Announcement

Just Two More Weeks!

April 19, 2021 by Robin

Aloha, all –

There are just two more weeks left to place orders in Stampin’ Up!’s 2020-2021 Annual Catalog! By now, there are dozens of products that have already sold out. And now’s close to the time when we’re going to start seeing Stamp Sets on the “Discontinued” list. So if there’s a stamp set that you’ve been thinking about buying before it retires, you just have until May 3rd!

There’s Still a Lot Left

I’ve just updated the l ist of Stampin’ Up! products that are retiring effective close of business on May 3, 2021. Most of the ink and cardstock in the outgoing “In Colors” are already sold out. But there many other products still available, some even on sale at a discounted price. You can go through the list here. If you have any questions, let me know!

What I’ve Been Doing This Month

I’ve obviously been scarce the past few weeks. One of the reasons is that I’m getting my craft room ready for all the new products that are going to replace what I’ve had in my stash for the last year. All of my retiring stamp sets are packed away, as are all of the 2020-21 In Color products. I’ve also packed away most of the Designer Series Papers from the retiring catalog. The good news is that, as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, I’ve had the privilege of ordering some stuff to replace all that I’m packing away. I have stamp sets, dies, inks, ribbons, cardstock, papers, embellishments and I’m hard at word getting some samples made so that I can hit the ground running on May 4th. When that new catalog arrives, I’ll be showing off samples right from the start!

In fact, I’ll be showing one sample off later this week. I already have a favorite suite of products, and I can hardly wait to show you what I’ve made with it. Of course I could just lay off the blogging for another two weeks. But now that my craft room is organized, I have the time to share with you!

The Bottom Line – How to Get a Catalog

I’ve ordered (and received!) enough catalogs for my current customers and I’ll be sending those out later this week. If you’d be interested in having a catalog, let me know and I’ll get in touch with you to get the information I need before I send it out.

Have a great week stamping!

It’s Annual Catalog Retirement Time!

April 1, 2021 by Robin

It’s April and that means the sale of Stampin’ Up! products retiring on May 3rd is in full swing! Actually, this sale has been going on for more than a week already. And already some products have sold out. The good news is that most retiring products are still available.

Aloha, all!

Stampin’ Up!’s 2021-2022 Annual Catalog is going to be released on May 4th, just a bit over a month away. I have a copy in my hot little hands and I can hardly wait to order some of the new product suites. So excited! But I’m also a bit sad at those products that are in the current catalog but won’t make it into the next. Just yesterday I made what it likely close to my last card using the Under My Umbrella Stamp Set. It’s not a set that I use a lot. But it’s one that is just perfect when the need for it arises.

Here’s a Link to the Retiring Product List

I have a copy of the retiring list that I’ve edited a bit to try to make it easier to see what’s retiring. Click here to read and/or download it.

Interested in Any Retiring Stamp Sets? Now’s the Time to Buy!

You might be interested to know that there are 93 stamp sets that are going to retire. Maybe one or two of them are sets that you’ve thought about buying once or twice during the year. If so, not is the time to buy them. Stampin’ Up! makes its own stamps, so they should be around for another week or two before they stop replacing them when they run out. But why not buy one now when you know they’re available?

It’s Not Just Stamp Sets that Retire

Can you believe that there are 37 Stampin’ Up! Die sets that are going to retire? Granted, some of them are associated with many of the stamp sets that are going to retire. But there are also some staples that are going to go away. Among those are Layering Ovals Dies and Layering Squares Dies. The good news is that the Layering Circles and Layering Rectangles are sticking around for at least another year.

And the embossing folders! I cannot imagine not being able to demonstrate the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. I loved that it made cardstock feel just like the textured cardstock that we had in the catalog a while back. The same goes for the Brass and Champagne Foil Paper. I’ve used that a lot in my projects. And then there are ribbons and embellishments and tools, oh my!

Some Products Are Discounted

Stampin’ Up! has not told us how they go about deciding which products are going to be discounted during this (or any) sale. My personal idea about this is that these are either products that are large enough that they don’t want them to take up storage space. Or they could be products for which they ordered to much stock and, again, they need to get rid of them to save space. Either way, check out the discounts. Some of the products are pretty neat!

Yes, Some Products Have Already Sold Out

When you look at my list of retiring products, you’ll see that some items are listed in red, with the text lined out. Those products are already sold out and are no longer available. Over the next several weeks there will be more and more red listings. Don’t let one of them be something you’ve been thinking about buying!

If you have any questions about this list or about buying retiring products, do give me a call or send an e-mail. I’ll help as much as I can.

