Hello and goodbye

Stampin' Up! has come up with some good news and some bad news this week.

The good news is that after a long period of consultation and reviewing of sales - Stampin' Up! has decided to completely renovate its colour palette. We have had the 48 main colours in their 4 colour families for many years but as of October 1 its going to be all change!

Instead of colour families, we will be having colour collections, and they will each contain only 10 colours rather than the 12 in each family that we have now. Below is the chart showing what will be in the new collections - and while there are some familiar names some old favourites will be missing. But the really good news - we are getting the fabulous new "IN COLOURS" which are limited edition colours which have been available in the other SU markets for a while, and they are finally coming to Europe! In colours usually only stayed for a year - but from October they will be here for 2 years - with 5 new colours coming each year.

So what will be missing from the new catalogues when they arrive on your doorsteps in late September?

Well - here's a chart showing the colours which will no longer be available (sob!! No more Taken with Teal or Handsome Hunter!!) - check to see if your favourite is staying or going - and don't leave it until the last minute to order any cardstock, inkpads or refills you may want as no doubt stocks of the retiring colours will soon run down!

As always - if I can help you, please get in touch!

The mini is here!!

Well its the first of April - but the Stampin' UP! new mini catalogue which launches today is no joke.

It has 24 pages of wonderful goodies to tempt you and if you can't wait for the real life paper copy, check out the online version on the Stampin' Up! website. If you would like a real catalogue to drool over please get in touch

Those of you who visited me over the weekend during the ILWS Blog hop will no doubt have seen loads of lovely ideas using the new goodies from my fellow UK Demos and now all of them are available for you to order

Did my offerings below inspire you? Would you like to recreate them yourself? Well here is a list of the products I used

Dasher Christmas card box

Dasher stamp - 116816 (£6.95) NEW!

Sincere salutations stamp set - 105156 (£18.95)

Whisper white A4 card - 109899 (£5.50 for 40 sheets!)

Basic grey A4 card - 110198 (£4.50 for 24 sheets in mixed colours)

Regal Rose cardstock - 110002 (£4.50 for 24 sheets)

Basic Grey Classic Inkpad - 110058 (£4.25)

Basic Black 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon - 117386 (£8.95)

Light Pink gingham ribbon - 110118 (£5.25)

Large and small tag punches - 110113(small) and 110114 (large) £12.50 each

Oval and scalloped oval punches - 115156 (oval) and 115429 (scalloped oval) £12.50 each

Night and Day gift box

Night and day speciality designer series paper - 116768 (£8.75) NEW!

Sincere salutations stamp set and tag punches as above

Basic black A4 card as basic grey card above

Scallop circle punch - 109877 £12.50)

Best wishes collapsible box

Old Olive A4 card - 109991 (£4.50)

Chocolate Chip A4 card - 109982 (£4.50)

Basic black classic inkpad - 110057 (4.25)

Sincere Salutations stamps and whisper white A4 card as before

Stitched Felt flowers - 117266 £6.50 for 52 pieces) NEW!

Vintage Vogue Card

Vintage Vogue stamp set - 117690 (£19.95) NEW!

Black, white and old olive cardstock, oval punches, sincere salutations stamps and black inkpad as before.

Real red A4 card - 109968 (£4.50)

Old Olive classic inkpad - 110076 (£4.25)

Real Red classic inkpad - 109924 (£4.25)

Always Artichoke 1/4" grosgrain ribbon - 110121 (£3.95)

Get in touch (ExStitch@aol.com or tel 07973 969153) if you would like to order any of the listed products or indeed any items from both the main and mini catalogues.

If you would like a real catalogue these will cost you £5.95 including first class postage - but the catalogue cost is fully refundable with your first order of £50 or more - just deduct it from your total!

Magical Mini Catalogue

Welcome to all my visitors today!

You may have arrived here from Elaine's blog as part of the In Love With Stamping Blog Hop, or you may just have surfed in - but here are my sneak peeks of the new goodies in the Mini Catalogue which launches here in the UK on the 1st April. There are so many lovely things in there - that when I sat down to create my project for the hop I couldn't stop at just one - and I kept on going! So let's get started shall we? Go and grab a cuppa and a pen and paper so you can write your wish list as we go.....

Here is a pic of all 4 projects I have made.........


......... now lets look close at them one by one!

I agreed to feature the brand new Dasher stamp for the hop. I don't know about the rest of you - but I have loved this little reindeer since he appeared on a sticker in the Christmas jingle scrapping kit last year. I knew he was a stamp in the US catalogue - and now he's arrived here!

Anyway - I chose to make a box of Christmas cards and tags with it (well what else do you do with a reindeer??) and just to be different - I toned down my beloved black red and white to a more muted grey, pink and white for this one - who says Christmas has to be red and green???


Dasher is mounted on the lid of a hand made box topped with a scrap of one of the lovely new Night and Day papers, the wide striped ribbon in black and white and a greeting from the Sincere Salutations stamp set punched out with the oval punch duo. open up the box and.....

I have created dividers insidefor the cards and envelopes, the matching tags and a section for a few of the Christmas stamps when they come out - with the dividers maybe the box could be used for trinkets after the cards and tags have been used...

Here's a close up of the card and tag for you....

