To Dream...

Dear Friends,

Exciting news!

Ruth and Rose is getting a room of our own so that we can serve our customers better! A quiet space with four freshly painted walls. A space to work and a space to get inspired. We're thinking of putting a
fabulous quote on the wall. Any ideas?

We're also humming a tune - 'to dream the impossible dream....'

Please stay posted,

With memories in mind,
Ruth and Rose

If Walls Could Talk

Dear Friends,
Have you ever wished your scrapbook could hold more than just pictures? We have - in fact we talk about it all the time...
A handful of shells perhaps, or a bottle of beach sand from that lovely trip to the coast. Or the box of watercolors -and not just the child's painting? What about those pale pink ballet shoes, too small for her feet now, but filled with happy memories?

One of our favorite things to do is to find a great scrapbook page, frame it in a ShadowCase, then
add a touch of whimsy - something memorable that makes us smile. A ShadowCase is the perfect size for a 12x12 scrapbook page, we made quite sure of that. It is also a good 1.5" deep, lots of room for imagination and all the goodies my scrapbook simply can't hold. So please take a look, I made some samples below. I chose themes from all throughout the year, because I enjoy changing them out every so often. Sisters at the beach become sisters in the parade, children in the falling leaves become children squealing with delight in the first snowfall, that sort of thing.

Scrapbooking is such a wonderful art form, we simply love it! We think it will shape our times in the
same way yesterday's handicrafts shaped our mothers' and grandmothers' generations. All the love, creativity, and time it takes to remember our loved ones on those pages... Not so very different from a crazy quilt, a cross-stitched masterpiece, or your great-aunt's embroidered cushions. So let's not hide all our art and creativity inside our books. Let's get it up on our walls where it can shine!



With memories in mind,

Ruth and Rose

Food for Thought

Dear Friends,

Isn't it peculiar that our sense of taste and smell is so attached to our childhood memories? The
smell of woodshavings makes me feel eight again. I am waiting for my father to bring in a new puppet theater or small table and chairs from his woodshop. I can still feel the anticipation. The smell of aged sheet music takes me back to my grandmothers organ bench, instantly I'm there watching her fingers move across the keys.

And then there's the heaven of all taste and smell, grandmother's kitchen. There are those days when I need to feel her in my kitchen, to feel her a part of my family's life. I think that's why I search for her recipes and find them with such joy. Like meeting an old friend with a quaint German name. 'Hello Kuchen, how nice to see you again after all this time. You haven't changed a bit...'

So in the spirit of finding all our old recipes and bringing them back to life- maybe for the first time in your kitchen and mine - I want to share Grandmother Rose's LebKuchen recipe with you. This German cake is rich and chewy, fills the house with wonderful smells, and my children love it just as I loved it as a child. I believe that making good family food is a love language all of its own, and it is one I hope we all continue to share.

With memories in mind,


Ruth and Rose

German LebKuchen (loaf cake)

3 Eggs 3-1/2 C. Flour 2 tsp. Cinnamon Powdered Sugar 2 C. Brown Sugar	1 tsp. Baking Soda 1/4 C. Honey 1 tsp. Salt 4 T. Lemon Juice
Cooking Instructions:
Beat eggs until foamy. Add brown sugar and honey. Mix and sift flour with baking soda, salt, cinnamon, add to first mixture. Mix well. Pat into greased and floured jelly roll pans, 16x11 inch. This makes a stiff dough, so wet hands and pat even. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. While hot heat lemon juice and stir in enough powdered sugar to make thin icing. Drizzle over cake. Cool, cut into squares.

Embracing the New Year

Dear Friends,

Usually this time of year brings a sense of sadness and longing as I pack away the Christmas trimmings. No more anticipation of the joy of Christmas morning, the smells of gingerbread and pine are fading away, and time spent laughing with friends and family will be replaced by busy schedules. But this New Year is different, and I can’t help but feel the excitement for what is to come. The beginning of a whole new journey for Rose and myself.

