Happy Birthday Stampin' Addicts!!

Hi Stamping Friends!

I'm so excited to be partcipating in the Birthday Blog Hop for my favorite online stamping community, Stampin' Addicts!  SA is a free online website dedicated to supporting Stampin' Up! stampers and demonstrators.  It is loaded with awesome ideas and friendly stampers who are always willing to share.  And best of all they are a ton of fun!  If you've heard me say it once, you've heard me say it a thousand times... SA ROCKS!! 

If you started this hop from the beginning, that means you just came from Rhonda's blog, The Stampin' Bunny.  Aren't her projects adorable?!  If you are just starting the hop, that's perfectly fine.  Just keep hopping all the way through.  You don't want to miss a thing!

In honor of SA's very first birthday, this blog hop will be filled with all things birthday.  How fabulous is that?!  I chose to do a surf theme birthday.  It would work great for a tween boy or girl.  Another fun idea would be to use it for someone's 50th birthday and call it the Big Hawaii Five-O!  :)

First off I have a card that could be used for the invite and/or a thank you.  This design is not that original, as I have seen it all over the web, but I like it, so I went with it. 

The colors I chose to use are Only Orange, Bermuda Bay, Green Galore, Soft Suede, and Kraft.  I love the look of the torn Kraft paper for the sand.  The Rope Twine is not available in the catalog, but it is available in the Clearance Aisle online.  I love the Rope Twine for a nautical look.  I wish I had a "You're Invited" stamp that would've fit with this, but the only one I have is all swirly and girly.  Not good!

Next I have some party favors.

What's a birthday party without some candy?! The Matchbox die makes the perfect little box to hold all sorts of sweets.  I love to put Hershey Nuggets in mine.  I also wrapped a pack of Trident gum with Only Orange cardstock.  Then I used Green Galore cardstock to wrap some Chapstick.  Every surfer needs Chapstick!  My hubby had another great idea for a surfer favor... sunscreen!  Now why didn't I think of that?!  It would look fantastic in a cello bag with a fun bag topper.

Finally I have a little dessert gone bad.  I wanted to do something besides a birthday cake.  The only thing I could come up with was blue Jello, to look like water.  Problem was, we didn't have any blue in the house, only green.  I thought I could add some blue food coloring to make it look blue, but I only ended up with an emerald green color.  So this is my green ocean...

Not at all what I had invisioned!  Add a little whip cream to the top and I'm sure any tween, teen, or 50 year old would love it!  Or, instead of jello, serve a fun tropical drink or smoothie.  Another fun food I thought of was Goldfish crackers.  Would've looked great with my color scheme, but we never have those in the house since my 4yo DS is allergic.

I hope you enjoyed my little beach bum party.  Next up is the talented Allison at her blog, Sweet Impressions.  Enjoy! 

And don't forget to stop by Stampin' Addicts and see all the fun birthday stampin' they have going on this weekend!  While you're there, wish them a Happy Birthday!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see again soon!

Happy Stamping!