Hi friends,

It’s great to be back again with The Spot Creative Challenge and this time it’s a colour challenge.

You can find the link to this week’s challenge page here.

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This week we were invited to use the colours Magenta Madness, Black, Gold and Pool Party.

Phew – That was a good challenge for me! Definitely got me out of my comfort zone.

Here is what I came up with:

There’s a fair bit going on with this card, and it morphed into different versions along the way.

In the end, I settled on it being a large square card – 13.5cm x 13.5cm – on a Pool Party base.

Embossing Folders & Dies

One of the layers was dressed up with the Scripty embossing folder, the sentiment cut from the Well Written dies, the black frame from Ornate Layers and a tiny loop of Magenta ribbon.

The main die cut shape across the middle is from the Poppy Moments dies.

Such an unusual die!
It cuts out the negative pieces and leaves the shape intact on the card stock.

I cut a matching piece in gold foil and also Magenta Madness to layer behind it.

I added an Adhesive Sheet to the cardstock before die cutting. Let me tell you… it was a game changer!

That stuff is MAGIC.

You just need to peel off one side of the backing paper and attach it to your cardstock before die cutting. Instant sticker! Too easy.

And the cool thing is, you can’t tell in the picture above but the gold piece also had an adhesive sheet attached so I peeled that one off and layered into a third piece – in Magenta Madness. So fun.

The result is something pretty unusual.

On certain angles you can mainly see the pink of the Magenta Madness cardstock as the dominant colour. Then you turn it on a different angle and all you can see is the shiny gold foil.

So cool!

Join the challenge

All you have to do is a make a project in these same colours, then jump over to the The Spot page to Challenge #119, scroll down and you’ll see where you can upload your project.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a blog or Instagram to link to, just click on the ‘add without link’ option and you can still share your photo. Remember that the photo will crop to a square, so keep that in mind when taking your photos.

Until next time…

Happy stamping, 

Welcome friends,

Today’s project is a triple easel card, and features the stamp set Friend Like You and the coordinating Friendly Silhouettes dies.

The easel card is my contribution to the latest ColourINKspiration challenge #81. This week it’s all about Cinnamon Cider, Real Red, Crumb Cake and white.

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The 3 panels

It’s a little tricky to photograph, but hopefully this side-view image makes a bit more sense.

Back Panel

Here is a close-up view of the back panel.

One of the dies in the Friendly Silhouettes pack includes this negative cut-out die of the trees. It’s really very clever how It works.

Middle Panel

And here is the middle panel, which includes an embossed Crumb Cake layer, and a stitched square of white Cardstock with 2-step stamped images from the Friend Like You stamp set.

Front Panel

And finally, on the front panel we have the die cut reeds, which have been lightly coloured in Cinnamon Cider ink with the Wink of Stella Glitter Brush to add definition to the cattails.

Easel Stopper

A little raised die-cut dragonfly acts as the stopper for the easel card, and keeps all the layers standing up.

Folding the Triple Easel Card

When closed, the three panels collapse down on top of each other so it is a standard size when flat – 10.5cm x 14.5cm.

It fits perfectly into a regular C6 envelope. Nice!

There’s plenty of room to write your message under the folding easel layers too.

Measurements

This card was based on a few different versions but they were all in imperial measurements and started with US letter size paper. I have modified this to be in centimetres and to fit our A4 Cardstock with minimal cardstock wastage.

I’ve jotted the measurements down, but am in the process of putting together a tutorial for this card.

When complete, I’ll email the A4 tutorial to all my customers who place an order with me this month (you’ll need to give permission for me to access your email address when you place your online order). I hope you enjoy this extra little thank you for shopping with me. xxx

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If you would like to have a go at creating with these colours, jump over to the Colour INKspiration Facebook Group where we encourage everyone to join in by uploading their projects. You’ll also find all the Design Team members projects in an album, plus see all the projects created by others. Oodles of inspiration for you.

Happy stamping, 

Welcome! Today I’m sharing my first challenge card as a design team member for The Spot Creative Challenge.

About THE SPOT CREATIVE CHALLENGE:

Each week our Design Team of international creatives share projects based on a new challenge. It could be a sketch, a technique, a colour challenge or – as it is in this week – a theme challenge.

