My Top Ten Picks from the Stampin' Up! 2016 Occasions Catalogue

Well, the Occasions Catalogue has been out now for a week, and I thought it was high time to let you know, for what it's worth, which products are my favs! Yes, it's time once again for My Top Ten Picks!! I will list the ten products and let you know why they are my favourites, and hopefully, that will make it easier for you when choosing what to purchase from this amazing little volume.

Here goes:

1. Best Paper Stack: And the winner is: It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack. (Click on the link to purchase!) 

This beautiful, bright paper stack is actually 12 x 12 and you get 4 sheets of each design so you'll have lots of your favourites to play with. It's perfectly designed for birthday cards!








2. Best Designer Series Paper: This was a really hard choice because they are all lovely, but because of the soft colours and beautiful florals, the nod has to go to Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper.

3. Top Bundle: There are some absolutely wonderful bundles in this Occasions catalogue and it seems there are more than ever this year. That is great for you because it means you can save money. If you buy a bundle instead of each item in the bundle separately, you will save 15%. Bundles have different catalogue numbers than the individual items so make sure you use that when you order to get the savings.

But the bundle I like the best is (drum roll, please);  The Rose Wonder Photopolymer Bundle.

The beautiful stamp set, the amazing dies including the rose outlines, leaf sprig and that great label all combine to make this a really versatile and creative tool.















4. The Best Ribbon: My upline calls it Mermaid Ribbon! It's so sparkly and such a beautiful colour! Pool Party like you've never seen it before! The award goes to the Pool Party 3/8" Glitter Ribbon, hands down!

5. Best New Tool:  It's what we've all been waiting for! No more dryers sheets and piercing tools!!
It's the Big Shot Die Brush! Removes all the little bits of paper from those intricate dies and die cuts! Hallelujah!

6. Best Kit:  The winner is a cute piece of home decor in the shape of a mini clipboard with interchangeable display pieces! Very cute! It's called Enjoy the Little Things!

7. The Best Stamp Set: I know this is pretty subjective, but because I love hummingbirds and starfish (my home is decorated with a beach cottage theme, with sea stars up the ying yang), I have to go with Picture Perfect, a two-step stamping set. Besides, I think it will work so well with other sets like By the Tide and From Land to Sea, as well as any Floral stamp sets.

8. Best Masculine Suite of Products:  Cheating a bit here, just so I could get some more paper and stamps in the mix, but I truly love this whole product suite, and you know how I love to make masculine cards. It's the Going Global Stamp Set, the Going Places Designer Series Paper Stack and the World Traveler Embossing Folder! I know this will be worth your money because it would work so well with other sets such as Traveler, The Open Sea and Guy Greetings.

9. Best Sentiment Stamp Set: This was a toss up between two sets, Suite Sayings and Greatest Greetings. They are both really versatile, with Greatest Greetings having more stamps, but Suite Sayings has a variety of fonts and also coordinates with other products in the Occasions Catalogue, such as Designer Series Paper, so I singled out Suite Sayings as the best!

10. Best Embellishments: I know these have issues for mailing, but Shannon West from Stampin' Up! came up with a great solution for that problem, and they're just soooo cute - Honeycomb Embellishments.

And there you have it! What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Which are your favourites?

And because it's Tuesday, there's a new slate of:

My Top Ten Products from the new Holiday Catalogue

It's here! You can now order from Stampin' Up!'s 2015

Holiday Catalogue!!

I've done a couple of things that I hope will make it easier to make the most of this wonderful catalogue. First I created Product Shares. You can look at them here. This will allow you to get a sample from all the wonderful new paper, ribbons and embellishments in this catalogue without breaking the bank!

Today, I am posting my

  TOP TEN PRODUCTS FROM THE HOLIDAY CATALOGUE!

which is my little review, for what it's worth, of the products I am most delighted with in this publication! This may help you with narrowing down your wishlist a bit. Wait...why would you want to narrow down your wishlist! That's just crazy! Let's try that again! I will help you plan you purchases in a strategic way! Without further ado:

1. The best DSP  - Home for Christmas Designer Series Paper

This design series paper has the retro look of a Christmas long ago! It has great colours, and designs that are fun and some that are more formal! And really, those adorable deer and Santas that you can crop to add to your projects are what makes this paper tops in my eyes! Plus it has a music score for Silent Night!

