I absolutely love the new Fall/Winter Collection Idea Book & Catalog!  Have you had a chance to check out these great new additions?  If you don't have your idea book yet, you can view it online here, or contact me to learn how to earn one for FREE!

STAMPIN’ UP!® Fall-Winter Collection 2007

July 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007

208 glossy full-color pages - Over 600 samples and ideas!

DON’T MISS THESE GREAT NEW ADDITIONS!

STYLE WATCH COLLECTIONS – pages 4-9 

Collections featuring hot new design trends – perfectly coordinating products, color schemes and project ideas!

NEW CARD KITS – pages 12-14 

These contain everything you need to get started: stamp sets, ink, cardstock and accessories.  These make also make perfect gifts!

ALL NEW HOSTESS SETS – pages 17-24 

Everything from fun new stamp sets to Simply Scrappin’ kits and wheels this year!

SOME OF MY PERSONAL FAVORITE NEW STAMP SETS:

·        Pg 27 – Batty for You Jumbo wheel … I’m a Halloween junkie and this is just fun!

·        Pg 35 – Christmas Chatter Jumbo wheel … this is going to make great wrapping paper

·        Pg 72 – So Much – this one has so much potential

·        Pg 79 – Sweet Thing – I don’t have any little ones around, but this one just calls to me

·        Pg 95 – Big Flowers & Little Flowers (Little Flowers fit in the circles in the Little Bits wheel!)

·        Pg 105 – Just Like You – new Ronald McDonald house set – lots of possibilities

·        Pg 109 – Seasonal Whimsy – fun artistic style (my husband really likes this one)!

·        Pg 117 – Priceless & So Swirly wheel – undoubtedly the HOTTEST new set/wheel this year!

·        Pg 130 – Totally Tabs – I’m addicted to the Round Tab Punch

·        Pgs 136 – 138 – New background stamps: Tres Chic, Dot Spot, En Francis, Sanded, Friend by Definition, Polka Dot

·        Pg 141 – Wonderful Favorites – I think they’ve got just about everything covered

·        Pg 143 – I love these 3 fabulous new greeting sets!

·        Pg 154 – Calendar background stamp – this is going to be fun & easy making calendars

·        Pg 159 – Define your Life

MY FAVORITE NEW ACCESSORIES:

·        Pg 165 – the new In Colors, and now in textured cardstock and ribbon also!

·        Pgs 170-173 – I need EVERY pack of this delicious new designer paper!!!

·        Pgs 174-177 – Awesome new Simply Scrappin’ kits – my favorite: Secret Garden

·        Pg 178 – 4 fabulous new Accents & Elements tins (love the Tagged, especially)!

·        Pgs 180-181 – 4 new assortment packs of Chipboard shapes!

·        Pgs 182-183 – my favorite new punches:  5-Petal Flower, Scallop Circle, Photo Corners

·        Pgs 188-189 – “Pretties Kit” (too fun), Jumbo Eyelets, Build-A-Brad, Crop-A-Dile

·        Pgs 190-191 – who could resist this gorgeous new ribbon!!?? 28 new packs/rolls to choose from!

So I guess I'm not very virtuous at this point, because I am going crazy waiting for my new Fall/Winter Collection books to arrive!

Crossing my fingers that they'll arrive today (my husband told me I couldn't perform any sacrifices - darn it!).   Please think good thoughts that the "man in brown" will bring us all a nice surprise today.

Just wanted to share my frustration with those of you who can "appreciate" my pain. LOL.

The following is an excerpt from the Utah Business Magazine:

Woman-Owned - Stampin’ Up

Under Shelli Gardner’s direction, Stampin’ Up has grown from a home-based business to a $240 million multinational operation that sells decorative stamp sets and accessories through a network of independent sales consultants, all with a decidedly feminine flair. Even the company’s mission statement, which starts “To love what we do and share what we love,” reflects a woman’s touch.

“Men have a hard time with that mission statement,” Gardner acknowledges, “but I believe Stampin’ Up is different because it is woman-owned. Women take a softer approach. We’re more sensitive to emotion and how decisions affect people. Men seem to be number focused. I have watched over the years as I have hired male managers, and when I make a different decision than they would have made, it takes them a while to see the benefit. But I need those key people because they balance things.”

The company’s 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Kanab is a conspicuous example of looking beyond the bottom line while making a decision. When the company moved its corporate office to Salt Lake City and then to Riverton, its board members let Gardner know that moving the manufacturing from Kanab would save money. But Gardner remained committed to the employees who had helped her establish her business.

“They have been loyal, hard-working employees,” Gardner says. “Kanab isn’t an obvious choice of a place to spend a million dollars on a building. It was a huge, no-turning-back commitment. My husband and I know we could never sell that building or, if we did, we wouldn’t get as much as we put into it. But we wanted a nice building for our employees. They have been good to us.”