Meanwhile, have fun with whatever you’re working on or playing with this week!

Make a Card for National Quilting Day!

March 19, 2021 by Robin

Card made with quilt block pattern — A Tulip Quilt Block Made with Stampin’ Up! Papers

What a great way to make a greeting card for a favorite quilter!

Aloha, all!

Several years ago, just on a lark, I decided I wanted to try to make a card front using a pattern based on a quilt block a friend was making. Every once in a while I see another pattern that I just have to try. I’ve now accumulated quite a few blocks and finally have written some tutorials so that you can easily create them, too!

The Tulip Block Card

No matter when I get the urge to try making quilt block cards again, the first pattern I come back to was that first one I tried – a Tulip Block. And isn’t Spring just the perfect time of the year to be creating that for a friend? For this card I chose to use a set of Stampin’ Up! patterned papers called Hydrangea Hill. It may be a few weeks get before Hydrangea begins to bloom. But some tulips should be thinking about blooming right about now.

Most of the blocks that I make with paper consist of little paper squares and triangles made from cutting those squares on the diagonal. But occasionally I’ll let a rectangle or two make their way into a design. The Tulip Block is one of those designs.

You may notice that I don’t have a sentiment on the front of this card. Sometimes when I make the quilt blocks, they just scream to have a bow attached. That was the case with the Tulip Block card. For this Spring-y card, I thought that a flighty double bow made with White Seam Binding Ribbon was just the thing. After that, I didn’t want to cover up any more of the pretty squares in the tulip design, as I would have done if I added a sentiment.

There’s A Quilt Block Tutorial For Sale!

The Tulip Block paper-pieced pattern is one of three quilt block patterns for cards in my tutorial booklet. Each of these tutorials includes a supply list as well as directions for putting the whole block as well as the greeting card together. While of course I love the papers I used for my samples, you can use whatever papers you like and the quilt blocks will be lovely.

Each block is sized so that it will fit on one or two layers over a 5″ square card base. This size card fits inside a standard A7 (5-1/4″ x 7-1/4″) envelope.

I usually sell this set of tutorials for $10. But today through Sunday, March 21st, it’s on sale for $5! Just click here (or on the picture on the right) for more details!

There Are Other Tutorials for Sale, Too!

At the moment I have four tutorial booklets for sale. You can see a list of each of them here. Just click on any of them to find out more about each. Going forward, I’ll be adding a new set of tutorials about once a month. The April tutorials are card layouts, and I’m loving all the samples I’m making to show them off!

So Happy National Quilting Day to all my Quilting friends – and all you Quilt lovers, too!

Dragonfly Garden – A Positive Change

March 11, 2021 by Robin

A new blog design!

Aloha, all!

The dragonfly is a universal symbol of change, transformation and self-realization. With the introduction of my new blog design, I hope that I’m successfully beginning that process for Robin’s Craft Room. There are so many parts of this redesign. Some are right out front, with the new logo and graphics. Others are sitting in the background ready to be introduced soon. And yet others are in the background and only I, as I struggle to learn how to make the best of us them, have to deal with them. But now for the introduction!

My New Outlook On Card-Making

I probably could write an entire essay about how my outlook on my card-making and my writing about it has changed over the last dozen or so years. In fact, I started down that path as I started this paragraph. But I shall spare you that. Instead, I’ll tell you that, during the past year my outlook on so much has changed. The result was that, this past fall, I decided that I wanted the format of my blog to better reflect a change in the way I view creating card designs.

Stampin’ Up! provides us – me and you – with so much beauty in its stamps and papers, that I wanted to focus more on how to show off that beauty. Rather than saying, “I want to make a birthday card,” I’d say to myself, “What can I make to show off this stamp or this paper – or both!” And I’d go looking for just the right fold or layout or technique to do just that. Then I’d look at the card and think, “What do I want this card to say?”

My New Outlook on My Tutorials

With that thought driving my designing, I decided to share how I used Stampin’ Up!’s products to make stunning cards out of those designs. Over the past several months, I’ve worked hard to pair patterned papers or stamps – or both! – with designs that I’ve used in the past to make cards. In fact, I even developed a few new takes on some of my favorite designs.

With all the work I’ve put into these, I’ve chosen once again to put my design tutorials into booklets for sale. As I write this, I’m still not sure how it works, but you can see the booklets that I have for sale here. The tutorials for sale at this point are all fancy folds. But the one I’m working on right now is a card layout booklet. Let me tell you, I’m having a great time with it! I can hardly wait to do more.

