Stampin' Up! 2019-2021 In Colors

Let's not mince words... it's been a while. I've been wanting to revive this off & on for some time, but sorting out the whole Photobucket mess has put me off. But if I don't just start it'll never get done. Sidestepping the Photobucket situation for now, and just getting into the reason for this post. The new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue was unveiled at the recent On Stage event, and with it the new In Colors were revealed. Time for some comparisons with past and present Stampin' Up! colours to give you a better feel for how they will look until you can get them into your own hands!

I'm so looking forward to using these, particularly Purple Posy of course hehehehe. The Annual Catalogue goes live on June 4th, and then everyone can share in the joy of these lovely new colours

Farewell Hexagon Hive

Todays card doesn't focus on a stamp set, but a diecut thinlit. In fact, todays card has no stamping at all!

And back to the more involved cards! Going all-out with the honey/bee references, I ran some Hello Honey cardstock through the Big Shot with the hexagon thinlit. I had a few scraps of the bee paper from the English Garden DSP, so rather than stamp me some bees I cut them out of the paper. I did get a little inky by lightly sponging some Hello Honey ink on the edges of some of the cut out pieces from the hexagon thinlit and layered these in spaces where hexagons weren't cut out in the thinlit.

The leafy twigs are from the Bird Builder punch (which I'm still a bit stunned is retiring). I wasn't going to have any layers popped up on dimensionals, so give the card a little more dimension I didn't stick the twigs down flat all over. Just a little glue from the fine tip glue pen where the twigs overlapped, and a mini glue dot under one leaf on each twig to secure them at the other end.The bees are also attached with a mini glue dot, just one under their bodies so their wings can be bent up a little.

I used a couple of the sponged hexagon shapes inside the card to dress it up a little in there too.

Whenever I am working with yellow and green I find myself thinking of "green & gold" - often Australia's sporting colours - but by minimising the green I think I successfully avoided this card eliciting an "Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi!" effect.

133685 Hello Honey A4 cardstock, 133683 Mossy Meadow A4 cardstock, 138345 Delightful Dijon A4 cardstock, 119982 Soft Suede A4 cardstock, 138440 English Garden DSP, 133643 Hello Honey stamp pad, 132965 Hexagon Hive thinlit die, 138275 Greetings thinlit dies, 117191 Bird Builder punch, 133773 sponge daubers, 138309 Fine-tip glue pen, 103683 mini glue dots

Farewell Enjoy The Little Things Part 2

Hello again all! Todays card is another one to send off Enjoy The Little Things.

My cards have been quite simple of late, but this easily takes the cake! Just the cardbase with a sentiment on a couple of layers of cardstock. That said, in my usual style I had to do it in a way that wasn't quick...

For the stamping on the card base I used the square of dots image and inked it up on an inkpad first then coloured the smaller dots with the Chocolate Chip marker. While some will think I am crazy for going with such a fiddly technique I would point out I wasn't crazy enough to ink all the dots individually with a marker :P (never say never though!)

140958 Enjoy The Little Things photopolymer stamp set, 121685 Crumb Cake A4 cardstock, 133686 Lost Lagoon A4 cardstock, 106549 Whisper White A4 cardstock, 133644 Lost Lagoon stamp pad, 126959 Wild Wasabi stamp pad, 131261 Neutrals markers, 104430 dimensionals

Farewell Enjoy The Little Things

Enjoy The Little Things is a set from the Occasions catalogue that won't be carrying over to the new Stampin' Up! catalogue. It coordinates with the Enjoy The Little Things Project Kit, but the set has some nice sentiments that work just as well for cards. For todays card I'm using a sentiment I've used before because I really love the font.

The long leafy image in the set reminded me of the Lost Lagoon paper in the English Garden DSP, so I came up with a design that worked in both. I deliberately stamped it so the image went off the edge both top and bottom and it would look a little more natural. After punching out the sentiment I edged the circle with a Basic Black marker to give the edge a bit more definition and make it pop out against the DSP behind it.

