There Was Only One Done

Only one cross-stitch was completed last year, although I did start another which will be the subject of an upcoming post. The guy who maintains my World of Warcraft guild's web site married his long-time girlfriend on a hot June evening. I started the project in January on DMC's "Stardust" cross-stitch fabric. (To long-time readers, some of these photos will be familiar.)

I love this fabric. Glitter is embedded in the fabric so, with the right pattern, it adds a sparkle.

Over the next few months, I worked one week on the cross-stitch and one week reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. (I'm half-way through, which is going to be the subject of several upcoming posts.)

I knew exactly what I was going to do for them.

They needed a hand-made wedding sampler.

I had the pattern.

In fact, I'd made this pattern before.

I had to rip out the dark circle because I miscounted. Ripping out leaves such a bad taste in your mouth. You feel so inadequate. "I can't count!"

By day 10 of stitching, and, mind you, I don't stitch every day, even when I block off the time, the image was done and it was time to plan the writing.

I was doing really well, because this HAD to be at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts to be framed, by Mother's Day. That would give them a good month to get it done.

The wedding was at the end of June and, if I didn't like the finished result, there was time to make it right.

This is the unwashed and unframed but finished piece.

Yes, this is the same motto I made for Carole and Larry when they were married in March of 2015. For them, I gave them the washed and blocked, but unframed piece because they were going to be moving and they could then frame it to match their decor. I did their piece on black cloth, with white lettering. They have it framed in cream and, when you come in the front door, it's above the credenza where it's one of the first things you see when you walk in. The frame is almost the same color as the walls so the effect is one of seeing only the sampler and not the frame. It really came out well.

James is a huge Star Wars fan; Jill, not so much. I knew James when he was merely interested in this gal named "Jill". So, I really made the sampler more for him than her, but she's a crafter and I knew she would appreciate the time put into the creation of something unique for them.

I've said it before and I'll reiterate it. Debbie at Jo-Ann Fabrics in Bloomingdale is wonderful. She came up with the idea to double mat the piece.

That's a dark gray with a silver "marble-ize" mat under a black frame. I knew I wanted the black frame but wasn't sure about the other pieces. Here's how it turned out.

I get stuff framed and it looks so good, I almost don't want to give it away.

The pattern has been retired, officially. I tossed it in the recycling container. I'm not making this again for anyone. You can find it on Pinterest. I don't know that my not making it again gives the two pieces any additional value. I don't have a cult following and I don't cross-stitch all the time, as some crafters do. I just decided, for my son-in-law and James, who both love Star Wars, this was the perfect gift to commemorate their marriages.

Working every other week, alternating with reading a book, worked very well. I'm back to doing that with my next cross-stitch piece which does not have a wedding attached to it, which is good because I'm kind of meandering about finishing it.

Beverage: La Croix Berry Seltzer

Deb

An Overload of Squee

WARNING! Cuteness alert.

We could, perhaps, file this under "Don't go to the pet store when there's an adoption event going on." That's, maybe, good advice because you never know what you'll bring home, in addition to the Frontline Flea and Tick repellent which was the real reason you went to the pet store in the first place.

Aren't they adorable? Meet Jaina and Jacen. No no. They aren't living with me. Carole and Larry adopted them.

They are not from the same litter but had been fostered together so it was asked if they could be kept together. Carole said there were a number of black kittens and cats. People were cooing over them, but no one seemed to be adopting.

Larry has never been around kittens. All the cats he's ever known have been adults. Other than Tobey, all the cats Carole has known, we had from when they were a year or less old.

There were some anxious moments. How would Faux and Tobey react? There was some hissing, but things have gone remarkably well.

I read where adding kittens to a household of adult cats is better than trying to integrate adult cats into established adult cat homes. That should not deter anyone from adopting if they already have an adult cat. I've often wondered if my girls would like a kitten. An adult cat would be problematic. Pilchard pees outside the box enough as it is. Any stress, anything she doesn't like and she registers it by peeing outside the box. I think the addition of a kitten, while maybe a good idea eventually, would cause her to pee other places outside of the box and I don't want to deal with that.

Carole and Larry got a cat tree.

That's not so much a tree as an apartment building. There are so many levels and places for everyone to lie down and not be in each other's space. Notice Faux on the floor to the lower left. "Meh. I'll not have anything to do with this."

Yeah, about that.

They have the room to provide a good home to more cats. Would that I was closer. There is something energizing about kittens. And, in case you're wondering, the names are Han Solo and Princess Leia's children's names.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Want a Little Star Wars?

I missed the point, I think, of Force Friday on September 4th. It seems a lot of Star Wars merchandise was released to the public. Other than obtaining for gifts, the whole hype of the day was lost on me. I did have to go back to JoAnn to pick up some supplies for the shirts and what I saw interests me. Look at the fabric.

The above and below is cotton material.

If you'd like something else, they had fleece in all sorts of prints.

