The new SU! Catalogue is here!

Just in case you hadn't noticed already!  Contact me if you would like a copy of your own, or you can click  here, or on the link over there on the sidebar, to view it online.  In addition to some exciting new products I was also pleased to see some of my favourites from recent mini catalogues are returning, in addition to some of the most popular products from last years catalogue that have been carried over.

The biggest change, and the one that will take me a bit of getting used to, is the colours in this new catalogue.  With the launch of this new catalogue we also get the introduction of the new Stampin' Up! colour range.  Remembering that a lot (a LOT!) of colours have just been retired, the new range includes some brand new core colours, some 'in colors' from previous years that have come out of retirement and are also now part of the core colour range, and of course the new in color range for this year.  Lots of exciting new colours for us to play with, and SU have put together some great value kits to help us get out hands on them.  Click here, or on the colour kit link also over on the sidebar, for more information about those kits.

SU! also have a special offer for new demonstrators available this month.  If you sign up to become a demonstrator not only will you get the usual fantastic deal on your starter kit ($590 worth of product for just $339), but this month only, you will also get the new In Color kit (inkpads and cardstock) worth  $100.90, completely free of charge.  I think that is the best new demonstrator deal SU have ever offered.  If you want more details about that, please contact me, or I can put you in touch with one of my talented team members.

Last chance to get Retiring SU products...

The new Stampin' Up! Catalogue is just a few weeks away, so of course that means last chance to get those products that will be retiring.  The full list of retiring product can be seen online here.  I'm not going to list them all in this post because there are nine pages of retiring products this year - eek - remembering of course with the colour renovation we are saying goodbye to lots of colours (ink, card, embellishments) to make way for some lovely new colours.   

There are 95 stamp sets in the catalogue that are retiring, as well as 15 stampin' around wheels (8 standard size, and 7 jumbo) and all of the hostess sets.

You will see that the punches all appear on the retiring list.  This is because they are being 'reconfigured' into the new punch style we saw in the latest mini catalogue.  

There are five punches that will not be returning though, and these are:

•  Small Star
• Trio Flower
• Double Rectangle
• Horizontal Slot
• Slit

You will also see that some products have been discounted (25-50%) and there are some great bargains.  Some of the highlights of the discounted retiring product:

Three punches - Boho Blossoms, Scallop square, and the scallop oval punch are all 25% off.

17 of the stamp sets are discounted by 25%, and these Six stamp sets are 50% off:

• A Happy Heart (page 34) now $24.98
• Best Wishes and More (page 53) now $28.48
• Greetings Eight (page 57) now $29.48
• Only Ovals (page 93) now $23.48
• Enjoy Every Moment (page 97) now $31.48
• All Scallops (page 105) now $33.48

Many of the markers in the retiring colours are discounted (usually $6.75, now $5.06, or even $3.38 for a couple of colours!) as are many of the stampin' around inked cartridges.

Four of the Simply Sent kits are reduced by 25%

Six of the patterned paper packs are 25% off, and Pink Flamingo has 50% discount (now only $9.98 for 12 sheets of paper)

The Simply Scrappin' kits are all retiring, and the I Wish" Simply Scrappin Kit (page 137) is discounted by 25% 

Lots of embellishments are being retired (ribbons, brads, buttons, chipboard, assorted flower embellishments, rub-ons and glitter) and there are some great bargains to be had here too.

Double-Stitched ribbons in Rose Red, Chocolate Chip and Bashful Blue (page 150) are 50% off - now only $11.75 Several of the other ribbons have 25% off.

The Chunky Sprinkles Glitter (page 145) is also discounted by 50%  (now $18.98 for four colours).

Both the 'Flower Fusion', and 'Flower Fusion Too' felt flower packs as well as the 'Blooms Again' cardstock diecut flowers (page 144) are discounted by 25%.

The 'Blooms' cardstock flower die cuts (also page 144), are 50% off.

Don't forget that all of these retiring products will only be available until 31 August, or while stocks last.  I will try to keep a list up to date of what is running low/sold out already! You can find it by clicking the 'What's gone already?' tab at the top of my blog (right under the photo of Campbell and Bridie looking at the scrapbook).

