Welcome to the Viola Shipman Heirloom Newsletter!
Announcing our 2025 SHIPMANt book box, featuring my new novella, THE HEIRLOOM SCRAPBOOK! Same price as 2024! New in 2025: A book club + crafting/cooking classes! Subscribe now & support a great cause!
SPRING 2024 ISSUE
News from Viola!
I’M SO EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE OUR 2025 SHIPMANt BOOK BOXES!
FEATURING MY NEW NOVELLA, THE HEIRLOOM SCRAPBOOK!
BOXES ARE SELLING FAST! BUT WE MUST SELL 200 MORE TO MAKE THIS WORK FOR 2025! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
It only costs $1 to secure your January 2025 delivery! To reserve your subscription today, click below!
RESERVE YOUR 2025 SUBSCRIPTION NOW FOR ONLY $1!
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
NEW IN 2025!
My new novella, THE HEIRLOOM SCRAPBOOK, a heartfelt, hopeful story about two very different women whose scrapbooks allow them to bond, heal and dream. If you dream of travel, are a caregiver, scrap booker, mother, daughter or crafter, this is the story for you.
NO PRICE CHANGE FOR 2025! We are keeping your budget in mind! $60/box.
Introducing a new book club 4x a year with me to discuss the novella as you receive each chapter!
Cooking and crafting classes to make the items in the box!
Your support supports a wonderful cause: Urban Vine’s employment of adults on the spectrum who fall between the cracks of society. The proceeds of this box allow these adults — who make many of the gifts and who pack the boxes with love — a place, purpose and passion. We hope to expand the program this year!
WE MUST SELL 350 SUBSCRIPTIONS TO MAKE THIS A FISCAL REALITY TO PRODUCE THE BOXES & SUPPORT THOSE IN NEED! PLEASE HELP BY SUBSCRIBING TODAY AT THE LINK BELOW!
It only costs $1 to secure your January 2025 delivery! To reserve your subscription today, click below!
RESERVE YOUR 2025 SUBSCRIPTION NOW FOR ONLY $1!
I am beyond thrilled to announce the launch of our 2025 SHIPMANt boxes!
If you were a subscriber to this year's first-ever boxes, you already know how special they are. If you were not, I urge you to consider this beautiful book box delivered six times a year that contains my special novella ONLY FOR SUBSCRIBERS that is filled with themed, handmade products that correspond with each chapter of the book as well as the season/holiday and ALL for a great cause: Urban Vine, LLC, which employs adults on the spectrum who have fallen between the cracks in society. Your support provides these incredible souls with a place, passion and purpose. THEY MAKE OUR BOXES! AND MANY OF THE ITEMS IN IT! In addition, we have been able to start a women's program this year. If we continue to grow our SHIPMANt subscriptions, we can continue to grow this incredible program!
Order the gift that gives all year long for yourself, mom, grandma, BFF, book club, teacher appreciation!
We are also thrilled to announce some exciting new additions (book club meetings with Wade (!) plus craft and cooking days with Gary & Amy) and even more thrilled to announce one thing that didn’t change: THE PRICE! We didn’t want to place an additional burden on your budget and are so appreciative of your support that the cost of the 2025 box will remain the same: $60 a box!
The 2025 SHIPMANt box will include:
• The new Viola Shipman novella, The Heirloom Scrapbook, available ONLY to SHIPMANt subscribers. This is a heartfelt, hopeful story about two very different women whose scrapbooks allow them to bond, heal and dream. If you dream of travel, are a caregiver, scrap booker, mother, daughter or crafter, this is the story for you. Set in Holland, Michigan, this novella is filled with tulips, snow, family, friendship, and a magical history of Holland's ties to The Wizard of Oz. It is laced with visions of Paris, Italy, Greece and more!
• Same price as last year ($60/box or $360/full year).
• Gorgeous, expandable cover for adding new chapters (Six Chapters/Six Boxes!)
• One box every two months for a year!
• Your support supports a great cause: Urban Vine!
• Unique themed gifts produced by Urban Vine’s team
• Gorgeous expandable cover for adding new chapters
• FOUR book club meetings with Wade (NEW!)
• TWO crafting & cooking days with Gary and Amy making items from box (NEW!)
• You may renew or begin your subscription for ONLY $1 by December 20 (bi-monthly billing will begin with the first box)
To subscribe, click below:
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
AN EXCERPT FROM THE HEIRLOOM SCRAPBOOK TO ENTICE YOU!
If you dream of travel, are a caregiver, scrap booker, mother, daughter or crafter, this is the story for you.
Barb Oosterhouse was the wife of Lucas Oosterhouse, the CEO of the world’s largest and most iconic mid-century furniture maker in the world, which was headquartered in Holland. She lived in a multi-million-dollar mid-century mansion overlooking Lake Michigan that had been featured in Architectural Digest.
Barb Oosterhouse didn’t scrapbook.
But Barb’s twins – the quarterback and homecoming queen at Holland Christian – were off to college and traveling abroad for the summer, the constant buzz in the house had gone silent and she now noticed how much her husband traveled, her slate of volunteer activities had slowed as summer approached, and Barb was …
Lost?
