~ June News ~

Happy Stamping to all of my stamping friends...I have begun to branch out from exclusively creating cards to...drumroll please...a mini scrapbook, yes that is right...I finally did it!!! And I really enjoyed doing it too.

Also, I madea note card stamp set with a tote to match. I will post these items at a later date.

Today my sister Angela and I celebrate our purchase of a vacation home in the beautiful city of Prescott, Arizona. I have forever loved Prescott fromt the first time I visited there when I moved to Phoenix just over sixteen years ago. Every time I would visit Prescott, I would glance at the swiss chalets as I drove into town. The home that my sister and I purchased is a much more than anticipated dream. We both are looking forward to making many special memories in the not too distant future when our families will be gathering up in the cool hills and valleys of one of Arizona's most picturesque cities. More news to follow in future postings.

Other than that, all is well...My DH and I will be vacationing towards the end of this month in beautiful Telluride, CO where the Wine Festival will be taking place. This will be our third year of escaping the desert degrees of dire temperatures to the cool mile high pine topped mountains of Telluride to savor foods and wines from around the world.

TTFN ~ Linda

~ Happy May ~

This month is my favorite month of the year. It began with my attending a "Rush" concert with my oldest son Artie. We had a great time! The music was awesome too. One would never know that the band was in their late 50's. They all put on a spectaular performance. The drummer went for nearly 30 minutes solo and the guitarists, I have not heard anything worth listening to on the radio lately, but this group and the whole experience was great!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. It will be the first time that I am not able to celebrate with my dear mom, call her up and send her a card. I am very sad about that. However, something wonderful is happening...my little sister, Angela and I are becoming closer...I am very excited about this! We are buying a vacation home in Prescott, AZ.

Also, I am going to take on the title of "Grandma" sometime in late August of this year. My son Artie and his wife Angie are having twin girls!! I am very excited about having two little granddaughters to spoil with girly, girl things.

As for paper crafting, card making, I have been busy in that area also. Made some cards utilizing the crayon resist technique. Today I created some cute "Cupcake" cards, just for fun.

So, you see, life has its' ups and downs, it is all good.
All for now...

~ Linda ~

~ Happy New Year ~

Hello to all of my fellow stamping/card crafting friends out there!

This will most surely be the year of all years, I can just tell by all of the excitement that has crossed over into the New Year.

There are many, many new projects to work on so far for my Splitcoaststamper Divine Secret Sister Group, my Dine n Swap Group, an online community: Stephaniessecretsisters and so much more...classes, crops and shopping.

My Chateau de Papier studio is pretty much settle for now, we will see how long that lasts, as new ideas come forth, I purchase new stamps, paper and other toys.

Got to go now and work on some cards for birthdays, swaps and special occasions...who knows...one of you may be my next RAK :)

Take care,

Linda

~ Merry Christmas ~

This has been a very different Christmas season this year. My little sister Angela and I have become much closer as a result of our dear mother's passing a few months ago. I have inherited some of my mom's precious jewelry items and I wear the occasionally to have her close to me. In order to heal from the grief that all this has brought up, I created about 60 Christmas Cards this year. One of them is posted next to or near this blurb.

Last night, I attended my Dine n Swap group's Christmas Party. It was awesome! Everyone was so giving and friendly. We exchanged some wonderful gifts and cards and chatted away in between dinner, bites of chocolate, dessert, and coffee all coordinated by our gracious moderator Renee Nowell of Tempe, AZ.

For next year, I decided to stay with the group and also joined the Secret Sister monthly exchange. I also look forward to learning new techniques, making new friends and simply enjoying our get togethers and sharing new ideas and whatever else comes to pass.

My DH and I will be hosting a Christmas Dinner for about twelve people. We will be serving a roast leg of lamb, several side dishes to accompany and of course, dessert...my DH plans to make Chocolate Eclairs from scratch. Sure wish that you could all be here with us :) Maybe next year.

~ Time to Give Thanks ~

With Thanksgiving being a few days away, I thought to check-in with my blog and post a short update.

These past four months since my dear mother has made her transition have been a whirlwind of emotions, probably why I have not posted regularly. I am grateful that I have not fallen into a deep depression, my life overall is very good. I am thankful to have a wonderful husband, two healthy young men as my sons, and friends far and near that I keep in contact with regularly.

Lately I have been re-organizing my Chateau de Papier (Paper Studio) which has helped me to cope quite well emotionally with my feelings. My DH put together a beautiful stamp cabinet in which I have neatly organized all of my loose rubber and clear stamps. Bookshelves were moved around in order to incorporate a shabby chic daybed for my little sister Angela's visit next February. She, my nephew Thomas and her significant other are planning to purchase a vacation condominium in Prescott sometime next year. That is something that I am very excitedly looking forward to. I made a trip up there a few weeks ago to scope out some properties that she and her realtor had planned for me to look at. The trees were turning and it was 20 degrees cooler there than here in Phoenix.

And, so to speak of Thanksgiving...my DH and I have been graciously invited to a mutual couples' home for the day's festivities and will bring along a wonderful Black Forest Trifle that my DH will make from scratch.

As for the weekend, we might do some shopping locally in anticipation of the forthcoming Christmas holidays. I look forward to decorating our Christmas tree, which will probably go up around the second week of December. Although I do not over-do the rest of the house, I am still mesmerized by the beauty, lights and decorations, along with all of the memories that a Christmas tree holds.

Drop me a note to let me know how you are doing this time of year. Perhaps if you live in town, we can meet for a cup of tea at one of the Tea Houses in Glendale to share our love of rubberstamping, card making or simply sit and chat.

~ Peace ~

It has been a while...

...since I last posted on my blog. My life has changed dramatically.

In July I received a frantic phone call from my sister in New York telling me to come asap, hat our mother was in the hospital with pneumonia and was undergoing some tests to determine the underlying cause of her condition. I made an airline reservation that evening, flew out the next day, got there and my life will never be the same without my mom. She passed away, peacefully and painlessly with my sister, brother and myself taking turns to make sure that she would not be alone when her time came. She went in her sleep.

It has been almost two months now and I still can not believe that the woman whom I shared so much of my life with for the 51+ years that I am alive is not longer available to call and tell her how much I love her.

My faith in God is steadfast and still I am feeling the loss so deeply. This is something that I have no idea how to handle, only to do what I love as much as possible...which, of course, is to stamp and create cards and send them out to people that I care about and others through the RAK group at Splitcoaststampers.com.

All of my close friends have been very supportive at this particular time in my life. I have received nearly a hundred cards from friends, relatives and fellow card crafters.

What else can I say? Life goes on...

The most recent card that I created was from a Stampin Up set Summer by the Sea. I reminded me of when I was little and our family would go to the beach for the day and picnic, swim in the ocean and have fun.
Those are wonderful memories that I have from my childhood growing up in New York with the best parents anyone could ever want to have...both of them gone now...forever...together...again...in Heaven.