Mele Kalikimaka...

...means Merry Christmas in Hawaiian, as any Jimmy Buffet or Bing Crosby fan will tell you. I (Lauren) love to make Hawaii-themed cards all year round, so I don't see why I should stop at Christmas time, especially when I've thought up a truly spectacular pun AND there are so many awesome Eyelet Outlet products to convey a tropical, beachy theme.

My crafty BFF (and fellow EO designer) Stephanie gave me a stamp set called "Polynesian Paradise" for my birthday, and I am absolutely in love with the adorable Hula girl who inspired my sentiment. I thought she'd look especially cute on a Christmas ornament, with a Fresh Flower Brad in her hair, and I stand by that decision. I made a second ornament by neatly lining up strips of Flamingo Washi on plain white cardstock, then tracing a homemade heart-shaped ornament template and cutting it out. I added a Flamingo Brad on a couple of small white Paper Flowers, then "hung" both the baubles from Pearl Bling Strips cut down to fit the space.

One of my favorite ways to use EO brads is to make custom sentiments for my cards. I love alphabet dies and stickers and I always think it's fun to mix and match them. In this case I've used a white all-caps font, but then highlighted "hula" by using larger green letters. The thing that really makes them shine, though, are the Tall Palm Tree and Sun Brads. At the end I couldn't resist a Heart Brad or three just to tie the whole design together.

I hope you'll have as much fun preparing for the HULA-days as I did making this card! ♥

Lauren Bergold

cannot ever resist a tropical brad, or a silly pun, 

...or a card that combines both!