Well, Happy Belated Mother's Day!  I had a lovely day; even took some time off to hang out and go to dinner with my parents.  And best of all both kids called!  <smile>

So today I'm back – and with some of the continual chaos of the recent months now behind me, I cautiously declare that I hope to be able to post here more often than my recent track record! 

Today I'm going to address Stampin' Up!'s exciting upcoming Color Renovation. I've already had a chance to chat with many of you in person about it, so this won't be news to most of you.  But beginning with the new upcoming Idea Book & Catalog (due out about the 1st of July), you'll see a fresh, new (and GORGEOUS) color palette featuring updated and on-trend colors!  I am personally in LOVE with the colors I've seen so far (haven't yet seen the to-be-announced "In Colors", but I'm sure I'll enjoy those, too).

But our Color Renovation brings with it a new system of classification of colors at the same time, so that's mostly what I'd like to share with you today.

Beginning with the new Idea Book & Catalog, the term "Color Family" will retire.  Does that mean we won't USE the term anymore?!?  Well, I for one, think it's pretty unlikely that after having used that term hundreds and hundreds of times since 1997 that I'll be able to drop it overnight, lol!  But the new and correct term will be "Color Collection".  And we'll have 4 of them. Feel free to give me some jazz whenever I fall back into my habit of saying "Color Families", lol.

So the 4 "Color Collections" will become:  Subtles, Brights, Regals, and Neutrals.  Yes, I know they "sound" familiar, but we've dropped the extra tongue-twisting alliteration, and you'll note that the classification "Earth Elements" has been retired altogether.  Each of these 4 color collections will have 10 colors in it.  (Down from the current 12.) 

And the colors you'll see in each collection will be different from the current similar-sounding configurations.  Come July, you'll notice that some current colors will have jumped from their current color category into an entirely different color collection, some will be retiring, some yummy brand-new colors will be making their debut, and 10 former "In Colors" will be returning to take a well-deserved place as a standard "core color" now! (Per your ongoing popular request.)

We will still introduce "In Colors" each year, but instead of 6 we'll have 5, and each set will be around for 2 years instead of one.  So that means that beginning in July 2011, we'll have 10 In Colors running at once - 5 that will be introduced this upcoming July, and 5 more that will be unveiled July 2011.  Each group will then retire at the end of its 2nd year – so their terms will overlap.  (Geesh. Sounds like Congress, doesn't it?!?)

So once the math is done we'll actually have a little bit fewer colors than we do now.  But the ones we have will be where the trends (and sales patterns) are going.  Rich colors with depth and warmth.  Once you get a chance to work with 'em, you're gonna love 'em as much as I do, I'm sure.

But what does this mean if you've got a project already underway (such as a scrapbook) that's based on one of the colors that will be retiring?  Well, it means you'll need to order more of that color right away – and certainly before the end of May.  Stampin' Up! thinks they'll be able to fulfill your orders for your inks, refills and markers, but some of the cardstock colors are already selling out.  (This, due to an unexpected quadrupling of demand for those colors that have lain in the warehouse largely ignored for several years.  Leave it to us females to react with panic about running short of colors we've somehow managed to live without for the past several years, lol!)

Anyway, if you DO have a project already underway that requires a certain color of cardstock to complete - or you'd like to get the refills for the retiring colors so you can keep using your inkpad into the future, my advice is to get those things ordered as quickly as possible.  Stampin' Up! has told us that as long as they have textured cardstock in one of those (suddenly) high-demand colors, they will substitute textured for smooth cardstock in the same color (at no extra charge to you) in the event that the regular (smooth) cardstock sells out.  But in spite of that, there are likely to be situations where there is nothing left with which to substitute, and those specific individual cardstock colors will simply be unavailable any more.  (Hence, my advice to hurry and place your orders if you may be affected by the retirement of a certain color.)

So ok, you wonder, what ARE the colors that will be retiring?  Well HERE is a chart that shows the colors we're bidding farewell to.  For the most part they're colors that have kind of out-stayed their welcome in the color and design world ("Harvest Gold" refrigerators, anyone?), and sales records indicate they have not enjoyed frequent use in recent years.  So take a quick look if you're curious, but then take a longer look at THIS chart – showing the rich and delicious colors we'll SOON get to work with!  Note the difference in "lusciousness level" between the two charts? 

Don't forget that if there's something on the first chart that you still want, I encourage you to order it right away. And if it appears to be sold out already, please contact me directly; there MAY be something I can work out for you behind-the-scenes.