A Few of My Favorite Things
Strike up the band! It’s time for me to present my Five Favorite Things in the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog. That’s right, I’ve spent many nights narrowing down this list to just five items – some are individual items, some are product classes. These are five things I can’t live without, and I’m convinced you will love them, too. In any case, this is a list of five things I like – tomorrow I will share my 5 favorite stamp sets. Yipee!
So, I kinda’ ruined the anticipation on Saturday by revealing my #1 Favorite Thing in the Catalog – the Big Shot Magnetic Platform. See my excitement here. You could have guessed that, right? It’s pretty amazing. Because I already revealed my #1, I am sharing five more items here today. So, this is sort of my Top 6 List, but I won’t tell if you won’t tell.
This is the part where I should say, the list is in “no particular order” – but I don’t do well with disorder. I’ve listed them in order, starting with the ones I am MOST excited about. Here goes nothing:
1. Bundles. You’ve showed us you like bundles, and this catalog is chock full of them! Whether you are bundling a stamp set with a hand-held punch or a framelit or an embossing folder, it’s always great to save some money. These bundles are hidden all over the catalog – it can feel like a game of hide-and-seek to find them all. If you enjoy hide-and-seek, then please skip this next list:
- Chalk Talk Bundle, page 12
- Label Love Bundle, page 32
- Backyard Basics Bundle, page 79
- Wildflower Meadow Bundle, page 83
- Flower Shop Bundle, page 95
- Beautifully Baroque Bundle, page 113
- Mosaic Madness Bundle, page 123
- Six-Sided Sampler Bundle, page 125
- Tag a Bag Bundle, page 159
2. Framelit Collections. By now, you know I love my framelits. I’m sure I’ll love them more with my Big Shot Magnetic Platform, and I know I’ll love the collections now that Circles (130911) and Squares (130921) have joined the party. And don’t forget about the gorgeous Deco Labels (130102). My first thought about the squares? I can just cut squares with my trimmer – but it’s much easier to position the square over the image – or create a fame by cropping with two squares.
3. Designer Series Papers. Stampin’ Up! always delivers when it comes to rich and beautiful papers. This year’s collection of Designer Series Paper is no exception. The papers I’ve seen are amazing, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the others. The Designer Series Paper Stacks have been redesigned to reflect the new color families and to update the patterns themselves. All of these papers are featured between pages 150 and 154. Designer Series Paper Swatch Books are a wonderful way to reference these papers.
4. Candy Dots. When I first saw candy dots in the Annual Catalog, I was hesitant to jump on the candy dots band wagon. Would they really work? How easy would they be to use? Mine are still en route to me, but I know several people who have used them. Word is they are amazing! They stick like the pearls and rhinestones. I can’t wait to embellish my projects with these little, colorful beauties. 5. Wood Mount Cases. When I first saw these cases, I thought my head would explode. For the past year, I’ve given my customers the pros and cons of wood mount vs. clear mount. Clear mount sets have always been easier to store – and that’s a plus! Now that the wood mount sets are offered in handy, upright containers, I can’t solve the conundrum in my mind:
What are your favorite things about the new Annual Catalog? What have you already ordered – or what is on your “must have” list? Did I miss something here? Tomorrow, I’m going to share my Five Favorite Stamp Sets from the new catalog.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
Brian
Grab Your Greetings
Almost every card requires a sentiment, right? I don’t have Sassy Salutations, but you can find Sweet Essentials and Petite Pairs on lots of my cards. They are practically necessary. What better time for Stampin’ Up! to offer these sets at 25% off? Here’s the information you need to add these sets to your order:
More Amazing Greetings
While we are talking about greetings, Stampin’ Up! has been rolling out some great compilation stamp sets each month in honor of its 25th year – and this month’s is Best of Greetings. Yippee! Click on the image below for more information – you can bet I won’t pass on this set:
Want to check out the other “Best of” Compilation set? Click here.
I absolutely love those candy dots! I think they are really great to add to cards because they don’t appear to be very bulky and that’s a plus when you mail your cards. I also love the Hexagon Punch and stamp set, I’m so happy SU finally came through with this great items, I’ve been looking for this punch for a long time.
Love the Magnetic Platform ! Love the Candy Dots ! And that Eastern Elegance Suite has a lot of must haves for me. And I am going to try the Buttons And Blossoms Mold . At first it didn`t interest me but, I was on a demos blog yesterday that changed my mind that it would be fun to play with and it isn`t that expensive to give it try . It will be like making things out of Play Dough !!
Brian, I totally agree with four of your five … just haven’t tried the Candy Dots yet, but I know they’ll be a favorite … You can add them at the last minute when you say to yourself “this card just needs a little something more!” Not easy with a “brad”! The bundle idea is GREAT as are the Framelits! Love my punches, but they take up lots of space and aren’t nearly as portable as the Framelits. New DSP is always fun, but the new DSP redesigned family color stacks is even more exciting to me. Super favorites, Brian!
Oh and btw Brian …outstanding presentation this morning !!! Love it !! You covered a lot of items that busy people might miss . Yay for you !!
Thanks for your 5. . . .uhmmm 6, faves. I’m a ‘short-cut’ kind of gal, so the Bundle list is great! The Candy Dots appealed right away since I’m all about color. I just love looking at the sheet with all those pretty colored dots! And the storage boxes. . . . fabulous! Thanks for posting the video about them. I could go on but there’s stamping to be done!
If I was to say one thing about the new idea book, it would be “bundles”. It sure would have been easier if they had listed the all in one spot though. I am afraid I will miss one. LOL.
Since I’m an organizational freak I have to say I love the new wood mount cases. I’m anxious to get my order and to see how they “stack up” (no pun intended) against the clear stamp ones. My next favorite are the bundles. I’m not a “super snipper” like you Brian so these to me Wonderbar!
We’re you stomping around in my head recently?! No wonder I had a headache the other day! I totally agree with your list…of course we could add more items, but why….they will be popping up sooner or later. Thanks, Brian!
Brian, I wish you would put a Pinterest connection on your blog. I love what you do and would like to be able to come back to your blog and find what you post easily. I also know that people with follow others on Pinterest and it is great advertising for you! I don’t know if you have to pay for that direct connection or not. Dorothy
On blog entries where I post projects, I typically have a link after my name that says “follow me on pinterest” – a direct link to my pinterest board. All of the entries on my board direct you back to the original post. Also, if you want to pin one of my cards, you can open the blog post (click on the blog post name from the main board). At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a little button “pinterest”. If you click on it, it will allow you to pin the post to your own Pinterest account. A series of pictures will come up. If you choose the second picture of the project (I’ve included a description there), you are good to go!
You hit my top items…every last one off them. The only other thing on my list is the embossing folders. I lovemy embossing folders!!!
Guess I need to learn to spell this morning…should say every last one of them.
You absolutely should have given us your #1 pick….can’t wait to get mine!!! And now your top 6 bundles. Hey, we’re all in a hurry to place order and get our new goods. I would have been totally frustrated if you had done a count-down starting with the bottom of your list!! I 99% agree with your picks…except for the “Tag A Bag Bundle”…not too sure about those. Doesn’t sound like that great of a deal to me. So I’ll be excited to see how you use them and change my mind!
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