Pretty cool, eh?
Today's card uses a bit of cheese cloth on a sympathy card. I love how the frayed edges reflect the feeling of grief...oh how loss frays our hearts!
Very clean and simple, with texture and shape as the main design elements.
This will (hopefully) be the last sympathy card I make for a while. I've replenished my stash and highly recommend you do the same. Making sympathy cards when they are specifically needed is so much harder!
The New SU Catalog
I've had the catalog for weeks now and may very well be placing an order soon.
My relationship with SU has changed over the years. I'm moving away from using much colored card stock, so matchy-matchy isn't as important as it was four or five years ago. I've also found myself not using the inks much, either, except a few key colors (especially cherry cobbler, real red, and sahara sand). My boxes of stamps to sell also contain quite a few older SU sets...not because I don't like them, but because I've had them for so long and have used them to my satisfaction.
I guess what I'm saying is that I don't use as much SU now as I used to, but it's still a great company with very high-quality product.
The catalog itself is lovely, if a bit busy in design for my taste. SU's sample cards are pretty and fresh, in my opinion better in quality overall than the ones in the last catalog. I also really like the product suites...pages showing coordinated products from the whole line for a particular look. Again, the suites are visually busy, but there's so much there to inspire!
My biggest complaint about the catalog has to do with number of sets: so many Halloween sets, so few Thanksgiving sets. If you're a regular reader, you know my feelings on this subject. Even the holiday mini is light on Thanksgiving heavy on Halloween.
But let's not quibble.
The sets on my long list (this will get whittled down to just two or three) are as follows:
Christmas Blessings, p. 19
Happy Hour, p. 36
Serene Silhouettes, p. 75
Nature Walk, p. 79
Summer Silhouettes, p. 82
Fabulous Florets, p. 83
Like I said, they aren't all new, but I don't think I can go wrong with any of them!
So what have you ordered from the catalog? What are you enjoying using and what isn't working for you as well as you thought it would? What are your thoughts on the catalog?
Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Simple Little Things
ink: Memento Gray Flannel
paper: Papertrey
accessories: dimensionals, cheese cloth, SU oval punch
The organic quality of the cheesecloth on the all-white card is very striking. You are the absolute best at "simplicity" that carries a greater complexity in its creation. Jeez...that sounds a lot more "Zen" that I meant. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the new SU catalog yet. I'm resisting, as I have lots to use up and am able to pick up some supplies at garage sales. I do love SU! products, as do you. The new ink pads sound promising, as do some of the embossing folders.
My last blog post featured sympathy cards too - I've needed too many in the past 3 weeks...
ReplyDeleteI recently bought the Serene Silhouettes - it's my new "go-to" set for CAS cards. I also just ordered the Pleasant Poppies and Trust God sets. I'm really getting picky about what I order though - I'm not ordering a stamp set unless I can visualize using at least 70% of the stamps in it - otherwise it's just too much to store and keep track of. I also have a cute scrapping/stamping store in town, and it makes more sense to buy one stamp that I'll use all the time, rather than a set from which I'll use 1 or 2 stamps of the 4 or 5 in the set.
I'm always excited to see the new "In Colours", but I didn't order the last one at all, and I really debated a long time before ordering the new colours this time. I'll have my latest order next week, so I'll have a better idea then if I made a wise choice!
I think whatever I felt for SU in the past has worn off lately. I have not been as impressed with their stamp selections in the last two big catalogs as I was in the past. But, they always seems to have things I want in the mini catalogs... but now they've changed and they are no longer minis. Anyway, the Holiday Catalog that started on August 1st has quite a few things that I like and will probably buy. But, I will also be ordering two of your choices... both of the silhouette stamp sets. I don't remember Christmas Blessings so I'm not sure if it's on my wish list or not and I already own Fabulous Florets. It's a nice set.
ReplyDeleteI rarely order from SU anymore. I still like their products and think they are of the highest quality but PTI still gets most of my stamping money. I don't have a new catalog. Been thinking about ordering one.
