There's goin' to be another weddin' and other WONDERFUL news! :)

Our family has been blessed to grow by one "in-law in love" so far this year and now we're about to be blessed by another!  What this means, of course, is that while the prospective bride and groom only have to worry about minor details like planning a wedding, I have the "gargantuan" task of choosing and stitching just the right wedding sampler.  (LOL)

For this couple, I've chosen to stitch "Wedding Row" by Bent Creek.  I've changed the colors up a bit...I'm really trying to live by the "use what I have on hand" approach...and believe me, I have a LOT on hand!  :)

The happy couple will be tying the knot December 28th, so with all the other Christmas stitching I want to get done this year, I need to be "getting my groove on" and get this finished up.

In other WONDERFUL news, Ian is beginning to make huge strides towards feeling better.  To God be ALL the GLORY, he has been fever/head-ache free for three weeks now!  His appetite has begun to pick up a bit and he is starting to look like "my" Ian again.  We're sort of holding our breath at this point in regards to his surgery....decisions have to be made....many specialists to be consulted with and many, many prayers to be said.  But, oh how grateful I am to see my pantry emptying so quickly again!!!!  :)

I can't thank you enough for all the beautiful prayers, notes of encouragement, and emails we have received on our behalf.  We still have a hill to climb - we just aren't sure yet if God is calling us to a mountain or a molehill.  Whichever the case turns out to be, we'll be ready, thanks to the love of wonderful friends!  Be blessed, dear blogging buddies!!!

I "cherish" happy blog posts!!!

*Sharon

The "invisible" happy dance

Because this is a finish for someone who "might" or "might not" read my blog, this is as much as I want to show.  You'll just have to trust me that this piece has now been finished and is all ready to be wrapped and put under the Christmas tree!  :)   One piece finished, 387,682 still to go!  LOL   :)

I "cherish" finishes!

*Sharon

If I had a theme song....

This would be it!

What's YOUR theme song?

I "cherish" music that makes me happy!

*Sharon

Wedding Sampler Finished!

(Btw, photo is click-a-ble), so you can get a better view of my stitching and my sweetie's beautiful job of framing!)

It's official now, my sweet loved one(s) can get married now.  I told them that they had to wait to get married until I had this piece finished and framed.  LOL  We came in right under the gun and we can wait for the sweet couple to begin their lives together and wish them every happiness and many, many wonderful memories for lots and lot of years to come.

(Another btw, it was fun remembering how good it feels to actually finish something!!!)  :)   Here's hoping there will be more finishes in my future!

I "cherish" this wonderful couple and having a personal hand-made-with love gift to give them!

*Sharon

Missing Uncle Hugh - - -

My Great Uncle Hugh passed away today.  Goodness, but I'll miss him!  My Uncle Hugh and my dad were absolute best buds.  (Strange, because my Uncle Hugh is from my mom's side and well...dad is from my dad's side).  My Uncle Hugh and my dad were quite the pair.  Every fall, my mom and dad and my Aunt Wilda and Uncle Hugh would take a vacation to Myrtle Beach.  While the "woman folk shopped and spent all their money", my dad and Uncle would go buy wooden train whistles, set up their beach chairs right by the ocean and blow their train whistles every time a pretty girl would walk by.  Of course, my dad and uncle said that they were always such "gentlemen" that they would blow their train whistles at EVERY female that walked past them.  (Now, you have to realize that they were both well into their 80's when then they were "acting up" AND did I mention that they would purposely wear big, floppy straw hats, bermuda shorts, black socks and sandals while they were doing this???)  I told you they were a pair!

When my dad passed away, my Uncle Hugh came up to me and told me that he could never, ever take my dad's place, but that if I ever needed someone to fill a small part of my dad's shadow, he'd be honored to take that spot. Oh how I miss that gentle fellow who did a wonderful job of "shadow filling".

I'm sure that my dad and Uncle Hugh are having a great time together in heaven - blowing their train whistles with the angels...(or knowing them, AT the angels!!)  :)

I miss you, sweet man!

I "cherish" having such a wonderful Uncle to call my own.

