Family Christmas Card

With the holidays behind us it is time to look forward to a new year and some new products from Stampin' Up! But before I get into what is new, I'd like to share the Christmas card I made for our extended family this year. Since I forgot to snap some pictures of the cards before sending them off to the post office, I am sharing with you a slightly stepped up version which went out to a dear friend of mine in Texas. The bow on this card was too big for standard post so I left it off and stamped Peace on Earth in Real Red in it's place. I also ended up using the Perfect Details embossing plate on the tree instead of the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder used here. The deeper embossing by the folder made the tree a little hard to work with.




Now on to some Great News! In case you haven't heard, Stampin' Up! has been busy making some improvements to some of their products ........

New Clear-Mount Rubber Stamps by Stampin' Up!

Over the past few years, there has been enormous demand from demonstrators and customers alike for a line of repositionable clear-mount rubber stamps. Well, you asked for it, and now you have it! Starting with stamps in the 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog and the 2010 Sale-A-Bration Brochure, Stampin' Up! now offers our exclusive stamp art in both traditional wood-mount, and the new clear-mount option.

Our new clear-mount rubber stamps are the result of extensive research with the intent to maintain the very best image quality in the stamping industry, while at the same time offering the ease-of-use and storability inherent in repositionable clear-mount rubber stamps.

Clear-Mount Rubber Stamp Features

• Nine different sizes of clear blocks available individually or as a discounted bundle.
• Blocks have ergonomic grooves on all four sides for easy grip and traditional wood-mount feel.
• Stamps and blocks are durable and easy to clean with your Stampin' Scrub and Stampin' Mist.
• Optional image labels on stamp backs let you decide if you want to see the image through the block or not.
• Tight die-cutting for easy image positioning.
• Large clear blocks can be used to create collages or spell words with alphabet sets.
• Stamps store easily in standard, DVD-type cases with artwork on front and spine, making organization easy.

Another great improvement involves our punches......

New Punch Design

Starting with the new 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog and continuing with all new punch designs going forward, Stampin' Up! has adopted a new body style for our punches!

A few features of the new punch style:

• Low-profile, rectangular punch body allows for easier stacking and storing
• Punches lock shut for easier storage and transport
• Dual labels on top and end allow for easy identification and selection when stored
• Available in three sizes: small, medium, and extra-large
• New punches allow for larger punched images and more intricate designs while providing greater ease of use.
• Extra -large punch images also allow for two-step designs like the Two-Step Bird punch in the Occasions Mini Catalog
• Corner punches allow you to punch a corner design along the inside edges of a page, not just corners
• larger, whole-hand handle design provides better leverage for easier use
• Available in an exclusive Stampin' Up! color

Part of Stampin' Up!'s commitment to providing customers with the very best crafting tools includes the belief in what we call continuous improvement. Essentially what this means is that even if something works very well, but we see a chance to improve it, we will work to make it even better. While new punch designs will be in the new body style, existing designs will remain in the existing body style for now.

For those of you on my mailing list, the Occasions Mini and Sale-a-bration catalogs should be arriving in your mailboxes soon! Please send me an email if you would like to be added to the mailing list: melissa_canales@yahoo.com.

Upcoming events will be announced soon!