Linda Banks at her craft desk
Jaine Toth
A Washingtonian, Linda Banks has been wintering in Casa Grande for the past 17 years, but is a relative newcomer to Robson Ranch, having moved here in December 2020. She’s happy to have more room for her paper crafting supplies than she did at Palm Creek, and her organizational skills and strong sense of order make the small den in her villa the equal of any efficiently run craft store.
Three-ring binders hold photos of her stamp sets and are numbered to correspond to the numbered cases, all identical in shape, that contain the stamps on a separate set of shelves. Other binders hold sample photos of her brass templates, die cuts, and more. She even has one with images of cards she’s made and a list of who received them, so she doesn’t end up sending the same card to someone a year or two down the road. Much of her very large inventory of stamps, dies, brads, buttons, ribbons, tapes, etc. was inherited from a dear friend on her passing. Linda enjoys shopping for items on sale, and prepandemic, she attended paper crafting conventions and looks forward to the day they start up again.
Linda was introduced to paper crafting about 25 years ago. While working as an instructional assistant for special-needs students, one of the teachers invited others at the school to come to her home and learn how to create handmade cards. Linda was hooked.
Linda gets ideas on Pinterest and from other crafters, and she doesn’t necessarily have to take a photo of it or ask for the step-by-step directions. She’s been known to study a card someone’s made at one of our paper crafting sessions, go home afterwards, and figure out how to reproduce it. She also derives inspiration from everyday life by observing what people wear and how the colors and patterns work together. Linda also keeps all the cards she receives. In addition to sentimental reasons, some of them also spur new design ideas.
Even though she may make the same design several times, Linda finds ways to change them slightly and to personalize them for each recipient. “I like to individualize—not do too much the same.
Linda truly enjoys the words of appreciation from people who also sometimes remark how good it feels to know someone took time to create something so special just for them. When she goes to someone’s home and sees her cards on display, she says, “I love it.”