Sneak Peek... or two or three

Well on Tuesday, Stampin' Up! will release the annual, and much-anticipated, retirement list - the list that tells us which stamp sets in the current catalogue are gone for good. I have a few guesses, but I am sure there will be some surprises too! Stampin' Up! is also giving us a sneak peek at something going into the next catalogue. This picture is the "Palette o' Prints". I special-ordered it so I could show you and start playing with it. This pad is 6 x 6 and contains 48 sheets of double sided patterned paper (12 patterns), in 4 colours: Almost Amethyst, Rose Red, Certainly Celery and So Saffron. In the catalogue, this won't come as a pad and it will be in 12 x 12 sheets. For May, customers can purchase the 6 x 6 pad for $13.50 with a $50 order. AND, hostesses who hold a $600 show, get it FREE! I think scrapbookers and cardmakers alike will love this little pad full of big ideas! I love 12 x 12 paper, but why cut into a big piece for a photo mat, when you can just trim a 6 x 6 piece. Or use these for covering chipboard. Or use these for shape elements (i.e. circles seem to be big right now) on a scrapbook page or cardfront. And of course, if you scrapbook in 6 x 6 brag book size, there's no cutting necessary at all! Some of the other paper companies sell their version of these in your local scrapbook store and I think it's really neat that SU! has gotten in on this. You'll have to see these in person to really get pick up on the patterns, and depending on my photo quality (or lack thereof) and your monitor, the colours may not be quite true. Want another sneak peek? The demonstrators who earned the cruise incentive trip last year have just returned and the company revealed a few sneak peeks to them. Now that they are back, they are sharing their photos with us. (Edited to add: Many of these are posted on SplitCoast, but I "borrowed" the following photos from Caroline in Toronto - someday, I may be on one of these trips too. For now, I dream, and drool over what these achievers generously share!) Check these out: You know the In Color line is to be an exclusive line of colours that Stampin' Up! runs for just one year and then they are gone. They are to reflect the trends in fashion, art and home decor. So Cool Caribean, Vintage Violet, and friends are gone at the end of June. If you own these ink pads, may I suggest you order the re-inker for these before they retire so that you can enjoy your colours for years to come. And in their place, SU! introduces: Sky Blue, Bayou Blue, Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Groovy Guava, and Purely Pomegranate. The Basic Grey sample you see is a new permanent (should I say semi-permanent) classic ink to join Basic Black and Basic Brown. Have I whet your appetite? Would you like another sneak peek? How about a funky punch with matching stamps in a great tin to keep it all organized? These tins make a great gift for your stampin' friends! One more sneak peek: Cards and scrapbook pages always need a little embellishment or two to finish them off. And how about an embellishment that delivers a little bling! Fire and Ice round and square rhinestone brads come with 3 sizes in each collection. I can't wait to start playing with these! Couple of months to go, yet. Hope that gets you as excited about the next catalogue as I am!