Sunday, October 06, 2013

Design Team Delights for Challenge #5

The entries into Challenge #5 were really incredible and I am sure that I am not the only person who thought so.  In fact, I know of at least a handful of others who were inspired by the creations they saw--my amazing Design Team.  As always, in each challenge you, the readers, get to voice your opinion by voting for your favourite.  I couldn't do any less for my Design Team now could I?!!!  It is important for them to have their say as well and that is why we have a special DT Delights post just before we launch the new challenge.  Those of you who enter our challenges certainly don't make choosing easy on us.

Thank you to every ONE of YOU who joined along our Path last month for Challenge #5.  While it was definitely a difficult decision, here are the creations that really stood out and inspired the team this month...

Pat M.--chosen by Desíre and Samara...
Desíre stated this:
"Pat is my choice for most inspiring not only from the beautiful art journal depicting a loving home, but also for her own motivation for entering our Optimism Challenge."  Desíre was particularly moved by this passage from Pat's post:
"I found this very cool blog today called path of positivity.  They spread positive thoughts, ideas and motivation, which I think is fantastic.  They also offer monthly challenges, this month's theme being "optimism."  I'm entering my art journal page in the challenge with a short description of why this page offers optimism to me: When  I step into my home, I feel a surge of optimism that my day will finish off on a good note.  I know that the night will not be full of roses and fairy tale goodness, but it's MY home and MY family and there is love.  And wherever there is love, there is hope, a beacon of optimistic light piercing whatever dark thoughts I picked up throughout my day."
Here is what Samara had to say about the same project:
"The reason I chose this was because I felt Pat really threw in all she had to this!  She put every element there is into the home...all who would grace the house - the energy in the homemade house was amazing!   And if that wasn't enough, she has her little person walking away carrying the doodling (which is fantastic), a sentiment (which is stellar) along with her.  The key is just the topping, unlocking all that is truly hopeful, all that is truly part of what speaks to the core of Optimism- HOME.  I just Loved it!"

To see the details of Pat's card and read more of what she had to say, click HERE.
 Jackie C.--chosen by Suze...
 This is what Suze had to say:
"I was inspired by these two sentences":
"We try very hard to stay perky and optimistic. We feel negativity is so draining and depressing."
To see the details of Jackie's card and read more of what she had to say, click HERE.
 Nancy--chosen by Vicky...
Vicky had this to say:
"My choice is Nancy.  I really love that she is referring to her mom in her post and the teachings that she has brought to her".  This is the passage that Nancy wrote about her mom, that Vicky is referring to:
"Even though she doesn't feel very well, she tries to make cards and send them out to her friends and others she feels needs them. She think about the person she makes the card for, she prays for them, and then she sends them off with lots of hope and love. She is the most Optimistic person I know and has taught me so much about how to live a good life (just wish I would have listened to her more in my first 30 years - LOL)."
To see the details of Nancy's card and read more of what she had to say, click HERE.
 Pat M.--chosen by Sandy...

Sandy was really torn as to which of Pat's creations was her favourite.  While she was really drawn to the same one as Samara and Desíre, and particularly to Pat's description of why the journal page offered her inspiration (see the quote from Pat's first project above to see exactly the point I am referring to), it was Pat's other project that won out in the end as being Sandy's favourite.

Here is what Sandy had to say:
"I love the whole feel of her post and that she is so so proud of her daughter… this paragraph in particular":
So I had to create this mixed media canvas in celebration of her flight, and in anticipation of many more to come.  She will soar to newer and higher heights in her life, and that turns my own fears and doubts into Optimism with a capital "O" is so fitting with Optimism.  
"I can just feel her love and excitement at her daughter’s progress.  Additionally, I love that with both her pieces, she maintains such a fabulous perspective".

 To see the details of Pat's other card and read more of what she had to say, click HERE.
Donna--chosen by Lisa (that's me)...

