The Life of Mrs. Miles

GRAMMA'S BROACH AND RIBBON

(surprise element included)

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Mr Miles, in the Christmas spirit, has asked me to include a surprize element inside for you. He created it to use for some of his web-based projects but thinks you all will be able to use it for your bestest scrapping projects too!

A MINIATURE PAINTING I CREATED USING ART RAGE

First of all, I hope you are all safe and sound after the big storm that blew through, and I'm praying for the families of those who were killed. I'm also praying the people who are lost on Mt. Hood have a rescue. Thank you, Joy, who emailed us all from the Police Station in Seaside, to let us know you were ok. I hope, Nina (our sister in Victoria) that your hatches were all battened down securely at your home.

LAYOUT BY BLOG READER KAIT (thanks Kait!)

You can see more of Kaits layouts HERE

University Gardens page set, by Roberta D’Achille, Rendered Memories

Sweet birds by Barb Derksen.

Sketch provided by Rachael Knight at SBB

Red Bird by Andrea Victoria,

DesignerDigitalsFont: Slab Serif,

TK Doodled by Taran Conyers

Bendit Templates by Debbie Knorr, SBB

ANOTHER LAYOUT BY KAIT!

University Gardens page set, by Roberta D’Achille, Rendered Memories
-Sweet birds by Barb Derksen.

-Layout based upon a sketch by Amy Watson. (a/k/aScrap-A-Lot)

-Font: Slab Serif and TK Doodle, by Taran Conyers,

SBG-Torn paper edge done with an action from Atomic Cupcake

Thanks to all of you yesterday for your kind and funny comments... you all get me giggling. I feel like we all 'have tea' when you share with me. I got messages from Crabbygrinch Fussyhead, Grimgrump Rottenfoot, Miserlyscrooge Snottyjeans. He, he... love those Grinchnames. Wouldn't it be fun to make stockings with those fun names on... or even just put the Grinch names under all the 'real' names on your gift tags?

I also got response on yesterday's blog about giving 'the best bits' to your spouse... I especially liked this response from Dawn:

Barb, that's so sweet that you save the best ones for Miles. I always save the corner pieces for my DH (and the heels from loaves) because those are his favorites. I have to admit, though..if it's only family eating it, that's not much of a sacrifice because the rest of us don't consider those parts a fave. But if I'm preparing it to take somewhere else, the corners & heels are always left home for Dh.

I also got action for 'paying it forward', by our dear friend Valerie who lives all the way on the other side of Canada, in Montreal:

The story of Val did touch me in so many ways! I remember your previous posts about her .. My 'paying it forward'today was to give some money to a single Mom and her kid for food supply for X-Mas (we got 350$ in less that one hour). The gesture of giving $$$ wasn't enough for me. So the kids and I agreed to give some toys for the little boy. Good toys that they are not using anymore. I think that now days we do not share enough (talking about me here - you sure share lots with us everyday). And I think that it is important for them to learn about these things! Thank you! XO Valerie

I would love to fill my blog up with YOUR stuff, your layouts, comments and good deeds - keep them coming! Trust me, you can't ever 'outgive' yourself... you always GET more than you give... though it might never come back in money terms! If you don't have finances to share with others, how 'bout sharing your time... some babysitting, reading to someone, taking a shut-in something nice. Just don't do nothing.

Generosity is a matter of the heart

and not finances

2 Corinthians 9:7 TLB

"Every one must make up his own mind as to how much he should give.

Don't force anyone to give more than he really wants to,

for cheerful givers are the ones God prizes."

Sort of related, is work ethic. I have someone in mind instantly when I think of good work ethics. I am thinking of not some fancy place, but of our local hardware store. Yes... I did say hardware store. You see, the owner of our Home Hardware, Francis, goes all out to make her store more than just a store. Normally I would not just promote a business on my blog, but this is different. Francis has made the retailing business stand up and take notice. So much so that it earned her the 'Best Hardware Store' through the Outstanding Retailer Awards of all of Canada! You might want to visit this website to see some of the things they do at our own Home Hardware by clicking HERE

Some of the things that Francis does with her business, is holds community street dances in the summer, cooking classes all year long (the store has a mini kitchen built in) and painting technique seminars. I was also informed that she has school children classes come in who can 'mix' their own paint in the painting the department and run the tills. Overheard from Francis to one of her cashiers " I'm not going to worry if we don't balance today, let them have fun." Wow, now thats not your normal store. Make whatever you do a cut above... it will come back to you, naturally.

BARB'S HANDY TIP #155

Make it Mosaic

My friend Valerie sent me this way cool link. I 'mosaiced' my Alpaca picture using it. You have to actually do this to appreciate it. Choose an image file to convert to a image mosaic. Supports PNG, GIF, JPG and JPEG files

IMAGE MOSAIC GENERATOR