More From the Factory ...

So I went a little crazy over the past couple months and started cranking out projects ...

I finally finished my amazing miniature Van Gogh Fourteen Sunflowers -- I just love it! It is so tiny (less than 2" tall)! It is now my second favorite thing I've made after the tiny pillows. Thank you artecy!

Here's a close up of the stitching:
And I finished Matt's stocking -- it was an adventure in cross stitch and machine stitching to complete it!

I made another "Nutcrack" stocking for Melissa Heselmeyer's baby, Evan.
And then I discovered a new obsession ... Mill Hill Bead Ornament Kits!!!! These are the four that are totally finished. I gave one to Aunt Linda and one to Julie Stober for Christmas this year.


I have so many more of them to do! It might be "Mill Hill Christmas" next year ...

A few more items from the recap

Lady Under the Arch that I completed somewhere around 2000 or 2001:

An Oz picture that Emily and I stitched after I created the pattern from an old book cover:

A wedding gift for Cate and Casey Donohue (I don't have a photo of the actual one, but Emily and I completed this one and added their last name and wedding date):

Gift for Jen and Rob

I finished Jen and Rob's sampler and promptly forgot to take a picture of it! It looks just like this one (a bit different gold frame), but it says "jen and rob november 10" in the section where the alphabet is shown.

A Baby Gift

I finally finished my first Christmas stocking - a gift for Isaac Ciravolo (Tara's little one). I really like the way it turned out, and hopefully it becomes a treasure for the Ciravolos for years to come!

Post script: Tara sent out Christmas cards with Zac and the stocking! He is such a cutie!!!
I love his little bare feet in the second photo (Christmas in Houston!)

Here is the front (Dimensions kit):

Here is the back (navy blue corduroy with white stars embroidered):

A New Set of Projects

So I have three projects going on concurrently right now (and no, this doesn't count all of the unfinished ones sitting around).

I am making a sampler for my friend Jen's wedding:

This is the needlepoint pillow that I'm trying my hand at (so far, it's OK):
And this is the divine Drawn Thread sampler that I am going to make for Emily and Steve. I might have to make this one twice ... I want it, too!:

I'll put up my finished photos when I'm done with these! Since I am just sitting at home in the evenings waiting on our place to sell, I'll probably get them done pretty soon :).

Wish List

Since our house is stagnating on the market, I will relieve my frustration by working on my wish list for when we move in. There are so many fun things that I am wishing to do and to buy! Where do I begin ... I can't wait to get my sewing machine out of storage and try it out, I want to try out all of these new cookbooks I got, all of my new sewing gadgets are wasting away ... sigh.

I can't wait to pick a place and then pick some colors and get to "nesting"! I am still thinking about a gold kitchen (but of course, that depends on the countertops and cabinets). For the dining room, I am thinking either a dark gold or medium green ...

My new wish list item, however, is tons of trim! I want crown molding, cased windows, chair rail, "fake" wainscoating (trimmed out rectangles beneath the chair rail), and more! Tons and tons of white trim with traditional, bold paint colors ...

My inspiration house is eluding me currently. It is a home I saw on "My house is worth what?" on HGTV. I am going to try to get Dad to record it for me when it next comes on.

Bye, bye Miss Farley ... hello Mrs. Wetzel!!!

It's official!!! I'm a married woman ...

The wedding weekend was truly wonderful. Seeing all of our friends and family, sharing all of the moments (big and small!), and starting the next phase of our life with a great party ... I won't soon forget it!

All the months of planning came to fruition. We had about 150 people at the wedding and everything went really smoothly. The weekend was really full of so many fun things ... Friday morning manicures and pedicures with Emily, Catie, Beth, Julie and Sue ... Friday lunch at Jim and Linda's place with great barbecue! ... Rehearsal and decorating the church! ... Rehearsal dinner at Birraporetti's ... Spending Friday night with Mom ... Saturday breakfast brought over by Anne and Frank (breakfast tacos, mimosa's and more!) ... Andi (The Perfect Face) and Danny showing up at the same time and beginning the "Paparazzi!"... meeting the girls to get ready at the Magnolia ... heading to the church and hanging out in the preschool rooms ... lots of photographs!!! ... watching all of the guests arrive ... getting more and more nervous as the actual ceremony approached ... walking down the aisle ... trying not to cry and failing ... the quick meet and greet line ... heading to the wonderful party at the Majestic Metro!!!!

I've included the photos from Danny's amazing photography of the event. We are so excited to get our photo album back! It's like our own work of art.