Can you tell I love making boxes?? And black and white and red? Well here's another box based on one the lovely Monica made for Stamp With Us, and I've also pinched the gorgeous flowers from her too (she is one talented lady!). Black is never far away from my craft projects and here I have used Basic Black cardto create the box then added some of the gorgeous paper from the new Night and Day set (which includes 2 sheets of black spotty acetate!!) to decorate the box outside and in. The flowers are 6 layers of Whisper White and the paper dampened and scrunched before being pulled together by a brad, and the top is finished off wth a stamped and layered tag

Here's a side view - this was just one sheet of the night and day paper - as with all SU papers - its double sided!

.......and heres one showing the decorated interior

One of the new items this time is a gorgeous set of stitched and layered felt flowers and leaves which I just HAD to have..... and this box was featured on the lovely Chic n' Scratch's blog a while back (Angie is an American SU Demo who produces lovely stuff and does free videos to inspire us all - Thanks Angie - you provide a wonderful service for those of us who are less creative...

The beauty of this box is ..... it folds completely flat - until you open it - then it flips back into shape. I've used the felt as a topper and used one of the flower centres to cover the boring brad and cardstock circle used as a closure. as you can see in the second picture

Well I tried.... I honestly did.... I really really wasn't going to do anything black red and white this time...... but my fave colour combo just kept demanding to be used so here it is..... a card using the gorgeous new Vintage Vogue stamp set

This has to be one of the most beautiful stamp sets out there at the moment and I can see it (and the matching jumbo wheel) being a huge seller. If you look on the web - most of the projects you find feature the stamps used with vintage colour papers - and also feature the larger stamps in the set. I used the smaller flower and the vine to produce this one, along with some Old Olive grosgrain ribbon

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my little blog today - now its time to move on to the lovely Lorraine's blog The Stampin' Grove to check out the goodies she has made!

After you have been round this loop of the Blog hop - why not nip back round to In Love with Stamping and find the other two loops ?

Another Blog Hop!

Coming your way this Sunday - the 28th March!

As the Stampin' Up! 2010 mini catalogue launches on the 1st April. join me and a gang of my fellow SU demonstrators as we showcase some of the gorgeous new products which are available to you in it.

I will be part of a group of 15 SU demos and we will be linking to each others blogs on Sunday. You can start here and I will link you to the next blog, or you can land here from one of the others in the circle.

Hope to see you then - and I will be showcasing one of my favourite stamps of all time.......

Perfect Pairs promotion!

My customers are used to hearing me rabbit on (and on) about how the Stampin' Up! products all co-ordinate with each other, especially how some of the punches co-ordinate with certain stamp sets.

Well for the month of March 2010 - you have the opportunity to get one of our fabulous punches for 20% off if you purchase one of the recommended stamp sets in the Perfect Pairs Promotion. For full details click on the little flyer on the right but as you can see in the picture above... the offer includes the Oval All stamp set and the fabby oval and scallop oval punch, and the Simply Said set with a limited time offer for the co-ordinating large heart punch (this is only available for one month or while stocks last).

The brand new mini catalogue lauches nest month and it contains lots of lovely new bits and pieces including some fabulous new punches, designer papers and great stamp sets. I will be burning the midnight oil to ensure I get my pre - order in first so I can get some samples made up ready for the big launch on the 1st April!!

Why not get your parties booked now? My diary is filling up but I still have a few dates available get in touch with me on ExStitch@aol.com or 0n 07973 969153 to arrange a mutually convenient date.

Welcome to the Blog hop!

Welcome to Stampaholix and the In Love with Stamping Forum Sale-a-Bration Blog hop!

Today this blog is linked to 14 other Stampin' Up! Demonstrators' blogs and the aim of the game is to show you some of the lovely cards and gifts you can make with one of the four free stamp sets available to you for another month or so.

I had a hard time deciding which set I was going to showcase today, but in the end, the Happy Moments set (#118664) was the one that inspired me most and this was my creation.


Its a tiny 4" square black cardstock pizza box filled with 6 3x3 notelets and envelopes. Did I ever tell you that red, black and white is my favourite colour combination of all time? Well if not and you visit me again - you will see that one cropping up again and again!!

This set has SEVEN stamps in it, the birdcage and bunch of flowers you can see above, a pile of pressies and a birthday cake, and 3 greetings (happy birthday, thank you and for you)

The cards are whisper white bases with a basic black and real red topper highlighted with the red gingham ribbon. The images were stamped onto whisper white with basic black and real red classic ink and in the case of the bunch of flowers stems and leaves coloured in with a handsome hunter marker from the rich regal set of Stampin' Write markers. These were then punched out with the small tag punch, and layered on to a a black tag punched with the large tag punch. Finally, they were attached to the base with a twist of gingham ribbon and a crystal brad.

Now if you click on her name ---> or the logo below, you will be taken to Bekka's blog for the next instalment.

When you get to the end of this journey why not visit In Love with Stamping and find the other loop for even more inspiration??

Help for Haiti

Would you like to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti while indulging in your favourite hobby?

Well you can do just that - thanks to Stampin' Up!

Every sale of the gorgeous Greenhouse Garden stamp set will mean that SU will donate £1 to the disaster relief effort in Haiti.

SU has a history of making this type of donation and SU customers in the US , Canada and Australia are also having the same offer. Click on the picture for a better look at this set - then contact me to place an order.

ExStitch@aol.com