Happy Birthday Sweet Emily

Yesterday was my daughter Emily's 17th Birthday! For those of you who know Emily, you know what a delight she is. She is beautiful both inside and out, she is helpful, kind, passionate about life, music, theater, dance, math :) Spanish, coffee, Chipotle, Jesus, her friends, her friends, and her friends! I had a blast planning some special surprises for her birthday, and loved making her this card. She LOVES the beach, just learned to surf over spring break, has a teal and beach "theme" in her bedroom, so I loved how all this came together. (Starting with the scrapbook sticker from Tall Mouse.) The base of the card is a full sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 "Lovely Lilac", then layered with Tempting Turquoise, and Whisper White. The blue hawaiin paper is called "Aloha Chic" from Star Fish & Dreams. The Happy Birthday sticker is from "Me & My Big Ideas" and it is layered on top of an oval cut from Yo Yo Yellow, and then layered on Lovely Lilac. This is the first time I've tried putting gems all around an oval scallop like this, but I've seen Taylor and Jami do it all the time, so I had to try it.

Not fun! I tried both self stick jewels and tiny taylor twinkles, but not having really good tweezers made it quite a challenge! Three flowers were stamped with the flower from "Do The Hula" (retired SU!) using Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise, and Cool Caribbean Ink, cut out and mounted with dimentionals, and highlighted with a stardust pen. Some bright turquoise ribbon adds the finishing touch!

Here are a few more birthday pictures... I surprised her at school at lunch time with pizza for her and her friends and some giant balloons. She was pretty surprised at the balloons, and because she got to carry them around with her the rest of the afternoon at school, she said everyone wished her a happy birthday for the rest of the day, even people she didn't know! Bonus happiness!

This picture needs a tiny bit of explanation. No, she doesn't still play with dolls, but next week, she is starring as "Sharpay" in High School Musical at her school, Lakewood High School. (May 1,2,7,9 if you're interested!) So my little neice Grace, who is 4 years old, thought Emily should have a SHARPAY DOLL, complete with a singing microphone. Of course, I agree! That's my mom next to Emily last night at PF Changs, where we had a very yummy dinner before rushing over to Disneyland for a quick visit. It was a full, and very fun day. Happy Birthday Sweet Em! You are an amazing young lady, and I couldn't be more proud to be your mom!