Sweet Cirtus

 For my Stamping Class this week, I chose to use the Sweet Citrus stamp set and die cuts.  I like how the stamped images can be used to make oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit and even coconuts!  

The fruits on my first card are supposed to look like Ruby Red grapefruits.  The tag is from Tailored Tags and to that I added the citrus images, some leaves and a few flowers.  

The photo looks a bit bleached out, but the card is really very colorful and bright.  Just so cute.  

Card #2 is an easy fancy fold card.  I started out with Lemon Lime cardstock and found some older gingham papers to match for the front of the card.

I used the Scalloped Contour dies for the focal point and then added some lime slices, leaves and flowers from the stamp set.  I stamped the saying, "Sending you a big squeeze" onto the white panel.

I like to embellish with rhinestones and for this card I found some old lemon lime flower accents that matched just perfectly with this card.  

It's another bright and easy card using the Sweet Citrus set.  :)

I got the idea for this Navy blue card from Yvonne Spikmans on Pinterest.  I love how different it is from what I usually tend to make!  I added a dry embossed piece of Navy blue cardstock to the front of the card and then white embossed the saying directly onto that.  Then I stamped and added more limes! Aren't they just so sweet?  (Get it - sweet?)   This time I stamped the little flowers in Navy blue and added the usual embellishments to complete the card. 

I love how it turned out.  The contrast of the Navy blue and the Lemon Lime colors really make the card pop.

 And last, but not least, I copied the coconut idea from Tami Hewlett from Pinterest.  First I embossed the white cardstock with the Citrus embossing folder and then sponged it with some teal ink.  I wanted it to have an ombre look to it, darker on one side and then getting lighter on the other.

For the white ribbon, I unraveled it a bit on the edges and then added the rinds of the citrus images.  I lightly painted the insides of the coconuts with a paintbrush.  I found that this technique worked better on glossy paper, so the fruit and flowers are stamped on that.

The green sprigs are from the Tropical Chic set that came out a few years ago.  

Are you loving the Sweet Citrus set after seeing my cards?  I loved using this set and thought that the images worked very well for my cards.  What do you think?  

To order the Sweet Citrus set, click here.  

Tropical Fun

One of the first sets that I knew I "had" to have from the new catalog was the Tropical Chic set along with all of the accessories!  I love the colors, the stamps, the cut outs, the buttons, everything! 

I made this card very similar to the one in the catalog.  I love how it came out. 

My second card has a black background with some of the designer paper on the top half.  Add a simple saying, some pretty ribbon and a few cut-outs and you're done.  I love this card, too.

In keeping with the "tropical" feel, I made a couple of cards using the Fabulous Flamingo.  He just fits right in, don't you think?

And finally, I made a gift card/candy holder for the favor.  They're fun and easy to make using the Envelope Punch Board.  Start your first punch at 2 3/4", punch and score.  Then turn the paper and punch and score making sure that you line up the indicator on the punch board.  You don't even have to trim the paper.  Just use the 6 x 6". 

A few days later, I decided to make MORE of the favors.  I had to work on a swap for my demo group and made these. 

The theme was Get Well, so I stamped the saying using the Make a Difference alphabet stamps.  They are so tiny and not really that easy to use, but I got it done.  Everyone loved them.

They fit a little note card on the inside and also a Ghirardelli chocolate.  Crafting bliss.  :)