FREE GOODIES - REMEMBER MOTHERS DAY

Hi All!

I normally don’t do any posting on a Sunday, but I had lots of inspiration and there are so many things that I want to share with you. So, I thought I will give you a heads up of what will be coming this week. – FREE GOODIES!!!  (Lots of free print ables and great ideas)

Seeing that Mothers Day is coming up, which I love, I thought, for those of you who also like to make your own gifts, I will share a few of my goodies with you. Gift bags, gift tags, Calendars, Book Marks and Greeting cards, everything ready for you to download and print!

I am also adding more pages to my blog:       

Crafts and Makes

Family Life

Fashion and Beauty

Health and Well being

Home and Decor

AND then of course more words to inspire.

You can also sign up to my FREE E-NEWSLETTER delivered to you weekly where I will be sharing more info on these topics with you. Instead of spending hours searching for info, tips, ideas and images on these topics, all the hard work has been done for you. So much info with ONE FREE E-NEWSLETTER, lots of direct links to super cool sites not to be missed.

 I have come across the most amazing, inspiring sites that I would love to share. Hey, you can even contribute to my News Letter if you have something nice to share!! Yip, some SUGAR AND SPICE FOR EVERYDAY LIFE!!

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Best Wishes

REMEMBER

Life's Unexpected Curve Balls

Hi Everyone,  

Wow, what a week so far! Yes, it was one of those weeks where life throws a few unexpected curve balls at you. I had quite a few of them in one week and thus my posting for today, HAPPINESS. I know, very hard to put on the smiley face if everything within you just wants to show the upside-down smile! But then, as always I received tit-bits of encouragement and love from various sources, whether it is an e-mail form my sister with encouraging words from Joyce Meyer or a web page that out of nowhere pops onto your screen while searching for something completely different. I believe it all happens with a reason and was specifically meant for me to look up and realize that I am not on my own, God is watching over me and is guiding me every step of the way.

I am firm believer of positive thinking and that it can actually attract positive things into your life.

Positive thinking brings inner peace, success, improved relationships, better health, happiness and satisfaction. It also helps the daily affairs of life move more smoothly, and makes life look bright and promising.

Ways to clear negative thinking:

• Listen to your favorite music.
• Spend some time with God in prayer.
• Before starting with any plan or action, visualize clearly in your mind its successful outcome. 
• If you visualize with concentration and faith, you will be amazed at the results.
• Read at least one page of an inspiring book every day. (Greatday.com and Joel Osteen Ministries is my favorite sites to visit for my daily inspiration)
• Watch movies that make you feel happy.
• Always sit and walk with your back straight. This will strengthen your confidence and   inner strength.
• Walk, swim or engage in some other physical activity. This helps to develop a more positive attitude.
• Do something you really enjoy, painting, crafting, and gardening, anything to take your mind off the negative situation. You will soon find yourself in a different mind set!

Have a wonderful, blessed and HAPPY life!

Body, Mind and Soul

TIP FOR TODAY:

We are of no value to our family and company if we are frazzled, depressed, sick or just plain burnt-out! So it’s vital that we take care of both our physical and mental health.

To be productive at work, we need to get enough rest, eat right and regularly, exercise and most of all do the things that make us happy: Whether it’s going for long walks or spending quality time with our family.

The Body and Wellness

By Donna McCullum – The Fairy Godmother’s Guide to getting what you want.

The body is a brilliant, complex system of muscles, nerves, blood, organs and cells. Any system has inputs and outputs. The body system runs on three energy inputs and the resulting output when correctly functioning, is a self-regulating, self-healing body in a state of health and wellness.

The inputs are obvious:

FOOD

EXERCISE

REST AND SLEEP

The quality of the inputs determines the output of health and wellness the body is able to produce over time. The body is the foundational platform for a human being, because it is the vehicle housing the mind and soul. Without the body, the mind ceases to exist, and when the body is ill, the mind finds it difficult to function properly.

When the body is in health and wellness, it can align with the other systems in the being.

I hope this will inspire you to take care of yourself!

Blessings - Sow Generously

Something to think about!

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Life is like a Box of Chocolates!

Hi Everyone.

Hope everybody had a great week-end with friends and family.

My daughter and I have decided to save a bit of money by baking every week-end something nice for the week to come. I usually buy sweeties and cookies which I also use to top-up her lunch box with. This actually works out quite expensive. So, we spent the week-end with recipe books and magazines searching for various yummy delights to make and bake instead of buying. The result was quite amazing! You will definitely be receiving more recipe cards from me as I am on a mission!!

Our first recipe that we chose for the week was CHOCOLATE BROWNIES!! Don't they just look yummy?

HUMOR FOR TODAY:

DAILY INSPIRATION:

Bible Chocolates: KIT KAT - TAKE A BREAK, SPEND SOME TIME WITH GOD!!

Have an awesome day!!

PRAYER FOR A FRIEND

I have not posted anything for a couple of days as it was Easter Weekend, and I have decided not to do any work or hobby related activities. I simply spent my time with my daughter, husband and mom! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Weekend.

This morning when I started to prepare for my next post, I quickly went over to one of the blogs that I follow about Digital Scrap Booking, Summertime Designs. She posted about her friend Brittany, that had a terrible Mountain Biking accident, which left her paralyzed. To cover all the medical expenses and prep work at home to make it wheelchair friendly, they need all the financial assistance they can get, and I think it is not just money that they need, but prayers, love and any other support that people can offer.

