Welcome and thank you for joining me for Day 2 of the Great Australian Craft Show (read about Day 1 here), and it also coincides with our monthly YCCI You Can Create It post.

[If you’re new to my site, you can learn more about this fun international by-mail program in my launch post. FYI: I have just 1 leftover kit for the May-June 2020 mail out. First one to message me about it gets it – only $25 includes postage to anywhere in Australia]

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A Tropical Oasis? Yes please!

It’s freezing cold today and I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind being in a tropical oasis right about now. Just hearing the name of this suite of products almost takes me there.  Hmmm. I can almost smell the Pina Colada.

This video shows some fantastic hints and tips about the products that make up this suite – it was a lightbulb moment for me with that burlap trim! Many of the products in this suite are retiring so if anything grabs your eye you can get them here (Australia only). It also happens to be the paper that was included in the April YCCI kits that were sent out earlier this month. 

YCCI April Packs

This month’s pack included:

• a couple of panels of Tropical Oasis designer series paper
• Tropical Oasis trinkets and
• a generous length of the lovely Braided Burlap Trim

I stuck to a favourite go-to layout to make this card for a friend.

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Design Team Projects

Want to see what our talented YCCI Design Team created?

Of course you do! Be ready to be wowed because they have seriously outdone themselves this time.

[If the links for the designer’s names don’t work, check back in a couple of hours. Their posts won’t go live until 5pm Mel time – I’m posting this early for the GACS2 visitors xxx]

Thanks for visiting today. Now it’s time for me to get back to my tropical oasis…

Happy stamping, 

Hi friends, Today kicked off a virtual online craft show run by the organisers of CraftAlive – #greataustraliancraftshow.

If you’re visiting me from my CraftAlive ‘virtual stand’ on the website or even from their facebook page, welcome! You can read more about my story here.

I’ve been an exhibitor at CraftAlive for more years than I can remember – both in my local venue of Ballarat but also at other venues around Victoria. It’s a fabulous in-person craft fair and I love sharing the (slightly addictive) hobby of cardmaking and Stampin’ Up! products with visitors. A special big hello to all the lovely people that stop by my stand each time for a chat and a browse and to make cards with me.

Unfortunately, like most events this year, the in-person event was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

To keep our crafting community happy and inspired we’re all doing a bit more online these days, so an online craft show was a natural transition.

How does it work? Like a regular craft show it has set days and hours (from today until Monday, from 9.30-4pm daily). During those times the exhibitors – including me! – are online and available for instant chats and replies, and to offer any help needed. I’ll be readily available over on Facebook as well as the usual ways to contact me. There’ll be a bit of structure to my day so you can know what to expect:

These are all happening over on my Stamping with Simone Facebook page.

Today’s video went live at midday and it features this fun birthday card with some handy tips. [link to video].

As a bonus for my blog readers, here’s a free downloadable project sheet featuring the dino card in today’s video!

That adorable dinosaur paper used on this card is retiring so won’t be available for much longer. It’s also on special! Now only AUD$16 for a pack of 12 double sided pages. You can make a *lot* of card with just one pack of paper! Check it out here.

Hot tip: Add your address below to be notified when I add a new post

Happy stamping, 

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View all the retiring items in the online store

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TODAY’S the DAY! The Retiring List is out now. 

It’s your last chance to get these items as they won’t be in the new annual catalogue.

This is the catalogue that will be finishing soon:

A few items are listed as retiring but WILL be back, just in a different configuration or packaging and therefore with a different item code (like the Stampin’ Blends which are NOT retiring).

The 10% off bundles always only last 1 year but some of those items will be available individually next year, just at full price. If you’re not sure, check the downloadable files below and look for the asterisks * which always provide more info.

TOP TIP: To see all the retiring items visually, the easiest way is to look in the online store here.

DOWNLOADS

Do you like to print out the retiring list and mark the outgoing items with a highlighter? I do too!

I like to open up the excel spreadsheet and I delete the bits I don’t need (like the discounted product bundles, seeing they always retire and may or may not be back in as individual items), and then I sort it in PAGE order. I use that to go through the catalogue and highlight things that are going.
Don’t forget! The Stampin’ Blends are NOT retiring, so maybe start by deleting those. And don’t forget to check those asterisks *.

