Purchase Custom Postcards Online

I have purchased a variety of custom postcards online from Zazzle, a print on demand (POD) company, and found them to be of great quality. With being able to customize them with party details right online, they were convenient and easy to personalize. I liked the print quality and would recommend them to others.

Custom postcards online can be purchased to share particular themes, be specialized for Save the date notices, serve as invitations, and so much more. Many can be easily personalized on template forms before placing your order. If there is no template form, you can also click on Customize to personalize them.

Postcards are a nice way to let others know that you are thinking of them.

Array of White Flowers Thinking of you Postcards

by CherylsArt

Save the dates are a great service for weddings and other events that require extra planning for guests, such as when they need to make travel plans and hotel reservations.

Purple Yellow Diamonds Butterflies Save the date Postcard

by CherylsArt

New address postcards are an easy way to let family and friends, etc. know that you are moving or have moved.

We're Moving, change of address postcards

by CherylsArt

You can also design your own, do it yourself, DIY postcards by uploading your own image and adding your own text.

DIY - Design Create Your Own Postcards

by CherylsArt

Design requests are also accepted at my store, CherylsArt on Zazzle.

Cheryl Paton

World Sight Day - Take steps to improve vision naturally

World Sight Day is held in October. For 2024, the date is October 10. Hallelujah, that's a fine day to celebrate. You see, I have been improving my own vision naturally, and I see much better now than I did years ago.

Yes, people are improving their vision through eye exercises.

One thing that has helped me is to look beyond my clear seeing zone, and then to notice what I do see; and to do that from time to time throughout the day. If you want to give it a try, look ahead and notice what is the most clear item that you can see. Then look a bit beyond that item, or closer to you if you are wanting to adjust your vision the other way. Then just notice what you do see. It doesn't have to be clear. Just notice. Do you see the general outline of something, perhaps space in between the letters or space in between the lines if you are looking at text. Then note in your mind what it is that you see. Part of this re-training of your eyes is also re-training your mind that you do see things.

Another thing I've done is to rotate my eyes around in large circles, first in one direction, and then in the other. Take a look at the photo at the top of the page to get the idea. It's as if you are drawing a big circle with your eyes, going from right to left, and then from left to right.

Eyes need to relax as well as exercise, and not just when one is sleeping. Before doing this exercise however, make sure that you wash your hands thoroughly first. Then rub your cleaned palms together a few times to generate some warmth, and then place your cupped palms over your closed eyes for several seconds or more. There is no pressure to use here, in fact, there should be enough space to blink or open your eyelids if you want. Eyes can appreciate this extra relaxation.

I made a chart that illustrates various exercises that I have done to improve my vision. You can find the chart at my CherylsArt store on Zazzle.com. If you have any questions, you can ask them below.

Eye vision exercises poster, I give thanks for...
by CherylsArt

Here's to seeing better, naturally.

Check out another option for vision exercises using pinhole glasses on this blog: Pinhole Glasses for Improving Vision.

Cheryl Paton

Stones Into Schools - A Positive Step For Peace and Education

I read this inspiring book, Stones Into Schools, by Greg Mortenson. Greg originally wrote Three Cups of Tea, and picked up where his previous book left off.

Mortenson went back to Afghanistan to fulfill a promise - to build a school. People that had one time been considered to be the lowest of the low, wanted a school. They risked their lives to travel through the harshest of winter conditions, on horseback, just to meet this man, Greg Mortenson, and to make a request. Build us a school. They wanted more for their kids than what they had had.

This recollection of events is told from Mortenson's point of view; the book is a tale that keeps you interested, and cheering on for more schools.

The book, Stones Into Schools, is available for purchase on Amazon.

Cheryl Paton

Painting People in Acrylic with Lee Hammond

When I first started painting people in acrylic, I looked at the photo and made my best guess with the skin paint colors that I had on hand. Once I got the book, Painting People in Acrylic with Lee Hammond, I opened up to more color possibilities. I added orange, blue and red; not the normal colors I had normally added when painting skin tones.

With the practice exercises of painting spheres, my blending techniques also improved.

This is the first face painting I did after practicing some skills that I learned in Hammond's book.

There are some things I would do differently now, were I to paint this boy again; however I am pleased with my first attempt with the skills I learned then.

If you're looking to take your skin painting skills in acrylic to the next level, I recommend this informative book by Lee Hammond, Paint People in Acrylic. It covers tips for painting skin as well as fur, brush maintenance, blending techniques, and more.

Paint People in Acrylic on Amazon

Cheryl Paton

Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty? - Dishwasher Magnets

"Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty?" This is a question I used to get asked a lot. That is until I designed and purchased a dishwasher magnet. Of course, it has to be manually turned either up or down, but the learning curve is worth it.

Now my daughter and I both use it. How about you? Will a dishwasher magnet make your life simpler? It can as long as you and the others in your household adjust to the learning curve of turning the clean or dirty side up, as appropriate.

Sometimes I even have to look at the magnet to see if the dishes are dirty or clean.

Here is a link to various dishwasher magnets that I designed. There is a bit of a variety - from abstract designs to baseball, and ones for animal lovers. I had purchased one of the large round magnets and we have been using it for several years now. The large magnet is easy to grab and turn around.

I made the designs and Zazzle.com, a print on demand company, does the printing on the magnets, and the shipping.

Something so simple has also made our lives simpler.

Dirty Clean Dishwasher Magnets
by Cheryl Paton

Cheryl Paton

Word Puzzle Game, Bananagrams Product Review

My family likes playing word puzzles; if there is paper on the table when we eat out at a restaurant, we usually grab the crayons and play hangman. Then I came up with the idea of Hangman on Post It Notes. You can read about that here: Hangman on Post it Notes.

My daughter and I also like playing word search puzzles. So I was much intrigued when I read someone's post about Bananagrams; so much so that when I saw the game at our local book store, I purchased one for myself.

Bananagrams is a letter title game in which the players put together crossword puzzles. It's different than Scrabble, in that each player builds their own individual puzzle. The thing that I like about playing Bananagrams is that there is no timer, and every once in awhile, for various reasons, you get to grab more letters; and it's all in fun.

When there are less letter tiles in the grab pile than there are players, the first player with no remaining tiles shouts Bananas! That person is the winner of that hand as long as all of their words are spelled correctly. The other thing I like about Bananagrams is that there are no letter scores to add up.

There are several alternative ways to play the game, for instance, there is a variation for playing in restaurants, not having to grab from the center pile, and playing the game singly. You could also make it more challenging by limiting the game to making only words in a certain category.

If you like word puzzle games already, and/or like making words from letters, the Bananagrams game can be a fun game for you. It can also be a great learning and teaching tool for learning spelling tips.

Bananagrams Game on Amazon

It also comes in a big tile version

Cheryl Paton