Not only is Donna's card stunningly beautiful, she hit the nail on the head with what she had to say about Optimism.  Here is a quote from that post:
Despite what others may say or do, despite the hardships or circumstances which come into our lives, despite our emotional reactions at situations, our Souls can rise above.  Some call it Hope, or Optimism, or the Silver Lining - ability to see the good in everything.  Some call it "The Peace That Passes Understanding", and others call it a knowledge that we can bring Love, Peace, Joy, Harmony (or whatever is necessary), by simply "being our true selves".

It has been said that Optimism is the "ultimate survival tool".  It is filled with Hope and a certain expectation that in the end, all will not be "merely" well, but it will be beautiful, in its own way.
Donna reflects on a very important part of optimism--we need to try and stay optimistic DESPITE everything around us trying to create deleterious conditions. It is easy to stay positive when everything is going wonderful but what happens when we come up against a brick wall or several of them?!  Sometimes it can be extremely difficult to remain optimistic given the hands we are dealt but there is so much glory to be had by staying positive as it effects every aspect of our self.

To see the details of Donna's card and read more of what she had to say, click HERE.
Creative Congratulations to all of you!

Thank you to everyone who played on our Pathway during the month of August.  You all did an amazing job.  The hard work you put into your creations was obvious.  Now if you were chosen as a DT Delight, then we have a special treat for you.   Not only are you eligible for a special DT Delight badge, we will also be having a draw at the end of the year for a special package of digital goodies.  So, if you are chosen as a DT Delight during any of our challenges, your name will be entered into the draw.  You get one entry per choice; so, if two members picked your card, you will earn 2 entries.  The draw will take place around the anniversary of when the Path of Positivity came into existence which will put the draw date sometime in April 2014.  The winner at the time will be notified by email.  In the interim you are more than welcome to copy your framed card above and add it to your blog to share with all your readers; and, don't forget to EMAIL ME for a copy of the special Challenge #5 DT Delight Badge.

Thank you for stopping by today.  We hope that you will join us again tomorrow to learn what the newest theme for Challenge #7 will be.


Monday, September 23, 2013

The People Have Spoken: Winners From Challenge #5

It is time to announce the winners from Challenge #5.  So, without further ado, let's get on with it...

Drum roll, please....BBBbbbrrrrrrrrr pish

The people have spoken and for the first time ever, we have a tie.  So for challenge #5, in the category of Voter's Choice the people have chosen....



 and also...


The team decided the fairest thing to do was to split the prize down the middle, so Pat and Donna, you each have won your choice of five images from Creative Bug Digital Stamps.
Pat and Donna, you will also be getting a cool and awe inspiring personalized badge for your blog as the Voter's Choice for Challenge #5.
In the category of Most Inspiring, we also have another first.  The same person has won for both the Voter's Choice and for the Most Inspiring creation as chosen by our design team.  So our winner is...

PAT


Pat, in addition to the first set of images you have won, you are also entitled to your choice of three images from Ike's Art.
Pat, you will also be getting a lovely, one of a kind personalized badge for your blog as the Most Inspiring choice for Challenge #5.
  The random winner for this challenge (chosen by Random.com), based on all eligible participants is:



Jo Ann. you have won your choice of three images from Fresh Brewed Designs.


Jo Ann, you will also be getting a neat and unique personalized badge for your blog as the Random Winner for Challenge #5.
We also have a prize available for a random voter who left a comment.

 The random winner for this challenge (chosen by Mini Web Tool), based on all eligible participants is:

LINDA with her comment:
You have pulled together an outstanding selection. There is so much creativity and energy flowing from each design. All seven made me happy and put a big smile on my face.
Linda, you have won a Digital Designer Paper from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles.
 Big Congrats to...
  Pat, Donna, Jo Ann & Linda
Please click HERE to send us an email with the subject, "WINNER PoP Challenge #5" to make arrangements to receive your prize and badge (where applicable).

