New Color Excitement!

As most of you have heard by now, on July 1st we will all have some yummy, new colors to work with as Stampin' Up! introduces their new Color Collections. Color is such a huge part of Stampin' Up!, scrapbooking and card making, and SU! is updating their color palate to stay current with the latest trends in color and design. I'm rather excited about all of this and can't wait to get my hands on all the new stuff--but before I get too far ahead of myself, I wanted to put together a good explanation of all the details, because I've heard A LOT of variations on how all this is being interpreted.

In preparation for these new collections (which include 5 brand new colors and some of our favorite In Colors from the past), Stampin' Up! will be saying a fond farewell to some of the current colors on July 1st: Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Ballet Blue, Barely Banana, Blush Blossom, Bordering Blue, Brilliant Blue, Brocade Blue, Cameo Coral, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Gable Green, Glorious Green, Going Gray, Green Galore, Handsome Hunter, Lavender Lace, Lovely Lilac, Mellow Moss, Only Orange, Orchid Opulence, Pale Plum, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Sage Shadow, Summer Sun, Taken with Teal, YoYo Yellow.

As with all change, the loss of all these colors seems harsh at first, but I know we'll all love the new offerings once we start playing with them. All I have to do is recall how we were sometimes less-than-excited about some of the In Color offerings at first--and then were shrieking when their rein was over because they had become absolute favorites. But, that's not to say that there are definitely some reasons that you may want to make sure you have a supply of certain colors before they are gone. If you have a favorite, favorite, favorite color that will be leaving, you may want to make sure that you have a pack or two of cardstock, a full reinker, and maybe even a fresh marker, so you're all set before it's too late. Or, if you're like me, and "your" (the kids') school colors are ones that will be going away, check your supply so you'll have what you need to make announcements, invitations or thank you cards. Contact me to let me know what you need, or visit my online store to stock up.

OK - so enough already--on to the specifics of all the new stuff! Our current 4 color families will be updated and called "collections." There will be ten main "core" colors in each of the four Color Collections.

There will be 5 new colors: Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist-- and 10 Returning In Colors: Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, River Rock, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Tangerine Tango and Wild Wasabi.

The Brights Collection will include Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, and Real Red.

The Neutrals Collection will include River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft), Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Basic Gray, and Basic Black.

The Regals Collection will include Elegant Eggplant, Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Always Artichoke, Garden Green, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Riding Hood Red, Cherry Cobbler, and Bravo Burgundy.

The Subtles Collection will include Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Perfect Plum, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, and So Saffron.

The In-Color concept will continue, but with some change for the better! Stampin Up! will introduce 5 new In-Colors with the 2010/2011 Idea Book & Catalog on July 1st. (Watch for a sneak peak in June.) These new In-Colors will be available for 2 years! But wait, there's more! Then for 2011/12, another 5 new In-Colors will be introduced for a total of 10 In-Colors! The following year, the 2010/11 bunch will retire and a new set will be introduced! AWESOME.... RIGHT? Once a set of 5 is introduced, we get to play with those for 2 years instead of just one.

To help all of us update our supplies with these new colors, there will be NEW Color Kits for Stampin' Write Markers, Stampin' Pastels and Watercolor Wonder Crayons. This way you can add to your already existing collection by only adding the new colors! Plus - there will be an awesome NEW Color Coach tool that you'll find even more useful than the current one!

Gotta run now, but I'll be back soon. Contrary to my (lack of) activity here in "blogland," I've been anything but asleep! I finally pushed a bunch of swaps for the upcoming Summer Mini Catalog out the door, may be recovered from the marathon stamp camp last weekend, and I have yet another craft room IKEA-update to show you--but today's the last sunny day for a few, so I'm out to take care of the "colors" in the yard instead of the craft room! See ya later!