Today I'm going to take a few minutes to point out a few of my favorite things that are on the retiring list, and encourage you to think about adding them to your collection before they're gone.

First, however, there are a few things about some of the retiring items that I want to share:

Stampin' Trimmer:  since the rotary cutter addition is being retired, the replacement blades and trimmer cutting mat replacements are being retired.  The standard cutting blade runs in the slot, and never touches the mat; the rotary blade requires the mat to be rotated 90° to the flat side, which, over time, will become scarred and lead to messy cuts.   If you use the Rotary Cutter Addition, I have found out that the blades and cutting mats will be available to order from an unpublished parts list by calling Stampin' Up!  Likewise the scoring blade, which should only rarely, if ever, need replacing.

Bundled Items:  you will see that all of the bundles offered in our catalogs are on the retiring list.  However, very often some or all of the individual items in these bundles are not on the list.  This is because the unlisted items are carrying over into the 2016-17 Annual Catalog, but will not be offered in a bundle.  The bundle will be your best price option - so get it now!

Available Until May 31 or While Supplies Last:  You'll notice that the retiring list is divided into two parts:  Stamps and Everything Else.  Since SU! manufactures its own stamps, those will be available through May 31.  Everything Else is purchased from outside vendors, and is therefore available only while supplies last.  You may find items from the Everything Else list show up at a later date on the Clearance Rack, but there's no guarantee.  Stamp sets rarely (if ever) show up on the Clearance Rack.   

If you have any questions about retiring products, their availability, or how to order just send me an email.



​

And now, My Favorite Retiring Products

I CASE'd this card from Amy Koenders, but changed up the DSP and therefore the colors of the ice cream cones.  Sadly, several of the items on this card are retiring (or already have), sniff!

The DSP is the bright and fun Cherry on Top paper stack.  The ice cream cones are from the Sale-A-Bration set, Honeycomb Happiness, and they're stamped in Archival Basic Gray on Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush and Pool Party (scoops) and Crushed Curry (cones).  They are layered on a strip of Vellum card stock that is cut the same size as the polka dot DSP it's adhered to underneath the cones.  Then they're on a layer of Cucumber Crush card stock.  The Whisper White is stamped with a sentiment from Fabulous Four (going away on May 31), and then embossed with the Large Polka Dot embossing folder.  It, too, is layered on Cucumber Crush before being mounted on a Watermelon Wonder card base.

Inside I stamped a pair of sentiments from the retiring Remembering Your Birthday set in Watermelon Wonder, and finished off the panel with a strip of Cherry On Top Washi Tape.

Sometimes pictures mean more than words...below are the lists of retiring products with pictures.  

Retiring Stamps

Retiring Everything Else

Clarifications: 

• if items are in a bundle, the bundle itself is retiring, even if the individual products are being carried over to the new catalog...if you want it, this is your chance to save 15%!
• you may notice that the scoring blade and the cutting mat for the Stampin' Trimmer are being discontinued.  Never fear, the awesome Stamping' Trimmer isn't going anywhere!  The scoring blade doesn't wear out or need replacing, and with the Rotary Attachment being discontinued there is no need to replace the cutting mat since the sliding blade doesn't ever touch the mat.

I CASE'd this card from Patsy Waggoner, only changing up the sentiment.  I really like the Very Vanilla, Watermelon Wonder and Mossy Meadow/Old Olive color combo.  I also think the tropical flower vibe works just fine with the poppy blossoms on the Pretty Petals DSP.  Perhaps best of all, with the simple layers this is a cinch to mail!

Sometimes pictures mean more than words...below are the lists of retiring products with pictures.  

