Last month some of the demonstrators in our team participated in a Summer Mini Catalogue swap (yep, that’s them in the slideshow). All the cards were made with stamps from the new Mini Catalogue and we swapped samples with each other. If you’ve been to a workshop or class of mine you’ll no doubt have seen my card box – choc-a-block full of gorgeous cards that I received in other swaps.

I am always so inspired and motivated after seeing the work of the creative ladies in our team of demonstrators.  Sooooo I’m REALLY excited that we’ll be getting together in a week when I host our next EurekaStampers team day. No doubt there will be many more amazing projects to share after that!

We do Make & Takes (no surprises there!) and some team members even get up and ‘wow’ us with cool techniques and project ideas. There’s swapping (of course), nice food and plenty of chatting with like-minded people. If you have been thinking about joining so you can enjoy all the amazing benefits of being a demo – including an invitation to events like our team day – just contact me and we can arrange a time to chat.

Here’s to a fabulous New Year!  Cheers!

Christmas is over, the kids are occupied with new toys and we are now ready to look forward to a brand new year. Bring it on! I hope your Christmas was as lovely as ours  

If you love the Sweet Treat cups, you might like this clever idea from my team member Juliana Main . She sent me this cute Christmas card, and made her own envelope from a sheet of A4 co-ordinating cardstock. To protect the card and the Sweet Treat Cup she lined the ‘envelope’ with bubble wrap. And yes, it arrived in great condition!

There are ready-made padded envelopes in the Summer Mini catalogue which are a great alternative if you need something fast, but I love this idea for a slightly more creative option. I love how you can co-ordinate the card and envelope so you can make it a complete package. I’m picturing Bashful Blue/Pretty In Pink envelopes for baby cards – might get started on one of those next.

To make these: 

1. Score an A4 sheet of cardstock at 13cm and 26cm. This leaves a nice 3 – 4cm flap at the back.

2. Decorate one long side with matching DSP or a Stampin’ Around wheel. Decorate the flap at the back too.

3. Line cardstock with bubble wrap if sending through the post (or you can leave out this step if you are hand-delivering).

4. Seal the sides and flap with Sticky Strip.

5. Send

Happy stamping,

Wishing everyone a very

Merry Christmas

and a Happy, Healthy and Creative

New Year

I have some great projects to share with you today. I can’t take credit for them, but I do plan to CASE them! This gorgeous pop-up card was sent to me by the wonderfully talented Rose Packer. She used the Season of Joy stamp set to create 3 individually attached pop-up Christmas trees.

I LOVE pop-ups and fancy folds and am very excited to finally be including the long awaited "Pop-Ups" cardmaking class in my 2010 Class Schedule.

 Below is a very impressive paper star that Heather McCarthy sent to me in the post! The box got a bit damaged but amazingly the star was untouched. She also included instructions (thanks Heather!) and I’ve been playing with these stars and experimenting with sizes.

Well Christmas is almost upon us. Here’s hoping you are all finished with your preparations and you’re now able to put your feet up and enjoy this special time.

Hope all your Christmas wishes come true,

My lovely friend and fellow Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, Debbie Hand, came over the other day and showed me some great projects using techniques I hadn’t seen before. She kindly gave me permission to show them here. This wreath (above) is actually made from a strip of Designer Series Paper with one side shaped using the Scallop Edge punch. The row was then folded concertina style and curved with the scallop edge on the inside to create the wreath.

This wreath is made with the lavendar stamp from Pocket Sillhouettes (p72 Idea Book & Catalogue). Debbie learned this technique from another demonstrator at our Melbourne Regional training day a few months ago (sorry, not sure who that was but I’ll try to find out). Debbie punched a circle and adhered it to the centre with repositionable adhesive to mask the inner circle, before stamping the lavendar all around. Remove the paper, and voila! Love it.

It really makes you think, doesn’t it? I love discovering out-of-the-box uses for our stamps and other tools. I have some more amazing projects to share from my talented stamping friends, including a stunning paper star and a pop up card! Check back soon!

NEW CLASS SCHEDULE for 2010.

Just released! This has been updated to include Terms 1 and 2, 2010. These classes are very popular and tend to book out, so if you are interested in any of them please contact me early to reserve a spot.  

Happy stamping,

HUGE NEWS just announced from Stampin’ Up!

A big stamp set sale is now on – with some sets HALF PRICE including selected alphabet stamps.

Other selected stamps and accessories (such as Hodgepodge Hardware) are reduced by 25%.

To download the flyer, text only, click here.

To download the flyer, with thumbnail images, click here.

Stamp sets are all square cut so you’ll need to trim them yourself, but as always I’m happy to help with this. Sale starts 15th December and ends 24th January or while stocks last. I am taking orders via email or phone 5345 1592.

Special offer from me (Simone Bartrum) as your local Stampin’ Up! demonstrator: flat rate postage to your door for $5, on all emailed orders placed before December 31st.
No limits.  

WOW! Christmas has come early.