I received some good news from Stampin' Up! HQ this morning and wanted to pop by to quickly share it with you: as we approach the end of our Last-Chance Products promotion, Stampin' Up! has announced that it has now identified some items that can be discounted by up to 25% - yay for a last-minute bargain!

Click here to see the list of discounted items from the Spring-Summer Catalogue.

Click here to see the list of discounted items from the 2018 Annual Catalogue.

The discount pricing will go into effect at 7:00 p.m. (UK) time this evening Thursday, 30 May. For anyone local to me, I will be putting through one last order which you are welcome to add to if you would like to save on P&P, but you need to message me by 8pm this evening. 

Many thanks and happy bargain hunting!

Hi everyone! I've been recovering from Stampin' Up!'s Onstage event and making the most of the Easter vacation with the James Juniors this week, so crafting time has been non-existent and blogging opportunities even less so! Today though the sun is shining and I am spending a glorious afternoon in the garden, so thought I would take the opportunity to share with you a card that I actually made as a second one that I made for the challenge set by my fellow Paper Players teamie the lovely LeAnne last week to use plaid or check on your card. Here's my card:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Christmas Plaid - Ok, so the irony of sharing a Christmas card on Good Friday isn't lost on me! However given that Stampin' Up!'s retiring lists were announced earlier this week (if you missed my post you can read all about it here) this is actually a great time to share this card as it showcases 2 products that are on that list and will be going away for good. The first of these is this fabulous plaid designer series paper that is from the 'Under the Mistletoe' pack. As is always the way, all of the designer series papers in the annual catalogue will be leaving us to make way for the new, so if you have a favourite then now is the time to stock up. If you're the type of person that 'does Christmas' all year round or likes to get ahead and work on Christmas projects during the summer months, then you should seriously consider stocking up on this paper as I can tell you that the new annual catalogue doesn't contain any festive Christmas-themed designer series paper designs, so it will be September before we have the new seasonal range on sale. You have been warned! 

Large Letters - The second retiring item on today's card are those fabulous Large Letter Framelits, which along with the co-ordinating 'Letters For You' stamp set are retiring with this catalogue. I know that the old has to make way for the new, but I will be so sad to see these go! They have been a staple in my craft collection and whilst they might leave the catalogue, they will always have a space in my die collection - they are SO useful! These will most definitely not be going into my retiring products BOGOF sale in July, so if you want a set, you need to order them now! 

A Festive Colour Combination - The paper really does do all the hard work on this card and sets the colours for each of the other elements with a can't-go-wrong festive colour combination. If this is a colour combination that appeals to you, feel free to save the image below for your future inspiration:

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day. I'm off for a James family gathering for dinner. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Large Letters Framelits Dies (£92.00)	Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Under The Mistletoe A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)

Today saw two very important announcements from Stampin' Up! that I need to make you aware of. The first of these is in relation to the Stampin' Trimmer:

Stampin’ Up! has decided to retire the Stampin’ Trimmer as of 3 June 2019, including all accessories—replacement cutting blades, scoring blades, and cutting mats. They have experienced challenges with the supplier and are taking the opportunity to research and explore a replacement option for this product, which will not be the same as the current Stampin’ Trimmer. 

While the replacement cutting blades will also retire with the trimmer and will not be featured in the annual catalogue, Stampin' Up! has ordered what would normally be six months of inventory based on recent historical patterns to help  customers during this transition away from the current trimmer. When the retiring list goes live on 15 April, the order limit for the blades will increase from three to six (and the limit will remain at six until they’re no longer available). From now until September, Stampin' Up! will receive intermittent shipments from the supplier. But please know that this news could cause faster inventory depletion. Throughout these months, we anticipate times when the blades will not be orderable (and not offered as a backorder) - this is currently the case here in the UK. During those downtimes, you will have the option to enter an e-mail address to receive notification when the blades are available again.

Click the images below to head right over to my online store to start shopping for the Stampin’ Trimmer and the replacement consumable items:

Stampin' Trimmer (Metric) (£28.00)

Stampin' Trimmer Cutting Blades (£5.50)

The second Big News item of the day is that Stampin’ Up! also announced that they’ll be transitioning to a new manufacturer for their dies and embossing folders moving forward.

Stampin’ Up! is moving to a direct-to-manufacturer relationship. This means that they will work directly with the factories who manufacture their dies and folders instead of working with another company who then works with different factories. This gives them greater control and potential for increased speed to market, which can only be a good thing. 

