzix Village Collection 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/665564---sizzix-thinlits-die-set-87pk--village-collection-by-tim-holtz-179168-p.asp

Tim Holtz Distress Woodgrain Cardstock

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz---distress---holiday-woodgrain-cardstock-155211-p.asp

Tim Holtz Distress Paints

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/distress-paints-436-c.asp

Tim Holtz Idea-ology

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/idea-ology-102-c.asp

Tim Holtz Mini Distress Ink Pads

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/distress-mini-ink-pads-859-c.asp

Ranger Glossy Accents 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/ranger-inkssentials-glossy-accents-59ml-2-fl-oz-4799-p.asp

Finnabair Art Alchemy French Lavender Wax

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/prima-finnabair-art-alchemy-matte-wax---french-lavender-183394-p.asp

Mod Podge (I used the Matte version but this would work just as well)

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/mod-podge---dishwasher-safe---gloss-236ml-167472-p.asp

April DT Project 2 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Easter - bunnies, chicks, eggs

Hello friends,

We’re in full swing in April with our Easter themed challenge (think bunnies, chicks, eggs) as chosen by our lovely team member Christine, and I’m here with my second DT project to inspire you for our challenge for Country View Crafts and Challenges on Facebook.

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/164920247712393

You must use products from brands that Country View Crafts stocks and please list them in your entry. You can enter 5 times each month with different projects. We’ve got a fabulous £20 prize voucher that one randomly selected winner will win this month.

So I decided to make a card with the lovely bunny from Kate Crane Paperartsy stamp set KC019 as my main focus and I used the quote from the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous CMS049 Nature’s Discovery. 

First I prepared the background (I made two) using Ranger Distress Mini Inks: Twisted Citron, Worn Lipstick, Wild Honey, which I blended using the Tim Holtz Ranger blender. 

I placed my Kate Crane Stencil PS503 on the background and rubbed through it with a baby wipe to ‘lift’ the ink. It’s interesting to compare the two ‘lifts’ from the first to the second. Obviously the first one was wetter and made the card I was using swell under it more, giving a raised effect. 

Next I stamped my bunny and the cute little bird from the same set, in Archival Black Soot and coloured these in using Ranger Distress Watercolor Pencils. I then fussy cut these out. (I cut the whiskers off the bunny and the legs from the bird). 

I stamped my quote directly onto the background using Ranger Archival Black Soot Ink, lined up where I wanted my bunny and bird to go and stamped these onto the background too. 

I layered the background card onto black cardstock to give it a border and then placed this onto my Kraft card substrate. 

Finally I placed the cut out images and glued these over the stamped images. 

And here’s my finished cards. 

I hope you’ll maybe try this for yourself and be inspired to enter our challenge on Facebook. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog. 

Hugs

Carol xx 

You can find the products I used here:

(If anything is out of stock you can always contact Brenda at Country View Crafts to see if she can order it in for you, and she ships overseas too). 

Kate Crane Paperartsy Stamp Set KC019

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/paperartsy---kate-crane-stamp-set-019-a5-on-ez-182911-p.asp

Kate Crane Paperartsy Stenci PS503

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/paperartsy---kate-crane-pa-stencil-503-182921-p.asp

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Nature’s Discovery CMS049

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/cms049-tim-holtz-cling-mounted-stamp-set---natures-discovery-178516-p.asp

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pads

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/distress-mini-ink-pads-859-c.asp

Ranger Archival Jet Black 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/ranger-archival-ink-pad-jet-black---90mm-x-62mm-1609-p.asp

Ranger Distress Watercolor Pencils 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/watercolor-pencils-1598-c.asp

Ranger Blending Tool

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/ranger-inkssentials-tim-holtz-mini-ink-blending-tool---1-inch-round-2-tools-30474-p.asp

April DT Project 1 for Country View Crafts and Challenges

Hello all,

Here we are in April and I’m popping in with my first DT project to inspire you for our challenge for Country View Crafts and Challenges on Facebook with the theme ‘Easter’ as chosen by our lovely team member Christine.

(Think Bunnies, Easter Eggs, Chicks etc).

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/164920247712393

You must use products from brands that Country View Crafts stocks and please list them in your entry. You can enter 5 times each month with different projects. We’ve got a fabulous £20 prize voucher that one randomly selected winner will win this month.

