Stampin’ Up! Colour Range Changes
In June Stampin’ Up! introduced a whole new colour refresh. So why has it taken me so long to tell you?
I have been talking to my classes and customers about them but no mention here. I wanted to get a good feel for how everyone felt. To be honest I was disappointed to lose so many of my favourites. Sometimes we find it hard to change when we love what we have. I didn’t want to post a negative until I had tested out my thoughts on the new changes. Sometimes it’s good to report after you have had time to consider. Well I’m glad I did as I now love them totally and utterly with one major dissappointing exception. So here goes …..my thoughts……
3 more options – Yeah !
Whisper White, Very Vanilla and Black have been removed from the colour families. It makes them simply stock colours not part of the families so we get 3 extra colour options. Hoorah! I love this as it allows Night of Navy to move into the neutrals from the Regals and in has come Mossy Meadow a great base green and Merry Merlot which adds a solid red vibe to the neutrals. I’m loving having some colour in the neutrals it make total sense. All three colours will be superb for background colours and base cards. Perfect neutrals to act as a foil for sequins and sparkle.
Purple is my new favourite colour.
Perfect Plum and Egg Plant leave the range but I never used either very much and found Perfect Plum a little drab if I’m honest. In their place come some much nicer more vibrant purples. I love them and I’m not really a purple girl, so they must be super fab. From the left in the photo below Highland Heather adds to the Subtles being a soft fabulous colour while still having a really fresh vibrant glow. Gorgeous Grape adds a wonderful warm bright buzz. We still keep the in colours Fresh Fig and Berry Burst both having purple tones. Blackberry Bliss is returning and is a great alternative to black While it’s not a WOW colour ……. ooooh….. once you start using it ….. it just adds that deep dark note. Warmer and richer than black yet dark enough to allow others to shine and pop alongside it. Finally, yippee, my favourite Rich Razzleberry is still hanging about like a rich tasty fruit berry in an Autumnal hedgerow. I especially love the velvet ribbon that teams perfectly with it this year. I’ve also tucked the Merry Merlot wine skin colour red in the right hand corner as it does have a purple under tone too.
Subtle Sea Foam and Shaded Spruce – My top two
So which are my favourite new colours? First is the amazingly Soft Seafoam see below on the right. I can’t wait to work on Christmas snowflakes using silver, whisper white and this pale, pretty and very subtle sea foam.Second is another green Spiced Spruce. I have to say the recent in-colours Emerald Envy which left last year and Tranquil Tide which is with us as an in-colour till 2019 are my favourites and Spiced Spruce is the best of both these stirred together. Hoorah! Spiced Spruce will be ideal for Christmas as it’s name suggests but beautiful for a strong statement base card at any time of the year. Perfect teamed with basic pearls or jewels. I think it will make a great base card for many of the brights to make them pop out even more. Alternatively as a base card for the subtle it will add a crisp smart contrast.
What no Regal Royal Blue?
So having said what I like I have to have a small moan now. When it was announced that Night of Navy was moving out to join the Neutrals I cheered as I assumed it would make way for another fab blue. Blues really are my go to colours. A good mid-range blue would be perfect in the Regals set so why oh why was Dapper Denim not allowed to stay on. Sadly no blue at all though as in has come Blackberry Bliss. I love this Blackberry colour which is lush, but it leaves us a full set of Regals with no blue and no real mid/grey blue within the colour families anywhere. We shall have to rely on in-colours like the lovely Blueberry Bushell to fill this space. It’s impossible to please us all with every in and out. We all have our own favourites but to leave an entire collection with no blue is madness in my view. Stampin’ Up! Is heavy on green/blues but is sadly lacking a mid range grey or purple blues.
What could be done?
Don’t criticise unless you have a positive something to say so here goes my suggestion to put it right. Sahara Sand can go into the subltes as it has a slight pink undertone tone and works so well there. Remove Pear Pizzazz which although I like it, we do have similar greens in other sets. ( old Olive stamped off once is almost the same) We do have plenty of lovely soft greens in the Subtles now that Mint Macaron and Sea Foam have arrived. This move would allow Blackberry Bliss to move across into the Neutrals in place of Sahara Sand and then leave room for Dapper Denim to return into the Regals making up a great Regal collection. I have added this comment into the Stampin’ Up! comments from demonstrators Sandbox so let’s hope they consider it. If your a demonstrator reading this do consider my thought and add your to the sandbox too. Small rant over and we do have 2 years with Blueberry Bushell so it’s not too bad. In general with this one exception I love it all.
