by Richelle Naegle

One of my favorite booths at CHA is always the Sizzix booth. They have larger booths with open spaces, share ideas and demonstrations, and allow you to speak with designers. We have so many new Sizzix products coming out this year that I will only worry about January and February in this blog post. We will have all these products available for pre-order a few weeks early (prior to release), so you can be among the first to grab ’em!

January Releases

In January, we have the Sizzix stamp sets coming in. There are 15 total, and most of them are shipping as I write! You can pre-order now, and as soon as they arrive, we will send them your way. You will love the new Sizzix dies.

Pictured to the right are a few ideas for fun projects you can make using these stamps. My favorite is the Aloha stamp set designed by Jen Long. I love how it all perfectly coordinates together. You can combine all the stamps in one project or use them individually. Jen is one of my favorite designers. I like the projects I have made with her dies (more of those will be released in March!).

The other January releases are from Jo Packham’s Where Women Cook line (pictured to the left). This collection offers some very creative projects, and she showcased them with really fun examples.

My favorite is the Tiny Party Hats on the bottles, and there were coordinating designs on the cupcake wrappers, both from the Cupcake Wrappers die set. So, if you love to throw parties, this is the line for you. All of these Jo Packham designs are currently in stock and shipping, so you don’t have to wait.

February Releases

February will bring us exciting products from a collection of our most popular designers: Tim Holtz, Stephanie Barnard, and Sharyn Sowell. We have some unique and interesting products in store for you.

First, from Tim Holtz (by far our most popular designer), we have a bunch of new phrase dies coming out: Calendar Words and Daily Words (2 styles of each). Other die sets include Doilies & Lace, Mixed Media #2, and Stitched Ovals, but my absolute favorite from this release is the Detailed Butterflies Thinlits set (pictured to the right). I just think these designs are so beautiful!

The biggest news from Tim Holtz was definitely his release of the Mini Bird Crazy & Things die set, which has a Stampers Anonymous Mini Bird Crazy & Things stamp set. Both will arrive very soon, and you can pre-order our exclusive Mini Bird Crazy bundle deal! The birds range from 1-7/8″ to 2″ tall and 1-1/2″ to 1-3/4″ wide, and this time, the “Crazy Things” (bird accessories) are included with them. These sets will surely be a huge hit, and we will do our part to keep them in stock, but there are no guarantees. Pre-order now, and we promise to send them out as quickly as we get them in! Check out all of our Tim Holtz Crazy supplies.

Next, we have Stephanie Barnard and if you love her Flip-t, Step-up, and 3-D Drop-ins, then you are going to love this new release! Pictured to the right is the Cute-As-A-Bug Framelits card (it also has the phrase Girl so you can make this adorable card for either gender). Her new 3-D Drop-ins include You are Awesome, Thank You, and Thinking of You (all three are Thinlits). She also has a Flower Basket, a Scallop Circle Stand-Ups card, and a few others that you will love. These will be available for Pre-Order in the first part of February!

Lastly, Sharyn Sowell has some great designs to look forward to. I had the opportunity to speak with her twice. She told me all about how she became a designer for Sizzix, her creative process, and her inspiration. When she is designing, she cuts everything out with a pair of scissors. She simply takes a white piece of paper and starts cutting. The first time I chatted with her, she cut out my profile while I stood there. She does amazing work!

With her designs, she tries to create dies that can be used in multiple ways. For example, you can slightly tweak the cuts and make big changes to the design. A couple of her new creations that I am especially excited about are the (1) Utensil Wrapper (yes, you can fit a couple of utensils in it). What a fun way to decorate for a party. And a fun basket that will be perfect for Easter. The (2) other design is the Rose Lace Gatefold that you put in an invitation to create a coordinated party theme.

More to Come

I promise you won’t want to miss the March and April releases, so check back soon for that post. Jen Long (you are going to LOVE her new stuff), Tim Holtz, who has a new Crazy coming soon, Lori Whitlock, Brenda Walton, and Jill MacKay. Just a quick preview I can’t keep to myself, but you can make jewelry with your Big Shot system! I can’t wait to share all the fun releases from this product line. It is one of my favorite new releases from anyone this year!

Just for fun, this has nothing to do with the product, but it was so fun and cool that I wanted to share it with you! This car was completely covered in craft bling! It was super awesome! I wish I had kept the flyer from this to tell you how many gems she glued to the car—by hand—one at a time! It was so crazy.

It’s almost time for the next big Sizzix release. And when I say big, I mean BIG! Over 50 new Sizzix products are coming out in April, and I am super excited about it! Some of you may not have known this, but you can cut leather material with these machines. Now, Sizzix is bringing you a line of leather jewelry-making supplies. If you already have the Big Shot, all you need is the Movers & Shapers Shuttle (or some of the dies work with the Base Tray). If you don’t already own a die-cutting/embossing machine, then I would suggest you get the Big Shot Jewelry Studio edition, which is compatible with all Sizzix dies and embossing folders, not just the jewelry collection.

So, for starters, we have 10 new choices in leather material. You can choose cowhide and lambskin, and there are 10 unique colors – Metallic Silver cowhide, Denim Lambskin, and even Pink cowhide! All these different leather strips measure 3″ x 9″. Combine these fun leathers together in layers for amazingly creative jewelry designs, just like in the picture below.

Jill Mackay

Jill MacKay is the designer behind this great new line of jewelry-making dies. To start you off, she has created a few fun bracelets in a variety of widths and patterns. My favorite is the Open Work Bracelet. I love the width and layered design on this one. She also has a few designs for necklaces—you can see a few of them in the image above.

Beyond that, she also has stack pieces so you can cut these fun designs and stack them to create multi-layered projects. My absolute favorite is the Carnation Stack because I can’t wait to make that pink flower bracelet! Doesn’t it look stunning? 

I will let you know how mine turns out. My experience does not include jewelry-making, mostly because I felt intimidated by it, but Sizzix is making it look so easy. I guess we will see how that goes for me!

Finally, from Jill MacKay, we have Findings, which are little metal pieces that enhance jewelry with functionality and elegance. You can order the entire line of new Sizzix Jewelry by Jill MacKay right here!

Speaking of accessories, now you can add a fun accessory to your Big Shot! Sizzix has released a Tool Caddy, which attaches to the side of your Big Shot machine, allowing you to store your accessories conveniently (pens, tape, and, of course, your color cutting pads, etc.).

This new accessory comes in a Black or White tool caddy, so you can choose your preferred color.

Tim Holtz

April is also Tim Holtz’s second release month! To the right is an image of some of his new projects.

Included in this release is a font Typo set that comes in both uppercase and lowercase options. Three new embossing folders have some of your favorite classic patterns:

• Herringbone Sizzix folder
• Houndstooth Sizzix folder
• Tailored Sizzix folder

Finally, we have some other fun dies from Tim like the Gearhead Thinlits and the Dapper Bigz die! Oh, the fun you will have created with these great new dies and folders! There have also been fun additions to the Tim Holtz Village collection.

Lori Whitlock

Last but definitely not least, we have Lori Whitlock! She has such fun projects coming out in April. Starting with the Butterfly Lantern and For the Birds die sets – both are great for home decor, party decorations, or even treat boxes.

The Essential Mini Albums die set allows you to easily create fun Mini albums for any occasion! Lori has many other new die sets coming out, so be sure to check out her new line! You’re going to love them!

Well, that’s it for the April 2016 Sizzix release! Right now, everything is available for pre-order, so if you order now, you will be among the first to receive this great new line of products! Remember to save on all your favorite dies at CraftDirect.

Happy creating!