Although the “woman’s approach” may not fit the typical business model, it is responsible for Stampin’ Up’s success, Gardner says. “The company grew by word of mouth. Women build relationships, and most of our demonstrators are women.  We are more likely to buy something from people we know and trust.”

Congratulations Stampin' Up! and Shelli!

It only took me 2 days, but I finally triumphed over the computer/camera disagreement!  I guess I just had to play peacemaker (or since I'm learning how to quilt, would that be piecemaker?).  Okay, bad puns - I'll stop now.

Without further ado, here are the new In Colors for the 2007-08 Stampin' Up! year!!

The colors from left to right are:

Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, River Rock, Purely Pomegranate , Blue Bayou, and Groovy Guava. 

Please click on the picture to enlarge it so the colors come out more true.

I was so excited for these new colors I must have had brain lock when I ordered, because while I ordered all of the cardstock, I forgot to order any of the stamp pads!  Goodness, my blonde hair is showing through.  hee hee  And have you checked out how people are using these new colors on Splitcoast Stampers?  If you haven't yet, go check it out.  Some people are so amazingly creative!

After being sick most of the week, I cannot believe I haven't played with any of these new colors yet, but I think I'm going to use some in my upcoming workshops for the make & take.  Doesn't that make you want to come join us?!

Stay tuned for tomorrow - I'm going to post the pictures of the stamp-a-stack projects we made yesterday and today.

Question for the week - what is your favorite Stampin' Up! color (can include the old and new In Colors)?  Post a comment on this thread and if we have at least 10 comments, I will draw a name randomly and send that person a project made with their favorite color!  (I may even do more than 1, so bring on the comments!)

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.  My 12 year old nephew has been visiting from Texas, and we've been having so much fun that I've hardly had a chance to even visit my stamping room (gasp!).  I love how close Kyanne and Zach are, even though Zach's been in Texas for over 7 years now (wow, where does the time go?).  Though I think they may have hit their limit today - ha ha!  Since they are both only children, they aren't used to spending 24 hours/day with another kid and I think it's getting to them both.  Time for a break!

I've missed playing with the SCS challenges this week.  I peeked today and saw the color combo was Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant and Ruby Red.  Wow, wouldn't have put them together, but the few cards I looked at in the gallery are gorgeous!

Oooh - I forgot to mention that my Fall/Winter Collection pre-order showed up today!  Woo hoo!  Now, if I just had some time to mount the stamps and play.  Sigh.  I'll get to play after Zach goes home - he's way more important than stamping (at least while he's visiting!).

Since I haven't had a chance to do much stamping I thought I'd share a litte card I made awhile back.

I used the Riveting hostess set (will be retired this month) as well as Sincere Salutations.  This is one of those fun 3x6" cards.  I like them because you can get 4 cards from 1 sheet of 12x12" cardstock.  This one is Ballet Blue and I stamped the circle in Ballet Blue randomly on the front.

Next I stamped Enjoy Your Day with Chocolate Chip on Creamy Caramel and punched it out with my 1 1/4" circle punch.  I punched a 1 3/8" circle out of Real Red and punched the Word Window punch in Chocolate Chip.  I layered these with the Chocolat Chip in between the caramel and red circles.  I also added black brad from the Vintage brads collection.  I popped this up with a dimensional on the bottom of the card.

For the top of the card I stamped the greeting from Sincere Salutations in Chocolate Chip on Creamy Caramel and matted this with Chocolate Chip.  I tied a piece of red grosgrain ribbon around the caramel piece and added a single strip of the red grosgrain below the greeting.

All in all a fairly simple card, but I think it has a more masculine feel.  I don't know about you, but I seem to struggle with creating more masculine type cards, and I like the simplicity and size of this one.

I'm going to be doing some traveling for the next couple of days, so I won't be posting for a bit.  Hopefully I'll be back in full swing for next week's challenges.  Also, keep your eyes posted for my upcoming Retired Stamp Sale and the next Technique class.

Happy Stamping!

For my workshop last weekend I used a lot of our current In Color colors for my projects.  These were a lot of fun and easy to make.  In addition to these projects, I also demonstrated the Tri-fold card from this post.

This was a fun, quick 6x6" scrapbook page that I made using Cool Caribbean, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Notations Designer Series Paper.

I stamped the dots from Polka Dots & Paisley with Cool Caribbean along the top of the page.  I punched the bottom with the Spiral punch.  I then stamped the flower using the Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip markers to ink the flower on Whisper White and cut it out.  I also punched a tab using the Round Tab punch from the white.  I used that tab for journaling the date of my picture.

I added a strip of the Notations paper and a strip of Pretty in Pink paper to the Cool Caribbean.  I stamped Happy with Chocolate Chip and then inked up "things" from the saying stamp using my marker to ink only the word "things" and stamped that on the Pretty in Pink.  I matted my photo with So Saffron and journaled with my Chocolate Chip marker.  Isn't Boone (our rescued Greyhound) the cutest?!