2. The best Specialty DSP - Winter Wonderland Specialty DSP

Black, white and gold! Can you get anymore festive and amazing than that? Wonderful designs with foil accents plus a couple of one sided foil designs that are to die for! This one is my top favourite of all the paper in the catalogue!

3. The best Christmas Stamp Set - Wonderland

I guess I chose this stamp set because it goes so well with the Winter Wonderland DSP. But I love those trees! I think they'll be classics. And the script on the sentiments is so cool. The cool antlers....yeah, I don't quite know what to do with them, but the other images I know I'm going to use a lot this season.

4. The best Fall Stamp Set - Thankful Forest Friends

This one is just cute and whimsical and works so well with the Into the Woods Products. And most of the images will be able to be used throughout the year, not just in the fall.

5. The best Sentiment Stamp Set - Versatile Christmas

This has 9 Christmas sentiments both for the outside AND the inside of your Holiday greeting cards! There is a fantastic variety of fonts - every thing you'll need for making your own Christmas cards!

6. The best Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - Woodland 

Birch Trees! Eeeee! Hands down my favourite! Such a neat texture added to fall, Christmas, Halloween cards, and really, all year long!

7. The best Dies - Hearth and Home Thinlits

Okay, I know it doesn't look like much here, but I've wanted a window die for so long! I almost squealed out loud when I saw it in the catalogue for the first time at Convention! Did you know this die can also be a fireplace by snipping out the crosspieces in the middle? And because of that, there's another set of Framelits that's a close second, and that's the Festive Fireside Framelits.

8. The best Ribbon - Very Vanilla Subtle Stripes Satin Ribbon

It would be hard to imagine a classier ribbon than this! It works so well with many of the designs and papers, and is just so pretty for year round loveliness on your cards.

9. The best Embellishments - Snowflake Elements

I had quite the inner debate with myself over this category, between these, the Winter Wonderland Embellishments and the Iced Rhinestones, but this won out, because so many of the themes this year are woodland ones. Also you get more of them than the Winter Wonderland ones for less money, and darn it, they are just so appealing!

10. The best Tools - Precision Base Plate & the Fine Tip Glue Pen

As our Framelits and Thinlits become more and more intricate, the Precision Base Plate for the Big Shot, will be indispensable. I thought it was no biggie until I actually tried it. The intricate ornament die was cut perfectly with just one roll through on the Big Shot, and all the little pieces came out so easily! It will be a staple tool along with the Big Shot in the future!

Along the same lines, is the Fine Tip Glue Pen. It has a needle like fine tip that applies glue right to the tiny areas of the intricate dies and scripts that we're using so much now. The lid actually has a needle that goes down the inside of the applicator to keep the glue running freely. It's very easy to use, and will likely become a regular adhesive in the Stampin' Up! collection.

So there you have it! There are so many more great products that I could mention, and I know your wish list is going to be long, but this may help you prioritize. Of course, these are only my preferences and you may prefer something completely different, but there it is, for what it's worth.

If you don't yet have a copy of the Holiday Catalogue you can download a PDF file by clicking either one of the Catalogue covers on this page:

There are so many bundles (where you can buy two or more coordinating products together and save 15%!) in this catalogue, you can hardly turn the page without running into another one, so make sure you check to see if the product you're interested in is bundled.

See you tomorrow with a  Inlaid Shaker Card!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper [139592]	Winter Wonderland Specialty Designer Series Paper [139588]	Wonderland Wood-Mount Stamp Set [139752]	Wonderland Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140365]	Thankful Forest Friends Wood-Mount Stamp Set [139720]
Thankful Forest Friends Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139723]	Versatile Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set [140389]	Versatile Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140392]	Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [139673]	Hearth & Home Thinlits Dies [139666]
Festive Fireside Framelits Dies [139668]	Very Vanilla 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Subtle Stripes Satin Ribbon [139616]	Snowflake Elements [139638]	Precision Base Plate [139684]	Fine-Tip Glue Pen [138309]

My Top Ten Products from the New Occasions Catalogue

I've definitely had some challenges getting the Occasions catalogues into your hands. Stampin' Up! allows us to put our active customers on a mailing list and we either pay or earn that many catalogues to have mailed out to our customers.  I did that back in November and the catties supposedly mailed December 1 and I still have customers who didn't receive them. The fault lies with the carrier (I'm not naming any names, but you know who you are Canada Post!) but Stampin' Up! will make it good!

