paper: Scrapbooking with the new Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy collections | pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

At every trade show, the big question is always Have you seen anything really new? and there’s this assumed ruling that for things to be deemed very successful, there should be some sort of huge innovation on the show floor. Admittedly, every once in a while an innovative product changes the game for papercraft, but the clue is right there in the name: to me, a season’s new releases are successful if there is plenty of paper I can’t wait to use.

By that measure, the new collections that will hit stores over the next six months are definitely a success.

The other thing I try to keep in mind is whether papers will work with what we already have. I don’t want to have more supplies building up because each collection only works on its own. It makes my heart much happier for new collections to work well with things that already exist. Not too similar, but a few colours or motifs that carry over from one thing to the next can make a huge difference in how well the supplies mix. That was my very first question with the two featured designers at American Crafts: would the new Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy collections work well with the existing papers. I am here to report very good news.

It’s not too early to start my London 2012 album, is it? This is the title page. It’s a mix of all three Amy Tangerine collections – the original eponymous line, last spring’s Sketchbook range and the forthcoming Ready Set Go collection due to hit stores next month. When Amy said she was designing an autumn collection, I wasn’t sure if the colours would blend with the existing lines, but they definitely do. They aren’t the same colours as either of the others, but there’s just enough in common to make it work. The paler blue in the striped background and the camera-printed strip across the middle is actually a great match to the rich blue from the original line, just a less-saturated shade. The brown in the new collection is a good tone match for the brown in the other two collections, and the yellow is slightly different, but it is a little warmer than the original collection and a little cooler than the yellow-orange in Sketchbook, so all three look quite nice together really. The kelly green in Sketchbook is a good match for the green in Ready, Set, Go too. Wow: that’s a lot of colours and shades to compare. But it does work well! Where Sketchbook does have some brighter prints with a shot of neon, it also had a lot of good neutrals – cream-coloured ledgers, black and cream asterisks, black and white cameras… so it can work, even though the initial impression of Sketchbook is a very different look to Ready, Set, Go.

The only things here that aren’t from one of the three Amy lines are the glittery brown Thickers, the brown ink and the white adhesive pearls. Oh… and the date stamp is from Dear Lizzy, bringing us to experiment two!

The new collection from Dear Lizzy is called 5th & Frolic, and on first glance it’s a much closer match to the existing lines, especially Neapolitan. But I just have three sheets of paper from 5th & Frolic – I’ll have to wait until the rest hits stores in a couple months – but I summoned all my bravery and cut into all three sheets to give them a try. The grey polka dot background and the rose print here are from Neapolitan, while the triangle print across the bottom, the birds on grey and the set of three cards under the title and writing are from 5th & Frolic, as is the Polaroid-style print with the tree-stump… but the Vespa Polaroid is from Neapolitan. So these definitely have some things in common! I was even able to find a few little pieces I’ve saved from an earlier line, Enchanted, including that little ticket at the very top and near the bottom and the pink Thickers, plus I threw in a tiny heart and flower stamp from the debut Dear Lizzy Spring line. Which means I think the only Dear Lizzy I didn’t cover here was Christmas! Fair enough. Again it’s ink and pearls that aren’t from this line – everything else is Dear Lizzy in some way!

I hope that’s a bit of good news to share just how easily these two new collections will mix with what you might already have on hand. Anything that makes us able to enjoy a new little splurge whilst using what we already purchased is a win in my book! Of course, you still have a little time to work through your existing stash of papers, but these will hit stores pretty soon!

xlovesx

Read more about: american-crafts

31 July 2012

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