Inkyfingers Papercrafting

The wait is finally over – the new annual catalogue launches today! Here are some of the products I’m excited to get my hands on. Will this help you narrow down your wish list, or perhaps add a few more items you hadn’t considered?

Best Item for Beginners – Above the Clouds bundle
This bundle has everything a beginner needs: some fun, easy graphical stamps that are suitable for a wide range of recipients; a versatile collection of sentiments to fit a variety of occasions; and a co-ordinating punch to step up your crafting game when you’re ready. I love the charming, watercolour look of the stamps, particularly the ‘background’ images Stampin’ Up! chose to include: clouds, pennants, birds, and banners. This will be a super easy-to-love bundle!

Best Sentiment Stamp Set – Here’s a Card
Clearly, the designers at Stampin’ Up! are keeping up with current trends in sassy-yet-sincere sentiments, because this stamp set has a great collection of them. Whether you want to send a card of encouragement (“It’s all messy. The hair, the house, the heart. Life”), celebrate a friendship (“I can’t begin to count all the times we’ve laughed together – mostly because numbers are hard”), or praise an accomplishment (“Congratulations on that thing you did. I’d give you a standing ovation, but here’s a card instead”), this stamp set has you covered. There are also a good number of genuine sentiments, including “I’m here if you need me”, “Thank you for being my friend”, “You made my day”, “Happy birthday”, and “May your heart find the peace it needs”. This is a terrific collection of sentiments that covers a wide range of occasions, sure to get lots of use throughout the year!

Best Graphic Stamp Set – Free as a Bird
Free as a Bird narrowly wins out over Floral Essence, which is also gorgeous and has a co-ordinating punch (you know how I love those!). I had to choose Free as a Bird simply because it will be suitable for a wider range of recipients (read: you can use it for masculine cards). I absolutely love the soft and simple lines of this stamp set, and the lovely sentiments that go along with them. The size of the stamps means you can easily complete a card with only one or two stamps, as shown here in the sample we made at OnStage:

If you want to step up your Bird Ballad projects even more, consider the laser cut cards and tin – a set of 12 lacy laser-cut cards ready for your finishing touches. The tin even includes 12 co-ordinating scalloped-edge envelopes, all for only $24.

Best Timesaver – Memories & More Card Packs
The two suites featured on the catalogue cover, Magnolia Lane and Come Sail Away, each have co-ordinating Memories & More card packs that can have you creating 50 flawless cards in only a few minutes, for only $15. Craft with the pre-designed elements as they are, or add co-ordinating products from the rest of the suite to really step up your projects. Either way, it’s a brilliant timesaver with great value!

Best Embellishment – Follow Your Art Embellishment Kit
Honourable Mention to the stunningly gorgeous flower faceted gems, created to co-ordinate with the Mosaic Mood suite but ready to add a touch of bling to any project. In the end, though, I have to give top prize to the Follow Your Art Embellishment Kit. For only $15, you get over 70 individual embellishments including stitched felt shapes, silver charms, and paper clips, plus six yards of linen thread in two beautiful colours. And it all comes in an adorable designer box, ready for re-purposing or gift-giving! Sign me up!

Best Bundle – Daisy Lane bundle
I love that Stampin’ Up! has come out with another daisy-themed bundle, and this one is the best of both worlds. If you already have the Daisy Delight stamp set and Daisy punch, this new bundle will co-ordinate with it beautifully, and even includes a daisy stamp that fits your pre-existing Daisy punch. If you don’t have those products, you can jump straight into using this new bundle, with its adorable floral imagery (that fern!) and a charming new Medium Daisy punch. Absolutely delightful!

Best Paper – Noble Peacock Specialty Designer Series Paper
When I first saw this stunning paper on the display boards at OnStage, I audibly gasped. The royal colours, the shimmering foil, and the elegant repeating patterns … I am in love. And that’s before we even look at the rest of the suite, which includes a stamp set and die cut bundle, a beautiful embossing folder, sparkly rhinestones with the same rich colours, and shimmery reversible ribbon …! But back to the paper. Featuring one of our brand new In Colors, “Pretty Peacock“, this specialty foil paper is going to add a lush richness to your projects that any lucky recipient is sure to appreciate.

Best New Tool – Die Brush Tip
The new Storage by Stampin’ Up! is amazing, but we’ve already talked about that! There are some other great tools to check out, though. For example, remember last year when I predicted that we’d see some new interchangeable heads for the Take Your Pick tool? Well, here’s the first of them: a Die Brush Tip! The brush head fits right onto your existing tool, and helps you remove small cut pieces from your dies. When you order the brush head, you’ll also receive two foam mats to go along with it. Great bargain for $12.25!

In Case You Missed It …

Detailed Bands
This bundle leaped out at me right away when I looked at the catalogue. Similar to recent products like Stitched All Around and Dear Doily, it has gorgeous detailing along with beautiful sentiments that combine to make a big impact on your project. It has one major advantage over Dear Doily, too: with bands on the side, you won’t need to fuss with specialty adhesive, but can just use your snail on the wider bands, making this set a must-have for me!

Heirloom Frames Embossing + Die Set
Here’s a new idea: Stampin’ Up! has combined a pair of dies with a pair of embossing folders, so you can create your own embossed frames. What a cool idea! There are some beautiful samples in the catalogue using these products (see pages 4 and 13), which of course co-ordinate with the Woven Heirlooms stamp set – and YES, you can bundle the stamp set with Heirloom Frames for a 10% discount!

And don’t forget these awesome hostess sets, which you can only earn if you host a qualifying party during the catalogue period.

Did I leave your favourite product off my list? Comment and let me know!

Product List

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