Forget Me Not

I love to find antique photo and autograph albums at the flea market...

...especially when the covers are made of worn faded velvet
... and the insides are filled with sweet sentiments in lovely old script.

Emily writes...

Fill up the days with kindnessAnd sweet shall be thy rest.The peace that comes from duty done
Shall make life's evenings blest.

These two were found at the flea market in New Milford, CT last summer.

In 1892 Lillian writes...

May the path way of life be ever strewn with roses...

...ever your friend

May your happiness be as deep as the ocean
and your sorrows as light as its foam.

Albums from a different era...
...messages written so as not to be forgotten.

Just a few words of sweet kindness found at the flea market...
:) Laura

She Didn't Have To Be So Nice

Not long ago while rummaging through household goods spread out on the ground at a flea market...I came across these little juice glasses.

We were expecting our good friends with their three little girls to visit at the lake. I thought they would be delighted with the sweet animals and characters on the small glasses.

This was one of those flea market vendors who bought the entire contents of a household and was selling everything in sight for just a dollar per item.
There were people crawling all over the boxes of goods (sort of like vultures)...
... and I was one of them.
Who could resist all those bargains?

Anyhow....my arms were full and I had five glasses in the pile at my feet.
I had just paid the vendor for all my dollar items and was trying to figure out how to carry it all.

I heard a voice say...."oh...it's part of a set!"

Glancing sideways I saw a lady with a friendly smile looking down at my pile.
She told me she had just bought the sixth glass in the set...the little pony.
She then offered to sell it to me in order to keep the set together.

Embarrassed, I confessed I had just spent my last dollar...
... to which she replied,"Oh for goodness sake...please just take it!"
And then she helped me wrap them up!

She didn't have to do that.
She didn't have to be so nice.

It was just a little kindness, really very little effort on her part...
but it made me smile and reminded me how little it takes to change a person's day or outlook.

I decided to pay it forward...
...which I did and of course as you already know,
when you make someone happy ... it makes you happy too!


As children, my Mom always reminded us to Be Kind.

It is still the best advice...
... and it always feels so good!

Thank you Kim for asking me to be a part of The Inspiration Studio...
... sharing all the kindness, generosity, beauty and treasure to be found at the flea market!

.....

Laura ~ 52 Flea

kindness continued - 29 day Giving Challenge

oh my this is GOOD.the 29 Day Giving Challenge
and i HAVE to do this.

before i tell you more.... i have to say i failed my 'ding dong ditch' deadline! :(
but i plan on doing at least one ding dong ditch this weekend.... 
i will be posting the vid (fingers crossed) at the cafe next week...if all goes accordingly.

okay, so i have to share this with you all!!  oh my, it's good.
the 29 Day Giving Challenge.

i found it in the funniest way.  a customer emailed me to say my sign was on this site...
and i was like, okay?  but it really is... near the top on the main page.....  if you pop over,
it's the sign that says 'everyday is a gift'...that's my design.... it was licensed for prints about 5 years ago.
one of my best sellers...  i love the message.

but the BEST part about visiting the site, besides seeing my sign... haha..... the amazing idea...it's BRILLIANT. 
i NEED to do this!!  i hope i can...and if and when i do... i will share the journey. 

okay enough of my rambling.. you gotta check it out... :)
Find more videos like this on 29-Day Giving Challenge

KINDNESS ~ a super FAB and very doable CHALLENGE

happiest wednesday my friends!

how's the stay-cation going?  it's a lot, isn't it? 
like wow, i think i will need a week after this week, to really absorb it all!
in fact that's probably what i will do.
so if i don't get around to your blogs etc, bare with me...i'm working on it.

okay yesterday i shared the kind campaign video with you.
i've reposted it below.
it's so worth watching... incredibly powerful!

I want to put out a new kindness challenge! 
a very doable...but very powerful one!

i had the loveliest email from Lauren, the founder of the kindness campaign today.
she thanked me for sharing her video on our site, and even posted the link on her facebook page.
how completely sweet is that?

more kindness....soo good... happy sigh...

anyhow, she asked me to spread this very important word!!
they need our votes...
and for girls and women all over the world this is BIG.

PLEASE VOTE for Kind Campaign in the Pepsi Refresh Grant Cycle this month! You can vote twice a day every day for the month of August-once on your computer and once from your phone! Please send this to ALL of your friends and repost: http://www.refresheverything.com/kindcampaign and text 101818 to Pepsi (73774) to vote by phone!! ♥

so please vote...and if you wanna be super KIND and POWERFUL.... why not post the video on your blog and challenge your readers to vote... and so on and so on.....

signing off with the video....  and here's to the kind campaign and KINDESS ALL AROUND.

xxo, kim.

speaking of kindness.... this truly moves me

hey there,

i'm back with a daily dose of kindness....

i have lots to share....gosh as crazy as this all is....

i think stay-cation should have been more than 5 days...

anyhow, i had to share an inspiring video.  wow...it's awesome! 

the video is about girls/women and how cruel we can be to one another.

it's sad, but oh so true.

my boys and i had a deep conversation about this the other day.

they say guys just get it out and over with...they move on....

not girls....they drag it out...they are nasty ..... they can be so mean.

they said...they just don't get it???

isn't that the truth!! ?  sad, but true!

anyhow, i came upon the kindness campaign, while researching kindness.

and it's just WOW! 

REALLY BRILLIANT!

here is their fabulous mission statement.

'A movement and documentary, based upon the powerful belief in KINDness, that brings awareness and healing to the negative and lasting effects of girl-against-girl "crime". '

please visit their site....it's full to the BRIM with kindness.

they are sharing all kinds of good stuff...

including a

kindness pledge

kindness apology

and lots more.

oh and the line in the video that goes something like.......  'we may not all be smart, we may not all be beautiful....but we can all be kind!!'  goose bumps....baby....goose bumps!!

if you have teenage daughters...they must see this!!

how's the kindness challenge going for you?

have you had a chance to perform an act of kindness?

i'd love to hear about it? 

i added an inlinkz gadget to the first kindness post.

if you wanna share your story.

sweet 'mixed media dea' is sharing some lovely kindness on her blog.

a second give away!  what a completely generous soul.

thank you Dea.

and i love the kindness story that bernie shares on her blog as well.

thank you ladies for adding your link...and jumping right in!

.....

i will share some recent stories soon.

but in the meantime, here's a couple of back to school kindness acts

i shared on my blog last summer. :)

.....

seriously i could go on and on.

but i must stop and walk away from the screen...

xxo, kim