Hello, how are you all? I love this time of year with the changing seasons. The first warm days of spring or the first cool ones for those of you in the southern hemisphere. It makes me want to get out in nature and breathe. Take in the moment and all around me; look and wonder.

Inspired by nature for today’s card, I picked the Mushroom Stems die cuts from the new Just For You release from Simon Says Stamp.

I’ve linked all supplies with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

simon just for you release

Before I jump into this card, please check out the new Just For You release from Simon Says Stamp. The Mushroom Stem dies, Leaf Edges stamp set, and Reverse Friendship sentiments are all part of the new release.

how to make free-standing die cuts spring to life with colour and texture

The great thing about free-standing dies like these Mushroom Stems dies is that they have so much detail already built in. The underneath of the cap of the mushroom has radiating lines, and the stems also have detail too.

I die cut the mushrooms from watercolour card and then set to with my Daniel Smith paints.

I used many colours from my stash of paints but included:

Stems:

• Buff Titanium
• Shadow Violet

Cap

• Piemontite Genuine
• Pyrrol Scarlet
• Sepia

Background

• Undersea Green

I lightly stamped the background with the Leaf Edges stamp set in Frayed Burlap ink and used wet paint to stamp the Ledger Script set in several places. I love just the hints of leaves and text this gives. I also stamped the Ledger Script in Black Soot ink over the caps of the mushrooms.

I paired the mushrooms with a sentiment from the Reverse Friendship sentiments and Nuvo Droplets.

Here’s a look at the texture I added using Icicle Crackle paste from Tim Holtz. I rubbed it onto the die cuts and left them to crackle. When dry, I shaped the caps of the mushrooms by pushing them into the palm of my hand and gently pressing down with my thumb to round them and give them dimension.

Just look at that crackle! Also, the glaze of the crackle seems to intensify the colours too.

Although it is hard to see, I also rubbed some crackle paste onto the background panel in places.

Well, that’s me for today. I will be back on the weekend, though, with more to share. See you then!

supplies

You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.