As a child I enjoyed watching my mom crochet. It was wonderfully mesmerizing. The way her fingers worked the hook and thread was as quick as it was effortless. She transformed simple chain stitches into elaborate floral patterns.

Her designs and color choices — all born of her own imagination — resulted in beautiful pieces, many of which took months to make. They blanketed our dining table, covered our coffee and side tables, topped my piano and even our toilet tanks. Our home was filled with these crocheted creations — all made with love by my mom.

Mom celebrated her 70th birthday just a few days ago. As her milestone day neared, I reflected on all the typical traits that make mothers so admired. One of the qualities I appreciate most of all is her creativity.

While I may not have inherited Mom’s green thumb, dainty nose or crochet skills (a straightforward chain stitch and basic flower is the most I learned), I acquired her artistry and imagination. My sister is an amazingly talented crafter and my brother is creative director at KQED, the NPR and PBS partner in Northern California. Whether through DNA or just by example, mom’s creativity is in us, too.

For me, it’s in the stories I write. It’s in the arts-and-crafts projects I do with my three daughters. It’s in all my childhood artwork and essays. When I was in the sixth grade, I was named “Most Creative” girl in my elementary school yearbook’s superlatives section. It’s still one of my favorite honors.

Mom continues to crochet whenever she has the chance. Another one of her favorite creative outlets is designing embellished photo albums, similar to scrapbooks. She creates themed albums, neatly arranges her photographs and decorates the pages with cut-outs from old magazines of flowers, fun words or any image that goes with her theme.

Sometimes when I visit my parents, I’ll find Mom in the middle of working on one of her albums at the dining table covered with photos, magazine clippings, scraps of paper, scissors and glue. She always looks the exact way she does when she crochets: peacefully content in her own inspired world. Like many of her projects, her albums are colorful and a little loud, much like my sweet mommy.

Mom’s birthday festivities will continue today at one of her favorite banquet halls, with nearly 100 guests to help us honor her. The celebration will include prime rib and steamed lau lau, a slide show, and song and dance numbers.

And the tables will be decorated with centerpieces — artificial red roses in gold vases adorned with glued-on seashells — all made with love by Mom.

“She Speaks” is a weekly column by women writers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@staradvertiser.com.