Ponderings Along the Pathway...PROSPERITY

Welcome to this month's edition of Ponderings Along the Pathway, an exclusive feature over here on the Path of Positivity.  The purpose of this column is to continue with the goal of this blog which is to create a space "designed to inspire, nurture and provide support for the soul by creating a positive path to follow, one project or post at a time".  Providing some motivational introspection on the themes we cover each challenge period, is one way of achieving this goal.

This month it is all about PROSPERITY and PAT is here to share her thoughts on the subject...

Here we are again, at the start of a New Year. Was last year a difficult one for you? I find that reminding myself of the things last year for which I am grateful is a beautiful and hope-filled outlook on the year to come. After all, an Attitude of Gratitude invites Abundance and Prosperity. I definitely would like those two to visit me this new year - how about you?

When I think of things for which to be grateful, I picture the path which I followed, remembering the scenery of good experiences, the joys of meeting people along the way, and the peace received and given in kindnesses and generosity. I also remember kicking the stumbling blocks of adversity out of the way, both for me and those that followed behind me. Of course, I stumbled a few times, and missed a few for others to deal with, but that part of the path only led me to appreciate the beauty of the journey.

The path is neither all uphill nor all downhill. It evens out, just as life has a habit of doing. In reminiscing over the last year, I find that for every adversity faced, there was a gift of prosperity to counterbalance the stress and sweat. While my husband lost his job, I kept mine, and I carry the family insurance. While we look ahead to lower income, my daughter just finished her college education. And while we lost my Gram and most recently my mother-in-law, I have been gifted with a new grandson and a new brother-in-law.

So, Adversity, give me your best shot. I am thankful for what I already have, and know that more Prosperous days are just around the bend. Come join me in my attitude of gratitude, so we can all enjoy abundance and prosperity. It will be nice to meet a new traveler along the path…

 

Such a wonderful attitude.  Pat's Ponderings always provides such great insight into our monthly themes.  I always walk away with something more to reflect on and work into my own life.  Please be sure to pop over to Pat's personal blog, Patacake Pages, for more inspiration.

What attitude will you carry with you throughout 2016?  We hope that you find balance during your own journey on the Path of life this year.

Well folks, that is it for today but please be sure to join us on Monday for the midway.  Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Challenge #33 Top Picks: Voting Open January 11th to 18th, 2015

WELCOME TO THE CHALLENGE #33 POP TOP!

It is time to get on with showcasing the top pick for Challenge #33.  This time around we only had four entries.  I have to admit that once again I was rather saddened that there weren't more participants.  With the Christmas holidays, almost any type of Christmas card would have fit the theme.  I do thank those of you who participated and of course all our supporters who may not have had time to join in due to the hustle and bustle of the season. 

Since there were so few, we will only be having one top pick.  We will also be opening up the voting to everyone who submitted a creation that followed the theme.  We do this any time we have less than 14 participants.  Thus, without further ado, please let me introduce you to our Top Pick for Challenge #33...

Congrats Helen...

As a participant who has been chosen as a Top Pick, you are entitled to a special Top Pick badge.  Please send an email to popwinners {at} gmail {dot} com, or by clicking HERE to bring up the address in your email program, with the subject "Challenge #33 Top Pick" and I'll email your badge to you.  Please note that it may take me several days to get back to you, so I really appreciate your patience.

Now as I mentioned earlier, each of the participant's who entered Challenge #33 (AND FOLLOWED THE THEME & RULES) is eligible to have their project and/or post voted on.  Here is a list of those participants.  Each of the entrant's names is linked up to their blog post (order is reflective of how they entered the challenge and nothing else). 

Helen

NanaConnie

AJ 

Steffi 

HAVE YOUR SAY!

Now the really hard work starts. It is time for you, our readers, to vote for your favourite entry.  Which participant most inspires you?  Remember, you are not necessarily voting on a creation that was made.  You might simply find what the person had to say in their post to be inspiring and optimistic and in line with the concept of BELIEF.  Please be sure to go and check out the entries first and not just make your choices off of the thumbnails.  Once you have checked all the entries out, let us know who your favourite choice is by placing your vote below using the Inlinkz feature.

Voting open for 7 days:
January 11th to January 18th

Come have your say in determining the Voter's Choice for Challenge #33!  Don't forget to leave a comment after you have voted.  There will be a prize for one lucky person who leaves a comment on selected posts from this challenge (chosen randomly).  If you haven't had the opportunity to visit each of the entries already, please go and check them out a little more closely before placing your vote.  Once you have made your decision, why not go back and let them know how they inspired you.

Good luck everyone!

Important Note:

Please note that in order for this to work, I must add all the entries but I can only do this AFTER I have published this post. So there will be some overlap time between when this post is published and when you will be able to vote. Once I have uploaded the entries there will be a total of four images below on which to vote. As soon as they are all are uploaded, I'll enable voting to begin. If there are less than four, it means that I am still in the process of adding the images and you should come back in a little while to make your vote. Thank you for your patience!