Retiring Stamps

Retiring Everything Else

Clarifications: 

• if items are in a bundle, the bundle itself is retiring, even if the individual products are being carried over to the new catalog...if you want it, this is your chance to save 15%!
• you may notice that the scoring blade and the cutting mat for the Stampin' Trimmer are being discontinued.  Never fear, the awesome Stamping' Trimmer isn't going anywhere!  The scoring blade doesn't wear out or need replacing, and with the Rotary Attachment being discontinued there is no need to replace the cutting mat since the sliding blade doesn't ever touch the mat.

I have participated in fewer and fewer swaps the more events I attend.  I think that with blogs and Pinterest they are a very inefficient way to gather ideas.  For #onstage2016 I prepared one swap card, for Bonnie Farley, who works for SU, because she had inadvertently sent us Silver level demonstrators an invitation for an event for which we didn't qualify, and promised us a card to make up for the mistake.

So I decided to use one of the remaining watercolored panels from my big watercolor "smooshing" class back in February and make it into a card for her;

Here's what I received from her, featuring a new stamp set, Badges and Banners, along with a new coordinating punch, Best Badge, and the new InColor, Peekaboo Peach on the Designer Series paper, ink, and new ⅜" Ruched Ribbon.

I snapped a very quick photo with Bonnie, but I will do us all a favor and not post it...poor lighting and moving quickly through the swapping line did not make a flattering pic of either of us, LOL!

Stampin' Up! has released the list of retiring products...stamp sets will be manufactured through May 22, but retiring tools, embellishments and accessories are available only while supplies last.  Retiring InColor products will probably sell out first, so don't hesitate if you need anything!  See the entire list here.

I had a whirlwind of fun in Salt Lake City late last week, and am now home full of fun ideas and excitement for the new Annual Catalog that will debut on June 1!

If you've been following along on my Nancy's Nifty Notes Facebook page you will have seen a lot of the fun and excitement as it happened, but without a lot of specifics.  This is because we were not allowed to share details until after everyone who attended an OnStage event around the world was able to have a chance to see things first - that's one of the perks of being a demonstrator who attends these events.  Want to be one of the lucky ones?  Join my team and attend OnStage Local  on Saturday, November 5, in Phoenix with us!

Now I can show you some of the exciting things we learned, saw and made.  First off, here's our new InColors 2016-2018:

They are (L-R): Dapper Denim, Emerald Envy, Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, and Sweet Sugarplum.  This was one of our make-and-takes...a color chart with samples of cardstock, ink and markers.  These colors are definitely not duplicates of what we currently have, and will be nice to use in conjunction with existing colors.  As was pointed out, they aren't necessarily intended to be used all together!

​Here are the rest of the make-and-takes: 

It features several new items:  Confetti Celebration stamp set, Layering Squares Framelits, Sprinkles punch and Foam Adhesive Strips.  Yes, it's a whole suite of products designed to make shaker cards faster and better than ever!​

This card features the Affectionately Yours suite, with Affectionately Yours Speciality Designer Series paper that has COPPER accents, one of the two Floral Affection Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, and the Love and Affection stamp set. Yes, SU! has brought back copper in this paper and in embossing powder...Yay!

This cute little note card is from a brand-new all-inclusive kit, Oh Happy Day Card Kit. It includes everything needed to make 20 cards, including a starter acrylic block, stamp set and ink spot, which can all be used to make more cards once the kit is complete.  Here's a look at the entire card and all the cards in the kit:

Check back in tomorrow and get more info on upcoming offerings.  I am honestly more excited for this catalog than many in the last several years.  Both the amount of items being carried over and the quality and interest-factor in the new items is off-the-charts wonderful.

I told you I'm on a birthday card kick!  I think it's because I have 3 family members and multiple friends with April birthdays.  Today I've got a series of cards that I made. They're CASE'd from Michelle Last, whose color scheme I used in this first card.  I put big dabs of Bermuda Bay, Pool Party and Island Indigo ink on an acrylic stamping block, spritzed it with water and pressed a strip of watercolor paper on it.  I actually added more Bermuda Bay in spots because it wasn't looking quite the way I wanted to as it was drying.  I also pressed a scrap of Whisper White card stock onto the block to get a coordinating piece to punch out the flower embellishment using the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.