The Lost Lagoon cardstock, English Garden DSP, and the Enjoy The Little Things stamp set are all retiring and all still currently available.

140958 Enjoy The Little Things photopolymer stamp set, 133686 Lost Lagoon A4 cardstock, 124391 Pool Party A4 cardstock, 106577 Night Of Navy A4 cardstock, 138440 English Garden DSP, 126982 Pool Party stamp pad, 126970 Night Of Navy stamp pad, 100082 Basic Black marker, 133782 2" circle punch, 104430 dimensionals

Farewell Flowering Flourishes Part 2

Another Flowering Flourishes card for you today, this time a more simple one than yesterday.

For this card I stamped the large image using VersaMark and heat embossed in silver towards the top of a piece of Farmers Market DSP. The sentiment is from the You're So Lovely set, which I stamped on Smoky Slate with Blackberry Bliss ink and cut it out using the large straight die from the Bitty Banners framelits. I used a couple of mini silver brads to attach it to the card front, and used a few more mini brads to create a line across the card.

I again stamped the smallest image from Flowering Flourishes on the inside to dress it up a little.

There's quite a bit of retired product on this card, and some of it is already sold out in some format. The Blackberry Bliss A4 cardstock is completely sold out, however you still get Blackberry Bliss in some mixed colour packs. The Flowering Flourishes stamp set is sold out in clear-mount, but still available in wood-mount. You're So Lovely stamp set, Farmers Market DSP, mini brads, and Bitty Banners framelits are all still currently available

131998 Flowering Flourishes woodmount stamp set, 140762 You're So Lovely photopolymer stamp set, 133687 2014-2016 In Color A4 cardstock, 131291 Smoky Slate A4 cardstock, 138448 Farmers Market DSP, 133642 Blackberry Bliss stamp pad, 102283 VersaMark stamp pad, 109131 silver embossing powder, 122941 mini brads, 129267 Bitty Banner frameit dies

Farewell Flowering Flourishes

The Flowering Flourishes stamp set has been a long favourite of mine. Swirly bits, flowers, even the shape of individual leaves... I love every bit of it. The way OnStage events run is that we received the new catalogue at the event and the retiring list was announced a few days later. When flicking through the new catalogue you will particuarly notice many new items, and it might not be until your third or fourth look through that you will notice things that aren't there. I noticed a few new stamp sets with a vaguely similar style when I flicked through the catalogue the first time, but it wasn't till later when I was having a slower more thorough look that I realised that Flowering Flourishes was absent. Even though there are some new leafy/flowery/swirly sets in the new catalogue I don't think I will ever let go of Flowering Flourishes.

For todays card I was still in the mood for something with a simple look. This is one of those cards that while simple in appearance, is not a quick one. I started with a Marina Mist watercolour wash on watercolour paper for my background. Before I could stamp on the watercolour paper the wash background needed to dry. You can speed this up with a heat gun, but I prefer the natural approach and let it air dry.

While it can take some time for a large washbackground to dry, a few things essentially cancelled this out. The first was that I made two cards at the same time. So while the background for this card was starting to dry, I was creating another. Also, doing the wash background was the first step I did in making the card, so I had other elements to work on while the backgrounds continued to dry. There was the card base to cut and fold, sentiment to stamp and punch out, ribbon and gold thread to measure (well, guess-timate) and cut, and stamps to prepare.

The floral background is made up of two stamps with the one at the top of the card a good deal larger than the other. Even if I have used a stamp before I like to give it a test stamp on scrap/grid paper before stamping it on my cardstock to check for any issues and get some ink on the rubber. The theory with the later is that by already having some ink on the rubber, when I go to stamp my image for real more of the ink will transfer to the cardstock. I've no idea if anyone has done a scientific study on this, but that's the notion I have had in my head for years. With the main image being so large, it takes a little while to ink up with markers, so after doing a test stamp and reinking the image and all those other things I did after making the backgrounds, the first background was dry and ready to stamp on - no time wasted!

