And so it begins….

Happy New Year to everyone out there in blog land!

Yes, I know it’s not the real New Year’s Day. But it feels even more like it to me, because today is the day that the Stampin’Up year begins. This means a range of things for demonstrators, but for all my customers and friends out there, the most exciting thing is that our Brand New Idea Book and Catalogue has been released today. It’s lovely! Im so happy with it.

The feedback from just about everybody has been that this one is somehow even better than last year’s. There are loads of new Stamp sets – including lots in the lower price bracket. The new InColor range is also fantastic, and I know you will love working with them. But I think my new favourite thing are the new Patterned papers – they are simply to die for!

So I thought you would like to see my first card made with new stuff. This one uses the new set “Bloom Away” which features 3 lovely stamps showing off some of our beautiful Australian Wildflowers. The colours I have used here are Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Mellow Moss, Vanilla and the brand new Pink Pirouette. I used the En Francais Background Stamp. The feature flowers are stamped in Chocolate Chip, and coloured with the Pastels and a blender pen to keep it soft. I’ve used the Colour Spritzer Tool to speckle the background behind the flower, and tied a Choc Chip Taffeta ribbon around the Mellow moss cardstock and threaded it through a Jumbo eyelet. It looks nicer in real life I think. I’ll probably be doing this one a bit at workshops this month.

If you would like to get your hands on a new catalogue, then please contact me. They are available from me directly at the discounted price of $10 (normally $12.95) or you can have one posted to you anywhere in Australia for $15. Or you can host a workshop (where you all get to make stuff) and you will get one for free. Lastly, if you dont have time for a workshop, but would still like a free catalogue, you can always hold a “catalogue party” – just show the catty around to your friends and collect their orders. If you collect over $300 in product value, you will not only get the catalogue for free, but also a free hostess-only stamp set and a minimum of $30 to spend (sometimes much more, depending on the total amount of product ordered). And believe me, $300 is much more achievable than it sounds – as I am sure many of you have already found out!

Im excited about what’s around the corner and really excited to see what everyone will create with the new stuff. Enjoy!