I have catalogues that I will get into your hands as soon as humanly possible. If you were on the mailing list, you will have received an email from me. Please respond to that as I need an accurate count for Stampin' Up! and also I need to know to whom to deliver one.  The same issue goes for the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue.

One complicating factor is that the Occasions Catalogue came cleverly disguised as a Sale-A-Bration Brochure, because it had a wrapper advertising Sale-A-Bration, so don't judge the catty by its cover! Check underneath the wrapper!

However, I have had a lovely month getting to know the Occasions catalogue and playing with some of the products and I wanted to give you my Top 10 list of products to guide you in your purchases. Just a disclaimer:  these are my own opinions and may not reflect your taste or your crafting needs!

So here we go:

1.  Best Valentine Value:
Bundle of You Plus Me Stamp Set and Stacked with Love Designer Series Paper Stack.

• Save 15% on these great products that will see you through all your Valentine's cards.

                                              

2.  Best Specialty Designer Series Paper:  Birthday Bash Specialty Designer Series Paper.

• Bright, cheerful designs with some embossed gold on 2 of them.

                                              

3. Best Designer Series Paper: Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper.

• The fact that these are just Sahara Sand and Whisper White make these designs so useful as Neutrals and very elegant as well.  Great for weddings! I like that you get 4 of each double sided design.

                                               


4. Best Stamp Set: Moon Lake

• Three life-like images along with 3 great sentiments that speak of nature's beauty.  You can stamp as is or add colour with Blendabilities.

                                                 

5. Best Embellishment: Something Borrowed Embellishments

• Elegant way to dress up your cards and tags!  You could make jewelry out of                                        them!

                                                          

6. Best Regular Bundle:
Butterfly Basics featuring the Butterfly Basics Stamp set and the Butterflies Thinlits Dies. 

• So beautiful!  I love all the images and the intricate thinlits. Gorgeous!

                                                       

7. Best Masculine Stamp Set:  Guy Greetings

• This set has all you need to make cool and funky masculine greeting cards. It's a great value at $42.95 for Clear or $31.95 for Photopolymer for 22 stamps!

                                                     
*Note photo is missing a couple of images.

8. Best Designer Series Paper Stack: Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper Stack

• This is almost my very favourite new product of all. I love the textures and outdoor elements among the 48 sheets of 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" paper all for only $8.50!

                                                   
9.  Best Ribbon:  White Jute Ribbon

• I haven't used it yet. It's on its way, but I love the texture and the fact that it's white!

                                                 
          and.... (I can't decide between them) The Sahara Sand 7/8" Lace Trim - so pretty!

                                                  

And last, but not least:

10.  Best Kit:  Hello Life Project Kit.

• It was a toss up between this one and the Build a Bouquet Kit, but I thought this was more unique and useful!  Take a look.

                                                 
                                                

There is so much more in the catalogue, so have a good look!  I could have named at least 5 more products here.  Luckily, we have until June to get everything we want or we'd all be broke!

Finally, I wanted to let you know about the second way to earn more products during Sale-A-Bration.

When you host a party or private class during Sale-A-Bration, you have the opportunity to add a bonus to your regular, already awesome Stampin' Rewards!  If your party sales are $330 or more (before tax and shipping) Stampin' Up! will add $35 more dollars to your Host Dollars!  So instead of earning $55 at that level, you would be earning $90!  Wow! and it applies to every level of rewards above $350 sales!  

Contact me right away to book a private class or party. My booking times are limited, but I know we can find a time that suits you!

Thanks for dropping by.  I'll be back tomorrow with another As You See It Challenge Design!