When I found myself feeling way down low over the passing of my dog Tidbit I visited a local animal shelter to walk a dog. Little did I know then that a docile hound dog in a shelter kennel would become the sunshine of my life.
We choose the shelter dog adoption option! But of course, we hope that you shall too.
My shelter dog Valentino has an important message to share with you. We put it on a postcard so that you shall share it too!
By the way... The sun hanging on the wall above my dog Valentino on the sofa was a handmade gift to me from my son William. He welded it out of scrap iron.
Read more about the dogs who are, or have been, a bit o' sunshine in my heart and home at Dog Pawsitive Tidbits.
I am linking this article up with Noner Says for Share A Link Sunday, a blog hop for writers to share their writings. Come join us, won't you?
Cat Stevens can barely compare to the Christmas morning sunrise surprise my dog and I shared on our beach walk today. Christmas morning has broken but my decorative porcelain plate will hang around forevermore to commemorate this day, our first Christmas together.
Stormy weather of the week stepped aside to allow the heavens to burst into a beauty of a morning glory view. But of course, we captured it (along with the song) for you to enjoy too!
Years ago I had a large collection of decorative porcelain plates lining the ceilings of each room of my home. Alas, that was a lifetime ago and my collector plates are long gone. Of course, the memories served upon the designer plates is now held in a special place in my mind.
I recently began designing my line of decorator plate collectibles on Zazzle, a print on demand web site for buying and selling an array of custom-made products. Using my favorite pictures to create decorative porcelain plates for my home and yours is fun (as well as lucrative!)
Today's plate design is the image you now see as the background and header template for this blog, abitosunshine! I think my heaven-sent sunshine looks great no matter where it's found, don't you?
What can you do to earn extra income with those fabulous photos of yours? Why, you can set up a Zazzle store!
Using your own photos and graphic design, you can create products to sell to family, friends, and the public. Zazzle is what is known as a print on demand company, which basically means that once you have created your product designs and listed them for sale, Zazzle will print the product when a customer orders it, then ship the item to the customer, and you reap the rewards for the sale via commissions as a Zazzle Associate.
I learned about Zazzle from one of the best - Sandyspider - now, I share knowledge learned over the years with you.
I highly recommend a good photo editing program. I use COREL Paint Shop Pro (not free, but affordable.) Many of my graphic designer peers use Adobe Photoshop.
I use Corel PSP to enhance my own photos--to crop, resize, increase resolution, and more and I use Corel to add text to my images instead of using the text gadget on Zazzle to add to an image once uploaded to a product. Believe me, Corel offers me many more options for image and text editing than any free program I tried in my early graphic designing days.
Utilize information from knowledgeable resources. I found a great article to help you with the task of setting up shop at Zazzle: How To Set Up Your Zazzle Store
Step 3 Create and Sell on Zazzle
Create and post your first Zazzle product for sale. Just do it!
Video Tutorial for Adding Products to your Zazzle Store
Zazzle Tips
I design for each product separately making sure my image is sized to fit the product. I do NOT use the 'Quick Create' option. The reason for this is I do not want my designs cut off or resized or reshaped to many products of many different sizes and shapes—they will NOT always look right and that means dissatisfied customers, returns, and less earnings for me!
Use your Zazzle Associate ID (found via your Zazzle account dashboard) to promote all pages and products on the Zazzle website, your own as well as those of others. Yes! You do earn a commission on referral sales for promoting the work of others—IF you remember to use your associate ID.
Discombobulation Design
On an evening walk at the beach with my dog Valentino, a storm was brewing. My thoughts, as well as the dog's, seemed a bit discombobulated (hence the name of my design) and as I was snapping pictures of the sunset over the pier my jittery Valentino jumped, knocking the cell phone camera out of my hand as I snapped the photo. I recovered and immediately took another picture.
Once home from my beach walk, I downloaded my pictures from my phone and went to work on creating this pillow on Zazzle. Basically, all I did was crop the images to be squared, re-sized them to the product guidelines for resolution and pixel size, and created my discombobulation design!
What a blessing it is to awake and greet the day with my foster dog Valentino. He wags his tail to head right out the door to say, "Good morning, Sunshine!"
Valentino Greets a New Day of Sunshine
Today is our second morning together and what a pleasure it is to have Valentino prancing his way throughout our heart and home. I've been sharing our journey over at Dog Pawsitive Tidbits, so be sure to come visit us there for our blog view of this positive experience. It's a PAWSITIVEly precious perspective of a dog's life!