There are three stamps in the  Flowering Flourishes set, and I couldn't let the third miss out on this card... so it is stamped on the inside.

Aside from the Flowering Flourishes stamp set, other retiring products used for this card are the sentiment (which comes from the Enjoy The Little Things set), the oval punch, Blackberry Bliss cardstock and marker and the Rich Razzleberry cotton ribbon.

Flowering Flourishes clear-mount stamp set 126367, Enjoy The Little Things photopolymer stamp set 140958, Blackberry Bliss A4 cardstock 133682, Watercolour paper 122959, Very Vanilla A4 cardstock 106550, Marina Mist stamp pad 126962, Blackberry Bliss stamp pad 133642, Black Berry Bliss marker from the 2014-2016 In Colors marker pack 133654, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive markers from the Brights collection marker pack 131259 or Many Marvelous Markers pack 131264, aquapainter 103954, Rich Razzleberry cotton ribbon 134564, gold metallic thread 138401, Large Oval punch 119855, dimensionals 104430

Farewell A Nice Cuppa

I intended blogging about these cards before I went away, but fate had other ideas. When I went to photograph them I found one of my lights was no longer working properly, making it hard to take good photos. I ordered a new light, not expecting it to arrive before I headed off to OnStage in Sydney, but I was caught out by great service and the light arrived days before I left... and I didn't get an opportunity to take the photos in the mayhem of getting organised to go away.

However, things have probably worked out for the best as now I can point out the retired product that I used on them! A Nice Cuppa and the coordinating Cups & Kettle dies will not be carrying over to the new Stampin' Up! main catalogue. I'm quite sad about that and a little surprised by it - I know I'm not alone in enjoying a cuppa! Designer Series Paper usually retires, so the Timeless Eelgance DSP retiring wasn't a shock, but I wasn't expecting the metalic Baker's Twine to retire - indeed I had only just ordered it a few weeks ago (after forgetting for months on end!). I really like the metallic Baker's Twine as a non-white option with a twist of bling.

I didn't have much of a plan when I sat down to make these cards, I just wanted something quite simple so flicked through my patterened papers to pick something I thought would work well with the tea cups. I then cut a bunch of tea cups out of a few different papers from the pack and started thinking about the layout, working with large pieces of the paper in the background.

The Timeless Elegance paper was such a great choice, and well named! I managed to keep the Wink Of Stella brush away from these cards, instead just a touch of bling in the pearls and silver metallic Baker's Twine.

I often have stretches of every card being in this landscape orientation, and I have noticed I haven't done that for a while, so mixed it up a bit with one design this way.

It can be tricky to attach vellum to a card so you won't have adhesive showing through the vellum. For the "steam" on these cards I left the exposed vellum unattached, and the little bit that is behind the die cut tea cup is the only spot where it is stuck to anything.

While I used a number of different papers from the Timeless Elegance pack, I didn't use any with Sahra Sand on them. Instead I added Basic Gray and Smoky Slate to the mix.

A Nice Cuppa stamp set & Cups & Kettles framelit dies 141074, Basic Black A4 cardstock 121688, Basic Gray A4 cardstock 121689, Smoky Slate A4 cardstock 131291, Very Vanilla A4 cardstock 106550, vellum A4 cardstock 106584, Timeless Elegance designer series paper 138444, Basic Gray archival stamp pad 140932, Smoky Slate stamp pad 131179, Lots Of Labels framelits 138281, Pearl Basic Jewels 119247, silver metallic Baker's Twine 132976, dimensionals 104430

2016-2018 In Colors

While I can't show a lot from the new catalogue just yet, I can share things from OnStage local. Getting to see the new catalogue is always an exciting thing, but probably the thing I look forward to the most is getting my hands on the new In Colors. This year I was more excited than ever as they had given demonstrators a sneak peek via a video showing the bag we would receive at OnStage that featured the new colours. We could see there was a new purple, but photography and video aren't a reliable source for accurate colour references as lighting can dramatically affect how things look. So rather than share a photo of the new colours, here's a more accurate graphic for you comparing the new colours to past and present Stampin' Up! colours:

I'm super pumped about these colours, and not just because there is a purple! They look like fun colours to play with, even Emerald Envy that is similar to the Glorious Green that was around when Stampin' Up! launched in Australia 10 years ago... it's funny how you can suddenly see a colour in a whole new light. I'm really looking forward to coming up with colour combinations with these new colours once I get my hands on them properly.

