Trip to the Tropics

When I am putting together my card classes, I love to give them a creative title.  Today's cards all feature a tropical theme so it's like taking a Trip to the Tropics.

I love the pineapple cut-out in this suite of products.  And I love the designer papers that coordinate.  I have to say, this year's mini catalog is the best that I have ever seen and I've been working with Stampin Up since 2003.  

I got the idea to cut the pinapple from the designer paper from Su Mohr.  Then I placed it onto the paper that has the orange lilies.  For the first time, all of my crafting ladies voted that this card was their favorite.  I could craft these all day!  

For the next card, I stamped the palm trees and cut them out with the dies.  They cut out so nicely!  I added the saying and pineapple to complete the tropical look.  When I was all done with the card, I thought that it needed a little something else along the bottom, so I added the Aloha cut out that comes with the suite.  The idea for this card came from Heather Heraldt.

I love the simplicity of this card.  What a great template - just put a strip of designer paper (any kind will work) and added a saying and embellishment!  I wish that I had bought more of this tropical paper - it looks so good.  I added a couple of pineapples and a saying using the So Sentimental words and the Stitched So Sweetly die cuts.  

Here is another card with a different saying and instead of using pineapples, I added some of the flower cut outs that come with the pineapple set.

Lastly, I wanted to show that you can use this tropical set in other color palettes.  Look how beautiful these hibiscus flowers look in pink tones.  I copied this card from bluerosepapertreasures.  

Here is another version of this card.

Which tropical card do you like the best?  

Tea & Cake Cards

Here is upstate NY we have had a pretty mild winter so far.  And even though we've had some nice days, I call it the "fake Spring."  During March and sometimes into April we can still get snowstorms.

But that doesn't mean that we can't craft and bring Spring into our homes.  For this week's class, I made some cards in "springy" colors.  I called this class, Tea & Cake.

We started out with this sweet Tea Cup card featuring the Tea Together set and cut outs.  I got the idea from Chris Smith on Pinterest and revamped it by added Coastal Cabana cardstock and the back of the one the snowman papers left over from Christmas.  I love it with the purple accents and the cut out saying. 

Next up we worked on a Cake card using the Happy Birthday To You stamp set from Sale-a-Bration.  I love it teamed up with the purple gingham, don't you?  We cut out the flowers so the card has some dimension to it.  Sweet!  I got this idea from Teri Pocock.

Don't you just love these colors together?

To go along with the Tea theme, we made this card that also includes the teapot from the set.  I paired it with the Garden Lane designer papers.  It looks so soft with these colors.

And here's the surprise with this card - if you score and fold it just the right way, the teapot and cup stand up for displaying!  I love how this card is interactive.  :)

If you like this special fold, you can find the link here.  The idea for the card came from Diane Barnes. 

And finally, to round out the spring feel, we made a simple card with a butterfly.  I used Sea Foam green cardstock, but you could use any color for this card.  The butterfly was cut from last year's Botanical Butterfly designer paper and the grassy stamp is from Home to Roost. 

Even though you can't see in the photos, I have added Wink of Stella to make the flowers and butterfly shine and stand out.  I already feel more in the mood for spring.  :)