Mother's Day Card for Mommy

A week before mother’s day, I decided to give my mom something a bit more special. I will not buy her the usual cake or ice cream (which she actually loves!) but I will give her something more personal, a labor of love coming from the bottom of my heart. So, I decided to make her a small layout-greeting card.

My first task was to look for the right picture. That wasn’t easy because I couldn’t find a solo shot. Finally, I found a nice one taken at Island Cove during my uncle’s visit from the US. This particular shot was taken in the butterfly garden (yes, they have one, and I can’t believe I didn’t know about it since I only live 5 minutes away from Island Cove). My mom loves plants, specially the flowering kind. So I picked this picture because it shows her amid a lush garden and beside a beautiful cluster of bougainvillea blooms.

I cut a yellow 12” x 12” cardstock (Bazzil Bling) in half (12” x 6”) and folded it in the middle (I just love using my bone folder – Making Memories – for this purpose!) to make a 6” x 6” folded card. The card matches the yellow bell flowers in the picture (Can you see them in the background?).

Then I got a piece of patterned paper (DCWV Pocket Full of Posies – I love its glittery look!) and cut it into 4” x 6” and adhered it horizontally in the middle of the yellow card.

I cut her picture into a square and matted it on purple cardstock (Bazzil). I then adhered the matted photo on top of the card.

I took out my brand new Big Shot and Funky Brush alpha set (thanks to my hubby who gave them to me as an anniversary gift) and cut out the word “Mother”. I used the DCWV Brights sticker sheet for this (I love this innovation – no need to run the cut outs through my Xyron sticker maker), and I picked red to match the bougainvilleas.

I sifted through my supplies and decided to use my clear acrylic flower shape (from Simply Scrappy) as embellishment. I applied a layer of purple acrylic paint, dried it using my heat gun, sanded it a bit to show parts of the clear acrylic, then applied a coat of red paint. Because I sanded the first layer of color, part of the red second layer shows through. (learned the trick from Simply Scrappy’s Au Lim – thanks Au!). I adhered it to the card using a yellow flower brad.

Using my Coluzzle tag template, I cut a piece of yellow cardtock and matted it against a scrap of patterned paper (DCWV Pocket Full of Posies). I punched a hole on top and tied a purple ribbon through the hole. I embellished the tag using die cut flowers (Ellison Thin Cuts), doodled “stitches” around the tag and wrote my dedication on it. To see the card, click here.

I printed my journaling on a sheet of vellum. This time, I test-printed on white bond paper first so I didn’t waste a sheet of vellum (unlike the last time where I wasted at least 3 sheets!). I then adhered flower cut outs and added some bling on the flower center. My journaling reads:
Mother (noun)

Webster’s Dictionary
1. a woman in relation to a child or children to whom she has given birth
2. a person who provides care and affection, normally associated with a female parent

Alby’s Dictionary
1. one of the best blessings God has given me
2. the person who carried me in her belly for nine months, and carried me in her heart for more than 30 years, and still counting
3. the person who, when I was a child, stayed up all night when I was sick
4. someone who knows me but still loves me greatly despite my imperfections
5. someone who prepared me to face the real world by teaching me to love God, right from wrong, the value of education, the value of hard work, saving money, removing blood stains from my underwear, using a deodorant, using the typewriter, ironing clothes, cooking spaghetti, etc.
6. someone who wanted so much to protect me from the evils of the world but gave me wings so I can experience life and learn from my own mistakes
7. someone I love dearly though I may have difficulty showing it most of the time
8. for more information, meet Vangie Saavedra, my mother

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The journaling basically reflects who my mother is in my life. I wasn’t brought up to be expressive – both physically and verbally. We’re not a touchy-feely kind of family. We’re not the type who would say I love you openly to each other. I hope that through this, I am able to express what I find so difficult to say to and show my mom.