Surprise Birthday Lunch

My Godmother will be celebrating her 77th birthday next Friday.  On a whim, two of my cousins got together and quickly planned a surprise luncheon for her that I attended yesterday.  There were around 20 of us, her nieces and friends, and one nephew who attended.  She was totally surprised....

This is my Cioci Flo (Cioci is Polish for Aunt and I wish I could find the schwa symbol so I could tell you how to pronounce that) and she is actually my great-aunt as well as being my Godmother.  She was born after my mother which I think explains that.  My sisters and brothers and I are in a generation of our own as my mother's cousins are more our age than hers which has always been a little confusing.  Anyway, Cioci Flo didn't have children of her own for many years when we were little and she doted on us.  She was like a real fairy godmother doing things for us and taking us places (mainly my sisters and I) to give my parents a break now and then.  She gave me my first Barbie doll and taught me the Guardian Angel prayer when I slept over her house.  It was so nice to be able to surprise her in this way.

Here is the card that I struggled with yesterday morning.  I did it once and then stamped the sentiment directly on the front next to the flower and didn't like it so I started again and then used the wrong size oval to highlight the flower leaving so much white space I added those tabs on either side.  I stuck with this one as I was running out of time. 

Cardmakers, if you're interested in the deets - I used SU's Style Beautiful and Watercolor Trio stamp sets on Whisper White.  The Stamp-a-ma-jig helped me place those motifs in the corners which I then used a corner rounder punch on.  The oval was a stencil that I centered and then stamped the flower within. I daubered around the inside edges of the oval with Bashful Blue.  The rest is pretty much visible.