Every day our imaginations are spinning away, about to form a dream into a reality. So much like the caterpillars my son is collecting in a jar. He’s been watching them daily, our budding entomologist, and so have we. They’re in the cocoon stage now... Just like me, I think. It’s time to let my creativity fly.

I love a challenge and I am planning to learn a lot this year as Ruth and Rose begins. This year will require a lot of stretching and stepping out of old comfort zones. But I’m ready to try on new shoes, make new friends and live in a much bigger world--one that will include my grandmother Rose as a daily part of my life. Time to say good-bye to my old shy self.

I’ve never been one to let life fall where it may and I dream of making a difference in people’s lives, helping others bring their creativity to life. I know that Rose would want that too. So here we go, time to embrace bright colors, time to be a butterfly.

Wishing you all a bright
New Year,


With memories in mind, Ruth and Rose

Happy Holidays with Thanks

Dear Friends,
Happy Holidays to you all!
I hope you found your perfect but not too perfect tree and enough lights to make you happy. May they light up your life this season. Life in my busy world of ShadowCasing is lighting up too and I am so excited about where we are and whats about to happen... Thanksgiving was wonderful. I was able to show my family what I'd been up to this past year and present my dad with a ShadowCase of his life in the navy. He surprised us all by promptly dressing up in his old navy uniform, which still fit him - I think he was moved and so were we. We love you, Dad and are so proud. Thank you for your service to our country.

Along with that, thanks to the people in my life for your support. My dining room has been a gathering place for family,friends,inspiration and all my stuff. There is a phrase above the mirror that says 'Gather Round the Table' and we certainly have. So my wish for you and yours this season is that you will also gather round the table - to talk,be inspired and reminisce about days gone by.


Always with memories in mind,

Ruth and Rose

My Favorite Things

Dear Friends,

Christmas is the season I love! Lights twinkling on houses, children playing in the snow, caroling with friends, a cup of hot chocolate and then there’s the smell of gingerbread.

Christmas is the Christchild in the manger, the angel on top of the tree and time to think about what it all means. Time for stories, the Christmas Carol and Ebenezer Scrooge. The joy of giving and creating Christmas magic.

It’s also a time for family and friends, old and new--and time for children, oh how I love the children! May the spirit of the holidays inspire us to reach out and help those around us, to make sure there is something sweet under every tree.

Magdalene Prinsloo-- A great-great-grandmother famous for her Christmas vinegar pudding. Known for her handiwork, she crocheted these lovely pieces which have been hidden away for at least fifty years. From now on she will have a place in the home and hearts of her family. Merry Christmas, Maggie!


Wishing you and yours a Memorable Season,

With memories in mind, Ruth and Rose

Remembering Rose

God gave us memories so we could have roses in December.



Dear Friends,

It was about this same time last year that I first discovered my Grandmother Rose's things. I remember my sense of wonder, touching her embroidered handkerchiefs, her necklace with the cross--so symbolic of her deep faith--and the charming little brooches... My memories of her came flooding back to me.

I thought of the irises that always came up in the Spring just before she came to visit. I thought of her rose-scented perfume and her cooking. Recipes with German names I couldn't recall but every aroma part of her and part of me too. I was overwhelmed by the need to remember Grandmother Rose.

Saddened that these treasures had been hidden in a box for 20 years, I went looking for a shadowbox of some kind—something that she would have liked. It wasn’t easy to find a display box with the beauty and charm that was so characteristic of her. So I found myself creating a shadowbox that would truly showcase Grandmother Rose and the legacy she left for me.

It was an important beginning...the beginning of Ruth and Rose ShadowCasing. That was a year ago. How time flies. And here we are with another idea, the idea of bringing this journey to you. A small dream grown into a bigger one. One to perhaps bring us all together as we find things, forgotten things, and treasure them. And, I'm hoping, share them with each other on the Ruth and Rose website.

So Best Wishes for the holidays, and let’s chat again soon.




With Memories in Mind

Love and roses, Janna Ruth