Once it was completely dried I stamped the flourish from Timeless Textures on it in VersaMark and sprinkled with White Stampin' Emboss Powder.  Once they were heated and set, I attached 2 strips of Pool Party Glitter Ribbon on each side of the strip.  I cut a leaf out of Vellum using the Rose Garden Thinlits, and stamped the sentiment and frame on Island Indigo card stock with Versamark, again embossing with White Stampin' Emboss powder and cutting out with the coordinating framelit from Rose Garden. I used a bit of Fast Fuse to adhere the stem end of the leaf, then Stampin' Dimensionals to add the tag.  The flower was adhered to the tag with a Glue Dot, then a rhinestone added to the center.

I liked the results so much I replicated it twice using watercolored panels I had yet to use from the "Watercolor Smooshing" class I held back in February.

This time I took the panel I had "smooshed" and cut it in half lengthwise to make 2 strips.  On one I used the same flourish from Timeless Textures, and on the other I used the single flower from Rose Garden.  The ribbon at the edges is the White Glitter Ribbon that's retired from the Holiday Catalog (was sold paired with a roll of Gold) that I colored with the retired Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities (boy, do I miss those!!!)  I wish you could see the sparkle of the Glimmer Paper...click on the link above and look at the unadorned sheet to see what I mean.

As you're reading this I'm in Salt Lake City for the first OnStage Live being held in North America.  Woot!

While none of my team was able to travel with me (waaah!), I am going to be hanging out with a couple of other Arizona demonstrators I've met since moving here.  As is my habit, I like to take little "survival kit" gifts for friends:

This time I CASE'd myself and the Easter treats I made for my family.  I snagged the OnStage Live logo from the SU! website and printed it out to use on these.  It looked to me like they used Watermelon Wonder as the top background color block, so that's what I went with for the Fry Boxes and the lace ribbon.  Once I put the goodies (hand lotion, chocolate and a tin of mints) in the boxes I slid them into our gusseted cellophane bags and tied them closed.  

There's an embargo on showing pictures of the catalog cover and new products/projects until next Monday morning...but you can check my Nancy's Nifty Notes Facebook page for any breaking news that I can share while I'm there.  Be sure to "like" the page so you don't miss any announcements!  I'll be sure to do a report once I'm home early next week.

Come make 5 fun projects for just $20!   Check out the 2 sneak-peeks below.

Suitable for all levels of experience, and all supplies included.  

Please RSVP for all sessions by noon on Saturday, April 23.  
Class address will be sent to you upon receipt of reservation.

Monday, April 25
9:30 am - noon
Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
RSVP

Tuesday, April 26
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi's House in Phoenix
RSVP

Thursday, April 28
6:30 - 9:00 pm
Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
RSVP

Continuing my birthday card kick, I made a couple of these cards the other day.  I seem to be developing a taste for collage cards, at least when they retain a good amount of white space.  This one was was CASE'd from someone...but apparently I didn't pin it somewhere that I can find it again...apologies to the original artist.

I started by stamping the honeycomb image from Butterfly Basics a few times in Sahara Sand, stamping off on my grid paper lightly first.  Then I stamped the flower stem in Rich Razzleberry.  I added 2 fern fronds in Old Olive, then the sentiment, small flowers and postmark in Rich Razzleberry.  

I also stamped the small, floral butterfly in Rich Razzleberry and cut it out with the coordinating Butterfly Thinlits die.  I also cut the medium butterfly from the same set using Gold Foil paper.  Both were attached to the Whisper White panel, which was then glued to a Rich Razzleberry card base.

Come make 5 fun projects for just $20!   Check out the 2 sneak-peeks below.

Suitable for all levels of experience, and all supplies included.  

Please RSVP for all sessions by noon on Saturday, April 23.  
Class address will be sent to you upon receipt of reservation.

