Happy Father's Day....

... to all the wonderful dads out there!

(me and my dad, when I was about 6 months old)

Family time.

I'm so excited that in a couple weeks we'll be getting the family together for a reunion (on my maternal grandfather's side of the family). For quite some time we had reunions every few years, but it's been ages since we were all together and I'm really looking forward to it.

When I was growing up, my grandfather's family was centered around the family farm, which was about a mile from my home. I have early memories of playing at the farm, cows, and driving into the corn fields to pick sacks of fresh corn for our dinner. The farm is no longer there, but the family and memories are strong.

Like all families, ours has gone through a lot of changes in the last several years, new additions will help to make the day joyous, and remembering those we've lost will make it bittersweet. I do know we will have loads of fun, water balloons, delicious food and much valued time together.

I love: Mittens...

... especially beautiful hand knit mittens! My grandmother knit mittens for me (and all the other kids in the family) every year when I was a growing up, always with a little pattern on them, and always with the long string that you would thread through the sleeves of your jacket, so you'd never lose one of the prized mittens!

Although these days gloves seem so much more practical than mittens, I do still find mittens so charming - they remind me fondly of my childhood and the joys of snow days, sledding, and snowmen.

Me, my little brother John, and cousin Sarah in the snow.

Do you love mittens too? Well, here's your chance to win an amazing pair of mittens from the Vancouver Olympics, from the lovely and talented Fiona of Cartolina and Cafe Cartolina.

(Thanks for a great giveaway, Fiona... and I really, really hope I win!)

Happy 4th of July!

Flags are being flown, familes and friends gathering, barbecues being prepared, and patriotic marches are booming along parade routes and in back yards (hmm, wonder where my CD of Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops playing patriotic tunes is?), and fireworks will fill the night. So many wonderful traditions!

It's a lovely day here in New England (ok, not the best, but after so many filled with clouds and rain, it's pretty darn good!) - the perfect day to celebrate our independence!

Happy 4th of July, friends!

Remembering...

Memorial Day, a day for remembering those who serve and have served our county. I think of my dad, uncles, friends and family, as well as those I've never known, who proudly protect our country.

My family always celebrated Memorial Day with a short walk up the street to view the town parade which featured our police, volunteer fire fighters, boy and girl scouts, some town officials, the high school marching band, and the drum corps (blink and you'll miss it!). There were always friends and family marching, and we were thrilled to get a wave out of them, as if they were celebrities.

After the parade, we had a little breakfast in the back yard for family and friends, and later in the day, a traditional barbecue, complete with lots of flags, red white and blue tablecloths, and hot dogs. It was the start of the summer season, the first of many summer back yard celebrations, and always a glorious day!

Hope you take some time today to remember, and enjoy your family traditions (or make new ones!) and celebrate the day.

Happy Easter!

Every year my family celebrates Easter at my Aunt Snooker's house in Connecticut - it's always a wonderful gathering of family and friends, filled with lovely Easter traditions and treats.

My contribution to the day is always dessert, and this year I made these luscious lemon cheesecake squares that I found in a Martha Stewart Everyday Food newsletter a few weeks ago. I'm a serious lemon dessert lover, and cheesecake - well it doesn't get any better for me! Of course, since it was a first time with this recipe, I had to have a little taste test last night, just to make sure they're good enough for the family...oh, and I think they are!

I hope you have a wonderful Easter, or just a very happy Sunday, for those of you who aren't celebrating Easter!

Just a few days left....

... to get everything done for Christmas!

Over the next few days I'll be doing a little shopping, a little wrapping, a little cooking, oh, and yes, a little Christmas carol humming..... and am looking forward to every minute of it.

My family has a big festive get-together on Christmas Eve, this year at my Uncle Pete and Aunt Linda's house. We all bring appetizers and desserts, my aunt Linda makes a big pot of soup and we gather to celebrate. We also exchange our family secret Santa gifts... a tradition that we've enjoyed for, oh, maybe 20 years now. We all really love to be together, and good food, a little wine, and a gag gift or two make it all the more joyful! And if we get through the entire night without setting off the smoke alarm, it's even better!