Barb Oosterhouse had never been lost.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Oosterhouse,” Anna Joy said sweetly, as if she had no clue who she was. “Why don’t I just let you wander around the store and see if anything wets your whistle.”
Wets your whistle?
This woman was like a character straight out of Mayberry.
“Thank you,” Barb said.
Anna Joy headed to the back of the store and, within a minute, Barb could smell freshly brewed coffee.
Barb wandered around the store, looking at papers, pens, paints.
Everywhere she turned, there were pictures of happy women holding scissors, or placing glittery flowers on pink paper.
Who are these women? Barb thought.
She laughed to herself and then picked up a strange looking item.
“That’s a glue gun,” Anna Joy said. Barb turned. She was holding two cups of coffee. She held one out to Barb.
“Thank you,” Barb said. She took a sip. The coffee was surprisingly good, bracingly strong. Barb realized she hadn’t even eaten breakfast. “What’s a glue gun?”
Anna Joy laughed.
“They dispense hot glue,” she said, smiling.
“I mean, I’ve seen them. My volunteers use them all the time,” she said. “I’ve just never personally used one.”
“They are a crafter’s secret weapon, sort of like Wonder Woman’s lasso or bracelets.”
Barb laughed this time.
“I have so much to learn.”
Anna Joy smiled. “You can’t live without one.”
Barb took another sip of coffee and was taken by another advertisement, a poster filled with photos of a woman about her age placing scraps of fabric, old newspaper clippings and photos, pressed flowers, recipes, even an old key onto pages and into pockets of paper.
Barb’s heart caught in her throat, and she suddenly felt like weeping.
Her mother had passed two years ago, and the grief clung to her body like a shadow. Her garage and basement were filled with all of her mother’s belongings, things she didn’t need but things with which she couldn’t part. Her husband wanted it gone, her kids had no interest in Nana’s “junk,” and none of her heavy wooden furniture made sense in Barb’s home and yet …
It was mom’s. It was filled with memories.
And now her kids were gone, and Barb found herself wandering to the basement nearly every day to run her hand over her mother’s dresser or sit on the floor, look at old wedding albums and scrapbooks and cry herself to sleep.
Now she had two rooms filled with her children’s high school mementoes. Somehow, she needed to make sense of all the memories, all the loss.
No, I need to make sense of all my emotions at a time when everyone thinks I should simply be happy, content, fulfilled.
“That’s called junk journaling,” Anna Joy said.
Barb looked at her, and the shop owner nodded at the poster.
“Another thing I don’t know,” Barb said.
“It’s a book that’s often make from found and recycled materials as a way to collect and record memories,” Anna Joy said. “It’s sort of a creative holding place for all your thoughts, emotions, ideas and inspiration.”
“Like an adult diary?” Barb asked.
“Yes,” Anna Joy said, “but now created with a world of experience, good and bad.”
Her words caught Barb off guard. It was like she was reading her mind.
“I’m actually teaching a class on it every Wednesday,” Anna Joy said, heading to the reception desk.
As a subscriber to the 2025 SHIPMANt box, you will receive one chapter every other month, and each box will be filled with handmade gifts that correspond to the chapter, season or holiday. It’s the gift that gives all year long!
PECAN PIE BARK: A HOLIDAY RECIPE JUST FOR YOU!
(If you love pecan pie or ‘Christmas Crack’ with Saltines, caramel and chocolate, you will love this easy dessert!)
Pecan Pie Bark Bars!
So good & so easy!
Ingredients
12-13 graham crackers
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup light brown sugar
2 cups pecan roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or Maple Spice Extract)
Preheat oven to 350°F
Line a rimmed jelly roll sheet pan with aluminum foil or use an air bake rimmed cookie sheet.
Grease the foil with butter and line the bottom of the baking sheet with graham crackers. (If using an air bake sheet pan, no need to line with foil!)
In medium pan, mix butter, brown sugar, pecans and salt over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let cook around 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Once bubbling, immediately remove from the heat & stir in vanilla. Stir to combine vanilla. You can also add maple spice if you prefer (I do!)
Pour hot mixture over graham crackers and spread mixture evenly over the graham crackers. I use a rubber spatula. Make sure pecans are evenly placed to cover all the graham crackers.
Bake until bubbly, about 10 minutes.
Allow to cool completely and break into pieces. Enjoy!
THANK YOU! 2025 IS GOING TO BE AMAZING BECAUSE OF YOU! XOXO!
COMING UP IN THE NEXT HEIRLOOM NEWSLETTER MAILING ON BLACK FRIDAY:
Our new holiday gift line (featuring handmade candles, aprons, soaps, teas, and more! CLICK HERE TO DO YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING NOW!
BONUS: As a token of gratitude, we are offering a complimentary gift valued between $8-$12 on every order of $50 or more through November!
Our new Christmas & Hanukkah clothing line (featuring T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, mugs, tumblers and more)!