I do hope you’re all keeping well. Well, we’ve just had Easter, so bunnies and Easter eggs may have been in the minds for many of us. They were for me. 

I decided to alter a children’s hard page book with a view to completing a full book eventually. This is the start. 

First I covered the page with torn pieces of book pages and glued these down. I then gave a watered down coating of Finnabair Heavy Gesso in white.

Using Dina Wakley turquoise paint with a Tim Holtz Stencil, I blended through the stencil in a couple of areas. I used the stencil from Tim Holtz Clear Stamps and Stencil Noteworthy, Blossom and Polkadot thmm113. 

Holding the stamp from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Botanic Collage CMS447 in my hand, I then gently pressed the stamp down using the bottom part text only of the butterfly, in the background, using Ranger Archival Pebble Beach. 

For the zigzag stiching around the edges I used the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Spring Sprung CMS084 stamped in Ranger Archival Black Soot. 

I stamped some Winter Teasels from the Alison Bomber EAB43 Winter Teasels set in the background with the Ranger Archival Black Soot and I stamped the words ‘Sunrise, the beauty of the shadow’ from this set too. 

I added a postage stamp from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Postage Sticker Book and stamped over this with a ‘franking’ stamp from Crafty by Toni. 

So now my background was complete, I stamped my bunny from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Spring Sprung CMS084 in the area that I had left for him to be placed. 

I then painted him with Dina Wakley paints: cheddar, turquoise, white and magenta and added a bit of glossy accents to his eye. 

I cut out three small hearts from pink painted canvas and placed these beside him, and using three flowers from my stash I layered these beside him too. 

To finish I added a sentiment from the Tim Holtz Small Talk Sticker Book. 

And here’s my completed Easter project 1. 

Now to fill the rest of the book. No pressure. 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. 

I hope you’ll maybe try this for yourself and be inspired to enter our challenge on Facebook. 

Have a great day. 

Hugs

Carol xx 

You can find the products I used here:

(If anything is out of stock you can always contact Brenda at Country View Crafts to see if she can order it in for you, and she ships overseas too). 

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Spring Sprung CMS084

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/cms084-tim-holtz-cling-mounted-stamp-set---spring-sprung-178518-p.asp

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Botanic Collage CMS447

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/cms447-tim-holtz-cling-mounted-stamp-set---botanical-collage-172378-p.asp

Alison Bomber EAB43 Winter Teasels Paperartsy (currently out of stock) 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/alison-bomber-by-paperartsy-1731-c.asp

Dina Wakley Paints

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/paints--mediums-1966-c.asp

Crafty by Toni

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/crafty-by-toni-1785-c.asp

Ranger Archival Ink (Black Soot is out of stock)

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/ranger-archival-ink-pad-jet-black---90mm-x-62mm-1609-p.asp

Finnabair Heavy Gesso

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/prima-marketing-finnabair-art-basics-heavy-gesso-85oz-white-180547-p.asp

March DT Project 2 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Spring

Hello there,

Just popping in again with my second DT post for March for Country View Crafts and Challenges with the theme of ‘Spring’ (spring into spring) as chosen by our lovely team member Vicky. 

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/164920247712393

You must use products from brands that Country View Crafts stocks and please list them in your entry. You can enter 5 times each month with different projects. We’ve got a fabulous £20 prize voucher that one randomly selected winner will win this month.

So I decided this time I’d make something in my art journal of a pretty scene with delicate butterflies fluttering in the sunset. 

First I masked off the page to create my graduated background using Distress Mini Inks Blueprint Sketch, Worn Lipstick and Wild Honey. I then splattered some water over this (and dabbed dry with a piece of kitchen towel) to create a bit of interest in the background. 

Using the flower stamp from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous CMS084 Spring Sprung, I stamped this in Versafine Clair Nocture, off the edge of the sunset and on top of the mask. I love this set!! 

Once all dry, I carefully removed the masking tape. 

I then stamped the Butterflies from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous CMS447 Botanical Collage onto a separate piece of paper with Versafine Clair Nocture and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss embossing powder. 

Next, I coloured these with Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils and fussy cut out. I mounted these with 3D foam where I wanted them to sit in my scene. I added a light blue diamanté to each one for the ‘head’. 

