Anne Ralston doesn’t mind being called “a crafty lady” because she has been doing crafts since childhood: sewing, card making, other paper crafts, crewel, regular cross stitch, counted cross stitch, scrapbooking, and watercolor, to name a few. Anne cross-stitched her journal of reflections as she prepared for Final Vows in 1988. Now, she has taken her card-making to a new level.
For 15 years, Anne has been taking classes at a Rubber Stamp Convention that comes to Cincinnati annually. There, she learned about “Stamplistic,” a store in Cleveland that sells materials for making cards and offers classes on Facebook Live. During Covid, the owner, not wanting to close the business, began assembling and mailing kits with all the materials, including Swarovski crystals, for making 2- and 3- and 3-dimensional cards. “Stamplistic” then offered classes on Zoom with 300 to 400 crafters all making the same card. On alternate Fridays, the store provides Zoom classes on other paper crafts.
Could you visit the Gift Shop at MND to see these exquisite creations? Anne says this about making these unique cards and other crafts, “Anyone can do this. Everyone has a creative soul. We need ways to express it.” The proceeds from the Gift Shop support the Clean Water for Life Project, an international program of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
Sister Anne's previous assignments include pastoral associate at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio; hospital chaplains in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Ogden, Utah; and a social worker.