Today’s project is one that I used to illustrate one of the tutorials in my Diamond Fold Tutorial Booklet. It features the Dragonfly Garden Stamp Set and the Dandy Garden Designer Series Paper set. I love making this fold – and it folds so nicely that it fits in an A2-sized envelope

My New Logo

With all the work that I’ve been doing to get to this point, I feel that I’ve personally changed a bit. I feel that I’ve changed from being a “rah-rah-rah, oh this is fun, you just have to join me in this fun” type of stamper/blogger. I now feel more like a person who truly enjoys the artistic side of card-making, but in a calm, structured way. I truly admire those who can joyfully slap stuff together into a montage of multi-media art that makes you say, “Wow!” But that’s not me. Calm and structured. That’s who I am, and I’m pleased with the way that my new logo portrays that part of me.

And There’s More

And it’s still a work in progress! Heck, I’m still a work in progress! A few things here and there will change over the next month or two. As I become sufficiently used to my new site, I’ll know better how I wish everything to look and work. As I educate myself about my new site, I hope that you’ll continue to enjoy my posts about what I’m doing.

While I’m exploring my new site, I have a request for you. Would you please explore it, too? And let me know if there’s something that doesn’t seem quite right. By all means, let me know if you have suggestions! Five people get a pack of Stampin’ Dimensionals for responding – random selection!

I can hardly wait for this to become my new normal – and yours, as well!

Happy Stamping!

Catalog Confusion?

March 7, 2021 by Robin

New Catalog Schedule!

Aloha, all!

Did you notice that Sale-a-bration just ended? Yep, after just TWO months, Sale-a-bration is gone. What is that all about? If you’re asking that question now, just wait until later this month when you start hearing about what’s going to retire on May 1^st. May 1^st? Yes, you read that right. But I’ll bet you thought that the current Mini Catalog is the January – June Mini Catalog. Doesn’t the spring mini end at the same time as the annual catalog? Not anymore. Confused? Me, too.

It’s a New Year and a New Catalog Schedule

OK, I know that the year is already 3 months old. But it is still getting its bearings when it comes to Stampin’ Up!’s catalog schedule. To help me out – and you get the benefit, too! – I made up this chart showing when Stampin’ Up!’s catalogs are going to be live for ordering.

First Let’s Look at Annual Catalogs

Stampin’ Up! designs its Annual Catalogs to appeal to all levels of stampers and crafters, but especially those generally enjoy crafting with beautiful products and really like an easy way to shop The catalogs are organized by type of product through out. If I want ribbon, all the ribbons are in one place. Same with papers, inks, embellishments, adhesives, dies – well, you name it. Including, of course, stamps!

With that kind of a publication which is useful and usable by everyone, there definitely needs to be one throughout the year. This year, though, introduces the new annual schedule. Instead of tracking with the spring mini catalog, it will end as May begins and a new Annual Catalog will take over.

Then There Are the Mini Catalogs

Stampin’ Up! designs the Mini Catalogs to appeal to the more avid stamper and crafter. Of course the products are great for every crafter. But the catalogs are arranged in such a way that whole groups of products are gathered together so that the avid crafter can easily see how they all work together to help create beautifully coordinated papers, stamps, embellishments, ribbons, dies and other special effects products.

With that focus in mind, beginning with 2021, there will always be a current Mini Catalog. There will be one for the period January through the end of June and one for the period July through the end of December. Just between you and me, I’ll probably continue to call the second Mini Catalog the “Holiday Catalog.” I think that’s more fun!

Sale-a-bration X 2!

Yes, two Sale-a-bration promotions each year. And they’ll both be a bit different. As I mentioned earlier in the year, the January-February Sale-a-bration featured (and will feature next year) domestically-sourced products. Historically, the short sales cycle combined with Chinese New Year have caused product availability issues. During the July-August Sale-a-bration, there will be a larger variety of products and they will be available only while supplies last. That’s primarily because of the much longer shipping time and the shorter Sale-a-bration period.

What Does This Mean for Right Now?

For right now it means that, by the end of this month we are going to know more about retiring products. This means we’ll know which products from the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog and the January – June 2021 Mini Catalog will not be in the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog. For the latter catalog’s items, there may still be the possibility that some products will remain available for purchase, just not shown in the new Annual Catalog. Stampin’ Up! hasn’t told us anything to that effect. But it has happened in the past, so I personally consider it a possibility.

My recommendation right now is that you look through the current Annual Catalog to see if there’s something you’ve considered buying. That way, when we know what’s retiring, you’ll know if you need to consder buying sooner than later.

Lots is going to happen in the next month. I’m going to be prepared and I hope you are, too!

Meanwhile, Happy Stamping!