Mother's Day

As long as I can remember I have shared a love of crafts with my mother. Many of my early memories took place around the craft table with my mother and brother and usually involved some sort of glue, a bit of a mess and a lot of imagination (the perfect combination to hold my interest for hours). Nearly all of my most prized possessions are items that my mother made for me; not a holiday goes by without decorating with an item she made.  My mother always encouraged creativity and helped us pursue whatever craft brought us happiness, whether it was piano lessons, art classes or the purchase of yet another box of crayons.  Throughout my life, whenever I was bored, gloomy or preparing for a holiday, I turned to my own craft supply bin and creativity; something I had been learning to do from my mother's example over many years.

For this most recent Mother's Day, rather then sending my Mom a bouquet of flowers that would wilt just as soon as receiving them, or a box of chocolates that would most likely disappear in hours, I decided I would make her something. I knew this would be a special treat for her since she's usually the one making and sending things to me. My mother's name is Deborah which "is a feminine given name derived from a Hebrew word meaning 'bee.'" (thank you wikipedia). My mom also loves to spend time in the kitchen, so an embroidered apron was the perfect gift/craft project.

I'm a free-style, rebel embroiderer. I have never used a template or kit, but rather sketches I make that I transfer to the item to be embroidered. This can be quite challenging at times, but is more rewarding then anything; the items I embroider are 100% original, 100% Valerie. I procrastinated a bit this year (sorry Mom!) and rushed to get the apron out the door. I don't have a photo of the total completed product, but hopefully Mom can send me one with her wearing it in the next few days.

Detail of the finished embroidery on apron.

 Even though this is a day late,

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy! I love you.

Thank you for being who you are, 

for teaching me so many different things 

and for encouraging me to be me. 

I am so lucky to have a creative, 

crafty mother like you!