On Christmas day, I have dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's house. My brother never fails to treat us to an amazing feast, which we enjoy with my sister-in-law's family, and some of my family, and occasionally a friend or two. It's a bit quieter than our Christmas Eve, but just as special.

So, before the start of it all, I've still got a bit of work to do.... shopping, wrapping, and of course, preparing my contributions to the feasts. This year, I've decided on spinach pinwheels for my appetizer for Christmas Eve (a tasty spinach and cheese concoction rolled in puff pastry, sliced and baked... yum!) and of course some home made chocolates for dessert on Christmas day.

Last year, I was quite frazzled before Christmas, barely getting everything done, and my chocolates failed. I have no idea what I did wrong, but it was a disaster (okay, that may be a little strong, but I was disappointed with the results, and my family and friends were disappointed in the lack of chocolates!). This year, I'm planning on things going better. So today I start. I'll be making the filling for my chocolate raspberry truffles and coconut candies, so that tomorrow they'll be ready to dip in the chocolate coating. Also on the candy agenda... white chocolate peppermint bark and dark chocolate cherry almond bark... but these are easy so I can put them off until Monday or Tuesday.

Well, if I'm going to get all this done, I'd better get my shovel and move that foot of snow out of my way so I can go to the grocery store!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

I love decorating for Christmas, but I do admit I have simplified my decorating dramatically since launching Artful Sentiments, in order to remove some of the pressure from an already hectic holiday season. A few years ago, I switched to an artificial tree, and although I miss the whole process of going out to find the perfect real tree, and the lovely smell it fills my home with, the decision has worked well for me. I lovingly decorate my tree with a combination of ornaments that I've collected my whole life and little silver picture frames, full of holiday photos of me, my family and friends (pictured above, me on my first Christmas). I cherish the memories as I add the ornaments and photos to my tree, listening to Bing and Nat, remembering special people and times, and imagining all the magical memories to be made in the upcoming season.

I'm looking forward to this years festivities, and hope to capture some more sweet photographs to add to my tree for next year!

Thankful!

I'm headed to Connecticut in the morning to spend Thanksgiving with my fabulous family. As you probably have guessed, I've been looking forward to this day for weeks (months?).

I'm so thankful that I have a wonderful brother and sister-in-law, cousins, aunts and uncles to share this day with. We'll be enjoying delicious feast, great company, laughter (and knowing us, probably a few tears as well, as we remember those who aren't with us) and lots and lots of joy!

I'm thankful for my wonderful friends, who make every day as special as the holidays.... enjoying a latte in Starbucks, a sandwich in the mall food court, or a long chat on the phone can be perfect when shared with a good friend.

I'm thankful for my creativity... it brings me joy to be able to spend time creating delightful cards, yummy desserts, pots of soup, and so much more. Tomorrow I'll be showing my creativity with the leaf-shaped sweet potato slices topping my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner.... sweet potatoes Anna.

I'm thankful for all who support me in my business - my family, friends and customers, my online support group of paper peeps, indie business owners and bloggers... all of whom keep me moving forward.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Warm and Wooly....

now in my etsy shop!

I just love these sweet designs - they remind me of my childhood, winter days, and playing in the snow. I first designed the mitten card several years ago, inspired by my grandmother. Gram loved to knit, and I was lucky enough to always have hand knitted sweaters and hats and mittens. Each year, she would knit me a new pair of mittens, the pair was tied together with a long yarn that you'd thread through your jacket sleeves, so you'd never lose them!

Gram taught me how to knit when I was a child, but it never really held my interest for long enough to make anything bigger than a doll blanket or potholder. I'm thinking I might like to give it a try now, I probably have enough patience to at least end up with a scarf, and with all the lovely hand dyed yarns out there.... hmmmm, I'm talking myself into it!

We have a winner....

... in my first blog giveaway. First, thanks to all of you for entering and sharing your stories. I love to hear about all your traditions and favorite holiday foods. One of my cousins entered as well (although remained anonymous in the comment - it's not like anyone in my family to be shy!) but I recognized our Thanksgiving day pretty easily from the note.