Camelot Fabrics, whose link to their blog you can find to the right, is the designer of all of this.

In my mind's eye, as I perused the bolts, I could see pjs and robes and curtains and quilts and shirts, lots and lots of shirts.

No, I did not come home with a bunch of fabric. I have way more than I can use at any given time, but the sheer amount of Star Wars-themed fabric set my heart aflutter with possibilities. I'm sensing there will be a lot of Star Wars clothing coming at Christmas.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Not Yet at Full Hype

In case you live somewhere that has no access to mass market goods, but has Internet, since you're reading this post, I present the latest in mass market hype for the upcoming Star Wars movie.

Yoda and Darth Vader grace the cover of boxes of what amounts to Lucky Charms, just redone with Star Wars marshmallows. Larry had a Yoda box.

The movie comes out in December. In February, there will be two more limited edition boxes released, according to the General Mills web site. My beloved Cheerios has limited edition posters contained in the boxes.

I haven't seen this on my store shelf, but I haven't been looking. In cleaning the basement, I stumbled upon the Star Wars calendar I got in 1978. Back then, calendars involving movies were rare. Star Wars ushered in the merchandising phenomenon we take for granted today. I gave the calendar to Larry. In the grand scheme of eBay merchandise, it's probably worth more than an unopened box of Yoda cereal will be.

I've always felt that the "goodness" of a movie is in direct proportion to how much pre-release hype it gets. There is a current movie, "Pixels", which looked good in the one trailer I saw, but which has been critically panned. There's not been much hype. Maybe the studio realized it was a stinker and so they released it just to get it off their shelves. It flies in the face of my theory.

With all this pre-release merchandising, I'm worried about the Star Wars movie. I want it to be good, but if there's cereal already out, are they trying to make back the cost of the movie by shilling foodstuffs? Is than an omen?

I didn't try this. I'm not a Lucky Charms fan. In the grand scheme of making money, product merchandising is where it's at. We aren't at full capacity yet, either, on the Star Wars hype. By the time December rolls around, I may be so tired of Yoda's face everywhere that I won't want to go see the movie.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

There Was a Wedding - Part 8 - The Reception

While the formal act of becoming Mr and Mrs is important, let's be honest. The real reason we have a wedding is to party. We dress up, many of us in clothing we'll never wear again. We eat. We drink. We laugh. We dance. We don't look down on someone on the dance floor because they are celebrating. When we look back on a wedding, we don't remember the first sight of the bride walking down the aisle, or the vows the couple may have written themselves. We remember the food and who was sitting at our table. We remember the DJ and the line dance. The reception is what we remember.

After being dismissed from photos, mom and I came back inside to find our tables. Star Wars featured prominently here.

Everyone received a shot glass with "Larry and CJ, 3-21-15" on it. On the top of the box was your name and your table.

Perhaps someone can clarify something for me. At what point did it become necessary to give guests something to take home with them, beyond memories, full stomachs and the program from the ceremony? When I married, back in the dark ages, the idea that guests got anything other than sincere thanks for showing up was preposterous. Now, it seems that if guests don't have something to take home, they are offended. It's an added cost to the couple. I just wonder when things shifted. I will treasure the shot glass forever, but I wonder how many were left on the table.

I got mom situated and went to find my guild mates from World of Warcraft.

Doo, Jon and Becky have been friends with me since 2009. Jon and Becky have hosted the last two guild meet-ups when I come east to see Carole and Doo has come to both of them. Larry had friends from his World of Warcraft guild in attendance, too. We did not know who they were until photos were posted. We could have joined forces to have an epic "raid" of the dance floor, or something, during the reception.

We were lined up, once the photos were done, and then introduced. We had to walk diagonally across the dance floor, which occupied the place where the ceremony had been held. I went first.

Funny story:  when I was wandering about the assembly, saying "hello" to the friends of Carole's who had made it out for the wedding, I was stopped by a lady who mentioned how wonderful it was to meet me. I had no idea who this woman was. She called me by a name which, when repeated to Larry, was that of a friend of his family. I realized she had mistaken me for someone else so I just patted her hand and said we'd chat later. She should come to my table. Then I had to go get in line for the introductions.

I''m sure when I was introduced as "Deb Montague, mother of the bride", she realized I was not the person she thought I was. I never saw her again.

Carole's father and his wife were introduced. Larry's parents came next followed by the attendants. Then came "the new Mr and Mrs Larry Kevin Oliver, Jr".

They entered to the triumphant march at the end of the very first Star Wars movie, where Luke, Han and Chewie get their medals. Again, people cheered their approval.

Sandy's fiancee, Jerry, on the left above, gave a heart-felt blessing and we were allowed to eat. I didn't take photos of the food. I probably should have. It was amazing. There was a spinach salad, rice, rolls, asparagus, salmon and thin sliced roast beef. The best part was the mashed potato bar.