This next project was fun and easy.  I followed the tutorial for the one sheet box on SCS.

I used all In Color colors for this box.  The box itself is Marigold Morning with Whisper White and Cranberry Crisp cardstock.

I used Vintage Violet and the swirl stamp from Sweet Shapes to stamp the edges of my box.  I then used Marigold Morning, stamping off once, to stamp the rectangles on the white.  The butterfly was stamped with Vintage Violet, the heart with Cranberry Crisp, and the splat with True Thyme.  I layered a bit of Cranberry Crisp behind the white, sort of like the Levi tabs that are popular right now.

I tied the box closed with the True Thyme stitched ribbon, and the only change I made to the tuturial was that I used the rectangle punch to punch halfway into the sides so the ribbon has a place to rest.

Our make & take was a card that could be used for Mother's Day, but you could easily change the sentiment to use this for birthday, thinking of you, get well, etc.

I don't think the scan does this one justice, I chose the colors for the card from the Notations paper.  The background is Taken with Teal.  I used the Notations paper again along the bottom of the card matted with Old Olive (the edges were distressed using the Cutter Kit).

Using Watercolor Garden (this is a set that will be retired this year), we stamped the flowers with So Saffron, Old Olive and Close to Cocoa.  The centers of the flowers, stamped with the cocoa, were stamped off first so the color wasn't as intense.  The Happy Mother's Day from All Year Cheer II (also retiring) was stamped full strength in Close to Cocoa.

The edges were sponged in cocoa using a sponge dauber and then we used the Spiral punch to create the notebook paper-type edge.  This was matted on Close to Cocoa.  Before adhering this to the card, we stamped the butterfly from Watercolor Garden with Taken with Teal on the base card.

Don't forget that these 6 colors - Vintage Violet, Cool Caribbean, Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme and Marigold Morning are only available through June 29, 2007.  If you haven't ordered your cardstock, ink pads, refills (and even some ribbons) yet, get your order in soon.

Holy cow!  There are over 200 stamp sets and approximately 50 Stampin' Around wheels on this year's discontinued list.  I'm a bit afraid to figure out how many sets I own that are being retired.

You can see the list in alphabetical order here - or in page number order here.
(The links are also listed on the left under Online Catalogs & Specials.)

Get your orders in before the end of June so you don't have to pay up to 3x more on eBay (or more!).  And your orders this month will also count towards the minimum needed for the Palette o' Prints promotion.

I just received my pack of the new paper today and I cannot wait to play.  To whet your appetite, here's a sample for you to enjoy: 

Hi stampers!  I wanted to apologize for not posting for a few days.  I honestly thought I had set up some samples to post and when I looked at my blog today I realized they weren't there.  Oops!

So, I hope you enjoy the Double Slider card we made at the Spring Stamp Camp last weekend.  Here is the card closed:

(Remember you can click on an image to see it larger if you want).  I love the spring feel of this card, and for those of you who know me, know that I love purple!   I used Heartfelt Thanks (*love* this set!), Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green and Confetti White cardstocks.  Also used the same ink colors.  I stamped the solid flower image in Lovely Lilac on the base card.  Then I stamped the main flower image using Tempting Turquoise and Gable Green for the leaves.  For the detailed image (2-step stamping) I used the Lovely Lilac.  For the edge of the turquoise cardstock I used the flower center to stamp little "dots" along the edge.

Also used the Word Window punch and the Large Oval punch and Stampin' Dimensionals to create the fun slider portion:

I hope like it - we had a lot of fun making these last weekend!

I'm working on a new project with punches to create a tea cup (or coffee cup).  Hoping to get it figured out and posted within the next couple of days.

If there are any specific projects/cards/etc that you'd like to see me highlight, please leave a comment with your suggestions.

Here is another great swap made from one of the ladies in my downline - Missy.  She used the Soft Subtles to get this sweet, spring look.  Great card, Missy! 

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst and Whisper White.  Ink: Whisper White Craft ink, Green Galore, Almost Amethyst and Pretty in Pink.

She embossed the paisley design with white embossing powder on the pink card front.  She stamped and cut out the flower images on Whisper White and layered them on the amethyst.  She tied a piece of rose grosgrain on the amethyst and adhered that to the front of the card.

Have you ever thought about joining my team?

Time flies when you're having fun, and time is definitely flying for customers and hostesses who earn half off items from the Spring Mini Catalog!

Customers and hostesses alike love the Polka Dots & Paisley Bundle! Not only is the bundle a great way to put together complementary products out of the Spring Mini Catalog, it's also a fantastic way to get a 50% discount on any other item from the spring mini--including the Good Things and Remembering You Simply Sent card kits!!! The Simply Sent card kits are popular items in the spring mini, and many stampers find them an excellent way to share their stamping "addiction" with brand-new and experienced crafters alike.

The Spring Fever promotion only lasts until March 31, so contact me today and make the most of it while you can!