Blog | Julie Saffrin

Michelle Sass Aleckson’s “The Way You Love Me” Points the Way to What’s Meaningful in Life

February 13, 2024 • Julie Saffrin • 3 Comments

The picture of Minnesota writer Michelle Sass Aleckson’s golden retriever, Pippi, sums up Michelle as an author. She has a sense of humor, and she loves animals. Another giveaway might be her real middle name, Sass—and at least a character or two in this story has that disposition. My kind of person and all the more reason why I enjoyed her January 2024 novel, The Way You Love Me, set in the fictitious town of Deep Haven, Minnesota – just a couple hours northwest of Duluth, presumably with nearly the same latitude and longitude of Grand Marais. I also love…

Arizona in January and New Valentine Products

February 8, 2023 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Flower Truck on light wood background with pink flowers

We spent January away from Minnesota. We rented a VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) home that gave us all-day views of Superstition Mountain’s Flat Iron in Gold Canyon, Arizona. The reprieve from snow and subzero temps was wonderful. I am all filled up with Vitamin Sunshine and gratitude. As we have done in previous years, we visited with friends while there, and then reconnected with friends from the early years of our marriage who now live half the year in Gold Canyon. I found it so much fun to see what people did and do with their lives from when…

Grateful for…you

December 6, 2022 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Hello, friends. It’s been a long string of months. So long that this post will probably end up in your spam folder. I haven’t written on my blog for 20 months. I stopped writing my fiction story and on my blog. I knew I had to pivot. To create in a different way. I allowed myself some simmering time to let that creativity unfold. Played around with drawing, painting, and learned how to get by with Photoshop. I also opened a small little shop on Amazon and learned how to upload things there as well. A side benefit to that…

Ducks and Daffodils Thank You Card

April 8, 2021 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

My newest Ducks and Daffodils greeting card at my JulieSaffrinsStuff Etsy store is a thank-you note. I wanted it to have the feel of springtime and happiness. These little ducks and daffodils lift my spirit. I hope yours is lifted too. We ventured to Florida and Denver in March and April and wow, did it feel good to vacation again and to finally see my son and his wife’s new home in Colorado. The weather was wonderful. Nothing like the crashing of waves and miles of wide sandy beaches to take dreary Minnesota out of a person. So, so wonderful.…

Happy Easter, Buona Pasqua, and Buon Compleanno

March 19, 2021 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

By having an Etsy store, I have made connections with people whom I would not have otherwise. I’ve also learned the importance of adding tracking with the Postal Service during holiday seasons – particularly in December. Mail going “lost” is very much a reality. With it comes the responsibility I feel as shop owner of juliesaffrinsstuff, to resend people their purchased items with the cost on me. I have no regrets though. I’ve met some lovely people in these interactions. While I added British Christmas cards in 2019, in 2020, I created two new Christmas cards, One in French and…

A Valentine’s Card for Couples Who Love Dogs

January 27, 2021 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

As might be apparent to a lot of you, you know that I love dogs. Sometimes there have been more dogs visiting me at one time than people. Just can’t help it. I just find them the sweetest companions. Which is why I couldn’t resist making this picture into a card. I offer it as both a Valentine’s Day and Anniversary on my Etsy store at JulieSaffrinsStuff So, if you need a valentine’s card for your that special person in your life, hop on over to the store and get yourself one. There are only fifteen available. Happy February. Julie

Some Hearts For You

January 26, 2021 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

January. Can feel like such a long year. So, welcome February! Come quickly, please. I can’t think of a happier way to enter this new month than by offering a giveaway. I’m selling this sticker sheet on my Etsy store but because you subscribe to my blog, you’re going to get it for free. All you have to do is download in one of the ways offered below. No gimmicks, no clicks to subscribe, just images and links to click to get your freebie. I created these candy hearts for you to stick on your calendars, on notes you send…

A Charcuterie Post

November 22, 2020 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Here we are in Minnesota and wow, I saw a guy in shorts two days ago. When does that happen in November around here? So, this post is like a product charcuterie board – filled with bits and pieces of what’s been keeping me busy since my last post. Mainly, I’ve been busy creating new products on my Etsy store, JulieSaffrinsStuff. If you’re looking for Christmas ideas, here’s a list of some new creations in case you’re in the shopping mood. By the way, everything in the shop is 10% off, if you purchase $30’s worth of…

What to do in the Time of Corona Virus? Have an Evening in Paris

September 3, 2020 • Julie Saffrin • 4 Comments

Having an evening in Paris during the time of Corona Virus

In previous blog posts, I’ve mentioned that my husband and I gather once a year at our cabin with our friends from way back – Randy and Peggy Hamann and Sue and Kris Mestad. This too-long year, 2020, corona-virus year, Rick and I self-isolated ourselves as much as possible from others and decided that we’d quarantined ourselves safely enough for our friends to venture a risk and come to the cabin. They had also done self-isolating. In June 2020, Kris and Sue were supposed to be on a 17-day trip through the French Riviera and Italy. Their plans were squashed…

A Loonigan Notecard in the Time of Corona Virus

August 25, 2020 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

loonigan notecard and envelope on brown background ready

Greetings to you in the time of corona virus. 2020, a place in time where everywhere we look or listen and live seems anything but ordinary. Where facemasks are “mandated,” and every day brings a twist tucked into it. By now, a good portion of us, due to this pandemic, have moved to making pencil entries because of having had to put lines through inked-in items on our to-do lists as well as planned adventures on our calendars. What a Weird Year, or, as I like to call it now, a “loonigan” year. The Mestads and Hamanns have come for…

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