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All You Need Is Love

There’s a popular song by the Beatles called, “All You Need Is Love” which you may remember. When I awoke this morning, I heard that song in my head and chose to share it today since Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us.

Life sure feels strange lately with all the upheaval. There’s so much fear and uncertainty. Politically people are at odds and then there’s the Covid-19 virus which has many worried as well. I try not to watch the news since much of it has negativity to it. I like to stay informed, but I also don’t want to get caught up in the whirlwind.

As light workers shining our heartlights, we continually need to feed ourselves positivity. Not in a Pollyanna sort of way, but in choosing to stay centered, and with kindness, love and caring for all people. Love holds the key to unlocking so many of our troubles these days. Perhaps that’s why the song resonated with me this morning.

Love is all you need is a great reminder to what’s important in this world. Giving and receiving love heals us all. Love makes the world go round, don’t you think?

Shine On!

xo

February 2020 White Rabbit, White Rabbit

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I can’t believe it’s already the first of February of 2020!  Happy February!  Have you repeated Rabbit Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit yet?  Well here’s your chance dear friends!

Isn’t this a sweet white bunny out in the snow?  I found the photo on Canva as I usually find my photos there and I am eternally grateful to the photographer since this is such a great Winter Rabbit photo for today!

I hope that your February is filled to overflowing with love, health and happiness!  May your heartlights shine and sing out your songs of love.  Hold your loved ones close and never forget to say the blessed phrase, “I love you!” because those small moments matter more than we ever realize.

Shine On!

xo

 

May An Abundance Of Love Come To You

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My wish for you on this Valentine’s Day is:

MAY AN ABUNDANCE OF LOVE COME TO YOU

But honestly, the abundance of love that I wish for you, you already have inside of you!  It’s there, waiting for you to love yourself, to share your love and to shine your heartlight with love to the world around you!

I hope that you have a day filled with reminders of the love that we share, the connections that continue and the gratitude for all that we’ve enjoyed!  May your day be as special and beautiful as you are!

Shine On!

xo

Wishing You Love and Happiness

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Happy Valentine’s Day dear friends!

I wish you love and happiness today and always.  May you always remember how cherished you are to those who love you (and to me!) and how grateful and honored I feel to be connected with you!  May we send out kindness and love to those around us today and always.  May we all feel the infinite love of God, the Universe, and the Divine in every moment!  May we love ourselves and others.  May we cherish our connections (both past and present) and increase them exponentially every day by our kindness, generosity of spirit and gratitude.

May we remember how loved we are, every single moment of every single day.

You are loved, dear friends.

Shine On!

xo

 

When You Don’t Have A ‘Valentine’ To Love

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When you don’t have a ‘valentine’ to love on Valentine’s Day it can feel awkward, especially if in years past, you did have someone whom you loved, but for whatever reason, you are not together anymore.  Separations can be due to a variety of reasons which makes it hard when it seems like the whole world is celebrating a day of love with their sweetie.

But, I like to think of Valentine’s Day as a holiday for cherishing the relationships we have with others!  It doesn’t need to be only romantic love that we celebrate that day!  Not at all!  For me, since my circumstances have changed, I celebrate Valentine’s Day with gratitude for my children, my family, my soul family and my friends who have filled my life with love.  In fact, let’s celebrate Valentine’s Day together as you’re a part of my blogging family filled with love!  Thanks for being here with me.  I celebrate our connections today too!

So tomorrow, when the heart rises to meet the day, smile!  Greet the hearts and flowers day with gratitude for all of the love you have shared on your life’s journey!  Give thanks for the past loves, the present loves and look forward to the future loves!  But above all, enjoy the present love which envelopes your heart and soul today!  Enjoy the little kindnesses that are shown to you and smile to pass along those kindnesses as well.  We could have a lovefest here on Planet Earth if everyone, for just one day, loved all humankind.  Wouldn’t that be the very best Valentine’s Day ever?

So how about you?  How are you celebrating Valentine’s Day?

Shine On!

xo

Lift Your Heart

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Valentine’s Day evokes thoughts of love, happy anticipation of cards, flowers and candy sent and received.  But without the commercialism tied to Valentine’s Day, it’s simply the 14th of February.  If you haven’t a Valentine to share the day with, then what do you do?  Ask yourself, when you strip away the fluff of the holiday, what’s left?

Love.  Gratitude.  Presence.