One tradition I didn't share with all of you yet is the tradition of Thanksgiving day #2. Yes, after the big family get-together on Thursday, we do it all again at my brother and sister-in-law's house on Friday. We celebrate the day with friends, some of our family, and my SIL's family and we generally have 2 turkeys, deep-fried, and all the trimmings. The past couple of years, our pies have been accompanied by my SIL Dawn's homemade ice cream... just what we need after 2 days of feasts!

Well, now that I've shared all that, I bet you want to know who won... I made a list of all the entries from the 2 comment sections, and used random.org to select the winning number... #12 which was Jessica from Funky Finds! (I'll be emailing you to find out your coaster choices!)

Soup's On!

I thoroughly enjoy this time of year - sweater weather and fall foods. As much as I love the the first ripe tomato of the summer season, I am always ready for the cooler weather to arrive so I can make my first pot of soup! This weekend I'm cooking up the family favorite, my mom's beef and barley soup. (I know cousin Darcy will be drooling thinking about this...)

My mom owned a little restaurant for a few years when I was a teenager. It was called Soupcon (with a little curly thing under the c, pronounced "Soup's On") and was located in an old grist mill which had been converted to shops, just down the street from our house. The restaurant was tiny (it sat only 22), and had a wonderful view of the river. It was only open for lunch and tea. Mom served two choices for lunch, soup and salad or a casserole and salad, with different choices every day. There was delicious homemade bread, simple desserts and yummy cookies. That's all anyone could need.

So many of the foods I love today are from mom's time at the restaurant, favorite of all is the beef and barley soup. This soup was a staple in our house, and a part of our holiday traditions as well. A big pot simmered on the stove on Christmas Eve, to warm all of our family and friends as they came in from the cold for our holiday celebration. Lots of memories surround this soup.

Of course, mom's recipes are not very scientific... most are written on tattered old index cards (if they are written at all) and were created to serve 50 people, so there's a lot of instinct that goes into getting them just right. Thankfully, I have many of them down (and so does my brother - the most fabulous cook!), so I can still enjoy mom's recipes and the memories that go with them. So now it's back to my beef and barley soup. As always, I'll make enough so I can eat it for a few days, then freeze the leftovers in containers for the next time I have this craving.

Mmmmm.

Keeping my head above water!

I've been quite busy with wholesale orders and spring trade shows (Boston Gift Show and the National Stationery Show), and am just now starting to get my head back bove water. This week and next are looking to be quite busy, and then I'm *hoping* to have a little down time over the 4th of July long weekend, and some time to enjoy the start of summer! I've been busy printing mermaids, lobsters, crabs and other sweet beachy cards for a few months now, which has made me so in the mood for summer.

I'm a beach girl at heart - my "win the lottery" dream is a little beach cottage in New England. Nothing grand. 1 or 2 bedrooms, kitchen, bath, living room, a deck where I can sit and have my morning coffee, and an outdoor shower. Just love taking a shower under the stars!

My first trip to the beach I was around 2 weeks old. My family spent summers camping at Hammonasset beach in Connecticut (until I was 12). I was born in the summer... so it was off to the beach for the rest of the summer. We lived in a trailer and a tent for the entire summer, as did many of my aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends. It was nothing fancy. Really. There was running water (cold only) to a faucet shared with the surrounding lots, and the occasional shower stall along the side of the road (again, cold water only, unless you took a shower mid-day, and got the water that was in the pipes and heated by the sun), and outhouses. The old fashioned kind (buckets, no flushing). When we were really little our baths were taken in a 3 foot round galvanized tub, with water heated in kettles on the stove. It was one of the few things we used the gas stove in the trailer for - cooking was mostly done on the charcoal grill. These days I prefer a few more amenities, but at the time it was heaven - the best childhood you could ever want!

My parents, brother and I shared our lot with my grandparents and aunts and uncles. The moms and kids spent all week at the beach, and the dads came on the weekend - this was back in the day where most of the moms didn't work (or worked in the school and were off when the kids were off). My parents and grandparents slept in the trailer, and my brother and I did when we were really little. As we got older, we moved out to the tents with the single aunts and uncles.

