If you are looking for today’s Pals Paper Arts card, click HERE or scroll down…but these two announcements are TOO important not to give top billing!!!

Announcement #1:  Color Refresh

Stampin’ Up! is announcing a Color Refresh!  They know how much we love color, so they are thrilled to share their updated line of colors.  I hope you will be as excited as I am, as you look over the flyer to see who is returning, and to whom we are saying good-by!

Why now? In 2010,  Stampin’ Up!  did a big color renovation and shared their plans for smaller color refreshes every three to five years to keep their colors on trend.   It has been three years, and the upcoming 2013-2014 annual catalog will include 10 new colors (most of which are returning In Colors from previous years).  They are welcoming back some of our favorites, moving some colors around, and introducing one brand-new color, so take a look!

Color Refresh Flyer

Beginning today, April 4, 2013, all retiring/discontinued color products (i.e. ink, paper, ribbon, accessories, etc.) will be available only while supplies last. This means that some products will not be available through the retired list period. Stampin’ Up! did anticipate increased demand and based their forecasts for these retiring colors on historical sales information from previous color transitions. However, even with the most careful planning, the response to a transition of this nature can surprise everyone.

Announcement #2:  FREE Shipping

Stampin’ Up! is offering FREE shipping on EVERYTHING April 6-8 (excluding expedited orders)! There are no minimums or limits. 

So get those orders ready to go!!! Just email me if you have any questions! Until next time…

 

It’s Thursday, and time to play with the Pals at Pals Paper Arts! This week is our monthly color challenge, and what a challenge it was for me: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Marina Mist. I had to put on my thinking cap for this one, and then it ended up taking me three tries to come up with this card.  Part of my problem was that I wanted to do something that was not floral, because I have done so many paper snipped floral cards lately.  Plus, I didn’t want to do a baby boy card.  But in the end, because these colors were outside of my comfort zone, I ended up using a stamp set with which I felt comfortable…Field Flowers.  I was right back to making a paper snipped floral card…again.  And to top it all off, I could not get the colors to photograph correctly.  But as Scarlett O’Hara said in Gone with the Wind, “…Tomorrow is another day…”

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips
This card measures 4-1/4″ wide by 5-1/2″ long.

• Make it glittery! Adding glitter to any card is a breeze!  Use Stampin’ Up!’s Two Way Glue Pen to add adhesive, spoon on a little Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter, and shake off the excess.  I think it looks extra yummy on these Bashful Blue Field Flower blossoms, which have been overstamped with Marina Mist.  Five pearls in the corner are the pearl-fect touch!
  

• “Make it work!” That’s what Tim Gunn of Project Runway would say to his designers faced with a design challenge.  So I was determined to make these colors work for me. I unified with a common design element…circles and dots!  And really…this is not Lucky Limeade.  It truly is Certainly Celery! (In the true spirit of the scientist I once was, I discovered that if I place my laptop screen straight up, it does look truer to color.)

• Make your own background paper! I took 1/2″ strips of Marina Mist and Bashful Blue designer paper patterns and created my own herringbone design.  Although most of it is covered up, I like the way the snippets of it look, peeking from behind the other mats.

I wish all of you could see this card up close and personal.  The colors really are pretty together.  Does anyone else ever have problems with colors not photographing correctly?  I know I had problems with my Paper Player card from Sunday, but I blamed it on the dark Early Espresso next to the white. 

What do you think of  this color combination?  Won’t you let me know in today’s comment? As always,your comments are important to me.  And remember…if you ever have a comment about the cards I create or the techniques I use, I am only an email away.  Until next time…