We have all found ourselves in a strange new world where the best thing we can do for our community is to #StayAtHome.

I don’t know about you, but I’m planning to use this time to get a whole lot of things ticked off my To Do list.

Have you got one of those lists?
Who are we kidding, we ALL have one!
‘When I have time I will…”, “One day I will…”, “I really need to…”

Apart from tidying up the linen press, doing some gardening, painting the bathroom – plus a gazillion other things – one thing I’m looking forward to doing is making and sending a whole lot of cards.

Because #socialdistancing shouldn’t mean social disconnecting.

In fact, now more than ever, snail mail is needed to keep us connected to our friends and family.

So, if getting back into cardmaking is one of the things you want to do while you #StayAtHome, now is the perfect time to clean up your craft space and do a little stocktake.

Make sure you have everything you need, and if not you can contact me and I’ll take care of it for you, or you can jump over to my online store and order what you need. To help with that I’ve put together a little stocktake checklist for you.

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Craft Supplies Stocktake

These are some of my most-used products, the ones I re-order as soon as they run out.

Do you have a similar list?

Adhesives

• Liquid glue (aka Tombow or ‘the green glue’)
• Snail adhesive refills
• Glue dots
• Foam strips
• Stampin’ Dimensionals

Paper Essentials

• White envelopes
• White standard cardstock
• White thick cardstock (for card bases)
• Crumb Cake cardstock
• Cardstock colours that coordinate with my ink pads
• Shimmery White cardstock
• Gold foil sheets
• Silver foil sheets

Ink Essentials

• Versamark & refill
• Stazon black (when colouring with water-based products)
• Stazon refill
• Memento black (when colouring with alcohol markers)
• Memento refill

Embellishment Essentials

• Wink of Stella glimmer brush
• Copper Trim (can be stretched and holds its shape)
• Linen Thread

Tools

• Trimmer
• Replacement Trimmer Blades
• Cutting plates for die cutting machine
• Grid paper
• Score board
• Paper Snips

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Free Gift with Purchase

Don’t forget, Sale-a-bration is still on! (But only until Tuesday).

So for the next few days you can choose one of these gifts for FREE with every order over $90.

If your order is over $180 then you can choose from these options.

If your order is over $169 then you might want to think about joining Stampin’ Up!. There’s no better time to join than during Sale-A-Bration, when you get special perks that you won’t see any other time of year. Until Tuesday you will receive a mini paper cutter, a 6″ x 6″ designer series paper sampler and your choice of a stamp set to any value, as well as $235 worth of products of your choice!

Plus of course you’ll get 20% off future purchase. More info here.

Stay safe everyone and remember to #StayAtHome.

Happy stamping, 

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Welcome to the Colour INKspiration Blog Hop. We are a group of Stampin’ Up! ® Demonstrators who love to create papercraft projects using Pinterest-inspired colour combinations. Every second and fourth Wednesday of the month our design team showcase projects using the featured colour palette. Our ‘home’ is the Colour INKspiration Facebook Group where we encourage everyone to join in by uploading their projects to highlight the current colour combo.

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No matter where you are in the world, I think it’s fair to say that we all find this to be an unusual time. Heartbreaking, scary but also filled with hope and so many examples of human kindness.

The sentiment on my card was chosen for this very reason….
“Thank you for making a difference in my life”. Even in lockdown and with the threat of a growing pandemic outside our doors, there are many ways we can make a positive difference in other people’s lives.

I was craving for normalcy this week so was thrilled to join the latest Colour INKspiration challenge. Not only that, but the photo used for our inspiration this time was one that I took – and what an honour it is to have my photo chosen!

It was taken on a trip to the gorgeous island of Mykonos during the 2019 Stampin’ Up! Incentive Trip. Honestly, it was my favourite day of the Greek Isles trip and just looking at this picture brings back fabulous memories.

My 16 year-old daughter and I went ‘exploring‘ in Mykonos Town, which translates to mean ‘we got hopelessly and blissfully lost‘. The winding streets were almost like a maze, but it was truly beautiful to be a part of it.

For my card I chose the By The Dock bundle, which has been a popular choice with my customers over the past month or two.

Colours used are Mango Melody, Night of Navy, white and gray.

I used Stampin’ Blends to colour the outline images, and watercolour paper washed with Navy ink was the ‘water’.

Will you join us this month? Don’t forget to jump over to the CI Challenge page to see what others have created with these colours, or to share your own creation.

Stay safe everyone and don’t forget to practice #socialdistancing.

Happy stamping, 

Hi friends, Welcome to the latest YCCI (You Can Create It) Challenge post.

Our February supply packets were so pretty and shiny. They included a panel of Parisian Blossoms specialty paper, a piece of Champagne foil sheet, half sheets of Petal Pink and Pool Party cardstock, and some gorgeous Champagne Rhinestones.

I decided to use the eiffel tower side of my patterned paper, and used it as a background in a die-cut frame.

The sentiment is white embossed on Vellum, which allows the patterned paper to still show through.

There was *just enough* champagne foil sheet to use as a frame and also cut the pretty die cut shape.

This gorgeous die is from the Flourish Dies set, and has been on my mind lately after helping a customer order it on the weekend. I was reminded of just how beautiful this die is, and I couldn’t wait to use it again. It’s one of my all-time favourites!

