best wishes to beth & aaron...

...the purple writing

on the envelope

was a tiny preview...

.

of what i found inside

amazing detail

by a talented graphic artist

a friend of the bride
the small letters caught my attention
along with the colors

.

they raised my expectation

for the flowers

and they did not disappoint
oh the purple beauty

it was grand

.

the minute cathy walked

through the doors

her beauty

her smile, her warm personality

her lovely lavendar dress

illuminated the room

a gorgeous mother-of-the-bride

her dignity and strength

did not go unnoticed

a shining example

for the rest of us

.

debbie, kim and cathy

we are so blessed to have

on our team

john and i are so grateful

for their hard work

dedication

and friendship

.

best wishes to the adorable couple

may their lives be blessed

with happiness and

love

a precious purple princess...

the past few weeks

have been a little

hard on my soul...

.

and then i saw this beauty

and my heart just melted

is she not the sweetest

meet kaitlyn

in all her purple prettiness

. i just want to scoop her up

she is so precious

she was born almost twenty years

to the day of our sweet sarah

i have been following

her blog

for a while now

takes me back to those

early days

with fond memories

kristen's light will always shine...

life's lessons surround us

some are crystal clear

others not so much...

.

several months ago

when my daughter sarah

first showed interest in sewing

i searched for an appropriate

item to start her on

i was lead to a website

called

the one million pillowcase challenge

the concept was simple

to make pillowcases
for others to enjoy

while they slept in hospitals or shelters

sarah immediately jumped on the idea

and set out to make a pillowcase

for her blogging friend

kristen was in the midst of treatment

of her fourth battle with leukemia

sarah learned to sew

kristen enjoyed her pillowcases

then the unthinkable happened

just this past week

kristen 's battle was over

her body set free of the pain

that morning i received an email

so did polly

it was from juliet at etsy

they wanted to use the story

on their worldwide

website

i deferred to the kirton's

not sure how they would feel

having just lost their precious daughter

polly had already responded

she gave her permission

the entry posted

as of today there are

92 comments

from readers who have no connection

to down syndrome

they are seeing two beautiful women

kristen's light continuing to shine

to make the world a better place

to read the entry click here

be sure to scroll down to read the comments

i am humbled beyond words

that i was permitted to

be a part of this life lesson

the love of a family...

my heart is in

draper, utah

this morning...

.

where a dear mother

must say her

earthly goodbyes

to her precious daughter

a beautiful young woman

who taught us all

so very much

about life and living

strength and dignity
courage and hope

.

where a dear father

is letting go

of his princess

for a time
until they meet again

.

where a selfless brother

gave of his own bone marrow

to try to help his sister

beat this nasty awful disease

called cancer

.

where two sisters

readily agreed to hasten

their wedding plans

so their sister

might attend

it's not often

that a family

so genuinely cares

so openly shares

so we might all

learn

from their example

of faith and trust

please lift up the kirton's

in your prayers

as their angel

is now also

our angel

bless you dear family

at it again...

this is such

a new me...

.

i'm tree lawn picking

again

another adorable table

it's the perfect legs

i notice first

just waiting for it's next life

i promise it will be

a good one

not exactly notions...

i spotted

this pile

as i was leaving...

.

our store today

it belongs to the painter

at first glance

seemed to be a mess

over in the corner

upon closer inspection

i realize it

is a neat pile

of miscellaneous treasure

each item needed

for some specific task

to complete

the job

not exactly notions

yet

just like my sewing room

a collection of stuff

to have just the perfect tool

at just the right time

a package full of inspiration...

i've been receiving

a lot of packages

lately...

.

fabric, trims and patterns

supplies, racks and mannequins

and they have all been

exciting to open

today i had a very special delivery

the minute i saw

the return address i knew
what it was

i don't think there

has ever been

a story

that has touched me more

than

the life of the nielsons

it's a modern day love story

better than

romeo and juliet

but it is so much more

it's a story full of inspiration

dogged determination

motherly love

four adorable children

an extended family

dedicated beyond measure

and faith

incredible unwavering faith

in my pursuit for

bettering myself

i want to know more

i'm curious about that faith

it seems to nurture families

in a special way

not to say i will become mormon

but it never hurts to increase your

understanding of others

i will always treasure this gift

for the incredible strength

it represents

of an incredible woman

and her family

thank you stephanie nielson

fabulous fandango...

it used to be

i was elated

when a box...

.

...arrived

with one charm pack

one jelly roll

and maybe a layer cake too

now

i am loudly screaming

and jumping for joy

as a box full of

fandango

arrives on my doorstep

4 jelly rolls

4 layer cakes

and 24 charm packs

why so many

oh that is a little secret

but it involves

door prizes

during grand opening week

check over here for more details

coffee, tea, or...

i have a

super hard

working crew...

.

over at the site

of our new fabric store

we had a little party

to celebrate a birthday

for one of the painters

i thought it would be nice

to offer up some drinks

coffee, tea, or no not me

just water

the thing is

i feel like i need

to be wrapped in plastic

when i go in there

if only i could photoshop

my body

in real life

close to home...

what is with

my horoscope lately...

.

i do love taking photos

and movies

creating scrapbooks

making media videos

all my photos are organized

in albums

by date

i save all my cd cards

and have them labeled by date too

i've been sharing them on sarah's blog

and recently made a 25 year

memory album for a cousin

but how did the horoscope writer know that...

the shirt...

i'm not

much of a

sports gal...

.

but the entire country

was about to witness

the decision

being from cleveland

it seemed

like the right thing to do

so i sat down at 9 o clock

and tuned into espn

the announcement didn't take long

lebron was heading for the heat

and while my city collapsed

in many different forms of anguish

i just kept staring at

the shirt

the man chose a

purple gingham plaid shirt

to wear

on

national

television

to dis his homeland

tiny purple checks

purple

i wonder if he called gloria on that one

better than candy...

in my

christmas

stocking

.

12 days of christmas

i adore this collection

such the perfect blend

of holiday fun

and colorful whimsy

along with

subtle sophistication

and

contemporary flair

a combination

so pleasing for my new projects

hot, hot, hot...

'twas a lazy

hazy day

in Cleveland

.

the kind of day

to just lay by the pool

drink lemonade

while reading a good book

instead

i was running around

meeting city building inspectors

insurance agents

painters

bankers and such

then came dinner with my

friend lisa

always love spending time with her

she's so full of life

kind hearted

thoughtful and caring

perfect ending to a busy hot day

raiding treelawns...

i've never been

a

treasure seeker...

.

you know

someone who lurks

around scoping treelawns

on garbage nights

to find treasure

amongst someone else's

junk

thursday night i made a late night run

to the grocery store

and when i came home

i spotted this

cute little table

in a neighbor's

treelawn

with their garbage

so i called my son on his cell phone

and whispered

so no one would hear

meet me at the end of the cul-de-sac

for a secret mission

then we

quickly snuck it into our garage

for safe keeping...

sensational sharpies...

i've been

recycling

my empty...

.

ink cartridges at staples

today i received

a voucher for $20.00

i already picked out what i wanted

oh how i love to design

with

sharpie markers

the texture, the fat point, the smell

ohhhhh...

i feel so lucky

i've never had 24 colors before

thank you mr. 934521

i looove

this

machine

.

i know what you're thinking

how can you love

a

washing machine

well

i've had several

over the years

this is the only one

with a true

hand wash cycle

that doesn't shred my fabric

but all of a sudden

it was screaming for attention

i've never heard such sounds

and then the spinner died
not to worry

mr. 934521 was here

she's humming peacefully again