Intricate wreath makes it full circle

Susan Brown of Mercer Island created her friend's 50th birthday present one stitch at a time. She worked eight months on a needlepoint picture of a wreath. The wreath, called a Della Robbia, features pieces of fruit as decoration. Each piece of fruit was beaded and Brown wove minuscule metallic threads throughout the design.

"It was drop-dead gorgeous, the most beautiful thing I've ever made," said Brown, an experienced needlepointer. "I loved it so much I almost kept it."

She had the picture custom-framed and took the gift to a mailing service with time to spare to reach Merced, Calif., by September.

Brown called her friend, Melissa Martin, on her birthday. Martin said the gift had arrived and politely thanked her for the "goodie."

But Martin's daughter kept insisting that a mistake had been made and finally convinced Melissa to describe the gift to Brown. Instead of the handmade needlepoint, the box contained a ceramic rooster with the face of a dog.

"After I poured my life into the needlepoint picture, it was heartbreaking," Brown said.

Martin tried to reassure her and joked that the gift matched an ugly ceramic gargoyle she owned.

Brown called the mailing service. The folks apologized profusely and assured her that whoever expected the strange ceramic piece would probably call soon. She filed an insurance claim. In addition to her labor, she spent $200 for framing and put several hundred dollars into the canvas, beads, yarn and thread. She started a second version of the picture.

Finally, in March, a woman in New York called the mailing service. She had just unpacked a box that should have contained her family heirloom — a ceramic rooster with a dog head — and found a needlepoint picture. The woman had moved to New York last summer. She had slowly been unpacking. To ensure the safety of the ceramic, she had the mailing service ship it to her new address.

The needlepoint picture now hangs in Merced and the rooster roosts in New York.

All in the family

The Lutzenhiser family keeps things afloat at Bellevue Opera. Consider Sunday's 2 p.m. production of "La Cenerentola," or "Cinderella," at Sammamish High School Performing Arts Center.

Stuart Lutzenhiser is the opera company's managing director and his brother, Trevor Lutzenhiser, is the orchestra manager. Both young men graduated from Sammamish High School. Stuart sings opera (not in this show) and Trevor is a principal violinist with the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra.

Their father, Glenn Lutzenhiser, is the opera's artistic director and their mother, Miep, is president of the board.

By the way, this show will change opera haters into fans. Sung in English, the comic production includes everything but the fairy godmother. (A capable young woman, this "La Cenerentola" needs no magic to create a happy ending.)

One last grin

The sun was shining, the sky was blue and drivers on Northeast Eighth Street in Bellevue were being courteous. Indeed, the license plate on the sports car seemed to celebrate the feeling of spring in the air. It read: LIFISGD.

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633.