What lifts your heart?  Do you know?  What makes you happy?  Who do you love?  What do you love to do?  What and who brings incredible joy and love and laughter in your life?  How does your heart swell with love, gratitude and presence?  Do you know how to lift your heart?

It requires a bit of self-discovery if the questions above weren’t easily answered by you.  But I believe that this Valentine’s Day, the love should be in your heart for you as well as for others.  A Valentine’s gift to yourself ~ pamper yourself by spending some precious time with someone who lifts your heart ~ YOU!

Write yourself a list of what you enjoy doing, what you love, and what swells and lifts your heart.  Is it the joy of cooking?  Is it the smell of recently mowed grass?  Is it watching snow fall gently to the Earth?  Is it creating and singing  beautiful music?  Is it the warmth of sunshine on your face?  Is it in the melody of laughter?  Is it in fur therapy ~ the love and bonding with a pet?  Is it in the bonding with your family and loved ones?  Or is it simply in awakening at dawn to a new day full of possibility?

Write your list of 10 ~ and enjoy a few of those precious gifts with yourself.  Share your love with your own heart and then let your love be shared with others.

As we’ve heard before in a song, “Love the one you’re with” and that’s ALWAYS YOU!

Shine On!

xo

All You Need Is…

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I recently heard The Beatles’ song, All You Need Is Love, again and I couldn’t help but amazed by the lyrics.  Of course, I knew the song by heart, but in actually LISTENING to the words, my understanding deepened so I thought I’d share with you since Valentine’s Day is around the corner.

Do you feel the impact of the lyrics like I do?  Take a moment and go back in time, to 1967 and see if the message holds you captive today!

Shine On!

xo

The Beatles – All You Need Is Love*
Love, Love, Love.
Love, Love, Love.
Love, Love, Love.

There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done.
Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It’s easy.

Nothing you can make that can’t be made.
No one you can save that can’t be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It’s easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

Nothing you can know that isn’t known.
Nothing you can see that isn’t shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.
It’s easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love. (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need (love is all you need).

Yee-hai!
Oh yeah!
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.

*Thanks to various internet sites for the lyrics!

Love One Another ~ Valentine’s Help for You

80406197_Above all, keep loving one another earnestly,
since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8

I got an email from the Skit Guys from which the above psalm was planted like a seed in my mind for this post.  Have you heard of them?  Well, let me introduce you…

“Tommy Woodard and Eddie James are The Skit Guys. They have been best friends since high school. Think of them as the wise guys in class who had everyone laughing and managed to make a career out of it. They’ve been teaching God’s word using comedy, drama and whatever category talking action figures fit into for over twenty years.  They recently released two new books through Zondervan called, Instant Skits and Skits That Teach. They have also produced other plays, skits, and videos covering a wide variety of topics that are available to download through their website.”

Please check them out at:  click here for Skit Guys!

I would love to attach the newest video called Tell Her that they previewed in the email newsletter they sent, but without paying licensing fees, I can’t.  But you can go see the preview on your own ~ you won’t be disappointed!  It’s a great reminder to use your words this Valentine season ~ and if you can’t SAY what’s in your heart, then by all means, WRITE it!

Click here to send a free card!

You’ll be glad you did!

Shine On!

xo

How to be a Rockstar on Valentine’s Day

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When you hear the words Valentine’s Day, what comes to mind?  Are you excited to have the formal holiday opportunity to share your love or is it more of a fearful reaction combined with the wonder of what to say?  Or is Valentine’s Day one of those holidays which you wish would simply go away and not be, well, so global?!

Do you go into the store walk the aisles trying to find the right card with the right image and then get annoyed when the card of your choice is $4.99?  Or do you pick up cards only to put them down because they aren’t quite right?  Or are you like the SkitGuys below?  This is a good Monday giggle!

     

I’ve got the solution ~  SendOutCards!

Stay on your computer (or use the app on your phone)!

Log on here!

1.  Pick your card

2.  Write your heartfelt message

3.  Fill out the online envelope (yes, it’s that easy)

4.  Add a gift if you choose to and then click SEND!

Voila!  Your card and gift are printed and mailed for you so that your recipient gets a real paper card in the mailbox for Valentine’s Day!

You only pay for cards and gifts you send…the account is free! 

Cards cost under $2 plus postage!

YOU are a ROCKSTAR on VALENTINE’S DAY!