All entrant's in Challenge #5 are entitled to a special digital sentiment based on a quote related to the theme for the upcoming challenge.  So, if you were one of the individuals who entered Challenge #5 and would like to receive a free sentiment based on the theme for Challenge #7, which starts Monday, October 7, please click HERE to send us an email with the subject line, "PoP Challenge #5 Entrant Quote Request".
Don't forget, there is still two weeks left to enter into this month's challenge on HONESTY.  Click HERE for details.  If you haven't linked up already, I hope that you will consider coming over to play with us.  As always, we'd love to have you join our Path!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Challenge #6--Midway Reflection & Voting Reminder

Hello to all our wonderful readers and participants. It is the midpoint of our current challenge, where the theme this month is HONESTY. Today I am going to share a little introspection with you all that I am also presenting on my own personal blog in my regular, "Motivational Monday" feature. Hence, we are going to further delve into the concept of honesty.

Honesty is the Best Policy

If honesty is the best policy, then why is it so difficult for us to truly be honest? Last week I had the opportunity to visit one of the entries in our current HONESTY challenge. Deanne, from Little Bit ‘OPaper had a really great quote on her project:
“Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” ~Faust
Many people are under the impression that simply not lying makes them honest. However, truth encompasses so many other variables and being completely honest with others and even ourselves can be quite a challenge.

As children we learn all the different outcomes from lying or simply avoiding the truth. The act of lying itself may prevent a child from getting into trouble immediately but the consequences of when the truth is finally discovered may increase the punishment tenfold. Then there are those occasions when telling the truth itself will result in punitive measures. If a five year old realizes that telling the truth is going to cost him or her in some way, are they likely to speak up with sincerity? Then, what about those times when it just might be possible that the child’s lies aren’t discovered? The praise and reward received may propel the child down a slippery slope of dishonest behaviour in order to achieve desirable results. As the child grows and tests the waters of where their honesty or dishonesty lands them, the negative patterns of conduct may already be too far ingrained and subconsciously they may come to a point where they don’t even realize how dishonesty is impacting their life. Face it, as humans if we can avoid facing emotional pain, our tendency will be to fall back on dishonesty if we believe that it can preclude us from experiencing the ramifications of distress. Thus, we end up falling into the pattern of deceptive behaviour given our desire to stay in our ‘happy place’ and to effectively avoid conflict or responsibility and get what we want. However, time has taught us that patterns can be broken and in order to live authentically, we need to adopt an honest lifestyle.

The problem is that walking the fine line of honesty can be a very difficult road to travel. As the quote says, it isn’t simply about not telling lies, it is also about coming forward and being truthful when we have done something wrong. It is about having the courage to speak up and tell the truth though we may be afraid to do so. It is about living your life with honesty being an important principle that you follow. Finally, it is about embracing and loving this truthful side to your nature. For some people, this means that they must ready themselves to deal with the potential pain that telling the truth can lead to and also learn that life isn’t always going to be about getting desirable outcomes. It takes true strength to be honest and if individuals have spent years immersed in negative behaviour, their patterns will not be broken overnight. However, with time, practice and perseverance, patterns can be broken. For others, the difficulty of living a truthful life lies in not wanting to hurt those around them. Many of us would prefer to avoid bringing distress to the people we care about. In these circumstances, we need to approach the situation with tact, be sensitive to the feelings of others, and exercise political correctness while still managing to bring honesty into the equation. None of these are easy tasks.

My personal goal is to live a truthful life. Sometimes I am not always so successful. For myself it is more a matter of not wanting to bring pain to others, not wanting to show anger and if I am being truthful with myself, avoiding conflict. Living a truthful life as Faust has laid out in his quote, is not an easy task at all. It can be arduous, distressing, uncomfortable and confusing, yet exalting and liberating all at the same. It requires determination, introspective thought and commitment. Additionally, it requires an individual to be accountable for their own life. That is not an easy thing to do but I believe that the rewards for living a truthful life are worth the efforts—better relationships, trust, less anxiety from having to keep all the different lies straight, knowing that you have taught others through example. These are all ideals worthy of the struggle, are they not?

