Let’s talk mums! They are one of the most important people in our lives, but the stripes vary from family to family. Maybe you had a grandmother, aunty, family friend or father who had the mother figure role.

No matter who it is, being a mum is incredibly challenging and insanely rewarding. We turn to them in our time of need, we wonder if we as mums are doing enough and we learn along the way that becoming a mum hasn’t been an easy journey for some.

As we approach Mother’s Day, our blog editor asked a couple of our designers, Brook Gossen, Gabriela Larios and Victoria McCrane from The Scenic Route, as well as our very own and soon to be first-time mum, wholesale manager, Gabbie Kelly to share their favourite mum stories, tell us a bit more about their own mothers and what it might mean to be a mum.
Image: Designer Gabriela Larios, pictured centre, with her sister and her mother.

GABRIELA LARIOS
ILLUSTRATOR and SURFACE PATTERN DESIGNER
The artistic vein comes from my mum, she was a floral designer. When I was little, I grabbed one of her rings to play with in the garden. The ring was never found again! It is still buried somewhere in the garden of the house I grew up in Antiguo Cuscatlan. Possibly not so funny for my mum when she found out about my mischief.
My mum had a keen eye for colour. Her favourite colour was yellow. Our house was full of Mexican ceramics, beautiful flower arrangements made by her along with her drawings and paintings. My love of decorative arts, birds, fish, flowers and colourful textiles definitely comes from her. She taught me my first lessons in art, the use of watercolours and colour combinations. She is no longer with us, however she is very much present in my work but also in the values she instilled in me. A person with utmost integrity and certainly one of the most honest human beings I have ever known. Her down-to-earth nature admirable. I miss her dearly!

My mum in three words
Down-to-earth, truthful and selfless
Image: Designer Victoria McGrane pictured with her mother.

VICTORIA MCGRANE
DESIGNER & FOUNDER of THE SCENIC ROUTE
My mum, Mandy has amazing taste in music, and loves to blast Led Zeppelin and David Bowie at top volume. When I was a teenager our neighbour used to complain about her loud music and she would blame it on me and my brother.

She also loves a good laugh, and once she gets a funny thing into her head she can't stop chuckling about it for days! I'm a really bad singer (like really super tone deaf!) and once in the car I started singing along to Hello by Lionel Ritchie on the radio and it absolutely broke her, she was in fits, crying with laughter. Now it's turned into a running joke and I just have to sing the word "Hello?" and she completely loses it!
She is an incredibly hard worker and always puts 100% into everything she does. Mum is also the kindest, most caring and empathetic person I know. She is such an inspiration to me in all aspects of my life, and whenever I am having a hard time or feel stressed I call her and she puts things into perspective for me.

My mum in three words
Strong, compassionate and a proud blue eyeshadow wearer

Image: Brook Gossen picture with her mum and her sister.

BROOK GOSSEN
ILLUSTRATOR

My mum sure had her hands full when we were little, as my brother is 18 months older than me. She found out when she was eight months pregnant the second time around that she was having twins. Phew! I’m pretty sure it was a mad panic after that to double up on everything she had. If you ask my mum if we were good kids, she always says that we were angels and never fought. Bless, I think she only remembers the good times and has blocked out all of the loud and unruly times. Why dwell on that after all?

My mum has a quiet strength and has always go through tough times with aplomb. She never stops smiling, laughing and always tries to look on the bright side any equation. She is always there for me and ready to support me in whatever I’m doing. She’s got back into sewing recently (after maybe 40 years) so she can sew with my designs. Now that’s support!

Mum’s quiet strength has definitely been passed onto me and for that I am so grateful. She was pretty chill when we were younger and it has definitely inspired my parenting style – we always got on so well and I could talk to mum about most things (all teenagers have secrets though huh?) and I want my kids to feel the same with me.

My mum in three words
Loving, dependable and strong
Image: Wholesale manager, Gabbie Kelly, with her mum.

GABBIE KELLY
WHOLESALE MANAGER, NERIDA HANSEN FABRICS
Besides losing my glorious weekend sleep-ins, I expect I’ll be completely and totally overwhelmed by love, joy and responsibility! For me the journey of becoming a mum has taken years and hasn’t been a straight path. Therefore, I’ve had a lot of time to put thought into what kind of mum I’d like to be, and the older I get the more I realise, I would like to strive to be the kind of mother that my mother is to me.

My mum is my most treasured friend! There are many lessons I have drawn from her, but I think the most valued one is loving others as they are, without having your own expectations of who they should be and what they should deliver get in the way.

My siblings and I never felt pressure to be anyone or anything that we’re not, at least not in our world at home. We were always provided with the space to grow into our own identities while feeling nurtured and supported by our mum. It sounds pretty simplistic but actually it’s taken me most of my life to realise how powerful that is and what it gave me. I’d like to be able to provide my children that same loving and supportive platform while they venture into their own identities.

My mum makes me laugh every time I’m with her, but I feel like any story I could share you would either need to know her or needed to have been there to share in the humour of it. My mum is one of the silliest people I know, she loves to laugh and she is completely capable of laughing at herself and not taking herself too seriously. She's lots of fun to be around!

My mum in three words
Empowering, reliable and fun

There you have it, a taste of a few of our glorious mums. We love and adore them and aspire to be like our own. Cherish your mum this Mother's Day and for a last minute spoil try a Nerida Hansen Fabrics gift voucher.