Standard Cutting Pads (£10.25)	Big Shot Embossing Mats (£14.00)	Big Shot Die Brush - New Configuration (£11.75)	Magnetic Platform (£37.00)	Precision Base Plate (£23.00)	Big Shot Platform (£24.00)
Big Shot (£102.00)

Good news - today the list of products that will be retiring from this year's annual and Spring-Summer seasonal catalogues has been updated and some of the products are now available at a discount! You can see the list of discounted products here or just click on the image below to read and download the full PDF:

For a reminder of the full list, you can see and download the full list of items retiring from the current Spring-Summer catalogue by CLICKING HERE.

You can see and download the full list of items retiring from the current Annual catalogue by CLICKING HERE.

Retiring products are only available WHILE STOCKS LAST, so if you've still items on your wish list from this year's annual or spring-summer seasonal catalogues, you need to check the retiring lists and if they're on it put an order in pronto! Don't forget to add this month's online hostess code: W4TSQCWY

Here are the links to the online store for those items that are now discounted. including their reduced price:

Picnic Basket Builder Framelits Dies (£20.25)	Sweet Soirée Decorative Masks (£2.55)	Itty Bitty Fruit Punch Pack (£10.50)	Myths & Magic Glimmer Paper 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) (£6.75)	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock (£6.16)	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock (£6.16)
6" X 17" (15.2 X 43.2 Cm) Gusseted Cellophane Bags (£3.00)	Brights Enamel Shapes (£6.19)	Subtles Enamel Shapes (£6.60)	Bell Punch (£12.00)	Holly Berry Builder Punch (£8.00)	Birthday Friends Framelits Dies (£21.00)
Celebration Thinlits Dies (£20.25)	Alles Palette Clear-Mount Stamp Set (German) (£12.80)	Rosenzauber Photopolymer Stamp Set (German) (£16.80)	Feierliches Duo Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (German) (£4.13)

Items are discounted by between 15-50%, so a few bargains to be had. The item I will miss the most out of that little lot has to be the enamel shapes - time to stock up I think!!

Remember stocks of all products featuring retiring ink colours are now officially whilst stocks last, so if you haven't ordered yours yet this really is your last chance.

I'll be back tomorrow with a creative project; until then, happy shopping!

I have another information post lined up for you today with even more information on the Colour Revamp and the new ink pads, but first it's time for a little creative inspiration for this week's challenge over at Addicted to CAS that will hopefully bring a little colour to yet another grey, wet and miserable UK day as far as the weather is concerned:

My card is super simple with a loose, watercoloured rainbow background - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Watercolour Rainbow - To create my background, I simply took a selection of inks - Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry - and using my aquapainter, wet my watercolour paper and brushed the various colours across the background, allowing them to blend as I painted. No science to it - as simple as that! 

Farewell, Umbrella Weather - Once dried, I used my Umbrella Weather Framelits to cut out some clouds from my watercolour panel to reveal the grey clouds below. My black diecut umbrella is from the same set. Both the framelits and co-ordinating 'Weather Together' stamp set are retiring at the end of May, so if these are on your wishlist still you need to purchase them now before they are gone for good.

Epoxy Glitter Raindrops - These little glittery raindrops from the seasonal catalogue really are so pretty and really make this card; they catch the light and reflect the rainbow of colours beneath. 

This is one of those cards that definitely looks better in real life - so pretty with the variagated colour and the sparkly raindrops! A lovely pick-me up to brighten someone's day.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Weather Together Photopolymer Stamp Set (£19.00)	Umbrella Weather Framelits Dies (£22.00)	Watercolor Paper (£4.50)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes (£6.25)

I hope you are all enjoying the retiring lists - I'm sure, like me, you will be sad to see some of the items on them go, but on the bright side - I can assure you there is plenty more good coming our way as the new annual catalogue is AWESOME (yes, it is worthy of capital letters!)

As promised today, I have some more news for you on the colour revamp. There is lots of information floating around the internet on this already and not all of it accurate, so here are the main things you need to know right now:

Stampin' Up! has announced that there will be a change to many of the core colours as part of a colour revamp, as opposed to a colour refresh (impacting fewer colours), in the 2018-2019 annual catalogue. No changes have been made to the core colour offering since 2013 and it remains part of Stampin' Up!'s plan to update colours every three to five years. 

