WORLD CARD MAKING DAY!

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Celebrating  my Mother on World Card Making Day!
Learn how I made the fabulous bow on her birthday present 
and the Happy Birthday banner on the cake later in this post!

I'll be playing in my stamp room today making pink cards to donate to the Splitcoast Hope You Can Cling To card drive which benefits patients at the MD Anderson Breast Cancer Center.  In 2011, our community of card-makers sent over 3,000 cards to women who are facing one of the greatest challenges in their lives.  You will have a chance to make these cards at my 2nd Annual "I'm Dreaming of a PINK Christmas" Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp Camp, on October 30th. This stamp camp is FREE to all breast cancer patients & survivors!  (For everyone else, the camp fee is $10 for 3 cards.)  Contact me if you would like an invitation.  

I donate the profits from this event to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in celebration of my mother, Louise Mileur,  This November will be the 20th Anniversary of when my Mom began her battle with breast cancer.  In December of that year she had to have a radical mastectomy with removal of many of the lymph nodes.  Although she is in almost constant pain due to the surgeon damaging the underlying muscles, we thank God that she has remained cancer free.

My Mom just happens to be the best Mother in the whole wide world.  
Sometimes I am in awe of her.  She was just 17 when she married Dad, (Coincidentally, he just happens to be the best Father in the whole wide world!!!  Lucky me!!!)  Within the first five years of marriage they had 4 kids!  She was 37 when baby #7 arrived.  I look back and don't understand how she did it all.  Our house was always spotlessly clean and the laundry was always caught up, even though she had to hang the wash outside on the line to dry and she ironed everything! And she cooked delicious meals every night...well except the nights she fixed vegetable soup...vegetable soup is NOT delicious!!!  Ha ha!  All the while looking absolutely fabulous, I can never remember her without a nice outfit on and without her hair & makeup looking perfect.  (I think it's weird that I didn't inherit any of these genes!  Ha ha!)

Best Parents in the Whole Wide World

Louise & Murl "Coonie" Mileur

Aren't they a great looking couple?!?!?

We celebrated Mom's 75th birthday in August.  I know what you are thinking...she's so beautiful...she doesn't look like she can be 75 years old!!!  (I'm hoping I inherited those genes!)  Mom loves to travel.  (I'm pretty sure the atlas is right under her Bible on the bedside table.)  So I decided to go with what she loves and showcase all the places she has traveled to when I decorated her cake.  

Thank goodness that I learned a long time ago that I always need to do a mock-up of my cake ideas, because what looked so cool in my head DEFINITELY DID NOT WORK!!! Here's a photo of the mock-up, there was a skewer poked into the state capital of each state she's visited. The skewers had sign-posts for the places she loved in that state.  But it was WAY too busy!!!!  

This is the 1st mock-up - total disaster!!!

So in my 2nd attempt I removed all the skewers and just put little heart-shaped picks in each of the places that I knew she loved, just like when people put push-pins in a map on the wall.  I also added a Happy Birthday banner.  (I have details on how I made the banner & signs later.)  But I still wasn't happy with the cake.

2nd version, something's still not quite right.

THE CAKE!!!

Finally, I was happy with it, and Mom absolutely LOVED her cake!!!!

Across the front it says,  "In life, it's not where you go, it's who you travel with."

 

• To make the sign posts I printed out the names of national parks, museums, tourist sites, cities, etc., in My Digital Studio (MDS).  (Try MDS FREE for 30 Days!)   I used the Word Window punch to cut them out.  They were mounted with Stampin' Dimensional foam dots on Old Olive card stock that was punched out with the Modern Label punch, I used the paper snips to cut the " >" on one end.
• I used the Petite Pennants Builder punch to make the banner's flags out of atlas pages, then strung them on blue ribbon.  (If you fold your paper in half, then insert it not quite all the way to punch it out, you have a flag you can fold over which allows you to sandwich the ribbon between the front & back sides.)
• Used the NEW 1.25" Scallop Circle punch to make the mats for the letters out of Brilliant Blue card stock. (BB/CS) (Retired)  Adhered to flags with Stampin' Dimensional foam dots.
• Used the 1" Circle punch to cut circles from the atlas pages & adhered to BB/CS scallop circles with Stampin' Dimensional foam dots
• Used the Billboard Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die (Retired) to cut the letters out of BB/CS and adhered them to the circles with Anywhere Glue Sticks.  
• To make the banner "hang" above the cake, I used Mini Glue Dots to mount a skewer on both sides of a Big Shot Extended Cutting Pad then "strung" the banner between them, using more Glue Dots to help hold them in place.  Then I just slid the cutting pad into the cake.  Who knew you could use your Big Shot cutting pads to decorate a cake?!?!?  Ha ha!

THE GIFTS

• The gift bag was covered with a map of Oklahoma, (family joke), and had a "Peanuts" comic panel from Charles Schulz.  It says, "In life, it's not where you go, it's who you travel with."  
• The notecards were made with Brilliant Blue card stock. (Retired, I wish Stampin' Up! would bring that color back!). Covered with atlas pages selected to feature favorite places and tied with Brilliant Blue satin ribbon. (Retired)  If you decide to make these, I found that the Anywhere Glue Sticks works best with the thin paper from the atlas.
• The envelopes were stamped with the compass from The Open Sea stamp set.
• The gift was wrapped in a page from the atlas.  Then I cut a piece of Brilliant Blue card stock,  ran it through my Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder to give it texture, and wrapped it around the package.
• The bow was made from a page out of the atlas!!!  Oh my gosh, it is so easy and fun to make bows! I learned how to make this bow from Frenchie.  She has a great video on You-Tube on how to make this bow using Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series papers.  Even if you don't want to learn how to make bows you should watch her video, I just LOVE to listen to her, her voice is delightful!!!  

The Open Sea is such a great stamp set for travel themed projects!

Our family days are always filled with Peace, Love & Joy!

Thanks so much for visiting me today!  I hope you are inspired to make a card, wrap a present or decorate a cake!  

Sending wishes that your life is filled with Peace, Love & Joy,

Joyce