This made me think again that each morning when we get up, there are so many things to be thankful for and we need to give praise to our Lord for all our blessings. And in return be a blessing to others. We can not always give financially, but we can share our prayers, love, time and talents to bless others.

My Prayer to Brittany and everyone that reads this!

I have created the above page with digital elements from Ellie Lash and digital Papers from Summertime Designs combined with my own elements and digital paper. 

PLEASE FORWARD THE PRAYER TO YOUR FRIENDS!

God Bless!

True Love

My daily inspiration for today.

As promised, two Desktop Back Grounds for you to download:

http://www.4shared.com/photo/xOWcfcMn/Desktop_Background_Nectarine.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/J9u40Atz/Desktop_Black_no_photo.html

What inspires you to get up in the morning?

Yesterday morning I watched one of our Breakfast TV Shows, Expresso, and they asked, ‘What inspires you to get up in the morning and cease the day’ Well, I did not have to think about it at all. The first thing that came to mind was my family and friends – PRECIOUS MEMORIES!!  It was not a big house, fancy car or anything like that. To be truly thankful for all my blessings, I have a good, loving, hardworking husband, a beautiful, talented daughter who excels in drama and modeling and have only recently discovered that she is quite artistic as well! My mom is an active, healthy 73 year old great grandma, my loving sister with her sparkling personality and my brother, the intelligent, soft spoken IT guy who recovered just a few months ago from a triple bypass heart operation. And then there are all their wonderful talented children, each unique with their own beautiful characteristics.  This made me realize that’s why I love digital scrap booking so much, because all of these precious memories are kept safely on a disc, preserved with my creative passion to share with everyone. And, the other plus point is that I do not only have to have them digitally, but can print them in full colour and use them with other mixed media and creative projects.

This inspires me, when things aren’t going too well, I just sit quietly and think about all the beautiful things in my life, and realize  that this too will pass and that the sun will shine again with happy, fond memories that can be captured in my heart but also on disc!! I then tell myself I have to do this or I am going through this for my husband and daughter whom I dearly love. This makes any bad day tolerable, I quickly browse through my scrap book pages and quick, quick the mood has been lifted and I can deal with the obstacles in front of me. Everything right here on my laptop. No need to go and search for all the old, dusted photographs. And with technology, we can now even have our photos or pictures on our computer screens. We can change them how often we want to and to what ever we want. Personalize our working space!

We spend most of our time at work unfortunately, and what better way to have our precious memories with us all day long on our computer screens.

So yes, I get up in the morning because I have wonderful people in my life and I am truly grateful for all my blessings.

MY CURRENT DESKTOP BACKGROUND

PENCIL DRAWING BY MY DAUGHTER, 12 YEARS

Faith

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade!!

OR, Simply put them to good use. See these great cleaning tips and yes, save money on all those cleaning detergents!

LEMONS –

        GREAT CLEANING TIPS

Forget the cleaning products under your sink. You probably have a very powerful one right in your fridge: Lemon, which adds such welcome zest to food and cocktails, is also a mild but highly effective cleaning agent.

What makes lemon such a powerful cleanser? Its high acid content, which enables the fruit to work as a powerful antibacterial sanitizer that combats common household bacteria.

Put a shine on metal

When it comes to copper, brass and chrome, nix harsh chemical polishes and instead put some elbow grease behind half a lemon. “Lemons are highly acidic, which enables them to cut through and loosen mineral deposits, making them easier to wipe away. For extra oomph, before scrubbing, dip the fruit half in salt—it will help exfoliate the surface for added shine.

Sanitize the microwave

The lingering smell of popcorn, pizza and whatever you might have heated up recently can overwhelm a microwave. Cut a whole lemon into super-thin slices and put the pieces in a microwavable bowl. Fill the bowl with hot water, place in the microwave and cook on high for one minute. The citric acid’s antibacterial properties will kill bacteria while the heat works like a humidifier to loosen icky, caked-on food. Afterward, wipe the oven with a damp cloth.

Nix soap scum in the shower

Instead of tending to the shower tiles, doors and fixtures with an abrasive chemical treatment, use this homemade natural remedy: Juice six lemons and pour the contents into a spray bottle. The citric acid will break down hard water deposits and dissolve filmy soap scum. Also, the antibacterial and antiseptic properties will sanitize the space.

Hand-wash dishes

When you run out of dish soap, slice a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on top, working the lemon half like you would a Brillo pad. Watch as the citric acid cuts, loosens and then dissolves grease, giving your pots and pans a shiny glow. Oh, and your dishpan hands will smell sweet!

Deodorize the laundry

It doesn’t take much to combat the odors of work, the gym and the everyday grind. Adding just one teaspoon of lemon juice to the laundry along with detergent will provide a fresh, clean scent to socks, undergarments and other clothing.

Wash the windows

Four tablespoons of lemon juice (either fresh or out of the bottle) mixed with a half-gallon of water makes an effective window cleaner—sans chemicals and streaking. The powerful citric acid dissolves dirt, grime and water stains, leaving your windows sparkling.

Sanitize a cutting board

Spruce up that kitchen workhorse—the cutting board—by squeezing a lemon half over the top and letting the juice absorb for 10 minutes. (It soaks into wood especially well, but this also works on plastic cutting boards.) This will loosen stains. Next, kill bacteria by using the fruit to scrub the board.

Clean hard-to-reach places

Make a paste of lemon juice and borax. With a toothbrush, use the fresh-smelling cleanser to scrub tiles and around drains. This mixture is also ideal for all those evil nooks and crannies!