In terms of numbers, the overall changes can be summarised as follows:

In a nutshell:

• We are keeping 27 of the existing core colours
• 13 core colours are going away (in addition to the 2016-18 in-colours, although Flirty Flamingo is leaving as an in-colour and returning as a core colour)
• We are adding 10 new core colours
• We are adding 6 returning In Colours that will now be core colours (colours offered in the past that will now be available again)

At this stage, the main colours you need to be concerned about are the departing in-colours that I highlighted in yesterday's post and in addition those 13 core colours that are going away. They are shown below for your reference:

If any of these colours are favourites of yours, then now is the time to stock up on ink pads, cardstock, reinkers or co-ordinating accessories before they are gone forever. Availability of individual ink pads and re-inkers for the 13 Classic colours that are retiring ONLY will be guaranteed until May 7th. After that, ink pads and re-inkers will join cardstock, ink pad collections and accessories which will already be available only while stocks last until 31st May. 

To make it easier for you, I have included a table below that links directly to the online store listing each of the products in the retiring Classic colours that are currently still available at time of posting - the pictures are quite small as there is a lot to fit in!

Chocolate Chip A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers (£22.00)	Neutrals Best 12" X 12" Cardstock Pack (£12.00)
Tangerine Tango A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Brights Stampin' Write Markers (£27.50)	Brights Best 12" X 12" Cardstock Pack (£12.00)
Tempting Turquoise A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Brights Enamel Shapes (£8.25)	Marina Mist A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers (£27.50)	Subtles Best 12" X 12" Cardstock Pack (£12.00)	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Subtles A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Soft Sky 3/8" Classic Weave Ribbon (£6.25)	Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)
Wisteria Wonder A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Wisteria Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Wisteria Wonder Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Subtles Enamel Shapes (£8.25)	Always Artichoke A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Elegant Eggplant A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)
Island Indigo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Perfect Plum A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Rose Red A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Regals Stampin' Write Markers (£27.50)
Regals Best 12" X 12" Cardstock Pack (£12.00)	Regals Enamel Shapes (£8.25)

If you need the links for the retiring in-colours, you can find those in yesterday's post here.

I will be sharing the details of the new in-colours and the new colours joining our core collections in a future post; meanwhile, I am going to include here the 6 previous in-colours that are returning to join those core colour collections - I know this will cause lots of people to whoop with joy to see old favourites returning on a permanent basis:

Who else is as excited as me to see the return of Blackberry Bliss?! I think that's more than enough information for one post - I will post separately about the changes to ink pad design as I know this is something that you also are keen to know more about, based on the enquiries I've been fielding today, but didn't want to overload you with information - there really is a lot to take in.

Back soon with a creative post - meanwhile, get those retiring colour orders in before it's too late! Happy shopping!

It's here - the list of products that will be retiring from this year's annual and Spring-Summer seasonal catalogues has been announced!

You can see and download the full list of items retiring from the current Spring-Summer catalogue by CLICKING HERE.

You can see and download the full list of items retiring from the current Annual catalogue by CLICKING HERE.

Retiring products are only available WHILE STOCKS LAST, so if you've still items on your wish list from this year's annual or spring-summer seasonal catalogues, you need to check the retiring lists and if they're on it put an order in pronto! Don't forget to add this month's online hostess code: YDNWGUGS

Some of the things I will miss most that feature on this list include:

Number Of Years Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Large Numbers Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Brick Wall Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£7.75)	Fluttering Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£7.75)	Bow Builder Punch (£16.00)
Pansy Punch (£14.50)	Brights Enamel Shapes (£8.25)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.25)	Color Theory Card Pack (£9.00)	Fresh Florals Designer Series Paper Stack (£20.00)
Santa's Sleigh Photopolymer Stamp Set (£19.00)	Oh, What Fun Photopolymer Stamp Set (£19.00)	No Bones About It Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)	Moon Baby Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Magical Day Clear-Mount Bundle (£41.25)

I will do a further review tomorrow, however if you want to stock up on any of the retiring in-colour items and you haven't already done so, especially re-inkers, I would urge you to do that sooner rather than later as they are always the first things to sell out.