Link Up Below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Challenge #34--PROSPERITY: January 4th to January 31st

Happy New Year!

It is the first Monday in January and that means it is time for the next challenge to start.  This time around, for Challenge #34 the theme is "PROSPERITY".  Show us your interpretation of what prosperity means to you.  You can make any sort of project and/or post as long as it is positive in nature and relates to the theme.

Ah...prosperity!  Many of us long for a life filled with prosperity but what exactly does that mean?  Prosperity is defined as "the state of being wealthy, or having a rich and full life" (www.yourdictionary.com).  To me the key lies in the word 'OR'.  There is no doubt that having wealth contributes to a person living a prosperous life; however, I truly believe that one can also have a rich and full life without an exorbitant bank balance.  Of course, we all need money to survive, there is no question about that but we can still be prosperous even if our bank accounts are not overflowing.  Think of the things in our life that money can't buy.  Wealth doesn't bring you happiness; nor does it contribute towards your health.  Think of the people around you and all the love and friendship that is in our lives.  These are all things that definitely contribute to our prosperity.  We can achieve fulfilment and live richly.  It is just a matter of skewing our perspectives.

As we start a new year filled with new possibilities, let us reflect on how to bring prosperity into our lives and share it with others.  You could create a card to bring some sunshine into a person's life.  Or, how about a card to show someone what true wealth is all about?  You could even wish a newly married couple, hope for prosperity as they begin their lives together.  There are so many different avenues you could take.  My team, as always, has come up with some clever ideas so be sure to pop over to their blogs and see how their creations connect with the concept of this challenge.  Whatever approach you take, we look forward to seeing your interpretation on this month's theme. 

Don't forget when you link up your project and/or post, to please leave a comment letting us know how your creation relates to the concept of prosperity if it isn't readily clear within the design itself or clearly written somewhere else in your post.  Remember, the creation must be positive/inspirational/motivational AND adhere to the theme of prosperity in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes.  While you may easily see how prosperity relates to your creation, it may not be as apparent to me or the DT members.  That is why we ask that you clarify it somewhere, whether here or in your blogpost.  You can simply write a sentence at the bottom of your post next to the link up for this challenge, if it would be easier.  We just need to know how your project ties into the theme.  Letting us know, clears up any ambiguity that may exist.

This month's guest sponsors...

This month we have two returning sponsors (although there has been some changes with one of the companies)!

First up, here is a refresher on what Limited Runs is all about...

Limited Runs has a LARGE calorie free sweet shoppe filled with over 120 different cupcakes, something for almost every occasion. It's not all cupcakes there are tons of  Christmas, Halloween, Backgrounds, Fairies, Critters and More to see. The store has gone through a re-vamp with new digital stamps added in all the time so pop in an take a look around things. Everyone knows you can't enjoy a cupcake without a coffee so there is a place to even pick up a cuppa. There's always a little something for everyone to enjoy and grab the monthly freebie so you can sample before you buy and add to your collection.

Check out the fun images the team worked with for their projects for the beginning of this challenge.  Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to category page they can be found on in the LR store...

 Catching a Snowflake (category: Christmas, section 11-20)

Juggling Snowman ( New Digital Stamps to Play with)

Bubbles - Girl ( New Digital Stamps to Play with)

Jingle Bells (category: Christmas, section 21-30)

Next up is The Stamping Boutique, except now, sponsorship is actually a combination of The Stamping Boutique and Glitterbabe Stamps (selling out of The Stamping Boutique Store).  As such, I'll present a refresher of what Tracey's company is all about and then I will introduce you to Glitterbabe Stamps...

Thank you so much for having us as your sponsor. We at TSB are very proud to offer original digital images and artwork to you. Thank you for giving us a few minutes of your valuable time to look over the store at http://thestampingboutique.com. Good luck in the challenge and we hope to see you over at our TSB Community network: http://thestampingboutique.ning.com.

Thanks so much!
Tracey Malnofski

hi. i'm glitterbabe... or sometimes known as stef h. i started doing digis on a dare from my hubby ages ago. he had more faith in my drawings than i had myself. anyway, i played and got to liking it so thanks to tracey malnofski of THE STAMPING BOUTIQUE, i managed to get my images "out there." you can find them at THE STAMPING BOUTIQUE STORE and i sure hope you have as much fun with them as i have.

Check out the great images the team worked with for their projects for the beginning of this challenge. Clicking on the watermarks below will take you to their location in the store.  Two of Tracey's stamps were used at the start.  You'll see the stamp from Glitterbabe at the midway.

