mele kalikimaka*? in june?!

well, yes! because seeing as how some of us are keen enough (or--arguably-- mad enough!) to make our christmas cards year-round, then surely it follows (semi) logically that the best possible holiday cards to make as we officially move into summer are ♥TROPICAL♥ ones, no?! so this week at JINGLE BELLES we're asking you to make your holidays hot, hot, hot! 

you can do this by using bold, saturated colors... or by incorporating tropical flora and fauna... or by taking santa from the north pole to the beach... OR... well, however you'd like to interpret "hot" or "tropical" in a holiday context! it will probably not surprise anyone that i went ALL OUT with the hawaiian theme, lol:

(digital collage made with color splash kit by deviant art for somerset digital magazine and travel clusters #1 by katie pertiet, designer digitals; patterned paper: doodlebug; cardstock: core'dinations; alphas: american crafts, making memories; flower stickers: sadylion, sticko; adhesives: tombow monorunner, sewing machine)

if the digital collage on this card looks eerily familiar to you, there's a reason; of course it's the one i made for my hawaii travel book, and later i used it for a few gift bags and even a couple of cards with a design similar to this one. believe it or not, i actually debated for quite some time whether it was "ok" to use it yet again... at which time i realized that sometimes i get soooooooooo focused on "reinventing the wheel" with every card that i forget it's not only acceptable to do repeats, it's actually a really good way to save time and money!  this particular incarnation of said collage is currently my fave... but i would not rule out future, even more beloved, versions! so there!  :) :) :)

i hope you'll get into the tropical groove and hula your way over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ to play along. not only will you have fun now... you'll be sitting pretty in december! :)

*mele kalikimaka means "merry christmas" in hawaiian and is one of my very very favorite holiday songs; i like both the 1950's version by bing crosby and also the more recent one by jimmy buffet. (the links go to youtube versions of the song; if you've never heard it i highly recommend an educational click!)