Monday, November 25, 2013

The People Have Spoken: Winners From Challenge #7

It is time to announce the winners from Challenge #7.  So, without further ado, here they are...

Drum roll, please....BBBbbbrrrrrrrrr pish

The people have spoken and their choice for challenge #7 is once again....
You may or may not remember that for Challenge #7, we were fortunate enough to have two guest sponsors.  Creative Bug Digitals will be taking a break this month from providing the winnings for the person who gets the most votes.  In their place, the awesome Floppy Latté Designs has stepped in to take care of the Voter's Choice prize. 
 
So Annie, this means you have won a $6.00 coupon to spend over at Floppy Latté Designs.

 
Annie, you will also be getting a cool and awe inspiring personalized badge for your blog as the Voter's Choice for Challenge #7.
In the category of Most Inspiring, our winner is...
Mimi, you have won your choice of three images from Ike's Art.
Mimi, you will also be getting a lovely, one of a kind personalized badge for your blog as the Most Inspiring choice for Challenge #7.
  The random winner for this challenge (chosen by Random.com), based on all eligible participants is:
Jennifer, you have won your choice of three images from Fresh Brewed Designs (FBD).
 Jennifer, you will also be getting a neat and unique personalized badge for your blog as the Random Winner for Challenge #7.
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:

Maryann Laursen with her comment:
There´s certainly some really amazing entries all of of them here, but there is a couple of them, that were really struggling to get my vote, but in the end, there was one, who won with a haircut before the other LOL. But all of these are sure worthy to win as they´re all gorgeous creations, so it´s really been a tuff choise to pick just one, as they all deserves to win in my eyes. But good luck to all of you ladies, and I cross my fingers, that the best will be the winner.
Maryann, you have won a Digital Designer Paper from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles.

Big Congrats to...

Annie, Mimi, Jennifer & Maryann

Please click HERE to send us an email with the subject, "WINNER PoP Challenge #7" to make arrangements to receive your prize and badge (where applicable).

All entrant's in Challenge #7 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 #7 and would like to receive a free sentiment based on the theme for Challenge #9, which starts Monday, December 2, please click HERE to send us an email with the subject line, "PoP Challenge #7 Entrant Quote Request".
Don't forget, there is still one week left to enter into this month's challenge on THANKFULNESS.  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, November 18, 2013

Challenge #8--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 THANKFULNESS. Today I am going to share a little introspection with you all that I am also presenting on my own personal blog in my "Motivational Monday" feature. Today, we are going to take a look at the concept of gratitude...

PLEASE and THANK YOU.


Two simple phrases but they pack a lot of meaning.  Unfortunately, these days, we hear them less and less in our day-to-day lives.  People still want things but forget the niceties that go along with their requests. Today I am going to focus on the second phrase--thank you; or more aptly, the concept of thankfulness.

We have so much to be thankful for in our lives.  For some it is health, for others it is the friends and family that they surround themselves with.  For a fortunate few it is monetary wealth.  But what about the little things that are actually big things?  How many of you remember to thank God, your higher power or even the universe itself for things like the air that you breathe or the ground that you walk on; or more importantly, the fact that for most, you have the ability to walk unaided or the ability to breathe freely on your own without the use of a respirator?  Some people aren't as fortunate and many of us tend to take much of what we have for granted.

The act of gratitude is very important.  Being thankful, not just for the larger things but for the little thing too, allows us to fill our lives with love and appreciation.  It reminds us of all the positive things that we have going for us.  Sometimes it is easy to get down and dwell in the negativity but gratitude helps us remember just how much we have in our lives that is positive.  Having a difficult day at work?  Be thankful that you have work in this economy.  Complaining about all the aches and pains as you grow older?  Be thankful that you aren't a quadriplegic and still have the ability to feel.  Feel like you are facing too many challenges?  Be thankful that life isn't boring or that you have a mind smart and capable enough of handling the challenges thrown your way.   Be thankful that getting through these kinds of challenges, makes you a stronger person.

Being appreciative can also bring a little kindness into the lives of those we come across during our busy days.  Whether it is a loved one or a stranger, there is always time to say a quick thank you when someone holds open a door, hands us something, or in response to a compliment they have given us.  The act of saying thanks costs us little but can mean so much to the person on the other end.  It might also mean that person is in turn a little more thankful themselves.

Being thankful reminds us of what is important in life.  If you and your family are healthy and you have money coming in, then it is difficult to get upset over things that are really inconsequential in the larger scheme.  If you are upset over the cost of gas, just be thankful that you have a car.  Kids driving you crazy?  Be thankful that they are healthy enough to be running and jumping all over the place and that they have voices with which to scream.  If you are upset that you don't have enough money to buy something that you really want right at this moment, just be thankful that you have a home that you will be able to bring it to, once you have saved up a little more. When someone passes you the salt at the dinner table, remember to say thank you.  There are many people out there who don't have food let alone a dinner table or a home to put one in.  Even if your circumstances are not the best, I hope that there is still something, even something very small, for which you are able to show your gratitude.

