A very exciting day today, the brand new 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue is now live. To kick off the year I am sharing some very simple cards – 1 stamp set, 1 pack of paper and 1 pack of card stock (plus a few extra scraps).

First off, let me tell you about the new catalogue. It is 241 pages full of inspiration and ideas that you can use to create beautiful cards and gifts for everyone you know, and perhaps even for those you don’t. There are 14 new product suites alone, so you could pick a suite per month and still not make it through all the new products in the year. In total (assuming I have counted correctly) there are 76 brand new stamp sets! That is huge – something for everyone is guaranteed! If you don’t have a catalogue and you would like to place an order through me, get in touch and I can send you one. Alternatively use this link (also a link on the right hand side of this page) to view the electronic catalogue. Place your order using the Shop Now menu button.

Check out this super cute Stop Motion video that Stampin’ Up! have put together as an introduction to all the goodies in the new catalogue.

With every new catalogue comes 5 new In-Colours – and this year they are right up my alley. So bright and fun and they are fast becoming my favourites. In-Colours are Stampin’ Up!’s way of keeping the colours new and exciting. They come into the catalogue and stay around for two years before being moved on. Here are some of the other projects I have created with them so far.

In addition to these new colours, the entire Stampin’ Up! colour suite has had a revamp to keep it fresh and on-trend. What exactly does this mean? It means that in addition to the 5 new In-Colours, we also have an additional 16 new colours across our colour families. I say new – but of these 16 six are actually returning In-colours from years gone by – very exciting! However, the colour revamp also means that 13 of our colours from across all colour families are retiring. But don’t be sad – just because they can’t be ordered anymore doesn’t mean you can’t create with them. You can find a handy summary sheet of all the colour changes here.

OK – onto today’s project. These are simple cards using very few materials – essentially one stamp set, one pack of DSP and some card stock. I have chosen to use the In Colours for my card bases, but you can use anything you want. The stamp set I am using is called Detailed with Love. This is an amazing stamp set to add to your stash, but particularly if you are a beginner card maker. There are 5 different sentiments that could be used for birthdays, valentines day, as a thank you, as a just because, an anniversary – almost everything. You could even use the “Let’s Celebrate” sentiment for a christmas card – and just like that your whole year is covered!

The DSP I have used is called Delightfully Detailed Laser Cut Speciality paper. It is amazing – really so pretty. This paper is what you would get if you had a stash of detailed and intricate dies at the ready, but not everyone has that. So again – a gorgeous set of paper to allow someone starting out the ability to make beautiful things with minimal outlay.  The paper comes in a pack of eight pieces, 4 of each of the two designs. The first design is a full 12″ x 12″ piece of a detailed floral pattern. Use it whole for a scrapbook page, use your snips to cut out individual flowers to use as embellishments, cut out small sections to use as card fronts, use it as a mask and sponge colour onto your card or use a sponge dauber to add colour straight to the paper itself. So many options here – but one thing you don’t want to do is use your Stampin’ Trimmer to try and cut it. It won’t work as it is too delicate and you will end up tearing it.

The other design contains some full length (12″ x 12″) border strips, these would look amazing on a scrapbook page, or you can trim them down for a card front. There is also some slightly shorter border strips, and then there are 6 ‘panels’ – all 6 are different designs.  Once cut (and you can use a trimmer for these) they are about 5″ x 3.5″. A tip when cutting up this sheet using your trimmer – cut the full length of the page to remove the longest (12″) border pieces. Then rotate your paper to cut the shorter border pieces off. And then cut out your six panels.

 

 

All five of the cards I have made use a piece of card stock measuring 5″ x 7″, scored at 3.5″ and one of these panels of DSP. That means if you only ever made cards like these you could be able to make 24 cards from one pack of DSP, and you would still have the 4 full 12″ x 12″ die cut pages left – amazing!

For each of the cards I have used a sentiment from the Detailed with Love stamp set. The stamping was done in either the coordinating coloured ink, or in black. In addition to the coloured card I have also used some scraps of black and white card stock.

 

 

Aren’t they gorgeous cards? So simple to make (seriously I cut and panels and card bases while I was cooking dinner and stuck the panels down while getting the kids through their nightly routine. All that was left was stamping the sentiments and sticking them down – no time at all for five gorgeous cards!).

As a special catalogue launching offer, for the month of June if you purchase the items needed to re-create these cards from my online shop, I will send you a total of 10 card bases cut to size to suit the DSP panels – two bases in each of the 5 new In-Colours. To get this amazing deal, you need to purchase the following:

• New In-Colour Ink Pads (if you already have these then 5 pads in any colours)
• Detailed with Love Stamp Set (also available in wood mount) and
• Delightfully Details Laser Cut Speciality Paper

After you have placed your order, drop me an email and let me know and I will get your freebies to you. These free card bases are in addition to the normal Host Code freebies that you will receive if you order using the June Host Code (6426FE6Y). When you email me, let me know if you have a preference between in card base orientation (landscape, portrait etc) or even if you would rather full size card bases instead of the slightly smaller ‘panel’ sized bases.  Please note – this offer is only available if you live in Australia.

Right, after that long blog post, now is the time to sit back with a cuppa and start flicking through the catalogue (or scrolling through for that matter). Shoot me through any questions you have of if you have a request for projects. Remember, if you are on Pinterest check out the board I am compiling where you will find all sorts of projects from the new catalogue, separated into suites and stamp sets.