New catalog means new projects!

 2023-2024 Annual Catalog is now LIVE!

It is the best of times... and sometimes the worst of times too. Every April as an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator, we learn what will not be returning in the product line, but also are introduced to some beautiful and exciting new products in the new catalog too. It is hard to say good-bye (that's why as a hobby demo, I don't - I keep what I like, and don't worry if it is old or retired!) to some of the favourites, and causes some urgency with me when I realize - uh oh, I didn't get that yet, and after the end of the month - I won't be able to!! Budgets make reality harsh though, and so I pick and choose. This year... I decided to focus my efforts on new rather than old. 

Stampin' Up! did a major colour refresh the year that I joined up (yay, 5 years this year for me!), so the timing was good as I did not have a lot. They changed the ink cases (for the better honestly), and I jumped in and got them all. This year, there was another refresh. Some of the past In Colors came back as regular core colours (yay me for keeping old things I just like!), and so I ordered all of the new ink pads. Some I had from before, but some were the old case style... so I splurged and replaced those. For the purposes of this post, I will focus on some of those colours. 

Bright and Beautiful, one of the new suites this year, has a beautiful (yes, I know I am repeating myself) DSP that I chose because it has so many of the new core colours in it, and face it... I just love bright and colourful when it comes to cards. I used Blueberry Bushel, a crisp and true blue that I adore, to set off the beautiful paper. Who doesn't love rainbows? I wanted to use the Cheerful Daisies dies as a focal point, but didn't want to use strong colours and take away from the paper. In comes Bubble Bath, our new pretty and perfect pink.  It is soft but truly a wonderful pink that mixes so well with the bright blue. The panels on the front are actually ombre DSP from the same set, and are the Bubble Bath pink colour as well. Also, the fun fold card was a great way to use different DSP to show it off!

The Cheerful Daisies set is another new suite in the annual catalog this year. I loved how it incorporated all of the new 2023-2025 In Colors (yes I know.. I toggle between Canadian/American spelling of the word, but hey... Stampin' Up! has their spelling, and the rest is mine 😉). The first jump into this set that I took had to focus on the DSP again. I used it as the main feature of my card fronts, matted it and adhered the panels to the card bases, all of which I used the new In Colors for. Wild Wheat, which I wasn't sure about but is definitely growing on me, Copper Clay, Boho Blue, Moody Mauve and Pebbled Path are all such soft and lovely colours. They work so well together, but I am also seeing a lot of samples where they stand on their own too. I think I will enjoy working with these colours over the next couple of years. 

One surprise in the colour refresh this year was that instead of saying good-bye, we got a "not so fast" - Fresh Freesia was set to retire with the other 2021-2023 In Colors, but it stayed! I am glad this slightly purple pink tone is sticking around. To celebrate, I got to use it before I even got any of my pre-order in, since I already had it in my collection! I chose the Pansy Patch and Dainty Delights stamp sets, which are continued in the new catalog, to help highlight this wonderful colour. 

I hope that you are able to find some things that make you smile in the new catalog release. Please check out the links on my page to SHOP WITH ME, and comment if you have a question, want to know how to do something, or just to say Hi, I like your stuff!