I could think of no better way to share my new furry friend Valentino with you today than to blog hop along with Friendship Friday over at Create With Joy.
My grandson Liam celebrates his fourth birthday today ... Hooray! Oh, what a grand celebration it was being there on the day this bundle of boy joy was born.
Now here I am, hundreds of miles away, wishing I were there with him in person to wish him a happy birthday with a hug and a kiss from his Grandma Ruthi. Instead, I send him hugs and smiles across the miles on his special day.
Not a thing would please me more than to have you join in the celebration of my grandson Liam's birth. To join the party, please leave your birthday message for Liam right here in the comment section.
Just an FYI... Those of us who choose to blog as an additional way of earning income online appreciate activity on our blogs just as much as we do on our articles published on writing platforms.
It is nice to have comments, likes, and shares on Facebook when we post our creative efforts. It also helps in the same ways to have this same activity duplicated right on our blog articles.
As a blogger trying to make a living online, I appreciate all comments, social shares, and product purchases from my blog posts that I can get, so...
Are you a writer publishing articles on your blog in hopes of earning online income? If yes, feel free to post your blog link in addition to your comment here on this post.
I have traveled far and wide across the miles of many of these United States, staking claim to houses to call 'Home' in several of them, some more than once. Yes, when homeward bound, I seem to veer toward directions of familiar places.
Ruthi Arriving in Ohio 1999
Buckeye born and bred in the state of Ohio, with the bulk of my family still residing there, I find myself drawn back on occasion. I first left Ohio at the age of 15 and have returned to live there twice as an adult, at times when life-changing events had me feeling that old familial need.
Ruth & Tidbit Arrive in Florida 2013
The sunny state of Florida has always felt like a second home to me. It is where my Mom lay buried. It is where I gave birth to my son.
My life travels have led me away from, then back to, Florida a couple of times. It is where I now live.
Here, I lost my dog Tidbit--my best friend and gift of true love from the Universe. I no longer enjoy this place where I shared the last year and a half of Tidbit's life. Its tropical beauty means nothing without her by my side.
Again, I find that feeling of heart discontent and the mind ponders a rightful place to call home. It has been a tough year. (And it isn't over yet!)
Ohio: Take me home to those country roads of familiarity and family and friend.
Florida: Stay planted where I am and learn to live it and love it.
North, East, South, or... Go West!
I turned sixty this year ... Yes, 60! I wonder whether I am ready to head home to the land of my birth for the last time, full circle. I wonder, is it truth that home is where the heart is. I wonder too, do I have enough energy and years left for another incredible journey? I guess time will tell me the answers to my pondering.
Topic for this week: Homeward Bound
Time Travel Thursday is a blog hop. Go ahead and blog about this week's topic and add your blog article link to this list anytime throughout the week. Grab the hop badge and link it to this post.
My dear friend Karen gave me a much-needed cyber hug today. This gave my mind reason to travel back in time for other special hugs. Pictures in my mind becoming not enough, I began a search through old photos and found many such hugs and smiles.
Talk about time travel! I found these mother and child photos of my son and me, taken fifteen years ago. The year was 1999, the first official Cox family reunion.
Ruthi and Billy Airport Smiles
My son, Billy, flew from south Florida to central Ohio for this family gathering. Upon his arrival at the airport I received a much-needed hug from my son.
Oh, how quickly a loving embrace can put a smile upon a face!
What a reminder on this Thursday in 2014 to never doubt the power of a hug, whether in person or across the miles. Both ensure much-needed smiles.
Should you wish to learn more about the power of embracing others, read the book Reflections of Amma, about a global mother known world-wide as the "Hugging Saint."
Time Travel Thursday
Those of you would like to share your own time travel story on the topic of Hugs and Smiles this week, write it in a blog post, then add the link to your post here for me and the readers of abitosunshine to enjoy.
Since this is a blog hop, please grab the Time Travel Thursday image, add it to your post and link to this post here at abitosunshine.
As I opened the door to step outside on the deck for a bit of sunshine and fresh air, much to my surprise a box perched upon the railing caught my eye. My eyes went straight to the word THANKS on the box, which for some reason made me smile. On further inspection I began to chuckle—it was a box of cereal!
Without a doubt I knew it was a package from my friend Coletta, for being mindful of recycling she would be the one friend I have who would re-purpose an old cereal box for shipping purposes. And I knew exactly what surprise awaited inside the box. Or so I thought!
What I thought was inside the box I shan't show on this post, as I'm saving it for another article of surprise, the link to which you will find at the end of this article. Yes, it arrived, but along with it was truly an autumn harvest gift from my friend and one which was totally unexpected.
