Hi, I’m Julie. Welcome to my website.
A few years ago, I heard this lovely phrase, “What are you curious about?”
I’m curious about a lot of things – people, God, art, how we show gratitude, writing letters, grandchildren, languages, France, Italy, and, top on my list, England.
More than ten years ago, I wrote a little book on gratitude called, BlessBack: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life, which told about a time in my life where I was depressed and how giving and receiving thanks (What I call BlessBacks) changed me. Shortly thereafter, I put a collection of my favorite quotes together in Kissing the Shoreline: Quotes and Reflections to Live By which was my way of encapsulating words that I find funny or poignant, and make us think about life in all its splendor.
For a long time I worked on writing novels. About January of 2020, I developed some pretty severe anxiety when I sat down to work on my story. While many things contributed to my anxiety, what became clear to me was that I had to stop writing my novel. I guess you could say I gave novel-writing to God to hold onto and asked Him what I should do instead. About the same time as I prayed, I heard that sentence in the first paragraph. “What are you curious about?”
I knew I needed creative expression so I started an Etsy shop. Because my curiosities are widespread, I named my shop, JulieSaffrinsStuff. People told me I needed to super-niche. But I’m a 7 on the Enneagram – I’m an extrovert, where being around people – a lot of people – rejuvenates me. People fill my tank and after being with them, I come home with creative ideas that I have to turn into some sort of creative release, hence my shop.
On my Etsy shop I sell things like greeting cards, T-shirts, wrapping paper, baseball hats, prints, digital items, and home decor.
But I also have opened a shop here, on my website. I’ve added some of my favorite products to this shop and hope you find things that make you laugh, give you courage, provide something to give another encouragement, as well as find it to be a resource for stuff that matters…to you.
Occasionally, I will be blogging and telling stories. As in the past, I’ve always enjoyed hearing from you!
I appreciate each of you.
Warmly,
Julie