Hi Stitchers!!

               Did you think I fell off the end of the earth?  I'm sorry I haven't written in so long but wedding preparations have been my life for several months.  I'm sure you've had this experience - once you get a reputation for being "crafty" your family thinks you can make anything!  My family has been dreaming in Brown and Pink - the theme colors for Lauren and Adam's wedding.  We made picture frames for the table numbers, ring bearer's pillows, decorated jars of coffee for favors and decorated a Longaberger basket with ribbons for the flower girl.  I also tea dyed a sundress for Fiona and trimmed it with pink and brown ribbons.

     The wedding went off beautifully without any problems and we had a wonderful time with family and friends.

Here are some photos from the big day.....

The Happy Bride

  

The Happy Couple, Adam and Lauren

   

The cake - before.....and after!

  

The exhausted parents (Charlie and me)...and Molly and me (we are 2 of the Wednesday luge team)

The coffee favors!

     Now that I'm back to my "normal" life I can concentrate on stitching again.  Right now I'm trying to finish Lauren's wedding sampler.    

This design is "Blessings from Above" from Midsummer Night Designs.

              It does, of course, have lots of "tweaking" to it! I'll keep you updated on my progress!!!!  After finishing Fiona's Birth sampler, I did one small thing for me - a scissor fob!  I was inspired by Gingher's limited Edition "Bianca" scissors so I used Aztec Red overdyed threads to match the print on the handle. 

 

I just love scissors and fobs!

There are loads of graphs for fobs but you can use any small motif - Christmas ornaments for example. For this one, I used JBW's French Country Love and French Country Amore.  Just when I thought I had all the collections I could handle - Longaberger baskets, Boyd's Bears, Cranberry Glass etc - I started with scissors and fobs! 

Here's just a small sampling of the scissors that are available:

For Fob graphs - go to www.hoffmandis.com and type in keyword fob.  AND...REMEMBER, you can use any small design that appeals to you.

     Remember when I wrote about the "X-Factor" - or how cross stitch relates to other areas in your life?  Well, this month, the X-Factor is Collectibles.  I know (hope!)  I'm not the only one whose life is dominated by her collections.  I've found cross stitch designs for Longaberger, Boyd's Bears, Cherished Teddies, Snowbabies, Jim Shore Folk Art and now one of my favorites..Yankee Candles!!!   These beautiful designs on vinyl weave, trimmed and then wrapped around a jar candle or vase as we did here - Beth won't let me have a lighted candle in the shop - she's afraid I'll burn the shop down!  The idea of the jar wrapper means no framing or finishing expense!!  Perfect gifts for candle lovers in your life.

      

Again...if you're interested in these delightful designs...pop over to www.hoffmandis.com.

These designs are under the designer, Imaginating.....enjoy!  We can get anything you find!

(This is Seashore Wrapper, also look for Noel Wrapper, Spring Wrapper and Flip Flop Wrapper - all $6.00)

If you'd like to share a story about your collections and/or stitching - please email us at the shop..

shop@strawberrysampler.com - we'd love to hear from you!

Until we meet again and share our stitching ideas...and so much more!

Connie