ReplyDeleteYour card is so elegant, it beautifully fulfills its purpose. I don't do SU. I used to go to a few card classes when I met a rep that I liked, but she moved away so I never see the catalogs anymore. I have only 1 SU stamp set, and I got it on Ebay when I needed a chess stamp. My rep friend told me SU had a retired set and suggested Ebay.
ReplyDeleteI love both the cheesecloth cards! Each one is elegant and simple.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest order from SU was in July right after the new catalog came out. All I ordered were new colors of paper and ink. They aren't new to the catalog, they are the new colors introduced as part of the regular line-up back when they did the big overhaul. I had hung on to retired colors I loved and thought I couldn't live without and decided to use them up before buying anything else.
Well, a year later, most of those colors sat unused. So...I gathered them up and sold them on Ebay to replace them with their closest counterparts in the new line up. I've bought Pacific Point, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze, Tangerine Tango and Early Espresso. I am hoping a fresh color palette might shake up my creativity.
I just put in a second order of two stamp sets that were new last year. I "wanted" them, but budget constraints being what they are I passed on them. But this year, there they were in the catalog and I still wanted them as much so I used some of my budgeted craft dollars and ordered Falling Leaves and Jack of All Trades. I don't do many Halloween cards either, and if I do I like them to be "cute" not scary!
Love to see where someone has been able to part with a portion of their inventory and simplify their workspace. While I'm very organized and also clean my space after each project, I feel overwhelmed with my collections. Perhaps I'm moving closer to a remedy!
ReplyDeleteOne question, I'm not familiar with the colander used for a cleaning tool for clear stamps. Would you explain?
Just wrote cheesecloth on the grocery list; I love your creativity.
ReplyDeleteMy bff and I had an SU "party" for the two of us. One thing she ordered was the wonderful Pleasant Poppies stamp (faboo!) and we have both used it. My favorite item of all of our goodies is the Very Vintage jumbo roller. Rollers are so versatile because you can isolate segments or use as a whole. I buy from many sources, but the SU quality cannot be beat. Just wish shipping wasn't so high.
i love your blog and all of your ideas. the new space looks awesome and glad someone else uses the bakers rack for stampin supplies. the new stamp pads from SU are really nice much better coverage. i dont think they have a product i dont like. keep doing all the great things you do.
ReplyDeleteI totally hear you about the Halloween overload! Christmas Blessings, Serene Silhuoettes, and Summer Silhouettes are definitely on my wishlist too. How to choose?! I already have Fabulous Florets (well used!) and Cheers to You which is retired, and very similar to Happy Hour. My latest purchase was Pleasant Poppies which I am quite thrilled with. I'm also loving the new ink pads, though I've only tried Summer Starfruit so far. Will need to place an order soon, but haven't begun to whittle down a wishlist based on the new Holiday Catalogue. Think I'll take it to the lake this weekend and ponder!
ReplyDeleteSummer Silhouettes is on my wish list. I finally ordered Friendly Phrases after looking at it for a year and the new Primrose Petals to try the new style of ink. It's still wrapped. I think my favorite in the new catalog is Flowering Flourishes. I need to organize my stamp area and only keep what I truly love. Too much makes something I love too complicated.
ReplyDeleteI've been an SU (hobby) dem for years and at this point, I only do it for the supply discount. I get my stamps elsewhere. There's only so many butterflies and hackneyed sentiments that one can stomach. Good, honest review; TFS.
ReplyDeleteLove the cheesecloth, I might have to pick some up next time I'm at the grocery store.
ReplyDeleteI like this SU catalog a lot better than last years - the samples are better, the layout is better. I got to play the new style of ink pad at a friend's house and I was really impressed with them - so much so that I ordered a new Real Red (my old one is pretty ragged anyways). I like the Daydream Medallions set, it's on my 'to get' list. Still pondering what else I want.