Monday, April 25
9:30 am - noon
Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
RSVP

Tuesday, April 26
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi's House in Phoenix
RSVP

Thursday, April 28
6:30 - 9:00 pm
Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
RSVP

I love the richness of the colors on this card, which I've CASE'd from Shawn de Oliveira.  Despite the appearance of a lot going on due to the 3 kinds of flowers, it's really a very clean and simple card.

The Botanical Gardens suite of products is at the heart of this card, but the splashy sentiment is from the coordinating Sale-A-Bration set, Botanicals For You.  The sentiment is stamped in Archival Basic Black, and then the cluster of mini flowers from Botanical Blooms is stamped on either side in Mint Macaron.  This layer is mounted on a piece of Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper, and then on a Hello Honey card base.  Finally, the small flowers are cut with a die from the Botanical Builders Framelits in Hello Honey, Mint Macaron and Cajun Craze.​

Come make 5 fun projects for just $20!   Check out the 2 sneak-peeks below.

Suitable for all levels of experience, and all supplies included.  

Please RSVP for all sessions by noon on Saturday, April 23.  
Class address will be sent to you upon receipt of reservation.

Monday, April 25
9:30 am - noon
Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
RSVP

Tuesday, April 26
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi's House in Phoenix
RSVP

Thursday, April 28
6:30 - 9:00 pm
Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
RSVP

After spending a chunk of time today trying to get my daughter to go to an appointment and class she didn't want to attend, I was in a pretty good funk.  So I decided to delve into my Pinterest board of cards I've wanted to make for a long time and used my "found" time to do just that.

This is a card for a friend whose birthday is at the end of the week and has been asking me to make her some feather cards.  I'll leave it unsigned and send it along with a blank envelope as a little birthday gift for her.  Years ago I found a little poem to enclose in just such situations:

​I didn’t sign this card
​before I sent it off to you,
instead it holds my warmest thoughts
invisible but true.
So if you find you need to
brighten someone’s day,
then take this card and sign it
​and send it on its way.

OK, it's more than a little cheesy, but it works!

To make this card I dug into my retired products a bit...the card base is stamped in Smoky Slate with the Dictionary background stamp, and the feathers are stamped with Four Feathers in Smoky Slate, Lost Lagoon and Soft Sky.  I used the Feathers Framelits to cut them out, then covered them with the 2-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.  While they dried I stamped the spatter from Gorgeous Grunge in Archival Basic Gray a couple of times, then put a tiny dab of Fast Fuse in the lower, right quadrant and started looping the Silver Metallic Thread, catching it whenever possible on the Fast Fuse.  The Island Indigo feather is adhered with Fast Fuse, the other 2 with Stampin' Dimensionals.  

I stamped the birthday sentiment from A Dozen Thoughts on a ½" strip of Whisper White card stock and flagged each end with the Banner Punch.  It's also popped up with Dimensionals.

​I feel better now...hope you're having a great Monday!

Here's Sara teasing us with the new Annual Catalog!  I'm very excited to see it when I'm at OnStage Live in Salt Lake City later this week.  Want to be sure you get your copy?  Place an order with me, or send me an email and I'll be sure you get one!

With a new catalog will come new InColors for 2016-2018.  That means it's almost time to say goodbye to the 2014-2016 InColors...perhaps my favorite ones yet!  Be sure to stock up before supplies run out...in particular the Ink Refills will sell out quickly!

Come make 5 fun projects for just $20!   Check out the 2 sneak-peeks below.

Suitable for all levels of experience, and all supplies included.  

Please RSVP for all sessions by noon on Saturday, April 23.  
Class address will be sent to you upon receipt of reservation.

Monday, April 25
9:30 am - noon
Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
RSVP

Tuesday, April 26
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi's House in Phoenix
RSVP

Thursday, April 28
6:30 - 9:00 pm
Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
RSVP