Autumn Harvest Steampunk Wreath
Coletta has a knack for utilizing leftover scraps from sewing and craft projects. Creatively up-cycling, Coletta created, and bestowed upon me, one of her Victorian Steampunk Halloween Decorations.
I now have this delightful fall wreath hanging on my bedroom door. Yes, I'm selfish, it's just for me!
This lovely wreath will decorate my door throughout the autumn harvest season and last on through to Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. Ah! The holiday of giving ... THANKS.
Oh! I nearly forgot to show you the way to the other surprise that was in my gift box from Coletta ... Meet Sally, my voodoo rag doll and Ambassador of Ruthi Reads Books For Kids!
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DISCLOSURE: Ruth Cox is a writer on Wizzley who is also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program, with both affiliations a means for earning online income.
In the spirit of sharing abitosunshine I bring you a bit of Sunday morning Sol.
The inspiration for this design presented in image and haiku came from thoughts on comments and discussions over the years about my so-called non-Christian attitude about church attendance.
For your information ... Yes, I am a Christian. And yes, I am a worshiper of Sol.
I do not believe I must attend church on Sunday mornings to call myself a believer of God. I do not believe I must sun bathe at the beach to call myself a believer of Sol.
I guess it fair to say I live a broadly defined spiritual life wherein I'm a believer of gods within. Thus, I consider myself a daily communicant with God and Sol—from the comfort of body and mind wherever I am.
To me, that sure beats heading off to church "to mess with the preacher" or telling someone they shall "rot in hell" for something they have done or not done. Yes, I've been witness to both sinful scenarios!
It has been a whirlwind of writing and creativity in my life online of late. I figured it time I give you an update of what has consumed my time and effort. The writing platform where I had published most of my creative writing and reviews for the past three years is now gone, Squidoo having sold out to another writing site, HubPages.
Members of Squidoo were given the opportunity to go along with the sellout but I chose to opt out of that sell-me-out deal. Instead, I chose to move on to a writing community of my choosing. I am working diligently to publish my article writings, old and new, on the Wizzley platform for writers. My Wizzley portfolio is growing stronger every day!
I have also been relatively busy this past month creating another blog for you to enjoy, geared especially toward dog lovers. Today I would like to direct your attention to DOG PAWSITIVE TIDBITS, inspired by my dog Tidbit and the paw prints of her pups. I am ever so excited about this blog project!
My books for kids blog is being restructured, due to many links and references to that old writing site.
Even this abitosunshine blog (where you are now) is in disarray, and will also get a much-needed face lift soon, but that's alright, as I am up to the challenge!
I find I am rather enjoying this whirlwind of creative activity, especially since my projects are now of my choosing and not being directed by the needs and desires of a site owner and staff more interested in their own agenda and not mine.
I find I am smiling more now as I work and I am much more productive and motivated. And I am earning online better now than before. Now if that isn't motivation enough for me then I don't know what possibly could be!
As a writer and blogger I am delighted to be linking this blog article up with Writer's Unite over at Marsha's Spot. Marsha hosts this weekly blog hop for writers, so if you're a writer and a blogger you're invited to come join us!
As the dog days of summer (early July through early September) and its heat intensity begins to wane, my mood seems to swing out of the present day and into thoughts of the past and the future. The changing weather seems to beckon an answer to the ongoing question of my life, "Where do I wish to be?"
I know I do not wish to be in the present moment, as sadly, on June 30th, I lost my dog Tidbit to old age and the big "C" when Cancer took its toll and took her away from me. I have spent the dog days of this summer mourning the loss of woman's best friend.
In fact, no longer being able to share daily walks on the beach with my girl, I no longer enjoy where I am. I have not walked the neighborhood nor the beach without her. It seems pointless to be here in the Sunshine State of Florida without Tidbit by my side.
Nonetheless, Tidbit's legacy lives on in my article writing online and she shall be ever-present in future writings.
On one of our last walks to the beach together Tidbit learned a new trick and that became the fuel to caution my readers about the need to take precautions to prevent heatstroke in dogs.
In my review of P.D. Eastman's "Go Dog. Go!" I said so long to my canine companion.
As for me, I know not what my future holds in store, maybe another moving adventure, maybe not. I can assure you of one thing, though ... I will not be without a dog by my side for long!
I am a dog lover and I will sure keep you posted on the future dog walks in my life. In the meantime, let us enjoy what is left of the dog days of summer and the gifts the present holds for us all.
