Strangely this year, I don't think there's any ONE collection that has truly captured my attention.
There seem to be a lot of repeats from last year in collections from Crate Paper, AC, and MME sadly so it looks like I'll be doing fine in the paper purchasing stakes - there are the odd designs here and there that I'll be looking out for.
I'm not too cut up about it because I have so much gorgeous paper from years gone by that I still want to use and if it doesn't end up on a card I'll definitely be using it to create envelopes.
So in the meantime I've seen the odd design that I rather liked and the timing of releases will depend on whether I end up getting them, but I'm a tad disappointed that MME basically recycled last year's On Trend 2 collection to present Palm Beach - I was hoping there'd be something bright and sunny for spring into summer but Palm Beach is just a bit too close to what I already have left from On Trend 2. I really liked that collection, but I have lots of it I can still use so no need for more of the same sort of thing.
But what really has caught my eye and had me doing a double take at my iPad is that Lawn Fawn are going to start releasing their ink colours in mini cubes!
Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!
I think Tropical Island is my favourite option of the 4 shown so far as it includes Mermaid and Hippo which have both been on my wish list a while.
I tried some of the full-sized pads last year and they stamped beautifully, much cleaner than the Hero Arts inks and they didn't stain my clear stamps like all Hero Arts inks seem to.
So bring it on Lawn Fawn, get releasing all those inks in cube form! I still have a Tim Holtz mini ink cube tin going spare. ;)
But I will need to clear another drawer in my Alex unit so I can permanently store more inks in it. Oh Lordy...
When it comes to tools and gadgets... well I was rather impressed with Tonic Studios and Tim Holtz entering the stamp positioning arena. Unfortunately I just don't have room on my desk and around me when I craft to permanently have an 8.5 x 8.5 positioner out all the time. I enjoy using my MISTI and really like the concept of this new approach to stamp positioning - plus the Tonic brand and product quality is there, but I could do with one in a smaller format for faster stamping of smaller images, die cuts, etc. and one that can just sit on the desk as I work.
I also love the concept behind the WRMK Stitch Happy sewing machine that will sew bakers twine and thicker threads, plus it has been designed with paper crafting in mind (even though it works on fabric and thicker materials too) and it has an adjustable guide so you definitely sew straight around all your edges, etc.
It's apparently a lot lighter than it looks - I wonder what the dimensions are compared to the little John Lewis machine I have. But it's more one of those "If I won the lottery, what would I buy..." kind of items - along with the WRMK typewriter!
Other than that, I will keep my eye out for videos as they are released. Looks like a lot of initial videos were live streamed so the picture quality has been lacking due to bandwidth issues in the convention hall - hoping the wonderful folks who take the time to make videos will have some higher quality content to share as these videos from shows are the only way many of us can judge how papers and embellishments look "in real life". :)
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