Gratitude is the best attitude.  It really is.  However, like all things in life being grateful is a choice.  We can choose to show gratitude and take a more positive outlook on things or we can choose to continue to focus on the negative.  Of course, the simple act of being grateful will not make the bad things we are facing go away, it just helps us to look at our lives a little differently.  For some, showing gratitude is not an easy task at all.  If you live in darkness it is difficult to see the light never mind try to grasp onto something that you are thankful for.  However, I believe the end results will be worth the effort.  Everything important in life takes work. Start off with coming up with one thing you are grateful for in your life right now. We are only guaranteed the time we have today. Worry about tomorrow, when it comes.
To help inspire you down the path of thankfulness, check out the wonderful projects a couple of my Design Team had the opportunity to create...

 

Samara used the strong Army Female image from one of our on-going sponsors Ike's Art.  It is part of a bundle called Female Troops. She also used the fabulous sentiment that is in this bundle.  If you are interested in purchasing this cool digi set, click on the watermark to head over to its location in Ike's store.

http://www.ikesart.com/#!__digital-art-stamps
 Next up is...



Vicky has also used a great image from Ike's Art.  This image is called Fall Kat.  If you are interested in purchasing this adorable image, click on the watermark to head over to its location in Ike's store.

http://www.ikesart.com/#!__digi-animals/productsstackergalleryv21=0
 Finally, that leaves our...

Karin, a DT member with DS4J, is our guest designer for the midway this month...

My name is Karin and I’m from the Netherlands.  I’m 51 years and making cards since 2000.  I started with decoupage, and after a couple of years I have learnt to stamp.  Now I’m coloring with Copics.  I have learnt this in 2010 and I love it. Since last year I’m in the design team from DigiStamps4Joy and that is such a great team and Margy is so wonderful .

Here is the lovely card she created.  She calls it, "Thank you for being a friend"...


Karen has used the oh so sweet image called Best Friends, from DigiStamps4Joy.  If you are interested in purchasing this digi, click on the watermark to head to its location in the store.

http://digistamps4joy.co.za/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=213

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 thankfulness, 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!  You can enter our latest challenge by clicking HERE.

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 #7.  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 all the eligible images and cast your vote, click HERE.  You have until Thursday, October 24th 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 #7 will be announced next Monday.

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON HOPE?
If you need some motivation to get you started, I've provided another motivational quote free for you to download:



Credit Notes For This Creation:
© 2012, 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 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 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. 

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. 

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 DS4J, our guest sponsors 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!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Challenge #7 Top Seven: Voting Open November 11th to November 21st, 2013

Welcome to the Challenge #7 PoP ToP!

Wow.  We had a total of 29 entries in our challenge on HOPE.  I and the team were thrilled with the turn out and enjoyed visiting your fabulous creations.  The fact that they are all so good has of course made choosing the entries for our Top Seven for Challenge #7 just that much more difficult!  Why seven and not the typical three, four or even five?  Well, we strive to be different over here on the Path of Positivity.  Additionally, seven is a spiritual number and thus right in the wheelhouse of the vibe we are looking to project; so, seven it is.  This month it is even more powerful a number as we have a team of seven members, the challenge was our 7th, it started on the 7th of the month and now we are showcasing the 7 creations that touched us the most.  Powerful indeed!

Well, enough of my ramblings, it is time to get on with it, so please let me introduce you to the Top Seven for Challenge #7 (in no particular order)...


 












Congrats Ladies...


As a participant who has been chosen in our Top Seven, each of you is entitled to a special Top Seven badge. Please email me by clicking HERE, with the subject "Challenge #7 Top Seven" and I'll email your badge to you. 

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 hope.  Please let us know who your choice is by placing your vote below using the Inlinkz feature. 

Voting open for 10 days:
November 11th to November 21st

So, come have your say in determining the Voter's Choice for Challenge #7!  Don't forget to leave a comment after you have voted.  There will be a prize for one lucky voter who leaves a comment (chosen randomly).   You should be able to visit any of these lovely entries by clicking on the thumbnail or name in the linkup below, after you have voted.  Why not pay a visit to your favourite and let them know how they inspired you.

Now I believe that Inlinkz doesn't allow you to visit the entries until after you have voted.  If I am wrong and you are able to visit all the entries before you place your vote, I'd appreciate it if someone could let me know.  Since I am uploading all the entries for the top seven, the linkup doesn't allow me to check this on my end so I need someone else to let me know.  Until I hear that you can indeed visit before voting, I'll put the blog links for the top seven above each corresponding frame, so that you have the opportunity to actually head over to the blogs and check out each post to help you with your voting.

