Gratitude

Posted on November 28, 2013 by mauistamper

I’m pretty much a “glass half full” kinda girl. It’s a choice – and why not choose the happy option? I have a loving husband and family, and more than enough “stuff”. And I live here:

(photo credit to my brilliant son)

Mr. Stamper and I are living The Duo Life this Thanksgiving. The newlyweds are in Australia where Thanksgiving fixin’s are hard to find, my middle daughter is with her young man and his family on the East Coast, and my son is with his roommate in Chicago – and they apparently went to the circus tonight. Go figure. The two of us are going to Mass in the morning (how better to say thanks?), then helping serve a sit-down meal at the feeding program at our church. Later we’ll join a group of dear friends out at Green Acres (aka Haiku) to celebrate our gratitude with good food and a refreshing beverage or two.

We have been richly blessed, and as we grow in age and wisdom we are realizing that the best way to show our gratitude is to pass those blessings on.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

This Turkey is a Ding Dong!

Posted on November 15, 2013 by mauistamper

Robbie made turkeys for Hostess Club this month:

Hilarious, isn’t it? We always have a great time at club – honestly, there’s so much laughing and teasing that I’m always amazed we get the projects done. If we’d done this one we would still be sitting at my dining table on Thanksgiving morning!

Robbie made these quite generously sized, because this turkey had a special cargo:

I know you won’t believe me when I tell you this, but that Ding Dong is still stuffed in my turkey, all wrapped up.

I can’t say the same for the Hershey Nuggets Robbie slipped me 🙂

I have a fun story to share. A couple of years ago, I read a comment on one of my posts from someone living near the University of Notre Dame where my son had just started college. Mary and I started a correspondence, and this year when Mr. Maui Stamper and I made plans to go to the ND – Navy game, Mary and I made plans to meet face to face.

We worked out a schedule and she picked me up on Saturday morning for coffee. Honestly, we had planned a quick 30 minute “hello” and after 2 hours we were still talking as fast as we could! What a warm, wonderful person Mary is, and if you are lucky enough to live in Mishawaka, you might know that too. I’m just thrilled that I remembered to snap a quick photo:

Have you ever seen such adorable football fans? We could have talked all day – except of course that I had a date with my boys for the game. Mary Travis, I loved meeting you in person, and I hope you’ll come to Maui so we can continue the conversation.

Forgotten favorites

Posted on November 27, 2009 by mauistamper

How quickly one set of images is forgotten on the shelf! When Eastern Blooms appeared in the Fall 2008 catalog, it sat on top of my craft table and saw regular use. It was a bold companion for Embrace Life – one with bold images, one with line images – and it suited our Asian influenced culture here in Hawaii. Seems like ages since it’s seen a bit of ink, and when a customer asked me to re-design a card using a floral image instead of cupcakes, I reached for these two old friends.

Eastern Blooms, Embrace Life, and Dotted (retired) stamp sets
Close to Cocoa, Cameo Coral, Bashful Blue, and Very Vanilla cardstock
Close to Cocoa, Cameo Coral and Bashful Blue Classic ink pad
Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Aquapainter

It’s fitting to reflect on how much we have this week of Thanksgiving, to be grateful for our abundance. As a good friend said to me recently, “I’m thankful that my needs are met, and a few of my wants as well.” I wish the same for you.

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 26, 2009 by mauistamper

Every day is Thanksgiving Day…sometimes we just forget to say thanks. I’m grateful for so many things, large and small, significant and insignificant. I hope your day will be filled with things that make you feel thankful.

Autumn Days, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Inspired by Nature and Woodgrain stamp sets
Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron and More Mustard Classic ink pad; Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Write marker
So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango, Pumpkin Pie and Very Vanilla card stock
Chocolate Chip corduroy button; latte button assortment
Dusty Durango grosgrain ribbon; Linen thread; Stamp-a-ma-jig

Happy Thanksgiving.