A reminder also that the Autumn/Winter Mini catalogue will also be ending on 31 August.

Let me know if there is something that you want to order.

Clearly some cool packaging!

Okay, so when you put your gift in clear packaging, you do lose the element of surprise - but somehow it doesn't matter quite so much because it just looks so good!

Miss Bridie decided she wanted to give Hayden's teacher a goodbye present too (being a frequent 'helper' at school, Bridie had formed a lovely friendship with Miss C).  While we pondered gifts that might coordinate with the one Hayden had chosen, Bridie announced that she wanted to give Miss C one of the 'spinny decorations' because they were apparently the prettiest (and she likes spinning them around on the hat pin!)

So that was easy!  It was also the perfect thing to try out some clear packaging that I had been wanting to do for a while.  I used some heavy acetate (saved from some toy packaging, if I remember correctly!) and made one of the super easy and clever triangle boxes.  To add a little bit of interest, I used white stazon ink to stamp little snowflakes on the acetate, and then finished it off with some Baja Breeze ribbon, that perfectly matched the papers used for the decoration inside.

It is a little tricky taking photos of clear packaging though!

Best of all, SU have decided that the white stazon ink, that had been in the recently retired Spring Mini, will continue to be available to purchase, as a 'write in' to the catalogue (that just means it isn't listed in any current catalogue, but is still available to purchase).  Keeping the White Stazon ink company as a write in, will be the staz on cleaner, the scallop oval punch, and the Jumbo brads that had also been featured in the Spring Mini.

Item #	Item	Price
112534	Jumbo brads 5/16" Neutrals Assortment	$18.50
112533	Jumbo brads 5/8" Neutrals Assortment	$16.25
114889	Scallop Oval punch	$35.95
106960	StazOn ink pad (White pad and refill)	$26.95
109196	StazOn Cleaner	$11.75

For details of any other write in products, updates and corrections to current SU catalogues, please click here - or use the link on the sidebar.

Happy Thursday, or Friday, depending on where you are!

Inspiration from the SU Idea Book and Catalogue

After a few days holiday, and then a few days catching up (sleep, laundry, emails, more laundry!) it was time for a creativity fix. I made a deal with my kiddos - let Mummy play now, and we can all play together later. They agreed, but since their sense of time and mine are not always in sync, I didn't want to be mucking around too much - time could be short!

Cue the Idea Book and Catalogue...

I think I have already mentioned that 'Fifth Avenue Floral' is one of my favourites, and the samples in the book are one of the reasons. So elegant, and so pretty every time. I had been planning on making a card like this one (on page 82) for a while, and today was the day. Here is my take on it...

It is a little different from the catalogue sample, but not by much. Instead of a circle behind the 'hi' I decided to use the large oval punch. I used the jumbo outline alphabet to stamp the 'hi' on choc chip card, and then carefully cut it out (rather than cover chipboard letters as in the catalogue sample). The ribbon colour is also different - choc chip instead of white (there's a reason it was brought out of retirement by SU!)

One of the reasons I liked going to the Idea Book for inspiration was that the project came together really quickly. The design part was all there for me, ready to copy or tweek as desired.

It is also a really good starting point for other projects. It is so easy to swap out materials to fit what you have in your stash, or change colours or greetings to suit - like in this next card I made.

You can also change the orientation of the card, or play with the positioning of the different elements, like this last sample.

This time I went back to the 'hi', but substituted a punched border for the ribbon of the original. I also added a bit of sponging around the edges of the oval and stamped flower section, just to change the look a little.

And then, just as I was on a roll, my time was up. Darn it! Will have to file those ideas away for next time.

In the past the idea book and catalogue included a list of all the 'ingredients' at the back for each project shown throughout the book. This year they have been left out, but a full list (with photos) is available on the Stampin' Up Website - click here to go straight to it (or use the link on my sidebar). Don't forget too, that even when the catalogues are retired - the ideas book part of it doesn't have to be. Happy creating!