Terrified of storms, my dog Tidbit woke me before the sun came up on this stormy Sunday morning. Although it was still dark outside, our walk was lit up by lightning so it was easy to find our way to that right spot for her morning potty routine.
Back home, I frowned as I wondered what on earth there was for me to do being unable to power up the computer in such foul weather. Reaching for a coffee cup and finding it was the last clean one on the mug tree, I decided it would be a good time to run the dishwasher.
I remembered I had received a free packet of Finish Quantum Dishwasher Detergent in the mail this week, so I decided to try it out in the dishwasher.
First things first, read the fine print directions with my aging eyes! Thankfully, my roommate awoke and grabbed his eyeglasses to figure this freebie out for me. Blind leading the blind?
A lot of grumbling later, he chuckled and said, "I figured it out!"
There he stood smiling at me! Rather, the Quantum® Power & Free™ capsules in their packaging foam were staring at me in a silly grin roommate held in his hands.
An hour later, as the storm subsided, my dishes came out of the dishwasher spotless and clean. And now that I can power up my computer, I am wearing a silly smile myself as I write this article to link up with the Silly on Sundays blog hop hosted by Everything Susan.
In taking a walk around the neighborhood with my dog Tidbit I came upon a silly sign that beckoned me to cross the line of legality. Instead, I chose to capture its lack of reason with my camera lens and upon the image my thoughts are poetically penned, this time in Haiku rather than in rhyme.
Click the pic for a larger view.
Swing Across the Line
I've a feeling, come Spring, I may just have myself a fling with this swing. What do you think? Should I cross the line of the No Trespassing sign?
Running across this silly sign gave me reason to link up with Everything Susan's Silly on Sundays blog hop. If you have a bit of silliness to share - Come hop along with us!
Today was my Amazon Associate payday and I do enjoy seeing those dollar signs added directly to my bank account as a reward for my work-at-home efforts. I must add, too, that if I had not become a product review writer on Squidoo that I might never have known about affiliate earnings through Amazon being such a golden opportunity.
Squidoo affords me the opportunity to write and publish rave reviews of a variety of products. Consequently, if those items are available for purchase through Amazon I will automatically include them within my article. When a purchase is made via my web page - I earn!
Of course, I also use my direct Associate link within articles here on my blog. For instance, the image and link for the Golden Dollar Sign Porcelain Ornament in this blog article are both directly linked to Amazon via my personal affiliation link, which means if someone clicks on my link to learn more about the ornament, buys it or any other item while browsing through the Amazon marketplace via my link - I earn!
Thank you, Amazon and Squidoo, for being somewhat like the geese that lay golden eggs - FANTABULOUS!
Speaking of fantastic and fabulous things... You, too, are invited to blog about anything you deem such and blog hop along with me for FANTABULOUS FRIDAY!
Feel free to add your blog post link and title anytime during the week to each week's FF post here at abitosunshine. (There is a link-up list at the end of this article for this week!)
Perhaps you are blogging about Squidoo, too. If so, Link that blog post up with Marsha's HOP and SQUIDOO!
My friends who know me well enough to know I do not dance, at all--ever (well, I did once with a very special fella at the wedding of friends of mine) would be proud of me - Today I got up out of my desk chair and boogied! My dog Tidbit thought her Momma had lost her mind and my housemate Scott just laughed and shook his head.
My Fantabulous Boogie Theme Song for Today
A Little Less Talk and A Lot More Action - Toby Keith sings the song and I boogie, baby! Yes, I am dancing in my chair as I type this article.
From Whence the Idea Came
My morning reading of Seth Godin's blog post today triggered this boogie-woogie girl into less talk and more action.
The Main Attraction - REVIEW THIS!
We - a united team of Squidoo Contributors - are putting into practice what Godin refers to as "...your work and your learning benefits you and the people you care about."
Visit us, share us, subscribe to us, and then - REVIEW THIS! You will find we give you links to many writing review prompts in our articles.
How fantastic and fabulous that which we share can be for others. Never doubt it! You never know how what it is you may share that may breathe an idea into the life of another.
I invite you to do just that by sharing something in a blog post of your own and returning here to link it up with FANTABULOUS FRIDAY!
You can link your blog post up right here at the bottom of this post anytime throughout this week, so if you are busy talking instead of acting today, boogie on back another day!
For those who are members of the Squidoo writing community or those of you who are online friendly with a Squidoo writer or a few, you may have already heard about the latest fantastic and fabulous new goings-on, that of Squidoo Contributors. We - yes, I am honored to be one - are FANTABULOUS!
