So, it should go without saying that i am an avid support of the United States Military.  I am the mother of a Sailor, the wife of a Marine, and the daughter of a Sailor.  The only side i have not experienced the military life from is actually serving – not that I didn’t try.. I did, but I had a hearing problem.  Oh well!  Their loss!  They got me anyway – as a wife and now a mother!

This weekend, I was asked by a dear friend to create a cake for her son’s going away party.  I was given a couple of examples of what they liked.  So, I molded them together to create this…

Now, it’s been a few years since I made a cake like this.  I didn’t want to add structure – but I probably should have.  In total, it was nine layers in three tiers (8″, 10″ and 12″).  So, when the cake was cut into, it was red white and blue on the inside.  I now remember how much fun it was to do cakes, so I will probably do one occasionally.

Of course, it should also go without saying that I cannot just make a cake for a son of a great friend and not create a card.  What kind of stamper would I be.  I pulled out an old set and got to work.  Here was the creation using the For Your Country stamp set.

I used Very Vanilla and Night of Navy.  I stamped the boots and “Godspeed” using StazOn ink on watercolor paper.  I used Momento ink and a blender pen to color in the boots.  Everything was stamped with Night of Navy.

Now, I have two things to say about this card…

First of all, StazOn ink is going bye-bye (along with cleaner)…  I just looked and the stamp pads are still available – refills are not.  It’s not something you need if you aren’t stamping on Window Sheets or Foil Sheets or other slippery mediums.  The black Archival ink works great for watercoloring and whatnot.  But, just a word to the wise to stock up if you need it.

Secondly… for those of you that were sad that Stampin’ Up no longer carried a military related stamp set… Good news.  There is one in the new catalog.  And, while is it clearly one that could be used to stamp cards for your favorite service member, it is equally great to stamp a card for your favorite law enforcement office!  Wonder what else it can be used for?  I can’t wait to get my hands on, that’s for sure!  (Along with everything else in the catalog – but that’s a post for another day!!!)

Until next time… keep it simple, Stampers!

🙂 Joanne

PS – It was prom this weekend… so I might as well show off my number 2 son!  This is Wesley!