Relaxing and Celebrating in the Dominican

Hola family and friends! I have returned from the Dominican Republic feeling refreshed and recharged...so today I am going to interrupt the creativity posts with some favorite vacation photos. This trip had a special agenda - we were attending a wedding for one of my husband's best friends from high school. We were treated like royalty at the resort (Secrets Resort Cap Cana Resort & Spa) and had a lovely premium swim out suite with stylish Caribbean style décor. We sampled some wonderful foods, ate at most of the restaurants on the property and were spoiled by fresh tropical fruit daily! We spent quite a bit of time with friends (family) at the pool and the private beach and enjoyed fabulous meals and cocktails (and a wonderful coffee house!)...and also met some delightful people. The beach wedding was beautiful and the bride looked stunning. We also went on a private catamaran excursion with snorkeling at a coral reef and cocktail time/swimming at a sandbar. It was a fabulous trip - the islanders were warm and welcoming, the service was impeccable, the views were incredible and the food/drinks were tasty! This was our second trip to the DR and we would be happy to return...in fact, I could have stayed another week and enjoyed the pampering, sun, and sand...

Here is a selection of my favorite photos (as always, I took a gazillion images and narrowed it down to a grouping of favorites)...

Unfortunately, it's back to reality and business as usual in the studio (I'm already missing my toes in the sand and the resort pampering)...I'm busy working on some needlework finishing and project bags, along with model stitching/sewing and finishing up some new designs (hmmm - maybe I should work on one with a Caribbean theme). I have a fun Poppie Cotton Fabric Tour post scheduled for next week (think Halloween) and a new Therm O Web project tutorial that will be posted next Tuesday. Now that we are back, my website and Etsy shop are both open again...and I have responded to all correspondence, so if you contacted me while we were gone, you should have a message from me.

There will be more artistic things to share with you in the near future, so stop back soon!💙

Building a Life They Love

Greetings friends! It is a quiet Saturday afternoon and I needed a break from chores and a complicated work project, so I decided to stop by for a quick visit. I thought I would pop in and share the machine embroidered pillow I made my mother-in-law and her new husband as a wedding gift (and a few favorite wedding photos). 

It has been a while since I have made time to do some machine embroidery and it was a treat to pull out my embroidery arm and software. I was able to find a digitized design I liked on Etsy, but wanted to add the names of the bride and groom and the wedding date (which I digitized with my software).  This was a larger design and took some time to stitch out, but I was quite pleased with the end results. I created an envelope back pillow and used an 18" pillow form - I also padded and serged the inside of the pillow cover, so it could easily be laundered. It was a rewarding afternoon project! To add a chuckle to this story, when we left for the wedding, I actually forgot the wrapped gift on our dining room table and had to ship it to them after the fact...yep, I was so scattered, I forgot the wedding gift...once we realized it, we were to far from home to go back and get it....so USPS to the rescue.

It was a beautiful outdoor wedding and reception. My husband walked his mother down the aisle and his half-sister was the maid of honor. The bride's sister made her dress and the family did all the decorations. The wedding took place at a lovely farm in eastern Iowa and the happy couple were surrounded by family and friends. They served walking tacos for their reception dinner...and there were delicious cupcakes and soft serve ice cream for dessert. It was a very special day! We are thrilled to have new extended family and made lots of memories...

This past week, I have been busy working on custom client finishing and sewing orders and I'll be back to show some creative photos really soon...

I hope you are enjoying the weekend...make a little time to do something creative!

Wedding Weekend

What a wonderful weekend...my mother found true happiness again at age 68 and her wedding was on Saturday. Travis and I headed to Lake Summerset, Illinois for all the festivities and to meet our new extended family. After arriving at the lake on Friday afternoon, the celebration kicked off at GreenFire Restaurant Bar & Bakery in Rockford, IL where we had an AMAZING meal...this incredible American contemporary farm restaurant and marketplace prepares all their food in wood burning state-of-the-art brick fire ovens! - they have no microwaves, no grill tops, stoves or deep fryers on property....and they use high quality, fresh ingredients. Dinner took place in the "wine room" where we had open views of the kitchen and Travis and I had a chance to meet  the groom's family - he has three sons, all of which are married to wonderful women and have gorgeous children...and we quickly started learning names and enjoying the company and hospitality of his welcoming family. It was a lovely evening with warm conversation and incredible food...and the night just flew by! After dinner, we picked up the catering (done by the same restaurant) and the cake (which was my responsibility to get safely to their house)...and we stopped and picked up my mom's wedding gown (which a seamstress had been altering)...

Lake Summerset when we arrived....you'll understand this photo when you
get to the end of my post...

The Wine Room at Greenfire Market

The bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner...
I love this photo!

A selection on items in the bakery at Greenfire Market...
they also made the wedding cake...

Saturday, Travis and I took care of some final details for the bride and groom...taking fresh flowers (peonies, shipped from Europe) to the florist to have them made into a bridal bouquet, moving furniture for the reception, basic set-up of the reception catering, helping my mom into her gown, et cetera. Then on Saturday afternoon, we chauffeured the happy couple to the Church by the Side of the Road...a Wedding Chapel,  for the ceremony. It was a beautiful wedding and the bride and groom were giddy with happiness...no tears of joy, just huge smiles! It was a small, intimate family affair and everything was perfect. They had a professional photographer documenting every moment (and thank goodness, because the lighting wasn't the best, at least for my photos)...but I managed to snap a few with my smartphone worthy of sharing...

The Church by the Side of the Road...a Wedding Chapel before the ceremony...

The kiss...

The announcement of the happy couple...

Some of my new extended family...I managed to get a shot of all eight children together...
my mom is THRILLED to have eight grandchildren to love...

After the wedding, we headed back to their house at the lake for the reception. It was a true celebration and we had a great time...even with the snow starting to fall outside. The overjoyed newlyweds left for their honeymoon VERY early Sunday morning (a Caribbean cruise)...and Travis and I headed back to snowy, cold Iowa. Here is the last photo I snapped of the lake before we were on the road again...amazing how things can change in just a couple days....

Lake Summerset when we departed...

 I am finally back at home for awhile, and (hopefully) things should start to get back to normal...I have been at my desk playing catch-up for most of the day, but tomorrow will be filled with sewing, quilting, and stitching...as always, my to-do list is long and I feel very blessed to have custom work to do this holiday season. I'll be sharing new projects with you soon!