Retiring List

Hello everyone! I've been there & back again to OnStage Local, the Stampin' Up! event in Sydney over the weekend, where I got a look at the up coming catalogue, play with some new product and bring new goodies home. I can't share any of that with you yet though, sorry! But it will be worth the wait!

What I can share is that the list of retiring products has been released this morning. There's some much loved items that I'll be very sad to see go, and now that they are being discontinued they will only be available while stocks last. So if there are items still on your wishlist that are now retiring I urge you to get in quick so you don't miss out. I've mentioned it a few times over the last few weeks but the retiring In Colors tend to sell out very quickly once the retiring list is announced so if you haven't already got in & order up any of those items before now DO IT ASAP so you aren't disappointed!

Retiring items can be found in the online store in two categories, stamps and everything else.

Over the next two weeks I will be focusing on projects using retiring items, and hopefully inspiration won't come to you too late to get the products before they're gone!

Also don't forget today is the last day to take advantage of the Weekly Deals.

Weekly Deals 13th April 2016

As announced last week, Weekly Deals will end on April 19th. That means this week is it's last week, and there's another bumper crop of specials for you to snap up while you can.

To shop for these items you can click on the image above or click HERE. Remember these items are only available at this special price until next Tuesday night 11:50pm (AEDT).

Bear Hugs And Lake Fish

I have a few family members who are keen fishers, so I am always happy to see a fishing related stamp set.

We have a lake nearby, so this sentiment was also very fitting for the recipient of this card. I created a bit of a lake scene, and got what I thought was a brilliant idea for waves on the lake made using a die from the Cups & Kettles framelits die set. Both the bear & the fish were stamped on watercolour paper and watercoloured using the aquapainter and ink from the inkpads. The fish was done with very diluted Night Of Navy ink, and the light areas on the bear are Tip Top Taupe, with Early Espresso for the darker areas.

Bear Hugs clear-mount stamp set & Bear Hugs framelits dies bundle 140823, Night Of Navy A4 cardstock 106577, Very Vanilla A4 cardstock 106550, Island Indigo A4 cardstock 124390, Tip Top Taupe A4 cardstock 138343, watercolour paper 122959, Basic Black archival stamp pad, Night Of Navy stamp pad 126970, Tip Top Taupe stamp pad 138325, Early Espresso stamp pad 126974, Cups & Kettles framelits dies 140624, Large Numbers framelits dies 140622, Aquapainter 103954, dimensionals 104430

Weekly Deals April 5th 2016

This morning I bring you big news from Stampin' Up!

That's right, there are only two weeks left of Weekly Deals! There will be special offers from time to time after April 19, they just won't be as frequent as the Weekly Deals were. But in the mean time there are plenty of bargains to be had (and don't forget the retirement list will be coming out soon), look at the heap of Weekly Deals on offer this week:

To shop for these items you can click on the image above or click HERE. Remember these items are only available at this special price until next Tuesday night 11:50pm (AEDT).

Sunburst Shine

Today's card has been brewing in my head for some time and I'm glad I finally got to work out my vision for it.

When I saw the Sunburst die in the Occasions catalogue, I got the idea of using the die off-cuts - as is my habit of late - for additional sun rays. Once I got to fiddling around with the bits I decided that I would use them on top of the main die cut part. This is what it looked like once I had all the Sunburst pieces put together.

I have also had the idea of using the metallic threads for stitching kicking around in my head for some time, and I thought it would work really well with the Sunburst die as more sun rays. When I was doing the colours for the sun I realised that the die had little holes in it that would work great as a guide for the stitching.

