Happy Mothers’ Day!

Motherhood by Selena Fenech

Wishing all Mothers, everywhere, a fantastic day.

Mothers’ Day Card

Design: Matka Boska (monochromatic) by xhaftx (free design)
Materials: Brown 14-count perforated paper; Anchor 1302 (variegated); DMC 3770; brown marbled card

The original design has a halo above the heads (I suspect it’s actually meant as a Christmas card), but as my mother is one of the least religious people I know, I omitted them from the design, leaving just the mother and child. I loved the effect of the creamy tones in the variegated floss for the figures – it kept them from being more static, as I suspect they may have been if stitched in monochrome (although, I have actually seen it stitched beautifully in blue).

Rather than just affix the stitched paper to a pre-made card, I thought I’d try something a little different. I stitched a message for inside the card on another piece of perforated paper and backed them both with a thin marble-effect brown card which toned beautifully. Then I blanket-stitched the left-hand edges of the perforated paper together to make the card and hey presto!

I’m quite pleased with how it turned out and I hope my Mam will like it too.

Mothers’ Day Card for Grom

Design: From Aliolka Blogspot (in Russian – beautiful freebie designs!)
Materials: white 14-count perforated paper; DMC 94, 99 and 124 variegated floss; card; flock stick-ons

I downloaded this lovely little bird design some time ago, not knowing when or for what purpose I would use it, but knowing that it would certainly get stitched. I was right – I was flicking through my collection for a design to use as a Mothers’ Day card for my Grom and this one jumped right out at me!

I’ve only ever seen it stitched in monochrome – usually in a single solid colour, but occasionally in a variegated thread, but never with different colours for various sections. I quickly decided I’d like to see how it turned out using three colours – a garnet variegated for the bird, sapphire variegated for the flower and a soft green variegated for the stem and also the lettering which I added. I also really enjoy stitching on perforated paper as it means I can cut very close to the design (just one hole away fro the stitching), so I cut around most of the design, leaving just the block under the bird squared off for the lettering. This meant the pretty patterned card I had chosen wouldn’t be overpowered by a block of plain perforated paper. It also meant I had more space to add the stick-ons.

I’m really pleased with how this card turned out and I hope my Grom will like it too.