*Sharon

WIPocalypse - February

Since my "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf disaster (I 'm afraid of him, btw), I decided to pull out something quick, cute, springy and meaningful.  (That's an awful lot to expect from a little design, don't you think?)
I pulled out and stitched up this  "Honey Bunny" project.  I've watched my hubby go into "daddy" mode during this scare with Ian.  (He even bought Ian his own ceramic wolf for his room - kinda makes me feel better about my epic wolf -stitching master disaster).  My sweetie has called me "honey bunny" for as long as I can remember and I can't think of anything better than stitching a piece that reminds me so much of him.
I loved this happy stitch and participating in the WIPocaplypse!

I "cherish" a quick-to-stitch that is so personal and puts a smile on my face!

*Sharon

Cyclops has a friend...

This is the "Call of the Wolf" design that I'm stitching for our son.  (Remember the "Dances with Wolves" movie?  I think our son's name should be "Addicted to Wolves".  LOL

Anyway, the last time I showed a progress pick, I jokingly started calling the wolf in the center, Cyclops, because all I could see as I stitched was his one eye looking at me.  Well, now Cyclops has a friend!  (The friend's name is "Friend of Cyclops".  Can you tell that I haven't been sleeping well lately????  :)
I keep looking over my shoulder for the guys with the butterfly nets and straight-jackets to show up and escort me to the "happy place"....  Between our son being sick....(he has an appointment with a pediatric neurosurgeon on Tuesday - YIKES!) and my mom and her increasing health and mental problems, it's been kinda "down in the dumps" days for me.

I "cherish" my stitching which comforts me.....

*Sharon

"Pink is my signature color"

Anyone else remember that line from the movie, "Steel Magnolia's"?  That kept coming into my head over and over as I stitched this piece.  Holy pepto-bismal, Batman!  :)

I did get brave and change out the recommended color of green but now, seeing the finish, I wish I would've had the courage to change the pinks to softer hues, as well.  It's just a little "too" pink for me.

My hubby said "Good luck finding an HOA that will approve those colors" and my son said that this looks like a Key West house.  Hmm....yup, should've toned down the pinks.  :)

At any rate, I'm looking forward to displaying this with my Valentine's display.

I "cherish" a quick stitch and a finish!!

*Sharon

There's a little snowman at our house

Okay, so he's made of fabric and floss and not the "real" white stuff, but I love him anyway!  :)  This is my first finish of 2012 and my first finish of the Country Cottage monthly cottage series.  I joined the cottage SAL group and am looking forward to seeing what each month is going to offer.  I'm stitching each of my cottages on individual pieces of fabric instead of one big piece.  I have the perfect spot picked out to display each month, one at a time.

I do want to give a shout out to Amy at Down Sunshine Lane.  (This isn't a paid endorsement.  I'm receiving no compensation for this, I'm just a very happy camper customer!)  With that said,  I wanted to make some changes in my automatic monthly shipment orders and Amy was extremely accommodating!  The shipping was very fast and I'm just tickled with her service.  :)

I've been taking some time to write down my dream "want-to-stitch" list.  I'll be posting it in the next little bit.  I have some really pretty stash and I'm looking forward to changing it from "stash" to "finished".  (LOL - remember, I said it was a "dream".  I'm not sure that the "finishing" column is ever going to be as long as I'd like it to be, but a girl can hope....    :)

I "cherish" having a finish AND having stash to paw through AND being able to dream about all the pretties that are possible!

*Sharon

Cherish

Last year around this time, I decided I needed a word to live by during 2011.  The word I came up with was "cherish".  I've been thinking a lot about what my word should be for 2012.  As hard as I tried (and used my Bible, my thesaurus, and a couple of visits to google), I couldn't come up with anything better than my much beloved word, "cherish".  So, I decided if it wasn't broke, I didn't need to duct-tape it!  :)
Having "cherish" as my focus word was fun in the good times, humbling in the bad times and encouraging in the awful times.  So, I'm going to stick with cherish...  I have so much to cherish in my life and it just fits me!
Stay tuned as I find new ways to "cherish" 2012!

I "cherish" a fresh beginning to a New Year that is filled with promise, possibility, love and adventure!

*Sharon