Gift for a Special Mom

     I have been blessed with a beautiful set of mothers, and I wanted to make something extra special for my Mom-in-Love who lives far away from us in Oklahoma for Mother's Day. Since she doesn't get to see my daughters very often, I thought it might be special to make her this triptych with recent photos of the girls. I love how it turned out -- very much my style. (ie. Gregarious and over-stated Victorian which hopefully she'll overlook enough to love anyway.)

    Step one of this particular creative process involved gussying the girls up with a little lip gloss and special dresses. I poked Sophia in the eye during our make-up session, so that got things off to a slammin' start. I'd been meaning to take pictures for weeks, but it's been snowing literally every weekend all spring. When I saw the sun on Saturday, I knew the time had come. There was still snow on the ground, but it was almost 50 degrees.

     Step two involved an ice cream bribe, since picture-taking in our family is literal torture. No matter our intentions and no matter how great the light or how perfect the weather, getting two kids to stand next to each other without making faces or poking each other in the eye would try the patience of Mother Theresa. I can't tell you how many photos turned out just like this:

      We made it to the park without coats after repeated attempts by me to convince two 8-year-olds that 50 degrees can get a bit chilly after standing around with your feet in slushy snow for an hour. Because cute shoes are essential to every great photo shoot involving mostly head shots, I was forced to carry a 60 pound child at least half a mile (okay, more like 50 yards) to the nearest patch of grass. We proceeded to shoot more than a hundred photos, of which three were passable enough to send to Grandma.

     As predicted, the cold set in before the aforementioned three photos were taken, at which point reminders of the bribe seemed less useful, since ice cream is cold too. A trip to the museum replaced the ice cream bribe, and we managed to get the job done after shedding a few tears.

     The museum was fun, but I think I would have preferred a massage. In the end, there's something to be said for hiring someone else to take pictures of your kids. 

     Happy Mother's Day!

Materials used:

12x12 chipboard

Webster's Pages "Light the Way"

Pink Paislee, "Father Christmas" 

Tags from Graphic 45's "Once Upon a Springtime"

Crop-a-Dile

Twill Tape from Stampin' Up

Crochet Trim, Joann Fabrics

Chipboard Cameo, Maya Road

Acrylic Butterflies, Melody Ross

Artisan Elements, Pink Paislee

Light Yellow Acrylic Paint, Ben Franklin ca. 1992 (see, everything is useful eventually!)

Dark Gold Acrylic Paint (for back of frame)

Gold Stickles

Gold Shimmer Mist, Tattered Angels

White Flowers, Prima

Pink Paper Roses, local thrift shop :)

Pearl Beads, Joann Fabrics

Boho Blossoms Punch, Stampin' Up

Aleene's Paper Glaze