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 seven images below on which to vote.  As soon as all seven are uploaded, I'll enable voting to begin. If there are less than seven, 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:

Monday, November 04, 2013

Challenge #8--THANKFULNESS:November 4 - December 1, 2013

It is the first Monday in November and that means it is time for the next challenge to start. This time around, for Challenge #8 the theme is "THANKFULNESS".  Show us your interpretation of what being thankful 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.  I look forward to seeing what you all come up with.

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 thankfulness 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 being thankful in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes.  While you may easily see how thankfulness 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.  This way it clears up any ambiguity that may exist.

Now it is time to meet our guest sponsor for this month.  Once again I am pleased to have with us...  

 South African crafters are new to the digital stamping world, with the first South African online digital image store launched in 2010 – Digistamps4Joy (or DS4J) http://www.digistamps4joy. co.za/eshop/ (clicking on the logo will take you to the store as well) .  In May 2012, Margy Kieser took over ownership of DS4J, and there are now two South African artists who contribute to the more than 600 images available. Margy has taken the store to new heights and the store now stocks digis that are cute, whimsical, artistic, sometimes serious, and sometimes humorous. The store has PAYPAL and EFT (South African) facilities.  Digistamps4Joy offers a monthly freebie on the first Friday of every month, and holds regular bi-weekly card challenges on our BLOG (http://digistamps4joy-sa.blogspot.com) that draws entries from all over the world. We are also active on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/DS4Joy) and Paper Craft Planet (http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/digistamps4joy).
The design team got the opportunity to work with one of the following two images this month.  The first one is called Diamond Beauties...
http://digistamps4joy.co.za/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=462
Such a beautiful image isn't it?  I love that the flowers only go around the one side.  By adding a sentiment to the open area, it creates a very balanced piece.

A couple of the DT members chose to work with Wisteria Splendour...
http://digistamps4joy.co.za/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=566
Such a warm and inviting door.  I'd certainly feel welcome entering this place!

One of our team members, who is also on the DS4J team, added an additional image to her creation.  Along with Wisteria Splendour, she also used Misteri - Pretty Kitty...
http://digistamps4joy.co.za/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=27&products_id=890
Another very sweet image.  I love the expression on the young girl's face.  Looks like there is some mutual thankfulness going on in this image.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these incredible images, clicking on the watermarks will take you to their location in the DS4J store.
Now check out what my amazing design 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 also pleased to have a guest designer from DS4J joining us this month.  The owner herself is joining us for the start of the challenge...

Hi, I am Margy, the owner of Digistamps4Joy, and I’m thrilled to be not only sponsoring this challenge, but also a GDT! I was born in the UK but have lived in South Africa all my life - the country at the southern tip of Africa – and have been blessed with 3 beautiful daughters and 5 grandchildren – hence my thankful card for being able to enjoy my grandchildren. I have been making cards for many years, and I am an avid crafter of anything that is the current ‘craze’. I started drawing and selling my own digistamps in 2009 at Digistamps4Joy, under the ownership of Mel. I bought the company from Mel in 2010, and have expanded it, and also have another artist (Jen) who contributes to the many fabulous digis in the store. In a nutshell – I LOVE crafts! My personal blog (http://deniquecrafts.blogspot.com) is the place where I show off all my other crafts.  
Margy used the precious DS4J stamp called Our Secret...

http://digistamps4joy.co.za/eshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=18&products_id=414
Here is the lovely card she came up with...

Once again my design team and our guest have come through with gorgeous creations all conveying a sense of THANKFULNESS within them.
 
So what are you waiting for?  Create a project and/or post that is positive AND relates to thankfulness, 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 on Monday, November 11th when voting will start on the Top Seven for Challenge #7.

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


Credit Notes For This Creation:
© 2012, 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 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:
Click on the font name to take you to a download location.  Both 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.

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 November 4th to December 1st.
  • Link up your inspirational post below using Inlinkz. You will be able to submit your link up to 11:55 p.m. on December 1st.
  • 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.
  • Don't forget to come back throughout the month and visit others that have participated.
  • Voting for this challenge will begin once the top seven have been determined.  There will be a separate post detailing the top seven.  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 seven.  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.
  • This month, prizes will be the following:
    • Ten digital images from Creative Bug Digital Stamps for the person out of the top seven who receives the most votes during voting week.
    • Three digital images from Ike's World  for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
    • Five images from Digistamps4Joy, this month's guest sponsor for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
    • One digital designer paper from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky voter who leaves a comment.
    • One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

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 Digistamps4Joy, our guest sponsor for the month, we also have our regular sponsors:
 
 











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


We look forward to seeing you participate!


Inlinkz collection begins below: