Adored Before

2012-01-09T13:21:00.000-05:00

The Ten Rules for Being Human
1. You will receive a body.
2. You will be presented with lessons.
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.
4. Lessons are repeated until learned.
5. Learning does not end.
6. "There" is no better than "here".
7. Others are only mirrors of you.
8. What you make of your life is up to you.
9. All the answers lie inside of you.
10. You will forget all of this at birth.

~Cherie Carter-Scott, Ph.D.

Seeing Christmas

2011-12-11T22:56:00.001-05:00

Image credit

Today I took my 7 year old son Christmas shopping for his sister.
During our stroll through one of the store aisles, a very tall, jolly man with an impressive smile, belly and white beard to match, happened by wearing a red Santa hat. Just another customer to me (albeit a very festive one), my son saw something else. When he first passed us, I noticed my son's eyes widen as he tried so hard to look ahead and not to stare.
'How cute!' I thought. 'He thought that was Santa.'
We ran into 'Santa' again a couple of aisles later where he clearly noticed he had been 'discovered'. He caught my son's eye and knelt down next to him and said (in an impressively deep voice),
'Don't let anyone know you saw me here, ok?'
My son nodded enthusiastically.
'I'm out checking on kids before the big day.'
My son said, 'I was wondering why you were wandering around here in your street clothes.'
Santa chuckled softly and asked, 'are you on the good list?'
My son replied with, 'yes, sir. So far!'
He wished us both a Merry Christmas & headed off to finish up his shopping (and subsequent 'behavior checking').

Heart. Full.
Thank you to this kind soul who took a few seconds to make a little boy's day.
And mine.

A $4500 GIVEAWAY

2011-12-03T15:22:00.000-05:00

If you have always dreamed of starting a new business or if your current business is in need of some assistance DESIGNHER BRANDS and friends are offering $4,500 worth of prizes to ONE LUCKY WINNER to help you get there.

The winner gets EVERYTHING listed below. Link to enter is below.
Its FREE and EASY to enter and there's no purchase required.

A website design of your choice from Avalon Rose worth at least $400
A SEO package from Designher Brands worth over $400
A $100 gift certificate to Brave Girls Club
Three life coaching sessions from Here to There
$50 to spend at The Crystal Cottage Boutique
A fine art print {mailed to your doorstep!} from Everyday is a Holiday
A giant handmade cork board from For the Love of Junk {mailed to your doorstep!} in an antique frame
$50 to spend at Lavender Fields
A custom piece of altered art {mailed right to your doorstep!} from Upcycled Soul
A FREE Gilded Girls Stash Society box from A Gilded Life {mailed right to your doorstep!}
$60 to spend at AJ Bloom
$75 to spend at Bella Rennie
A FREE Goodie Box {mailed right to your door!} including: a red velvet flower brooch, pin with a jeweled center, a black ribbon rose necklace on a velvet cord accented with black feathers, a cluster of Caroline Alexander ribbon rose brooches (in lime, tobacco and putty), an upcycled ruffled denim flower pin, a black wristlet handbag with a sequined bracelet carry and a felted red rose pin from Caroline Alexander
Six FREE exclusive Quilt patterns from For the Love Designs
FREE professional stock images to use on your blog from Jennifer Wolsey
$40 worth of customizable monogram notecards from JWD Boutique
$50 to spend at Mary Not Martha
$50 to spend at Pansy Cottage & Garden
FREE Master Pattern Collection from Snazziedrawers-bunches of boutique kids patterns

FREE ADVERTISING:

in Romantic Homes Magazine Pink Pages
in Stampington & Company Artisan Avenue
on Avalon Rose Market Square
Sidebar at Jenny Doh's Crescendoh
Sidebar at Adored Before
in Belle Inspirationmagazine

AND

SIX FREE MONTHS at Shabby Lane Shops online boutique shopping mall

Custom, handmade jewelry from

A FREE gift bag from Julee Ireland worth over $100
A FREE custom designed crown from Blooming Hairlooms
TWO FREE NY TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS signed by authors Debbie Macomber, Christina Skye and Susan Mallery

RULES FOR ENTRY ARE HERE

G O O D L U C K to all!

$4500 Life Changing New Business Giveaway

2011-12-01T18:29:00.001-05:00

Hop on over to my other website DesignHer Brands for the

Ultimate NO EXCUSES Giveaway!

I wanted to give one lucky winner the chance to change their life and start the business they've already dreamed of. With the help of over 30 talented & very generous friends I was able to create a giveaway to end all giveaways!

$4,500 worth of prizes to one lucky winner!

Whether you are starting a new business

or want to give your current business a total makeover

you do not want to miss this opportunity!

Click here to enter!