Choosing a sentiment from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Sticker Book, I cut this down into 3 appropriate segments, mounted onto black card, then placed this on my scene with 3D foam too. 

And here’s my spring scene in my art journal. 

Hope you’ll give some of these techniques a try to create your own scene and maybe enter into our challenge on Facebook too. 

Thanks for checking out my blog

Hugs

Carol xx 

You can find the products I used here:

(If anything is out of stock you can always contact Brenda at Country View Crafts to see if she can order it in for you, and she ships overseas too). 

Tim Holtz CMS084 Spring Sprung 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/cms084-tim-holtz-cling-mounted-stamp-set---spring-sprung-178518-p.asp

Tim Holtz CMS447 Botanical Collage

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/cms447-tim-holtz-cling-mounted-stamp-set---botanical-collage-172378-p.asp

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Small Talk Sticker Book (Currently out of stock)

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz-idea-ology-102-c.asp

Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pads 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz-distress-mini-ink-pads-859-c.asp

Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz-distress-watercolor-pencils-1598-c.asp

Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/ranger---tim-holtz---distress-splatter-brush-139016-p.asp

VersaFine Clair Nocture Ink Pad

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/versafine---clair-ink-pad---nocturne-116915-p.asp

WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/wow-embossing-powders-15ml---clear-gloss-regular-t-171662-p.asp

March DT Project 1 for Country View Crafts and Challenges - Spring

Happy March! 

Here I am ‘springing’ in with my first DT post for March with the theme of ‘Spring’ (spring into spring) as chosen by our lovely team member Vicky. 

The challenge is open worldwide and you can join the group here where you will find information on how to enter:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/164920247712393

You must use products from brands that Country View Crafts stocks and please list them in your entry. You can enter 5 times each month with different projects. We’ve got a fabulous £20 prize voucher that one randomly selected winner will win this month.

Some of you know that I’m on a road trip currently driving around the UK. I’ve got a small (ish) craft kit with me so that I can still craft. 

For each place we stay at, if it’s pretty good accommodation I’ve been leaving a ‘thank you’ postcard when we leave. Trust me, not everyone has got one. Haha. 

Anyway, I’ve been using flowers for my postcard focal and therefore they translate to Spring for my project this month. 

Using some bought ‘plain’ postcards, I used Distress Old Paper and Antique Linen Mini inks to create a ‘stained’ looking background by smooshing the cards into them on my craft mat. I then blended Distress Vintage Photo Mini Ink around the edges with a Tim Holtz blending tool. 

I added a postage stamp from Tim Holtz Idea-ology postage set and then using the Crafty by Toni Correspondence set, I ‘franked’ the stamp and added the word ‘postcard’ to the middle top. 

This set also has address stamps in it so I used one of those stamps for the address. 

I used a couple of my Tim Holtz flower sets, stamped with Black Soot Archival Ink as the focal image and then coloured each one with Distress Watercolor pencils. 

I added with a ‘thank you’ from my stash as I went along.

It’s a nice way to say a thank you to someone for their service or for a kind deed. Too often we’ll complain but not as quick to say thank you. I hope I’ve delighted many staff and owners on our road trip with my little postcards. 

I hope you like my idea for Spring and may give this a go yourself. 

You can find my full process on my blog here 

https://acraftyadventurista.blogspot.com

And don’t forget to join in our challenge this month. Looking forward to seeing your entries. 

Thanks for checking out my blog. 

Have a great day. 

Hugs

Carol xx

Products used: (if anything is out of stock, you can always contact Brenda to see if she can get it in for you). 

Crafty by Toni A5 Stamp Set -CBT0018

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/cbt0018-crafty-by-toni-a5-stamp-set-177523-p.asp

(I used the set CBT0013-Crafty by Toni A5 but it’s out of stock - this one is good to use too). 

Tim Holtz Botanical Collage CMS447

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/cms447-tim-holtz-cling-mounted-stamp-set---botanical-collage-172378-p.asp

I also used Tim Holtz CMS401 Flower Shop 

Distress Watercolour Pencils

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz-distress-watercolor-pencils-1598-c.asp

Distress Minis Inks and Oxides 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz-distress-mini-oxide-ink-pads-1816-c.asp

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz-distress-mini-ink-pads-859-c.asp

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 

https://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/tim-holtz-idea-ology-102-c.asp