You could get regular or sweet potato mash and there were 8 different toppings to put on your potatoes. When Carole was telling me of the menu, she kept coming back to "and they have a mashed potato bar, mom". Yes, this was a highlight of an already great menu.

Once most people had finished eating, it was time for the first dance.

They danced to "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran. This song seemed to exemplify their relationship. In the previous event, there was a small battle over the first dance song. The compromise was "At Last" by Etta James. It's not a bad first dance song, but Carole said she regretted that they couldn't agree on one song that meant something to each of them; that they had to 'settle' for a song they could agree on. This was never an issue with Larry. Active in the planning of the wedding and not leaving every decision to Carole only to pick it apart later, he enthusiastically embraced this song. It talks about finding someone in the most improbable of circumstances, how love shows up "right where we are". Like the dress and the venue and the weather, it was just another bit of perfection in an otherwise perfect day.

There was quite a bit of dancing including a line dance. I watched this done at the previous event. It includes the line, "How low can you go?"

No. I did not participate in this.

Half-way through the dancing, it was time to cut the cake.

It was an amazing cake.

I think that's ganache with fondant shaped into Star Wars ships. Carole said when they went to the bakery for their tasting, they took along some photos of Star Wars cakes they had seen on the internet. They described what they wanted and one of the bakers sketched as they talked. The first design is what they liked best.

Each layer was different.

The piece I got had raspberry filling. The big bottom layer was Boston Creme Pie.

I forget the name of the bakery. I asked if they set aside the top layer, as is custom. Carole laughed. "Nope. It was eaten. The bakery gave us a coupon to come back in for our first anniversary to get a small cake. Their reason is 'who wants to eat a cake that's been frozen for a year'?" Yeah, that's a sound reason.

Once the cake was cut, it was back to the dance floor.  Toward the end of the evening, the DJ cranked up "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. Well, that's quite the unconventional music for a dance, but we were urged to come out on the dance floor and sing along. We made a "U" shape and the DJ handed the microphone to Carole. She sang a couple of lines and passed it to Larry.

Everyone took their turn singing one or two lines of this well-known rock anthem.  In the middle, there is a Brian May guitar solo. That was Larry's cue.

He and usher Jeff engaged in an epic air guitar "battle". We declared it a tie, which was the honorable thing to do.

After this, people started to go home. The event was winding down. One of the last group things we did before it was time to pack everything up was to make a big circle and sing Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline".

We even got my mom out there. I don't remember if she sang along, but that wasn't really the point. The point was that we were all together, arm-in-arm, singing loudly and celebrating Carole and Larry's marriage.

After this, there were a couple more songs and we began to clean up the hall. There were "Goodbyes" and hugs and a few final quick photos.

Wedding gifts went one way. Mom and I took some of the things which needed to be returned to the florist as well as quite a few things from the dressing room and Carole's flowers. Then we headed back to the house for a well deserved night's sleep.

Funny story:  The top candle in the big center glass at our table was not lit when we sat down. This bothered Becky so much, she fished it out of the container, lit it by holding it over one of the side candles and dropped it back into the water. I have to admit, having that candle lighted did add to the decoration on the table.

It had been a wonderful day.

Beverage:  Ginger Ale

Deb

There Was a Wedding - Part 6 - Photographs on the Lawn

Remember the snow? Remember the sloppy slush we drove through on the way to signing the papers to buy a house? Remember the coats and scarves of a Friday evening's rehearsal? Remember how we all talked around the weather, as if acknowledging the cold and the wind and the rain would, somehow, keep it through the next day?

The country club has a gazebo a short distance from the front door. It's perfect for photos. This is what we had on Saturday, March 21st at 5:30 p.m, the first full day of spring.

It was 70 degrees, clear blue skies and a very light breeze. We could not have asked for a better evening. The only issue was the sun.

They had one of the ushers, the gentleman who walked me in, who is quite tall, hold his coat up off to the right in order to keep the sun out of people's eyes. You can see him off to the right here.

Larry's attendants were Matt and a guy whose name I have forgotten, who were high school friends. His groomsman was Chad. The two have known each other since kindergarten. Carole's attendants were Phil, a high school friend; Sandy, Larry's sister, and Andrea, Chad's wife. Chad and Andrea live next door to Larry's parents, to complete the connection. I have to say that the stability of friendship is something that wasn't apparent in the first wedding. The groomsmen, at that time, were friends of Carole, rather than lifelong friends of the groom. That says something.

Here are both families. To the left is Carole's dad and his wife. To the right are Larry's parents and, on the far right, Sandy's fiancee.

It wouldn't be a Star Wars wedding without light sabers. First with the groomsmen and ushers,

and then with Carole and Phil.

If you look at the photo of Chad and Larry dueling, you can see Larry is the shortest of his friends, and the ushers, who were also long-time friends of Larry's.

Beverage:  Fruit Juice

Deb