Melancholy Turns Joyous Thanksgiving Day

Happy belated Thanksgiving! And this Joy Solar Powered Garden Word Art states perfectly how my day turned out to be. It was filled with joy!

The spirit of thanksgiving is a year-round thing so every day is a day for giving thanks. That said, I could not wait to share with my readers how my melancholy day turned into a joyous occasion.

I began my favorite holiday with an attitude of gratitude; however, melancholy thoughts seeped in, as they often do this time of year. I did what I do best when this happens, I began writing my thoughts and feelings down - the result quite cathartic and the end result joyous!

You can read about the purging of my emotions of the day and see the face of my joy right here and add your own thoughts of the day in the page comments if you wish: Give Thanks

I give thanks to my pal Marsha for the opportunity to be linking my Joyous Thanksgiving post up with the blog hop she hosts - HOP and SQUIDOO - where Squidoo writers share their blogging that pertains to their Squidoo publications. Join Squidoo and blog hop along with us!

Hooked on Crochet Friends

Yes, I am hooked on crochet friends and want to share a couple of them with you. Of course, I met both of these gals through the community of Squidoo. Thus, today I will be linking this blog post up with HOP and SQUIDOO over at Marsha's Spot.

And, I must add, Marsha crochets too! You will not want o miss Marsha's toothbrush rugs!


Years ago I was crochet crazed too, but then along came my first computer and I was hooked into a whole new world that consumed so much of my time that I no longer had time for yarn crafts as I was busy sharing my poetry and writings with the world wide web. Along came publishing my articles on Squidoo and there is where I met writers who were writing about their crochet craft too!

A squid being the symbol of the Squidoo writing platform, I decided to purchase myself what I call a "baby squid" from a gal who calls herself Wednesday Elf. How cute! I discovered her crochet pattern for a baby octopus and was happy to find that she sells them too! Sweet, I could have a baby squid and wouldn't have to interrupt my writing to make time to crochet it for myself!

I have now purchased three of these octopus creations from Elf's Etsy shop, Coastal Crochet Crafts. You can see my collection and read all about them right here at All Squids On Deck!

This past week I published an article about a wonderful gift from my friend LisaAuch on Squidoo.

Lisa presented me with the gift of a sunflower and together we share the pattern of the flower of the sun with you so you can crochet yourself or a friend a bit of sunshine too!

And now, I am once again hooked on crochet and have my yarn stash out and plan to begin crocheting myself some holiday decorations! Not to worry, this will not interfere (much) with my writing.

Are you hooked on crochet or other crafty endeavors?

Hop and Squidoo Blog Hop is Back

I was delighted to read that Marsha's Spot has brought back the Hop and Squidoo for Squidoo lensmasters to share article writing input and lens links in a blog hop! This gives me good reason to blog today, hooray!

FYI: A "lens" is an article, nothing more and nothing less. It's just what we lensmasters (writers on Squidoo) call them.

Yes, I am proud to say I am a writer on the Squidoo platform! If you are, too, I hope you blog with us and link up each week. If you are not yet writing on Squidoo, sign up right here with my referral link.

You will find this week's Hop and Squidoo return post by Marsha talks about the new format for articles on Squidoo. Personally, I am loving the new formats as they are rolled out, for several reasons:

• I find it much easier to stay on topic with the guidance provided by Squidoo.
• The articles are short and sweet in appearance and to the point.
• I enjoy being able to add my own background images to the page.
• My affiliate sales, percentage-wise, seem to be better with the new format than with the way of making lenses in the past.

Just this past week I published a recipe lens with the new format. Ohio State Buckeyes and fans will not want to miss my delicious Peanut Butter and Chocolate Candy Recipe.

Go Bucks!

National Dog Day

Tidbit and her canine pals and dog lover friends are celebrating National Dog Day today, August 26th, and you are all invited to join the party animals!

Tidbit barks her best dog party tip for the occasion:

DONATE to an animal rescue center!

Yes, the economy has had an impact on dog rescue organizations, too. Here are a couple of places that we donate to on a regular basis and highly recommend you do the same:

The Buckhawk Center Animal Rescue

San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society

You can learn more about each of these non-profit organizations by visiting their web sites (as linked above).

You can also read more about the Buckhawk and SLVAWS on Squidoo, as both are official members of the Squidoo Charity Program that enables writers to set their articles to automatically donate all or a portion of their earnings to their favorite charities.

You, too, can join Squidoo and raise money for charity with your writing as you create and publish articles of interest to you and your readers.

Squid Playing Cards on Deck

I have been remiss in my online activity of late due to personal issues and medical issues. However, I assure you I am back on deck with my blogging and other creative endeavors. In fact, I created something fun today, hooRAYo!

Introducing the first of what will be a series of Deck of Playing Cards by abitosunshine...

Squid Playing Cards by abitosunshine
Browse more Playing Playing Cards

As a child I enjoyed the card game "War" and as an adult I enjoyed playing "Rummy". At present, I enjoy playing, rather swimming, with the Squids as Squidoo Lensmaster Ruthi in hopes of winning a Squidoo Purple Star.

So tell me ... What is your favorite card game to play?

The Sunshine Girls

Have you met the Sunshine Girls? We've been just about everywhere in the world, via the internet, over the past decade and more.

Our latest claim to fame is the joy of being awarded the coveted Purple Star from the Squidoo community. We would like to invite you to stop by and visit the Sunshine Girls lens and we do hope you'll leave your pawprints in our guestbook while visiting.

And ... another invitation ... If you are not yet a member of Squidoo, you can Sign Up Now via our referral link. This way, you can share lenses of your own interests and it enables you to take part in all the friendship, fun, and money-making activities via Squidoo.

Perhaps you're already a Squidoo Lensmaster. If so, please leave your Squidoo link here in the comments so we can come visit you, too!

Freedom Footprints

I published a new Squidoo lens on a topic near and dear to my spirit, entitled "Arise Against Abuse". For the occasion, I created several products, and I share one of them with you here...

Freedom Footprints by abitosunshine
sell my posters online at Zazzle.

I Won and Then Some

I'm a WINNER!

I'm the CSN $50 Giveaway Winner!

I'm ever so delighted to be able to go shopping and I'll be sure to let you all know what I purchase with my winnings right here in a blog post. And again, I thank Brenda for the winning opportunity!

I also just received $5 in my PayPal account from SWAGBUCKS! It's quite a day, hooRAYo!

While I've got your attention, let me also point you in the direction of Brenda's book giveaway: In Dreams by author Deanna Lee Warren (ends 3/16/11).

OK, I'm now headed to Squidoo and hope to see you there, too! You'll find my latest adventure on my Squidformation Highway!