Each Tuesday at 9pm (Syd/Mel time) you’ll see a new challenge post on the challenge website (click to visit). You can play along, and if you want you can even enter your card in the weekly challenge by uploading your project (and you don’t even need a blog!).
A winner will be chosen each week.

So this week, it’s all about making your own patterned papers (or DSP, Designer Series Paper, as we call it with Stampin’ Up! lingo).

Building the Design

Step 1

Stamp a full sheet of white cardstock in Seaside Spray ink using the hydrangea stamp from Beautiful Friendship.

Step 2

Add the Misty Moonlight flowers, and then the Gray Granite leaves.

Step 3

Fill any smaller gaps with a smaller stamp from the same set, this time in Crumb Cake ink.

Step 4

Add highlights to the dark blue Misty Moonlight flowers with a white watercolour pencil.

The hand-stamped patterned paper is trimmed to size, adhered to coordinating matt layers and a piece of torn vellum (sponged on the tear line) is wrapped around the panel.

The final step is to wrap linen thread around the matt layer before adhering it all to the Gray Granite card base.

Add a stamped greeting and layer it with punched and die-cut shapes.

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Your Challenge

Hi friends,

Welcome to a brand new month. I heard this referred to as day 147 of March and I couldn’t agree more… what a strange year this has been.

I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and staying well.

Here in my part of the world we are dealing with sub-zero temperatures overnight and (mostly) sunny afternoons. It’s a beautiful. time of year, regardless of the weather.

But you’re not here to talk about the weather, you want to know what Stampin’ Up! are offering for the month of July – amIright? lol

It’s BONUS DAYS time again!

From now until the 3rd of August, you’ll earn a $9 voucher for every $90 of shopping. Spend $180 and you’ll get 2 x $9 vouchers.

The vouchers will be emailed to you in the form of a ‘Coupon Code’ – so make sure you hang on to those codes and don’t delete them.

From the 4th of August you can redeem those vouchers. How cool! A free shopping spree sounds good to me.

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In the meantime, the next #greataustraliancraftshow is upon us. Sadly we still can’t do in-person craft shows, but these online craft shows have taken on a life of their own and are hugely popular.

It’s all happening over on Facebook from Thursday 2nd July to Sunday 5th July, so pop over and say g’day. I’ll be online for chats, giveaways, inspiration and a healthy dose of fun & games.

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I also want to take this opportunity to thank my valued customers for their amazing support. You are truly valued and appreciated each and every year – but especially this year during such an uncertain time. I love helping you to stay creative and am honoured that you choose me as your Stampin’ Up! demonstrator.

June was an amazing month for me as I reached big sales milestone (400,000) with Stampin’ Up! and also earned my 11th incentive trip. We are off to Hawaii next year (if international travel is allowed). Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Happy stamping, 

This month the You Can Create It (YCCI) supplies were simple yet full of potential: a full piece of 5″ x 7″ watercolour paper and a half sheet of Gray Granite cardstock.

Wow! Where to begin?!

I decided to use the watercolour sheet to die cut pieces from the Sunflowers dies.

Hang on… what’s that?

Yes, it’s a sneak peek of a brand new die set from the upcoming annual catalogue which goes live on Wednesday 3rd June. So exciting!!!

The next step in the process was so fun… watercolouring!

I used the Aqua painter filled with water, and ink from a whole lot of different ink pads LOL.

Tip: Use an acrylic block (or something similar) as a ‘palette’. Press the block into the ink pad and then use the Aqua painter to lift the ink off the block for colouring. This helps to keep the ink pad surface free of excess water from the brush.

Design Team Projects

Once again the YCCI Design Team have created amazing and inspiring projects.

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Play along with us!

Just gather up these same supplies and see what you can come up with.

Let’s create!

Happy stamping, 

What a week! Buckle up, crafters, because I’ve got exciting news for you.

With all the craziness of life at the moment, it’s so important to find joy and immerse yourself in something you love.

And we’ve got it in spades this week.

1. New catalogue launches on Wednesday

One thing we all LOVE is brand new craft products. In this gorgeous new 2020-2021 Stampin’ Up! catalogue there are pages and pages of them!

