As the creator of  ‘Bless Her Heart Art!”, I was encouraged by a dear friend Judi Grove of ‘Breast Impressions’ to come up with a clever card to raise awareness of the importance of self breast examinations and mammograms.

Being one to NEVER steer clear of a challenge, I stepped up to the plate and tried to knock it out of the ballpark! There is more on this later but for now, I want to tell you more about Judi…..

Judi is a woman who lives her life with the ‘pedal to the metal’. She is loyal, passionate, and extremely driven in all the right places. If you were ’Louise’ she could easily be your ‘Thelma’!

The minute I met her I felt a kindred spirit. Judi had a breast cancer scare in 2007. Being a woman who always valued her volumptuousness and even had names for each breast, Jill and Jane (and much to my chagrin Jill was the problem child), she just knew she needed to immortalize the pair before undergoing what doctors thought to be the beginning of her journey with breast cancer.  A plaster cast was the ticket and before she knew it she had created a 5013-c to raise breast cancer awareness and help other women attain a memory. Women around the globe have ordered the plastic kits to have the reminder of what their breasts looked like BC (before cancer).

Judi has never lost sight of her mission. It’s all about the boobies and saving lives. In an effort to encourage women to do self breast examinations and get their mammograms Judi decided to approach roller derby teams across the United States, cast their teammates and then auction their busts off. All proceeds go to the care of women dealing with cancer and creating a memory of their bustlines before cancer through art. To date Judi has cast over 350 women.

Being the mover and a shaker, Judi was asked by Senator Judi Eason McIntyre to organize the the second annual Breast Cancer Day of the state of Oklahoma. Judy is taking a group to the state capitol in Oklahoma City and stand before the states representatives. Her quest is simple, her stance is strong, to educate women to find breast cancer early and be an advocate for your own health.

Ann Bogie, executive director of Tulsa Project Woman, and Sherri Coale, the Oklahoma University Basketball coach is making the announcement that Tulsa Project woman is expanding to all 77 counties in Oklahoma and changing their name to Oklahoma Project Woman; which means, women across Oklahoma will be able to see partnering health care providers for mammograms and healthcare for a reduced rate. Many women who have would not be able to afford their care will now have little to no expenses due to the coalition of health care providers. Last year, there was 2300 new cases of breast cancer in the state of Oklahoma. 500 men and women died due to breast cancer in Oklahoma last year.

I cannot say enough about Judi and her invaluable spirit. Nor can I say enough about the women who are valiantly battling breast cancer.

Here is ‘Bless Her Heart Art!” gently reminding you to check your breasts monthly and encourage every woman you know to check their ta ta’s! It can save your life!

To learn more about Breast Impressions go to www.breastimpressions.com.

Jill Solomon is the creator of Bless Her Heart Art