Click on the links below to take you directly to my online shop to purchase any of the 2016-18 in-colour items that are retiring:

Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Dapper Denim 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (£6.25)
Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Emerald Envy 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (£6.25)
Flirty Flamingo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Flirty Flamingo 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (£6.25)
Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Peekaboo Peach 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (£6.25)
Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Sweet Sugarplum 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (£6.25)
2016-2018 In Color 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Cardstock (£10.00)	2016-2018 In Color A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	2016-2018 In Color Classic Stampin' Pads (£25.50)	2016-2018 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (£13.50)
2016-2018 In Color Glitter Acrylic Shapes (£7.75)

You will notice there are also a number of colour products from other colour families that are included on the list; this is because Stampin' Up! has announced a colour revamp that will involve a complete overhaul of our colours, that includes movement between colour families, additional retiring colours and also some old favourites that will be returning - yay! - along with a redesign of the ink pad casing itself. I will have more news on that for you in the next few days.

I'll be back tomorrow with a creative post and an update on the retiring list; until then, happy shopping!

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazing LeAnne to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

So I couldn't resist sharing a sneak peek of a brand new stamp set with you today - a fabulous two-step stamping set called 'Bike Ride', that I received as part of an all-attendee giveaway at Onstage in Amsterdam last week - take a look:

Isn't that fun?! Read on for the low-down on today's card:

Demonstrator Perks And A Sneak Peek - One of the best perks about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is being able to get your hands on new products before anyone else does! I came home from Onstage last week with some new stamp sets including this fun bicycle stamp set. I was also able to participate in an event-only pre-order which means I am expecting another box of new goodies on Tuesday morning - can't wait! If you are excited by getting your hands on new products early, do get in touch with me about joining my team now so that you can take advantage of these pre-order demonstrator perks too.

A Bike Ride For Teacher - Today's sneak peek is a set called 'Bike Ride'. Such a fun two-step stamp set with lots of little accessories - everything from flowers to apples and books to an adorable puppy dog! You can build endless combinations to make your two-wheeled creations totally unique. The best bit? This set also has some co-ordinating Build A Bike framelits that will make putting your creations together as easy as can be! My CAS card today uses just the stamp set - I created a few masks to enable me to stamp my bicycle as a single layer and adapted the basket to fit the front of my bike. For my first card I stamped my bicycle slightly off the page and added a basket of apples with an overlaid thanks diecut from the retiring 'Hello You' thinlit set (I cut this out 3 times, stacked them and heat embossed with clear embossing powder for added dimension and shine) and the word teacher stamped with my Layered Alphabet set -so useful for custom greetings. 

Teacher Thank You Take Two - I was having so much fun with my set, I created a second card to share with you too! This time I stamped the whole of my bicycle on the card front so that in addition to my basket of apples (accented with my fine tip glue pen) I could add a stack of books to the rear. I also grounded my bicycle with a little sponging and some stamped grass (from the retiring 'Basket Bunch' stamp set) and stamped the word teacher in bold block lettering and cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals for added impact:

I had so much fun playing with this set and making an early start on my teacher thank you cards for the end of next term. I've lots more ideas for this set and I can't wait to get my hands of the framelits when the new catalogue goes live on June 1st! 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we will be either hunting for or eating chocolate as our primary activities today - I think we might need a bike ride later to work some of our calories off! I'll be back tomorrow with another project, also with a travel theme so be sure to tune on for that, Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Hello You Thinlits Dies	Labeler Alphabet Photopolymer Stamp Set	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Versamark Pad	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Fine-Tip Glue Pen

The retiring lists are here! Discover what stamps and accessories, including the 2014-16 In Colours, are retiring at the beginning of June this year. Retiring products are only available WHILE STOCKS LAST, so if you've still items on your wish list from this year's annual or spring-summer seasonal catalogues, you need to check the retiring lists and if they're on it put an order in pronto!

Please click on the images below to see the complete lists in the online store:

                               STAMPS                                  EVERYTHING ELSE

You can click on this link to access and download the complete Retiring List (in pdf format):

Retiring Stamps & Accessories - available April 18-May 31 (while stocks last)

You have just 6 weeks left to shop from the current annual and seasonal catalogues. Some of the items on these lists will sell out quickly and once they're gone, they're gone. So what are you waiting for? Don't delay, shop today! Click here to go straight to my online store - remember to include this month's hostess code UD3KDWM4 to receive a special thank you from me. If you live in or around Northampton, if you would like to save on postage and collect your order on delivery, please email me on [email protected] or phone me with your order.

I'll be back tomorrow with a creative post; until then, happy shopping!