Hopefully by now you’ve received your hard copy in the mail (if you’ve bought from me in the past year) – if not please get in touch. You can download the digital copy when it goes live on Wednesday morning.

We’re making lists, checking them twice and working out what to get now and what to get later. Yep, I’m right there with you.

But don’t forget to check the retiring items in case there’s anything there you want to pick up before they are gone for good.

There’ll be a few hours from midnight Tuesday when the online store closes, but you’ll be ok to order from early Wednesday.

2. Extra Stampin’ Rewards

A brand new Stampin’ Rewards bonus starts on Wednesday – perfectly timed to coincide with the launch of the new catalogue.

For those of us with a big wish list, this is FANTASTIC news!
Extra free product is coming our way with every qualifying order.

As you may already know, Stampin’ Rewards is the free product credits you get when you place an order over AUD$250. It starts off at 10% of the value of your order and goes up from there.  So for example, if your order is $270 then you get $27 in free product.

Well, from WEDNESDAY you’ll get a bonus $40 in Stampin’ Rewards when the order reaches $400! So instead of getting $40 in free product, you’ll get $80! Yay! 

3. Get a bonus bundle

If the idea of bonus Stampin’ Rewards sounds good, how about combining it with a 20% discount on your crafty shopping with Stampin’ Up!? One of the most-loved benefits of joining Stampin’ Up! is getting that awesome discount – it means we can buy more (ahem) I mean save more LOL

But seriously, have you been thinking about joining Stampin’ Up!? Or rejoining? If you have, GET EXCITED because a new joining bonus has just been announced and it will knock your socks off.

From Wednesday, you can choose a FREE punch bundle or die bundle to any value when you get the Stampin’ Up! starter kit, in addition to all the regular perks! For $169 you could potentially end up with a kit worth $415. It’s really that good!

You can choose from one of the bundles of stamps & punches on pages 168-169 of the new catalogue, OR one of the stamps & dies bundles on pages 174-175. Take your pick! That’s up to $100.75 value extra, for free!

You’ll also be able to choose any additional available products worth up to $235. So get that wish list out and start working out what you’ll get. Stampin’ Up! will even throw in extra catalogues and various business supplies worth $80. The cost is still only $169 and shipping is free! 

Learn more here.

4. New Improved Shopping Experience

Many of my customers enjoy ordering their products directly through me, either by phone, text or email. I love connecting with you and chatting about our shared love of crafting. But increasingly, many of you are enjoying the convenience of ordering online through my online store. Anywhere, anytime.

If you are familiar with my online store, you may notice some changes when you get in there from Wednesday.

We’re excited to be making some fabulous improvements.

• The new online store will be more intuitive, have powerful search and navigation capabilities, and will have a much cleaner look
• It will work seamlessly on all devices – desktops, tablets and mobile phones. There’s even a new Feedback feature to help create a better shopping experience for you.
• You’ll see much larger pictures of the products so you can check out the close-ups before you decide to purchase.
• You can even sort and use the filter function to find exactly what you’re looking for.
• You’ll get real-time inventory status information, so you’ll know straight away if a product is on backorder or will be retiring soon, or if stock levels are low (so you can order before they run out).

Just something to note: If you rely on your browser to remember your login info (including password), the browser will probably ask for this information the first time you log in to the new site. If you remember your password you can just add it to the new site, or you can use the “Forgot Password” link and follow the steps to reset.

If you have the store link bookmarked as a ‘Favourite’ in your browser, it should redirect but you may need to update the saved link. You’ll know you’re still shopping with me if you see my name SIMONE BARTRUM in the top corner.

We’re so excited to bring this highly-anticipated and improved shopping experience to you.

5. Four Days of Facebook Fun

The Great Australian Craft Show is back from Thursday to Sunday, so make sure you check out my Stamping with Simone Facebook page for all the action.

Perfect timing with the launch of our new annual catalogue in the same week, so we’ll be bringing you NEW videos, NEW product spotlights, NEW giveaways and all the fun. I’ll be online during the day, ready to chat with you and respond to your comments. Hope you can join me!

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I’ll be back tomorrow to share my monthly YCCI (You Can Create It) project, which will be another sneak peek from the new catalogue. See you then!

Happy stamping,