Two little cards I made for my dad’s birthday and Mothers day, which (in the UK calender at least) come within a few days of each other in March.

My mum and I are lifelong elephant fans. Somewhere there is a photo of us in matching t-shirts promoting “Ele-friends”, an anti-ivory campaign of the 1990s now long forgotten. Her collection of carved wooden elephants from Tanzania have been a feature of every home livingroom I’ve known, and there’s a recurring elephant theme in the cards and presents we give each other. Thus:

My dad meanwhile, he moved out to the countryside a few years ago and is now living a rural idyll, complete with communal allotments, chickens and pigs. For his birthday this year we bought him a “Pig-in-a-day” lesson at River Cottage. Hence the pig.

I like cards – small, manageable, with room to be a bit creative. I just cut the shapes, layered them up and sewed through straight on to the card. My kind of project. Oh and did you see my first attempt at freemotion WRITING??! Wobbly, sure, but definitely readable – win.

P.s. Apologies for the terrible photos. Not doing very well at the old NY resolution to take nice photos in natural light, rather than hurriedly iphone-snapping them at the last minute (usually around midnight).