A Contributor on the Squidoo platform is nothing more, nothing less than an authority on a specific topic. Most are considered experts in their designated writing category.
I am going to direct you to just a few of my friends who are official Squidoo Contributors. Each of these writers has written their own introductory article to explain their topic of expertise. And what a FANTABULOUS variety of information they share!
The short list above is just a smattering of topics to be covered by Squidoo Contributors. There are many wonderful writers on Squidoo who are willing to share their knowledge with you.
More FANTABULOUS News For Me Today
My Solar Indoor Sun Chimes article was presented with a Squidoo Purple Star! The editorial team of Squidoo found my article noteworthy and I certainly appreciate the gift ot this award of excellence.
You can be a Squidoo writer too! Join Squidoo today and become part of the pleasure of sharing your creativity and writing treasures.
You can add your blog post link and title anytime during the week to each week's post here at abitosunshine.
Without a doubt you have something fantastic and fabulous to share with the world too. So go ahead, blog about it, and then submit your blog link to the list at the end of this article.
I am also linking this blog post up with HOP and SQUIDOO over at Marsha's Spot, a blog hop for Squidoo Lensmasters and bloggers.
One chilly winter morning, years ago, I awoke to a knocking on my front door. I dragged myself out of the comfort of my warm bed, following my barking dogs to the door. Of course I muttered aloud all the way down the stairs as I fussed with mussed-up hair, "How dare someone wake me at this hour?"
Both dogs, I thought acting silly, sniffed the air as I opened the door to wintry white glare and not a soul stood there. "Well, I declare," I shouted as I followed the pointed up-in-the-air stares and sniffing noses of the canines.
Much to our surprise, a silly squirrel had let himself in and sat still as could be on the transom window sill. Dogs whimpered and whined and danced around the room as I ran to grab a camera to capture a glance of this uninvited visitor of theirs and mine.
Figuring this nutty door knocker seeking shelter from winter winds might be a bit hungry as well as chilly and silly, I handed him a snack of wild bird seed upon which to feed. Sure enough, the critter responded with a raspy sound, seemingly saying, "Thanks a bunch," as I handed him more upon which to munch.
Of course, in the end I had no choice but to chase the poor squirrel back outside, in fear of his hide I thought might just collide with the gnashing of teeth belonging to the dogs beneath his window seat.
With good reason I had given silly squirrel lee from the cold clime for a few moments in time and food for his hungry belly. I smiled as I shooed the nutty fellow out the door, hoping he would one day come back for more.
Most importantly, if you enjoy a bit of silliness added to your day, or if you wish to share in your own silly way, just hop on over to Everything Susan and join in on her Silly on Sundays blog hop.
I guess the best way of explaining my Fantabulous Friday topic of the day is a wee explanation of my "abitosunshine" moniker. One word is broken into four - a bit o' sunshine - no letter "f in of" as I use the apostrophe in its place to speed up and smooth out the process.
The process of abitosunshine is quite simple. Every time I spread a bit o' sunshine into the life of another, its rays bounce back at me - tenfold! I've helped someone else and helped myself at the same time. FANTABULOUS!
Now, I have learned to apply this process in support of my friends who work to earn extra income online, just like I am trying to do. A perfect example of this is in the promotion of a friend's design work, in this particular case, her Zazzle store.
In December, Sylvestermouse shared her Flying Seagull Binder. Being a lover of seabirds I was instantly drawn to the beauty. But of course, when I see a good thing I share it! I did just that on my Facebook timeline status.
Now, I also have my own Zazzle store (abitosunshine, go figure!) Checking my earnings at one point I saw that I had earned referral earnings for Sylvestermouse's Seagull! FANTABULOUS!
I was so excited. Seriously, I get so tickled when I promote something and it sells - that's sunshine, pure and sweet!
The really cool thing is that both of us made money on that sale. In fact, each of us made $3 and change. FANTABULOUS!
Now, you can do exactly the same thing in supporting others and supporting yourself at the same time. All you need to do is get yourself set up as a Zazzle Associate (which automatically makes you an affiliate.) It is not necessary for you to design products of your own (though you might want to) in order to earn income by promoting the designs of others.
NOTE: Always sign in before you begin to design or search for products to promote. This will assure that when you click on the "Share" and "Link" button your Zazzle Associate ID will automatically be provided in the links you share.
You are well on your way to promoting others, which is a win-win situation for you both. FANTABULOUS!
Simply put, we share something fantabulous in a blog post, link it up to the linky list provided at the end of this host post, visit one another's posts throughout the week, wherein we meet and greet and have loads of fantabulous fun!
