While visiting my parents last weekend I was absolutely floored to receive this amazing gift from my aunt (zia in Italian) Maria. Maria is, as you can see, an incredible cross stitch-er and took an incredible amount of time to complete this. Look at that tree and grass – it’s all stitched on!
My 2 Zia’s were really important in my growing years. It is because of Maria that I developed a love of craft. I remember taking a long bus ride with her into Vancouver to the craft store. I would spend hours going through each and every section – my mind excited by all the possibilities. My craft de jour when I was 10 was taking straw hats and decorating them with fake flowers and lace. Really. It was very Anne of Green Gables. I remember sleepovers at her house – fingers burnt from the glue gun and afternoons yaking and creating. Lol, it’s still my favorite thing to do. My other Zia – Lucy – was also had a big part in shaping me. She taught me to rely on myself and that I can do anything. She works for CBC (Canadian Broadcasting) and would often take me into her office on weekends so that I could play around on the computers while she typed. Lucy also took me to the VSO (Orchestra) when I was young which gave me a love of music. And, I can’t forget my Zio Donato – from him I got my ‘business’ mind. I remember him always having an idea – he’s a true entrepreneur.
It’s really neat being a grown up and seeing why certain parts of you are the way they are. How people have influenced you whether they know it or not. It makes me think about how my boys are going to grow up and what influences are going to help shape them.
So- on the dolls – I’m not to sure what is going to happen this week as far as dolls available. Both (!) my sewing machines are behaving very badly. You know its bad when you are looking at the manual to see what may be wrong. The Janome is almost 20 years old and my BabyLoc was never meant to be used this much. Sigh – I may have to look at getting another machine. Where I’m at it’s not a case of getting an ‘okay’ machine – I really should get a heavy duty one. Lol, I just wish they didn’t come with such a heavy duty pricetag. Ouch.
Have a great rest of the weekend. We are going to a Lantern Festival tomorrow evening – something I’m looking forward to the kids experiencing. I’ll let you know how it goes!
xo,
c
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