#415 Summer fun with Audrey

#297 I Love You This Much Cynthia Fairy

We are fortunate and blessed to have the chance to work with all these awesome images this month.  Thanks so much to our fabulous sponsors.  Be sure to come back at the midway when you'll get to see more beautiful projects created with images from these wonderful companies.

Now check out what my amazing design team came up with to inspire you.  Clicking on the team members' name will take you to their blog where you can check out the details for their inspirational creations...

We are very pleased to have Deanne, from Little Bit 'O Paper, as our guest designer for this challenge...

My name is Deanne Clarke-Saunders. My hubby and I live in Paradise, Newfoundland, Canada. I was an elementary teacher for 23 years but retired early. I am now an Early Childhood Educator (couldn’t stay away from the kiddies!!). I have always enjoyed playing with paper, scissors, glue, and ESPECIALLY crayons and pencil crayons, ever since I’ve been a small child. I just couldn’t stop playing, so I continued by scrapbooking and card-making!  I love it!!! My hubby calls me a paper hoarder. He just MAY be right, but I’d never tell him that!!! A man doesn’t need to know he’s right!!! haha!

  Check out the lovely card she created.... 

My fabulous guests and amazing design team never disappoint!  They each have their own unique styles and ideas.  As always I am blown away by the quality of their projects!  Each of these projects has showcased the concept of prosperity in various forms and manners and I hope we have inspired you.  Be sure to go and visit each of them so you can see how their projects connect to the theme.

So what are you waiting for?  Create a project and/or post that is positive AND relates to prosperity, provide an explanation of how your project and/or post relates to the theme somewhere in your post or come over and leave a comment with the explanation.  Easy, peasy!

If you have some time, please visit other people participating throughout the month.  I've included the summary of the challenge details below.  If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, in the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

I hope to see you back next Monday when voting will start on the Top Picks for Challenge #33. 

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON PROSPERITY
If you need some motivation to get you started, I've provided a quote for you, which you can find below.

Please be sure to click on it to bring it up into the lightbox in its proper size before saving it.

Credit Notes For This Creation:

© 2015, Lisa L. Décosse. PUO. However, you are allowed to use the sentiment on handmade projects that you intend to sell on a small scale basis provided credit is given. You also need to include a credit note and a link to this blog or my personal blog, Decosse's Dynamite Doodles, should you use any of my images in your creations and post them on your blog. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with my full terms of use found in the 'Download Instructions & T.O.U.' tab at the top of this page. Of important note:  Please do not share my images with family, friends, etc. Additionally, do not post any images to file sharing services like Box®, 4-Shared®, etc. Instead, please direct people to my blog(s) so they can grab the image for themselves. If you would like to post a watermarked version of the image, please contact me to obtain one.

Font Information

Fonts used:

• Andalusia Script font created by Seniors Studio
• Beffle font created by David Rakowski
• Caferus Ornaments created by Flavortype

Click on the font name to take you to a download location.  The first font listed was purchased with extended licensing. The second font was free and listed for commercial use at the time of this creation.  The third font was a limited time freebie but may be used for commercial purposes.  It is my understanding, that I am within my rights to use these fonts in my creations and offer them to others for free or for sale.  Always check to make sure the terms haven't changed before using the font on something you sell.

You will notice that the sentiment may appear huge depending on what software program you download it into.  You can always reduce the size without distorting the overall look.


CHALLENGE DETAILS SUMMARY

Whether you are new and need to familiarize yourself with all the details,  or a returning participant and just need to refresh yourself, you can always find out everything you need to know in order to enter this challenge in the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page. I've provided a quick summary below.  Please note that dates and times listed below are for this particular challenge only:

• Each Path of Positivity challenge will remain open for approx. a full month.  Entries for this challenge will be accepted from January 4th to January 31st, 2016.
• Link up your inspirational post below using Inlinkz. You will be able to submit your link up to 11:55 p.m. on January 31st.
• When you link up, leave a comment summarizing what it is about your post that you feel is inspirational  / positive / motivational and how it fits into the theme if you have not included this information somewhere within your post.  You can simply add a sentence or two right next to the link for this challenge if you want.
• Don't forget to come back throughout the month and visit others that have participated. 
• You can link up a total of three (3) creations.
• Voting for this challenge will begin once the top picks have been determined.  There will be a separate post detailing those picks.  You will then have the opportunity to vote on the creation or post that you have found to be the most inspirational of the chosen picks.  Be sure to leave a comment telling us what it was that inspired you or something in general if you uncomfortable disclosing any details of your vote. 
• For Challenge #34, prizes will be the following:
• 2 images from The Stamping Boutique (3 if you use a TSB or Glitterbabe image), one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $10.00 gift certificate from Limited Runs, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

There will also be:

• A small selection of digital papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on on posts published during the challenge time-frame.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

If you ever have any questions be sure to EMAIL ME or just leave me a comment.

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link Up Below:

An InLinkz Link-up