Introducing the Stampin' Up 2014-2015 Annual Catalogue

Yes, it's Blog Hop time again! I know you really enjoyed the projects on Kath R's blog. She is our blog leader this time and has really set the bar high for the rest of us!

If you are a first-time visitor to our Hop, you may be wondering just what exactly is the Wacky Watercooler? Well, this is the definition you will find on our Homepage:

"We are a creative group of Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrators who hang out together on our demonstrator website in the Wacky Women's Watercooler thread. We share stamping, business, life, love, animals and pretty much whatever comes into our heads with a generally wacky slant on most things. Luckily being virtual the watercooler is always open for fun, frivolity and most of all creativity."

This month we're all excited about the new stamp designs, In-Colour collection and tools in the new Catalogue. One of the most exciting tools is the Blendabilities, which are alcohol based markers. There is a bit of a learning curve when starting out with them, but they are oh, so much fun to use! Right now, the are only available to demonstrators on a limited basis and hopefully will be available for all of you to order in July.

For this Hop, I thought I would share with you some of my practising. I only have two sets of Blendabilities right now: Cherry Cobbler, which has three shades of red, and the Skin Tones which has five different shades ranging from a very light beige-y colour to a nice shade of bronze.

To go along with these gorgeous new colouring tools, we have some new stamps just begging to be coloured! My first example features Blended Bloom, a single stamp available only in wood mount.

The flower is stamped on Whisper White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. When using the Blendabilities - which are alcohol-based - you need to use a water-based ink like the Memento. If you use an alcohol-based ink, such as Staz-On, you may get bleeding from the Staz-on.

I coloured the middle part with Daffoldil Delight and Pumpkin Pie markers, then added highlights with the Signo Jell Pen. After colouring, I cut out the flower using my Stampin' Up paper snips and popped it up with Dimensionals. The mat behind the image is one of the new In-Colours - Blackberry Bliss. It's already one of my favourites because it is so very rich and vibrant! That in turn is mounted on one of the patterns from the Moonlight Paper Stack. Also already a favourite! A Crumb Cake base finishes it all off.

And finally, the sentiment from Really Good Greetings is stamped with Blackberry Bliss.

Next up is a brand new Hostess Set called Bloom With Hope that is also tailor-made for the Blendabilities.

I stayed with the colour-combo of Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White and Crumb Cake with the Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities. This time I stamped a few times with one of the lovely splotch stamps from the Work of Art stamp set using another of the In-Colours - Mossy Meadow. Green is one of my favourite colours and Mossy Meadow is gorgeous! The sentiment is also from Really Good Greetings. This set has something for everyone.

My final offering features something I have never done before. I carved my own stamp!!!!

At last summer's Convention, we were introduced to the Undefined Stamp Carving Kit. We were given a sample of the material, but not the tools. There was a table set up where we could use the carving tools and try it out right there. But, the line-up was really long, so I brought mine home. I ordered a full kit when it was made available last fall, but could not decide what I wanted to do with it.

Then, one of my friends who I used to travel to dog shows with, got a new German shepherd puppy named Osar-Justice Shines, or Justice for short, and began showing him. While still under a year old, he has accumulated Group and multiple Puppy Group wins. After he turned one year old and began showing in the adult classes, he earned his Canadian Championship at one 3-day show. So he is now officially Ch. Osar-Justice Shines.

When I saw his picture in the February issue of Canadian Dog Fancier, I knew I had to carve a GSD stamp! For now, I will just show you the card I made and I plan on doing a post in a couple of days outlining the process. While I'm pleased that I finally attempted to carve a stamp, I think I tried to do something too ambitious for my first attempt and want to do another one, now that I am more familiar with the process.

So, this is it!

I used the Memento Tuxedo Black ink for both the image annd the sentiment, which is from Wetlands. The image is stamped on one of the cards from the Everyday Adventure Project Life Card Collection. This new catalogue features the first collaboration between Stampin' Up and Becky Higgins.

Mossy Meadow is used to mat the image layer and for the card base. And, yes, that's another piece from the Moonlight Paper Stack.

Whew! This new catalogue is jam-packed with so many new things. I want to try them all. How about you?

Now I can't wait to see what lovely things all the other Watercooler Hoppers have come up with. Just click Next to go on to the next stop - Terri, who has a beautiful masterpiece to share. If you get lost at any point, click on the Home button to go to the main page.