I used three In Colors in this card, two of which will be retiring soon. I know I have said it before, but I see it happen every year... people wait till the retirement list comes out to purchase In Colors products and sometimes they have sold out within the first day and they miss out. So this is another reminder - get in and order those 2014-2016 In Colors before it's too late!

Sunburst Sayings clear mount stamp set & Sunburst thinlits die bundle  140807, Tangelo Twist A4 cardstock 133684, Blackberry Bliss A4 cardstock133682, Crushed Curry A4 cardstock 131288, Delightful Dijon A4 cardstock 138345, Perfect Plum A4 cardstock 108615, Blackberry Bliss133642 stamp pad , Perfect Plum stamp pad 126963, gold metallic thread 138401, Metallics sequin assortment 138390, 2" circle punch 133782, Circle collection framelit dies 130911, dimensionals 104430

Weekly Deals March 30th 2016

Here are this weeks Weekly Deals:

To shop for these items you can click on the image above or click HERE. Remember these items are only available at this special price until next Tuesday night 11:50pm (AEDT).

Mother's Day Rose

Yes, I know I said it'd be a while before I had another card with the Rose Garden dies, but I have to slip in this one even though it is very early for Mother's Day. I usually start thinking about Mother's Day cards when it's Easter as that is the next "big day" on everyone's calendar, aside from all the birthdays that are scattered (or clumped...) through the year. Easter Sunday is tomorrow, though it is at the "early" end of the possible timeframe for Easter.

The main reason that I had to share this now is that awesome glitterly strip down the right side of the card will not be available very soon. Sale-a-bration ends March 31, less than a week away! So you have less than a week to earn fabulous free goodies like the Metallics Glitter Tape. This was just the sort of thing I was wanting last year when working on Christmas cards, so I let out a huge "YES!" when it was released among the second wave of Sale-a-bration products. It will not be carrying over into the new Stampin' Up! catalogue so if you don't want to miss out you have only a few days left to snap it up. Sale-a-bration items can be earnt on any order for any products that total $90 and over.

Back to the oranges and yellows for this one!

Teeny Tiny Sentiments wood-mounted stamp set 130042, Rose Wonder stamp set & Rose Garden thinlits dies bundle 140804, Cucumber Crush A4 cardstock 138342, Pool Part A4 cardstock 124391, Tangelo Twist A4 cardstock 133684, Crushed Curry A4 cardstock 131288, thick Whisper White A4 cardstock 140490, Pool Part stamp pad 126982, Cucumber Crush stamp pad 138324, Metallics Glitter Tape 141020 (free with qualifying order), fine-tip glue pen 138309, dimensionals 104430

Weekly Deals March 23rd 2016

Here are this weeks Weekly Deals:

To shop for these items you can click on the image above or click HERE. Remember these items are only available at this special price until next Tuesday night 11:50pm (AEDT).

Rose Wonder Birthday

I hope you haven't been getting sick of all the Rose Wonder/Rose Garden cards, but I've had so much fun playing with them. I do promise though that this will be the last for a while. I thought it only fitting that I used Watermelon Wonder for a Rose Wonder card.

I really am loving Tip Top Taupe as another neutral colour to use. I find it so fascinating how seemingly small differences in colour can affect the overall look of a colour combination - as well as how much of each colour you use!

Once again I cut the rose twice and trimmed one of the pieces down so it was just the flower part, and mounted that right on top of the full piece. The fine tip glue pen is fantastic for jobs like this.

And of course I couldn't call this card complete without some Wink Of Stella.

Rose Wonder stamp set & Rose Garden thinlits dies bundle 140804, Pear Pizzazz A4 cardstock 131290, Tip Top Taupe A4 cardstock 138343, Pool Party A4 cardstock 124391, Watermelon Wonder A4 cardstock 138341, Watermelon Wonder stamp pad 138323, Tip Top Taupe Dotted Lace trim 138422, clear Wink Of Stella glitter brush 141897, Fine-tip glue pen 138309, dimensionals 104430