Tropical vs. "Traditional"

My customer, Margarett, called me sometime ago and was all excited because she had designed her Christmas card for this year..."I want bright pink and green and palm trees and flamingoes....!" Uh-huh. O-----k....I'll see what I can do! Well, it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be! Her other request was that since she would be staying in a different house than the one she usually winters in in FL, she wanted a card with contact information on it.

Theresa and I made a trip to a scrapbook store in

Myrtle Beach and I saw these great stickers---but that was, by far, too costly an option for 30 cards! I did buy them, however, and came home and contacted the wonderful people at 7 Kids College Fund. She got me the rubber stamps as well as the designer paper (Kaiser Kraft). Flamingoes, and, if not palm trees per se, at least tropical looking leaves! The solid papers and inks are Close to My heart. The "Merry" stamp is from a set by Autumn Leaves (a rhonna christmas card by rhonna farrer). The polka dot ribbon we (Theresa and I) found on another trip to Myrtle Beach---added the green crystal from the package from the $ bin at Michaels and the front was done!

I knew EXACTLY what I was doing for the inside...the die cut is from Stampin' Up and is called "Look Here." It is designed to hold a gift card or, as you can see, a small roll-a-dex card! : ) and I punched said card with the SU roll-a-dex punch to make it look authentic. The "real" card has a little pink circle punchie that says "Memories last forever" on it. Margarett also wanted to include a photo, so that (wallet-size) is tucked behind the card. The pink flowers in her hat match the pink cardstock perfectly!!! There's a sand castle stamped behind the top cut out...to coordinate with the sentiment that says:
From my sand castle to yours...May you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a MAGNIFICENT NEW YEAR! The Postcard, punchies, etc. are from CTMH Vintage Postcard set. The postcard pulls out so she has room to write on the back of it! She was somewhat skeptical as I put the card together entirely without her seeing any of it---I just told her she would love it! And she did!!! Said she may not ever do a card again-didn't know how we would top this one!

Well, after spending Fri all day at the vets, with not one but two cats, they appear to be on the mend. Momma, on the other hand, is in quite a bit of pain from fibromyalgia (toting them, the weather and too much to do....). So say a prayer, please, that I feel better and can swap this "BAH HUMBUG" mood for something a little more festive!

Until next time-happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon