Aloha!

Aloha & Happy Thursday to you all!  Yep I made it to Maui and as some of my friends said "Maui may never be the same!" LMBO!  It is absolutely stunning here, just like I knew it would be and I am soaking up lots of sun and enjoying every minute of it all.  It has been a dream of mine to come to Maui since I was 6 years old--so this is truly, truly a DREAM come true for e and I get to spend it with my family.  And we ALWAYS know how to have a good time! After 14 hours of travel (11 in the air) we were tired but excited when we arrived at 3 pm on Tuesday (Hawaii time) and checked out our resort and then found a great place to eat dinner and watch the sun set over the ocean.  We have an ocean view room that is spectacular as well with a balcony and I got up early this morning to watch the sun rise---beautiful.  We were all in bed by 9:30 pm last night which was around 3:30 am EST and we got about 8.5 hours of sleep--we were all exhausted (me especially as I was up for more than 48 hours at that point, ugh). I loved, loved the 767 jet we flew from Dallas to Maui on---we got seats all together in a row in the middle section of the plane---so there were 4 rows with 2,3 & 2 in each row.  Riley and James has 2 seats each and then Alexa & I shared the middle 3 rows.  It was quiet and dark in our little section with mostly newlyweds which was nice. We watched "Tron" and napped and played games during the long 8.5 hour flight.  Yesterday we had yummy breakfast (lovin' all that fresh pineapple) and did both the fabulous beach & pool and just took it easy.  We all got a bit of sunburn as to be expected I guess, LOL. But I did get knocked down by the waves and lost my bikini top not once but TWICE and my sunglasses (boo hoo) but it sure was fun! But we'll be doing the Road to Hana trip, a snorkel/whale expedition on Alexa's 15th birthday (25th) to Molokini, some ziplining and going to see the volcano.  So lots planned and you can always keep up with me on Facebook---I update it regularly in case you want to see some pics :)  Also below is a slideshow of some pics so far---I know I'll have 1000's by the end of the trip!

Maui Slideshow #1:



**GINA K PREVIEWS!! We are very excited to extend an invitation to Gina K. Designs April Release Party. We have a fun evening planned for you - chatting, prizes, challenges, stamp sets reveal, design team shares, and most importantly, at the end of the party you will be able to go shopping!

If you came from Sharon Harnist's blog, you're at the right place. If not make sure to head over to StampTV where you will find a list of all those participating in today's hop!

Hope to see you at the party, here are all the details:

• When: Today, Thursday, April 21st
• Where: StampTV Release Party Forum
• Time: 7 PM to 9 PM (CST)

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Preview of Gina K's "Branching Out"

Today I get to share a preview of one of the beautiful (1 of many) NEW sets that Gina K is releasing tomorrow night.  This one is called "Branching Out" and it is so versatile and so many ways to use it--very elegant and a must for your stamp collection in Suzanne's PO (personal opinion, lol)!  I kept it elegant and simple--no patterned paper used at all (GASP) just 3 colors of black, white and a gray blue.

I stamped the main branch elements in black ink and then went back in and accented the branches with small white berries with my Sharpie Poster Paint pen to highlight it just a bit.  The smaller branch/frame element was stamped separately and matted with black & white cardstock and then put on the larger frame with dimensionals to make it pop a bit.  The sentiment I used is from an older Gina K set that I adore called "Hope is Faith"embossed in white EP.  Then I finished it off with a bit of stickles on the branches (gotta have some sparkle) and some fun b/w gingham ribbon.

Now you have seen this beautiful set from me, go to each of the designer's blogs below to see them use some of the new sets in many more fabulous ways.  You are sure to be inspired!  I'll be back on the 25th with another fun project for you----until then ALOHA to you all!

• • Lee Murphy
  • Melanie Muenchinger
  • Michelle Woerner
  • Sharon Harnist
  • Suzanne Dean (that's me, thanks so much)
  • Theresa Momber
  • Tina Gilliland
  • Valerie Stangle
  • Vicki Dutcher
  • AJ Otto
  • Carolina Buchting
  • Cathy Tidwell
  • Deb Felts
  • Donna Baker
  • Emily Giovanni
  • Giovana Smith
  • Janice Whiting
  • Jennie Harper
  • Jimmi Mayo