Emily, our Sweet 16 Girl

I am so excited!! Michael's best friend Emily and her mom are on their way here for the weekend! Emily and Michael were born six hours apart on Aug. 27, 1994, and she's like a sibling to Michael and an adopted daughter to me and Bob. The bond we all share is very special.

Since Emily was about 10, Bob has been telling her, "When you turn 16, you'll have to go on a date with Michael to celebrate your birthdays." Well, this year is THAT year, and that sweet girl remembered and is coming here to make that memory with my sweet boy.

We're doing some other things too, like going to the "Bodies" exhibit downtown, and eating southern style BBQ. Of course there will be singing and blowing out of candles during our time together. To commemorate this milestone birthday, I made Emily a card using her favorite colors, hot pink (Melon Mambo) and orange (Tangerine Tango).

I'd been wanting to play with the Hostess set Birthday Bakery for quite some time, but hadn't had the time. These cakes were just begging to be colored, so I stamped them in MM and used my TT, MM, Regal Rose, and Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Write Markers to bring them to life.

Then I decided to add a little shimmer, since we girls like bling! The combination of a Versamarker, Heat and Stick Powder, and Dazzling Diamonds made those little cakes all that much more enticing.

After completing the coloring and adding glitter, I had the idea to add the new pearls. It required a tweezers, but the little sweeties really finished the look I was going for.

Then I set to creating the base. I took a scrap of 3" x 11" Whisper White and scored it at 5.5". Then I inked my Birthday Builder Wheel combo with MM and rolled it across the base three times. I colored the candles and then added some other little elements, using my Scallop Trim Border Punch, some retired Haiku DSP, and some more pearls. Maybe I can pull off making something "girly" after all!

The inside contains the message that comes with the set: "if you are what you eat, then eat something cute!" It's perfect for her!

I'll post pictures of the two later this weekend. Have a great holiday, y'all! I intend to!