Honesty may be the best policy but it is one whose implementation does not come without cost. Are you willing to put the time and effort into living the principles of "truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving"? I may not always succeed, but I personally, am certainly going to try.

To help inspire you down the path of honesty, check out the wonderful creations some of my Design Team had the opportunity to create...




Samara used the image that was rather popular among the DT at the start of the challenge, the beautiful rose called Flower 6, from our guest sponsor this month Scribbles Designs. If you are interested in purchasing this ravishing rose, click on the watermark to head to its location in the store.

 Next up is...



Vicky has used a sweet image from one of our amazing regular sponsors, Creative Bug Digitals
Finally, that leaves our...

Lynda from  Positive Force, who is our guest designer this month, created this precious project...
Lynda has used the adorable image Ballerina, also from Creative Bug Digitals.  If you are interested in purchasing this sweet young lady, click on the watermark to head to its location in the store.



Clicking on the team members name (or in the case of our GDT, the blog name) will take you to their blog where you can check out the details for their inspirational creations!
So if you haven't entered already, what are you waiting for?  Create a project and/or post that is positive AND relates to honesty, 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!

Also, I know that the participants would love for you to go and pay them a visit.  Remember we're creating a Path of Positivity to follow one project at a time and we'd love to see you somewhere on that route even if it just by leaving a comment on an entry from someone who has touched you somehow with their project and/or post!

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).

Don't Forget...

You still have 3 days to vote on your favourite entry for Challenge #5.  Voting is quick, easy and painless so I hope you will consider casting your vote if you haven't already.  Don't forget, if you leave a comment after voting, you have the opportunity to walk away with a digital paper created especially for you. To check out the Top Seven and cast your vote, click HERE.  You have until Thursday, September 19th at 11:55 pm to have your say in who walks away with the Voter's Choice prize.  If everything goes according to plan, the winners for Challenge #5 will be announced next Monday.

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON OPTIMISM?
If you need some motivation to get you started, I've provided the Faust quote that I referenced above, free for you to download:
Font and Image Information:
Click on the font name to take you to a download location.  All these fonts are free for commercial use.

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. 

I've added a 'Download Instructions & T.O.U.' tab at the top of the page. If you use this image in your artwork and post it on your blog, please credit me and link your posting back to this site. NO sharing, or pinning of unwatermarked images allowed.  Please ensure that you familiarize yourself with my full terms of use before using.  

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. You can enter the challenge by clicking HERE to take you to the current challenge post where you can also find a quick summary of the details related to this challenge, towards the bottom of the post.

GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY...
Please show your support to our fabulous sponsors by going over and checking out their work and saying hi if you have the chance.  In addition to Fresh Brewed Designs, our guest sponsor for the month...
...we also have our regular sponsors:
 
 









That is me and I'd love for you to visit me
on my personal blog.


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



We look forward to seeing you participate!





References:

C., Jared; P., Martyn, et al.. (Date Unknown.). How to Be Honest. Available: http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Honest. Last accessed 16th Sept. 2013.

Letchford, Belinda. (Date Unknown.). Character Notes - Truthfulness. Available: http://www.lifestyle-homeschool.com/Character-Notes-Truthfulness.html. Last accessed 16th Sept. 2013.

Mercer, Mark. (Date Unknown.). Don't Lie: Discussion and Criticism. Available: www.smu.ca/faculty/markmercer/documents/13_Don't_Lie.doc. Last accessed 16th Sept. 2013.

Tangient LLC. (2013). Honesty. Available: http://discoveringtherealme.wikispaces.com/9+-+Honesty. Last accessed 16th Sept. 2013.

Wells, Jonathan . (Date Unknown.). Do You Have the Courage to Be Honest?. Available: http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/courage-to-be-honest/. Last accessed 16th Sept. 2013.