The Greatest Gift a Man Can Give...

2011-11-11T09:30:00.000-05:00

Too many Americans consider it a waste when a member of today's military loses his/her life in conflict. We veterans know well that we CHOOSE to risk our lives in order to help improve the lives of others less fortunate than ourselves.

No loss of a veteran's life is ever a waste. Whether you believe in the cause or not, it is that individual veteran who said, "with this selfless act of service I hereby lay down my life in order to benefit someone else." No one has the right to determine whether or not that veteran made the right choice. He/she made it of their own free will, which makes it a most wonderful gift, and a sacrifice that should be treasured by all.

No non-veteran will ever understand this, and therefore no non-veteran should ever pass judgement against those who choose to give what Jesus told us is the greatest gift a man can give, to lay down his life for his friend.

Thank you veterans, whether you served in peacetime or time of conflict. I appreciate the brave and selfless sacrifice that you made.

Jeff Sanders
U.S. Army
SSG/Retired

ONE DOLLAR SALE

2011-10-22T17:38:00.002-04:00

ALL CHIPBOARD

is only $1 til it's gone

AS ALWAYS, $5 FLAT RATE SHIPPING INSIDE THE US

CHIPBOARD

As I get to it, I will be adding more closeout and clearance merchandise and will keep you updated right here. Check back often, This stuff won't last and once it's gone- it's GONE for good!

~Melissa

Words to the Wise

2011-10-19T16:26:00.001-04:00

Image Credit

A close family friend lost her battle with cancer this past weekend. These words reminded me of her because it was how she chose to live her life.
It's something we can all aspire to!

TEN WAYS TO LOVE

1. Listen without interrupting. (Proverbs 18:13)

2. Speak without accusing. (James 1:19)

3. Give without sparing. (Proverbs 21:26)

4. Pray without ceasing. (Colossians 1:9)

5. Answer without arguing. (Proverbs 17:1)

6. Share without pretending. (Ephesians 4:15)

7. Enjoy without complaint. (Philippians 2:14)

8. Trust without wavering. (Corinthians 13:7)

9. Forgive without punishing. (Colossians 3:13)

10. Promise without forgetting. (Proverbs 13:12)

Keep Building

2011-09-18T09:20:00.000-04:00

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're going to love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible.

-Author Unknown

Pitch Your Product to Romantic Homes!

2011-09-15T17:29:00.002-04:00

Ever wanted to get your product published? Well, here's your chance!
At the upcoming Launch Your Creativity event:

Launch Your Creativity

There will be a MEET & GREET and a opportunity to PITCH YOUR PRODUCT to be published in an upcoming issue!

The editors of Romantic Homes, Cottages and Bungalows, and Victorian Homes will be on hand for a special meet and greet with you. This is a special opportunity where you can pitch your home or product to be featured in an upcoming issue.They will be available 12:30-1:45.

Hillary Black, Jickie Torres and Meryl Shoenbaum

Senior Editors of Romantic Homes
will be on hand - ready to be 'pitched!'

Rules for Pitch Presentation
If you are pitching a product it must be completely ready to deliver to the customer. You must have either a website, etsy shop or a business number where you can be reached to take orders from potential customers.

You will need to complete the Pitch Your Product/Home form which will be emailed to you upon purchasing your ticket to the event.
Attach several photographs of your item or a sample that you do NOT need returned.
If you are pitching your home for a feature please label the back of each photo with your name and phone number. You will need at least 20 pictures to show a good representation of your home for consideration.Put all picture in an envelope and attach your Pitch Your Product/Home form to it. If you do not show a very strong presentation they cannot send a crew to your home only to find it was not what they were looking for.

Please Note
The editors work very hard to find products and content that is of interest to their readers and plan up to a year in advance. This is not a guarantee that you will be featured. The items submitted must fit within the theme and styling segment of the given issue they are casting for. When meeting the editors please keep your introduction brief and be respectful of their time as well as other attendees.

PLUS, you get to see this fabulous lady (and others!) speak!

Jenny Doh
Founder & President of Crescendoh, LLC

With Romantic Homes is backing the event, you know its GOTTA be good!

Here's the scoop:
*The tea/seminar is Saturday, October 1, 2011. There are 2 seatings 9:00a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
*Be inspired, encouraged and learn from other women in business how to start your own dream business.
*Meet & greet with the editors of Romantic Homes, Victorian Homes and Cottages & Bungalows.
*Pitch your product or home to be featured.
*5 Guest speakers including a special appearance by Jenny Doh
*Educational materials, gift bags & door prizes
Tickets $65

Seating is limited.
Reservations: http://www.launchyourcreativity.com/

Here's what last year's event looked like:

Seating is Limited!