Things were so simple. We rode our bikes everywhere and our moms didn't worry about where we were. Every day we went to the beach. All of us kids rode our bikes, and the moms loaded everything we needed into a wagon (along with any babies) and took it to the beach. If we left the beach for any reason during the day, we just left all of our stuff there... nobody took it. We went creek jumping. (Ok, that was one of the few things we weren't supposed to do, but my adventurous cousins always took me.) We gathered shells, made sand castles, and buried ourselves in the sand. We swam and swam and swam. And we took swimming lessons. One night a week was kids movie night. We rode our bikes to the pavilion, sat on picnic tables and watched a movie. Parents didn't come.
We cooked on a charcoal grill all the time... on weekends we even had breakfast on the grill (dad would cook bacon and eggs on a big griddle on top of the grill.) We had an awning and a deck outside the trailer, and ate all our meals there.

There were no phones. Funny, I just realized that now. There must have been pay phones somewhere, but I don't recall. It just wasn't important. Remembering this simple living has really made me think about what's important. It was all about family and friends, fresh air and sunshine. Now that I've reminded myself, I hope to recapture some of that in the coming summer days!

March of the tools (Onion Goggles)

How did we ever live without them?

I gave my brother a pair of these onion goggles the Christmas before last, as a little bit of a joke, and made a whole theme gift around them. Turns out they're not really a joke at all, but a really useful kitchen tool! If you're one of those people who cries like a baby whenever you're chopping onions, you'll love them. Sure, they look a little geeky, but they really do work.

If you want to see more great tools visit Heather Bailey's blog and the flickr group, where you can see favorite tools from everyone who's participating!

Whew!

It's been a busy couple of weeks, getting all the final holiday preparations done, and then, of course, getting through the holidays. I had a lovely time, despite the craziness. I did finally finish my shopping, wrapping and everything else - though just barely in time. I was thrilled to do a great deal of my shopping with some of the fabulous indie businesses I network with, so I didn't end up at the mall quite as often as in past years, which is a great relief. I also made some gifts myself (um, crazy, I know, given how little time I had).. I love to give handmade gifts, and my friends and family really appreciate it. Many of the gifts I made were a preview of some new products I'll be launching in the new year. (Sorry, not ready to show the world, just yet.)


I spent the holidays at my brother's house. My aunt Linda and uncle Pete hosted our Christmas Eve celebration. The whole family was there, and we celebrated with great food, a little wine and our traditional Secret Santa. (And to my Secret Santa, if you're reading, thank you very much. I love my gift, but I wish you'd reveal yourself to me!) Christmas dinner was at my brother and sister-in-law's house. We ate, drank and were very merry, all day long. Our dinner was wonderful (John and Dawn are great cooks) and we had a fun and relaxing day together.

Now I'm taking some time to relax a bit, and working on getting myself organized, in my studio, and beyond.

Hope you are enjoying the holidays, and wishing you a Happy New Year!

Thankful...

I'm off to spend my favorite holiday with my family in Connecticut. We have Thanksgiving dinner at my cousin Patty's house every year with most of the gang - it's a wonderful day full of tradition, not to mention fabulous Thanksgiving foods. One of my family's Thanksgiving traditions is picking our Secret Santa names. We've been doing Secret Santa with all the cousins, aunts, uncles for about 20 years now, and it's always a great time! I love the excitement of opening the envelope with the name of my giftee, and then starting to plan the perfect gift.

On Friday, we have the (now) traditional second Thanksgiving at my brother John's house, usually featuring 2 turkeys (1 roasted, 1 deep fried) and all the trimmings, and my sister-in-law Dawn's homemade ice cream with the pie for dessert. We usually see my sister-in-law's family on Friday, as well as some friends, and a few cousins or aunts and uncles - who can resist a repeat of a perfect dinner!

And then there's the leftovers.....

I'm so thankful for these lovely traditions and for my family and friends...and this year there is an extra little something to be thankful for - my cousin Kristen and her husband Craig have a new baby girl, Lily Katherine (welcome sweet baby girl!).

Hope you all have as wonderful a holiday as I know I will!