2007 ~ We never would have found the corner store in San Francisco’s Chinatown without Julia & Helen. And I’m so glad we went when we did, because the shop where I bought my SpringMoon Chinese signature stamp closed down a few years ago…for some reason or another.

Julia’s one of my Li’s Tai Chi Academy classmates. We’ve been buddies since 2003 or so and especially enjoy practicing Yang sword forms together. Her sister Helen, whom I’ve never met, worked in Chinatown in 2007 when I was planning to purchase my signature stamp or “chop” as some folks call it. (BTW, if any of you readers know where the term “chop” originates, I’d appreciate knowing. My Chinese friends seem not to have heard of the expression.)

Helen recommended this particular store as a good place to go to purchase custom made, hand-carved, stamps. She was right. We had a great experience and the folks were sweet. Read that story here.

To express my gratitude, offered Julia & Helen  their choices of a SpringMoon D’Gravure™ flower etching. Asked Julia what sort of flowers they like? Without hesitation, she said “Roses!” Then, of course, there’s the question “What color?” Turns out Julia loves red and Helen prefers pink.

I’d added some wonderful roses to my SpringMoon portfolio from a series of images taken on a rainy day in April when Santa Rosa’s gardens were at their peak of a fabulous rosy display. Next class, I brought several mini rose print samples for Julia to select images from. Can’t recall if Julia picked Helen’s rose for her or if she took the print samples home for Helen to look through. Think Helen picked her own?

Julia selected “Lusciously Ruby” a print of a gorgeous deep red mystery-to-me hybrid tea rose that grows in the parking lot chain-link fencing around Santa Rosa’s A’Roma Roasters Coffee House.

Helen chose “Lynn Anderson” hybrid tea rose that grows in the Luther Burbank garden, among a collection of lovely roses hybridized by California-based rose breeders.

Julia and Helen were pleased. So was I.

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