birth announcement

I have used the same basic pattern for two birth announcement cross stitches.  On the peach framed version I added flowers to extend the design into the rectangular frame.

On the second version I cut into the mount to make room for the feet as I wanted to keep the ducks on the mount which came with the frame. A yellow card behind the fabric warmed up the tone of the material and made the ducks yellow.

I like to work the child's name in so it is easy to see (I have blurred them out here for the children's privacy) but to put the birth date, time and weight into the design in a subtler way so you have to look for it.  In this case worked into the flowers. 

Little alterations can make a big difference and keep an item unique even if you reuse a favourite motif.