My friend Annie will be celebrating her birthday this week. Since I am traveling to the Stampin' Up! Incentive trip to Alaska, I knew I would miss her special day. So, before I left the island, I took her out to lunch to celebrate a little early.

Annie is a Pampered Chef consultant who loves Stampin' Up!. I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator who loves Pampered Chef! So, needless to say, we make a great pair. A typical conversation between us might be, "I need to order a couple of ink pads", says Annie. "Well, I need another mini spatula, cause you know you can never have just one of those", says Cindy. Let the trading begin!

Choosing what card to make for Annie was simple this year. I wanted to use the Tropical Chic set because I know Annie loves Monstera leaves and the Tropical Chic set and coordinating Tropical Escape Designer Series Paper has many beautiful Monstera images for her to enjoy!

Here is the card I created with Annie in mind.

I love the bold and bright colors on this card, especially the bright Granny Apple Green that is embossed with the Climbing Vine Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. For the "red" on this card I chose Poppy Parade. I love how vibrant it is on the flowers. If you look closely, you can see some of our new Basic Adhesive Back Sequins that I added to the card. They are so pretty.

The Tropical Chic set doesn't have a Happy Birthday stamp in it, so I found this birthday sentiment in the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set.

I was really happy how this card turned out and was glad it made Annie happy too! Especially since inside this bag was the Tropical Chic Bundle and a few other Stampin' Up! goodies I knew she would enjoy!

I am truly grateful for Annie!!! She has been a listening ear, offered wise counsel and been there to encourage and inspire me. Annie has a heart for people and I have witnessed her many times putting others needs before her own.

Since I was preparing to go to Alaska, I decided to use this card inspired by my sweet friend, to be my swap card for the trip. The only difference is, I changed the sentiment to the "thank you" that comes in the Tropical Chic stamp set.

Here is the Thank You card I made for my cruise swap.

I am really getting excited to go on the cruise. I love traveling and am blessed that my job, as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, provides me with an opportunity to work hard to earn a free trip. The cruise will be amazing, but you know what I'm most excited about? It's being reunited with so many of my demonstrator friends and having the opportunity to meet new demonstrators who I haven't met before.

There is something so special about our community at Stampin' Up! It is being a part of this wonderful company that has provided a way for me to make lasting friendship with other demonstrators, customers and downline, who like Annie, have become family to me and for that I am truly grateful.

Truly Grateful

Stamped With Aloha

Truly Grateful

On The Road Again

Tropical Escape

Stamped With Aloha