A very big thank you to my YCCI subscribers for this quarter who shared their February creations with me.

Here’s a picture of Jacque’s gorgeous cards…

And here are some from Chris…

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Design Team Projects

Thanks to the awesome YCCI Design Team for sharing their projects with us.

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Would you like to play along?

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

Let’s create!

BREAKING NEWS: Brand new SALE-A-BRATION products are now available! Check them out here.

Happy stamping, 

During the month of January our new group of YCCI (You Can Create It – International) subscribers received their quarterly packets of happy mail.

The box included a variety of products to experiment with – one for each month of January to March – plus bonus products to use at any time.

This is the packet they created with during January…

It included two heart doilies in Flirty Flamingo and Real Red colours, a generous length of Real Red Double-Stitched Satin Ribbon, thick Whisper White cardstock and a few Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

What would you create with these items?

It’s fun to let your imagination go wild.

This is what I made…

It was such a fun card our stamp club groups are making this one in February, along with a couple of other cards.

Hearts aren’t just for Valentines Day! So far we have turned this card into a birthday card, ‘my heart is with you’ card and a Thinking of You card just by changing the sentiment.

This card uses some of the gorgeous shimmery paper from the From My Heart Specialty Series Paper pack.

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Design Team Projects

Would you like to see what the design team came up with? Once again, a fabulous array of talented creativity.

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Subscriber Creations

One of our Aussie YCCI subscribers was super speedy and shared her January creation with me only a day after opening her packet. Many thanks Debbie!

Would you like to play along?

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

Let’s create!

Happy stamping, 

The NEW Mini Catalogue is officially live and Sale-a-bration has begun. Our favourite time of the year, and the BEST time to shop Stampin’ Up! or join our amazing community.  

New Mini Catalogue

Open and flick through the online Mini Catalogue (click image above)

Browse the online store for new products HERE

Gifts With Purchase

Between now and the end of March 2020 you’ll earn free Sale-a-bration gifts with qualifying purchases. Most of these items to choose from are available when your order reaches $90, although some can only be redeemed when you place a $180 order.

There’s no limit to how many gifts you choose!

The more you spend, the more free products you can choose.

I’m loving these adorable meerkats at the moment. So cute! One of the options you can choose as your free stamp set.

And don’t forget you’ll still earn the usual Stampin’ Rewards of at least 10% back in free products when your total order reaches $250.

This really is the perfect time to stock up on your Stampin’ Up! supplies!

View the free gifts to choose from HERE

Joining Bonuses

Interested in joining or re-joining Stampin’ Up!? There’s no better time to join than during Sale-A-Bration, when you get special perks that you won’t see any other time of year. 

Sign up now and you’ll score:

• a BONUS mini paper cutter (guillotine-style which is absolutely perfect for keeping close at hand when crafting),
• a FREE 6″ x 6″ paper sampler and
• your choice of an EXTRA stamp set [Hot tip: This set can be any value so go ahead and choose the most expensive one on your wish list]

You’ll also get the usual benefits of joining:

• products of your choice to the value of $235
• handy business supplies valued at $80 which includes catalogues and all the paperwork you need to get started should you choose to kick off your own business
• Free Delivery on the whole big box! 

That’s potentially over $400 worth of goodies for a total cost of only $169.

This is the gift that keeps on giving too, because after you get this starter kit you’ll be eligible for 20% off your future Stampin’ Up! purchases. 

I can’t wait to welcome you to my gorgeous team. Email me with any questions, or go ahead and join now at https://simonebartrum.stampinup.net/join_now.

Happy stamping, 

Happy New Year!

A very warm welcome back for 2020. I still can’t believe we are even saying ‘twenty twenty’! Crazy that’s it’s already 2 decades since the turn of the millennium.

But here we are, and we’re welcoming in the new year with the final YCCI (You Can Create It – International) Challenge from the previous quarter.

Our subscribers had a fun packet to create with during December…

It included a two pieces of the gorgeous Feels Like Frost Specialty paper (with silver on the reverse side), a panel of Vellum and a generous length of Seaside Spray Metallic Ribbon.

This is what I created…

It also uses some Whisper White cardstock (for the inside) and a Night of Navy card base – both of which were included in the ‘extra items’ for our YCCI subscribers.

It was a little tricky stamping on the vellum, so I covered the stamped sentiment with clear embossing powder then heat set it. This ensured that the Navy ink wouldn’t run on the vellum.

And here is another idea. This card was actually the monthly kit I sent out to team members in September, but it uses the same supplies.

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Design Team Projects

Would you like to see what the design team came up with? They have outdone themselves yet again.

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Register Your Interest

• Registration for the next quarter (January – March kits) IS NOW CLOSED.
• I am now taking names for the April-June 2020 quarterly kits.
• Message me via Facebook or email to secure your spot.
• First-time subscribers: AUD$25 per quarter including delivery.
• You will get 3 x monthly kits (one each for April, May, June) PLUS an extra full-size item from the current Stampin’ Up! catalogues PLUS extra materials (such as cardstock and embellishments) that you can use to finish off your monthly project.
• All items are beautifully packaged in a secure box and delivered to your door.

Happy stamping,