Birthday Wishes!

Well Aloha again everyone & Happy Monday to you all!  Hope you all had a wonderful Easter yesterday!  I am still in Maui thru Thursday and will get home on Friday (sob, sob)!  We are having an absolute blast here and I have enjoyed every second, minute and hour in Maui with my family.  We have had more laughs, more memorable experiences and just really enjoyed each other.  I have to type this blog post up super quick as they are waiting for me to go on an evening walk on the beach after I'm done & I can only do work down in the lobby, LOL!  Today we did a Maui Hike/Tour of 5 waterfalls and ecological tour that was hands down FANTASTIC--we got to jump off waterfalls, swim and hike through the rainforest.  And guess what?  NO SNAKES in Maui or rain days or bad weather--I think I'm gonna have to move here for sure now, hee hee!  After our hike we stopped at Mama's Fish House and ate and it was so worth it.  The day before we did Surf School and it was a BLAST but I am soooo sore, LOL.  Alexa and James were naturals, Riley got the hang of it halfway thru and my instructor said "I was his special project---his challenge", LMBO! Yeah right!  I did finally hang 10 the last hour but apparently my wanting to do everything "super fast" does not rollover well in surf world where you need to be slow and graceful----two things that I am NOT, LOL!  But we had fun, got some sun and had a great experience--I enjoyed every minute and I'll share our photos of our surfing and trip when I get back home!

Today is ALEXA'S 15th BIRTHDAY and we are going on an all day snorkel/cruise to Molokina Island and whale watching as well!  Since Alexa was 3 years old she has always said she wants to work with marine animals---so one year we took her to SeaWorld on her birthday and she ate with Shamu & talked to the trainers.  She is researching colleges that specialize in Marine Biology/Psychology programs with Oregon State & SC University topping her list.  So today will definitely be super fun for her and James & I are thrilled we get to spend an awesome day with her.  We'll top it off with an Italian dinner "Maui style" :)  So just a couple pics below for you and then I'll share the rest when I get home with y'all!

Since it's Alexa's 15th Birthday I just chose a few pics of her alone or with one of us for this slideshow--the rest will be up next week!  She's a goofy, fun-loving, laugh-out-loud, smart, beautiful, stubborn, silly,  mini-me who is growing into a beautiful young woman.  I can't wait to see what the next 15 years bring both her and us!  Love you and Dad and I are so lucky to have you in our lives!  See the slideshow to see a bit more of this gal at her best (and ummm silliness, lol)! Happy Birthday Lex & many more to come!

Slideshow Pics:

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Gina K Blog Hop

I get to share two cards with you today featuring 2 NEW sets by Gina K that you will love and want to add to your collection.  This first set is called "Follow Your Dreams" and its great for so many occasions and people in your life.  I really wanted to create a masculine card since I tend to not do those as often and I like how this turned out.  I used both the boat and tree stamps to create my scene and then colored it all in with my Copics.

The papers I used are by BoBunny and I loved the masculine colors and patterns---perfect for this card! This might be my Dad's birthday card this year since he loves boats so much and still sails his regularly! Some twill ribbon, distressed edges and buttons finish off the card--no frills on this one! LOL

The images were colored with Copics and I added a stripe of dark red on the boat to pick up the reds in the papers. A little bit of Stickles on the water adds some sparkle without "glamming" it up too much!

The second card uses the beautiful set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger called "Branching Out"! This set is just so elegant and there are so many ways to use it (see the post below this for another idea).  I really needed a sympathy card for a friend of mine so I decided to use this set to create it.  It's a gate-fold card that is easily made--my papers are from Paper Trey Ink.  The colors are all monochromatic & elegant--perfect for this type of sentimental card.  I created a belly band to go around the gate-fold to keep it closed and it easily slips off.

The images all got embossed with gold EP and the sentiment is from another Gina K set that was perfect for this card.  The image and mat were cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities.

On the inside I used the same papers and embossed the longer branch image across the top & bottom of my paper leaving a space for a note for my friend.  This set is so versatile that I know you can find 100 different & beautiful ways to use it!

Now make sure to hop along on the hop list below to see the DT's take on all of these sets for more inspiration!

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