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Annual catalogue retiring list PDF

Annual catalogue retiring list EXCEL (sortable spreadsheet)

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Mini catalogue retiring list PDF

Mini catalogue retiring list EXCEL (sortable spreadsheet)

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If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

I’m happy to help you with your order, or you can jump over to my online shop and do it all yourself. As usual, if your order is over $250 you’ll get 10% back (minimum) in free products!

Happy stamping, 

Every month a little packet of papercraft supplies becomes the basis of our challenge with the You Can Create It – International (YCCI) team. Our mission is to turn those elements into a card, or gift packaging, or some other finished project.

In this month’s packet of supplies, each YCCI (You Can Create It) recipient got a kraft Pillow Box, one of the cute Best Dressed tassels and a length of white Baker’s Twine.

I decided to streeeeeetch my box, by cutting it in half and then inserting an extra panel of cardstock/paper in between the ends. This was secured with liquid glue so that it wouldn’t come loose. The ends of the pillow box still open and close like normal.

The Night of Navy patterned paper came out of the ‘extra materials’ packet that was also included for the January-March subscribers, namely the Neutrals 6×6 Designer Series Paper pack.

The tassels in the packs were all different colours, but I wanted to share a cool idea for colouring them. This technique works with most colours, although it’s definitely more noticable on white or light-coloured tassels.

The tassle was coloured with Stampin’ Blends, starting with the darkest colour at the tips and then gradually applying light colours.

The Thank You sentiment, the die cut label, and the decorative die cut border were all from the brand new Ornate Garden products that I shared in this post.

The sentiment was stamped and coloured with the ‘ombre stamping’ technique. If you’d like a demo on how that was done, just leave a comment or reach out to me and I’d be happy to share that here on my blog.

YCCI International Design Team

Let’s check out what the fabulous design team created with these same supplies.

How amazing is all that!

I love seeing how everyone uses the same products but they all end up looking so different. How funny that a few of us all did the ‘extended pillow box’ idea – great minds think alike. hehehe

LAST CALL: If you would like to grab one of the April-June YCCI/You Can Create It kits just get in touch. I’m finalising the list and will be packaging then all up over the next week.

Happy stamping, 

A new month brings NEW PRODUCTS from Stampin’ Up!

With all the angst and uncertainty in our world, I’m hearing from many of my customers about how much they are enjoying the diversion of craft at this difficult time. With that in mind, I’ll continue to share these new products with you but please know that my thoughts and prayers are with all those who are suffering at this time, as the whole world battles the Coronavirus.

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The ORNATE GARDEN suite of products will be in the upcoming annual Stampin’ Up! catalogue, but we’re getting an early release of these products. How nice! Something fun for us to use to create pretty cards and other projects.

Now there’s a lot going on here, so let me break it down for you.

There are two sets of stamp and die bundles. All items are available separately of course, but you will save 10% if you buy the stamp set and coordinating dies as a bundle at the same time.

The bundles are called ORNATE THANKS and ORNATE STYLE.

ORNATE THANKS

The Ornate Thanks stamps work together to create all kinds of thankful phrases to convey just the right message.

The Ornate Border dies are something special.
Two of the wider floral dies actually cut on one side of the image only. The other side remains intact on the cardstock. This is handy for creating decorate edges on the side of the cardstock, or as a layering panel to go over a contrasting colour.

There are other border dies too, with detailed cuts and patterns. Gorgeous!

I can see I’ll be using this set a lot.

ORNATE STYLE

The Ornate Style stamp set includes 4 amazing outline images, that are perfect for those who love to colour! Grab those Stampin’ Blends, watercolour pencils or sponge daubers and get to it.

It also includes a couple of pretty decorative flourish stamps.

The Ornate Layers Dies is a generous set of 8 dies, including 5 decorative label dies and 2 accent dies. I used these dies within minutes of taking them out of the box! They all nest too, so you can create gorgeous frames as well as matt layers.

And more. . .

The fun doesn’t stop there.

The Ornate Garden suite also includes these coordinating extras:

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Learn more about all the products in this gorgeous suite here.

You can even watch a video about it here.

Reminder: YCCI Orders now due

I’m currently finalising registration for the You Can Create It packs for the upcoming April-June quarter.

If you would like to get a pack of happy mail with surprise products to play with, please email today or reach out via my Facebook page.
Cost is AUD$25 and includes delivery!

Read more about this program on our YCCI post last month or the one before that (February) or January’s post.

If you have purchased one of these before and expressed interest in getting this quarter’s too, you can go ahead and finalise your payment now. Thank you!

Take care this April, my friends. Stay safe and well.

Happy stamping, 

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,