Buying your first few ink and card colours. What do I advise for starter crafters?
I used to suggest to beginner crafters to buy the Regals as a first set. That way for the price of 10 they could off stamp onto rough paper and use second stage stamping to get a further 10 softer shades so getting a double collection of colours. The reds stamped off become nice pinks, navy stamped off gave a nice royal blue etc. You can’t do this with the Subtles to get darker colours or with the Bright to get deeper colours. I have made comments to Stampin’ Up! to suggest that this was a poor move as now I can’t advise a beginners to buy a full set with not a blue in sight. I now suggest you choose the Subtles and also buy separately either Blueberry Bushell or Night of Navy. Alternatively buy the Brights as they are a perfectly balanced set with the option of second step stamping providing a good selection of softer alternatives. Perhaps then choose one pale and one dark neutral so you have good base/background colours. The newly added elements have freshened up the palette of brights and they do feel very happening and funky !
Don’t panic it all still matches.
Remember most important of all every card and paper set , every ribbon and embellishment in fact every everything is colour co-ordinated to match. They not just to go but they are colour matched to be a perfect tone too. For those of you still building your colour collections don’t panic the old colours and the new still work together and are matched colour for colour. So old style ink pads match exactly with the new. There are reasons to replace and renew all your coloured inks such as the new low foaming additives but it’s not necessary. If your on a budget keep your old colours and use them alongside new ones and they will still all co-ordinate as before.
How does this colour family business work ?
So for those of you who are new to Stampin’ Up! Here’s how the colour families work.
We stock 4 families of colours each having 10 colours we call them the Subtles, Regals, Brights and Neutrals. Colours are tonally designed to fit and work together so pick up one set and away you go you know they will co-ordinate well. Don’t get stuck in each set though as the Regals provide a great rich warmth to off set the pastel Subtles. The Brights provide a Zing which show off best against a neutral and so on….. just buy them all and play !!!
The Subtles. A soft palette of tonally balanced colours including three slightly darker shades Calypso Coral, Balmy Blue and Highland Heather all of which co-ordinate beautifully. This is my must have set for baby cards and for lovely soft floral cards.
The Brights. A vibrant exciting selection of matched shades ideal for kids cards with a bright uplifting vibe. They have a fresh modern appeal for clean crisp designs. Superb for any seaside designs, bright jolly beach huts and clear crystal waters.
The Regals. A rich warm luxurious set. Sadly lacking a blue but with some total classics including great Christmas Colours having Real Red, Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green. Rich Razzleberry and Blackberry Bliss show off any glitter or sparkle to perfection and make for a very beautiful classy finish. While the oranges and greens team well for your Autumnal cards.
The Neutrals. A collection of background colours ideal for your base cards or for boxes which you wish to add fancy decoration to. Great colours to put along side other sets which help calm down the brights or create great foils to make the regals and subtle shine a little more than they normally do. Stick with just these 10 colours and you will create calming relaxing cards as they work together without jarring or popping.
A stable selection of colours you can rely on.
Big changes have been made for our 30th Anniversary celebrations this year but Stampin’ Up! usually keep these as safe solid standard families for some time replacing only one or two every now and again. The real joy of these set families is it allows you to plan your purchases going forward. Colours are matched perfectly with a very tight quality controlled tolerance. The joy of Stampin’ Up! is no more searching for that particular blue ribbon. You will know that each card, paper, ink, pen, watercolour pencil, ribbon or embellishment introduced in each new catalogue will match those you already have and also match with those in the years to come. If it says it’s that colour it will be the right shade and tone to match .
Keeping up and staying fresh and stylish.
So how does Stampin’ Up! not get stale. We manage to stay ahead of the fashion trends and interior design fads by having 5 in-colours introduced every year. Carefully chosen to be on trend and fresh these in-colours stay for 2 years at a time. Every year the oldest 5 drop and we gain a new selection. This years new comers are an amazingly strong selection of primary colours with a great mid blue. Blueberry Bushell is fantastic for a mid tone blue and when stamped off or used several times without reinking makes an amazing array of sea and sky blues tones. In-colours are not designed to go together as the other collections are but they aim to refresh the colour palette and to compliment the other family collections.