Shine On!

xo

Making Special Valentines!

Creating Classic Custom Valentines ~ Reblog from SOC!

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Creating custom cards is one of the great things about SendOutCards. While we have an extensive collection of cards for almost any holiday, sometimes a card that you customize all by yourself is the best kind of card.

A lot of the same can be said about creating Valentine’s Day cards, even when you’re creating them in bulk. While cards continue to become more extensive in design and bigger in size, the classic Valentine  (the smaller ones you received as a kid and/or in elementary school) are still some of the best kinds.

So how can you give out these classic cards without limiting yourself to the pre-made cards at the store? How can you add your creative twist to this classic?

We’re glad you asked!

One of the many great hidden treasures in the SendOutCards Photo Store is the Playing Cards Deck. But how can a deck of cards help you create personalized Valentines? An ordinary deck might not get you far, but the Playing Cards Deck from SendOutCards is a different story.

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These custom Valentines are perfect for kids to bring to school and they’re also a fun way to create a classic Valentine to give to your friends, family, neighbors or coworkers.

For the sample above, we created a variety of 54 Valentines (including the Joker cards). All the designs you see are in the Artwork and Backgrounds gallery within the SOC Photo Store.

Start creating your own personalized, classic Valentines by  following the steps below!

If you don’t have an account, log onto http://www.sendoutcards.com/126830 and send a card for free ~ when you do, you’ll create a free account.

Then after you’ve made your free account you can begin!  If you already have a SendOutCards account then…

Start, by logging into your SendOutCards Photo Store Account by visiting: http://www.socphotostore.com. After you’ve logged on, you’ll see a wheel of different projects you can create. Click on “Other Gifts” option on the first wheel.

step1

That will open a second wheel, where you’ll need to click on “Playing Card Deck.”

step2

Next, you’ll be taken to the customization page.

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Select the “Design Your Own” option and then click “Next Step.

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The cards are separated by suites. However, in the “Design Your Own” option, this isn’t applicable, since there will not be number or suites appearing on your custom cards. Be sure you click through each suite and create a design for each card. There are a total of 54 cards (including the Joker cards).

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The SOC Photo Store has hundreds of built-in background and graphics that you can select from. But you can also upload your own graphics and photos in the “My Photos” option. For this example, we’ll be pulling graphics from the SOC Photo Store library.

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You can design your cards on a white (default) or a solid color background. There also custom backgrounds, separated by categories. For the cards in our example, we’re using the backgrounds in the “Valentines” folder.

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Next, we’re going to add some artwork on top of our background image. Again, we’ll be pulling the graphics from the SOC Photo Store library. You can find an array of different images under the “Artwork” option of your menu. Like the backgrounds, these graphics split into different categories. For example, we’ll be pulling graphics from the “Valentines” folder.

step9

To add graphics, just drag the graphic you want to use onto your card.

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Depending on the card you’re working with and the look and feel you’re trying to achieve, you’ll have to adjust the size and position accordingly.  You can do so by using the dark grey menu above.

When you’re finished creating all your cards. Click on the “Back of all cards” option on the left hand side of screen.

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The back of the deck will have to be one consistent image and/or text. For our sample, we’ll be creating the “to and from” area.  If you decide to do the same, you have the option of filling-in your name now, or you can leave it blank and personally sign it after you’ve printed them.

Text can be added by selecting the “Text” tab on your menu.  Similar to the background/images, you’ll drag the “ABC” box on to your card and move the box according to where you want your text to be.

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Once you’ve decided, you can begin typing your text in the box in the “Text” tab. You can also change your font, size and color in the same menu box. In addition, you can move your text, rotate it and resize accordingly, using the dark grey menu next to your card.

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After you’ve added your text, you can also add any additional artwork or graphics.

When you’re done creating all your cards, click on the “Preview” option to view your work. If you’re happy with your cards, click “Add to Cart” to get your cards processed and print!

Daily Giveaway #7 — $50 SOC Photo Store Gift Card

This is just one of the few ways you can take your Valentine’s Day creativity and personalization to next level. Why not explore some of the other great tools in the photo store to surprise your someone special this holiday? Submit some of your creative Valentine’s Day ideas HERE for your chance to win a $50 SOC Photo Store Gift Card — Daily Giveaway #7 — the final giveaway in our February: 7 Days of Giveaways series.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Shine On!

xo