On the weekend we held our annual Hamilton Christmas Extravaganza. We had a fabulous day creating festive projects with products from the 2018 Holiday Catalogue.

I had a fabulous time on the Stampin' Up! stand at the FYI Craft Show over the weekend. I loved meeting everyone and soaking up all the creative enthusiasm there. If you popped by our stand, you may have created a make-and-take with us. There was the Wreath Christmas Card, using the Stamparatus, and this popular creation... it's a dollar-store notepad that has been given the stamping treatment with the Signs of Santa stamp set and coordinating Santa's Signpost Framelits.

The foliage stamps in the Peaceful Noel stamp set are great for stamping wreaths...

One of my favourite product suites in the Holiday Catalogue is the Joyous Noel Suite. I was drawn to the pretty foliage in the Peaceful Noel stamp set, which really lends itself to stamping Christmas garlands and wreaths, but could be used all year round. I also love the vintage feel of the Joyous Noel Specialty Designer Paper, but with a fresh twist of rich, intense colour and hints of copper.

On page 21 of the Holiday Catalogue is the Santa's Workshop Memories & More Card Pack. In this pack are 50 printed cards that are 3" x 4" and 4" x 6", sized perfectly to fit the Memories & More Photo Pocket Pages and memory keeping product range. These cards are also sized perfectly to fit the pre-cut card bases in the Santa's Workshop Memories & More Cards & Envelopes too!

Here's another card that uses the Dandelion Wishes stamp set and the same gorgeous colours as the monochromatic, whimsical thank you cards. This time I used Coastal Cabana and Highland Heather ink to create a lovely bokeh background and stamped the dandelion images as a silhouette over the top. Bokeh, also known as "Boke", is a photography term that describes the way the camera lens renders out-of-focus points of light, leaving a visually appealing image with soft background highlights.

If you're anything like me, whenever a new Stampin' Up! catalogue comes out you make a wish list that is longer than your arm! When the 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue was released back in June, the Dandelion Wishes stamp set was on the top of the list. It is so elegant and whimsical, and versatile for many occasions. I used the Dandelion Wishes stamp set to create these monochromatic thank you cards...

In New Zealand, we generally don't celebrate the traditional US holidays of Halloween or Thanksgiving. However, I challenge you to take a look at these sections in the new Holiday Catalogue as there are some awesome products in there that can be used for other holidays and all year-round. Take the sweet Takeout Thinlits Dies and coordinating Takeout Treats stamp set, which would make fabulous favours for weddings or for dressing your Christmas table.