Confession time: I’ve been a bad, bad girl! Last November I had every intention of continuing my monthly series, Innovation Station, as well as regular posts and blog hops. After all, crafting keeps me sane. Early in November a trip to On Stage in Salt Lake City took me out of town for nearly a week and then my best friend moved (and I had to help – that’s what it means to be best friends for nearly 30 years – you bury the bodies and you help move). Once that was all sorted it was Thanksgiving and then Christmas. So no blogging for two months. Okay, not so bad, right?
I promised myself I’d get going again in January, but as the early months of 2018 rolled by, it became clear that blogging (and even more disturbing) being creative were the casualties of life taking a sharp and unexpected turn in the middle of March. After nearly nine years, I was laid off from my job, which is scary enough on its own, but it also meant I had to move since my home was provided by my employer (yes, I was super fortunate). You would think being unemployed would leave lots of time for crafting, but aside from two weeks of binge-watching TV as I put off processing what it meant to be unemployed after nearly a decade, my life has been surprisingly busy. Busy getting ready to put most of my things in storage and take over my best friend’s spare bedroom, busy looking for a job, busy trying to figure out health insurance (not a simple task).
Once I got moved, I was able to begin picking up the threads of my old life, including being creative. My best friend kindly let me take over a big part of her living room for my crafty zone (a table and a small Origami unit that holds the few stamps, inks, paper, and dies I kept out of storage). Can I tell you how hard it was to fill two 66 quart totes and nothing more? Just today I realized that I forgot to keep out envelopes. Envelopes. I can’t believe it! I went to storage but didn’t have the energy to dig through all the totes to find the one with the envelopes so I’ll just have to buy another package. *sigh*
As a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator I always look forward to the new catalog but given that I was in full packing/purging mode, 5′ high in bins all around my house, for much of May, I really didn’t think too much about the fact that there were 241 pages of new and returning goodies to ‘oh and ah’ over! The one great thing about being settled (at least until August when the bestie moves to Endicott, NY) is I’ve been able to figure out what I’m most excited about from the new catalog.
So, without further ado, my top ten list (plus one honorable mention) of 2018 – 19 annual catalog goodies:
- Tropical Escape Suite (p. 121)
- Tufted Dynamic Embossing Folder (p. 223)
- Stampin’ Blends (p. 205)
- Share What You Love Suite (p. 177)
- A Big Thank You (p. 122)
- Stamparatus (p. 207)
- Animal Expedition Suite (p. 27)
- Garden Impressions Suite (p. 129)
- Friendly Conversation (p. 117)
- Artfully Folded (p. 228)
- Honorable Mention: Simply Shammy (p. 206)
Wondering why I love these things? Well, give me a bit more of your time and I’ll tell you…
I initially ignored the Tropical Escape suite, but the more I looked at the stamps and the dies, the move in love I fell. The leaf dies have inner and outline dies, making them super versatile. The DSP and the Tropical Elements flowers and leaves are beautiful as well, making this suite a win-win! The Tufted embossing folder is so pretty and when paired with tiny pearls or rhinestones, takes the look to a whole new level. I like the simplicity of the Stampin’ Blends, who wouldn’t, alcohol markers, one light and one dark, designed to blend. My main complaint when they debuted last fall was the palette was very limited. Coming out with 11 new colors was a solid expansion of these markers. I’m in love with Granny Apple Green and Flirty Flamingo.
The Share What You Love suite was the early release this year, out to demos in April and customers in May. This suite has wonderful images and sentiments as well as a double pack of specialty DSP! The bundle A Big Thank You might be something you miss flipping through the catalog, but don’t – there are great sentiments as well as builder images in this set! I often forget that the Stamparatus is new to customers since I first learned about it at On Stage last November and had one in my hands in February. With its stair-step dual plate configuration, you may wonder how you ever got along without it! I didn’t go to On Stage in April, but those who did, kept raving about the Animal Outing bundle and I agree — it is super cute. The whole suite is full of wonderful goodies including leaf ribbon and unique dies that cut both the stamped images and images from the DSP!
I believe the Garden Impressions suite might be the sleeper suite of the catalog – I’ve seen one of the stamps used as giraffe or leopard print – these stamps are certainly flexible and the dies are intriguing since they can be used with the embossing mats, giving you so much flexibility with these intricate and beautiful dies. Pretty and vibrant DSP, the Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack, and Blooms Elements round out this beautiful suite! Friendly Conversation is an unusual set with just two, large sentiments, but they are interesting enough to be the focal image of a card! I don’t normally fall in love with hostess sets, but Artfully Folded, which is origami images is so fun and playful, what’s not to love?!? The Stamparatus makes this set loads of fun! The Simply Shammy comes along a while after other shammies but as usual, Stampin’ Up! looked at what was on the market and then innovated and the result is a very thick and resilient shammy that gets stamps (particularly photopolymer) as clean as a whistle! Bonus: it fits perfectly inside the standard SU stamp case and since it’s not airtight you don’t need to worry about mold or mildew!
Thanks for hanging out with me today and listening to what’s new with me! I hope to begin innovation station this month (next week). Until next time, remember, creativity and imperfection live together in all we do. “Grace is the face love wears when it meets imperfection.”
~xoxo
