A Work in Progress.

So, my Mother's Day gift is REALLY late. I kept thinking I was going to cross-stitch something to go with a few items I'd picked up, but it didn't happen. I thought about having a Claudine Hellmuth done of my mom, but the custom canvas pieces are too pricey for me right now. Then, I realized, I could totally do something similar myself! So, this is about halfway through . . . I still have a bit of detail and a beeswax coating to put on it.

To explain, my mom's name is Shine. And, she's a very positive person--never hateful, always optimistic, always expecting people to do the right thing. So, over the years, my dad and brother and I have taken to saying she "lives in Shinesville," meaning it in the same way that someone would say another person "sees the world through rose-colored glasses." So, I thought that she might like a little artwork that has her holding a banner that reads "Welcome to Shinesville" to hang in her new home office.* The photo of her head comes from a photo from 1965 or 1966, when she was in beauty school.*

I love her, and I think this is going to be very cute when it's done! Hopefully, my beeswax will be melted by morning, and I'll then be able to start sealing it up. I want to be able to take it with me when I leave town on the 18th. Late Mother's Day presents have to suck . . . so I'm hoping she'll forgive me a little bit.

*She went on to become a nurse, then a case manager, and now she works for an insurance company as a hospital liaison. She'll start working from home in late July . . . a perk of her job.