Category Archives: cornerstonefulfillmentservice

Architecture in “Breck”

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“Color in certain places has the great value of  making the outlines and structural planes seem more energetic.” ~ Antoni Gaudi

That having been said, I’d like to extend the tour today of BreckCreate, a mountain community in Colorado where the arts is alive. Such is life in many towns in this State where creativity is much appreciated.

In the center of historic downtown, the Blue River Restoration Project is very visible. It is right outside the door of the Breckenridge Welcome Center. This article describes the project. Here are a few pictures.

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At the River Walk Project – right outside the Breckenridge Visitors Center.

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You can get the picture from a few of the historical homes that are now retail establishments or restaurants what “Breck” is like. Fun to stroll the streets and take in the structures. Coming from a family of builders, that is what fulfills me when I visit a new place.

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architect4While I was on my day trip to Breckenridge I came across some surprise things that related to books and publishing. Come back tomorrow and I will tell you all about it.

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, Sue Batton Leonard.

Reaching for Heaven

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“We shape our dwellings, and afterwards, our dwellings shape us.” – Winston Churchill

Building custom homes and places of faith have been projects that my family’s 100+ year old construction company has been involved with through the decades.

This fall in keeping with work of the men in the family who came before him, my youngest brother Scott soared up toward heaven to inspect the steeple at St. Johns Church in Reisterstown, Maryland in order to assess the necessary restoration project of Batton Builders. Interestingly, the church was built in 1816 and then destroyed by fire on Christmas Day and only the steeple and cornerstone of the church survived. The ediface was rebuilt in 1869.  The History of St. John’s Church, Western Run Parish from 1800-2000 by Margaret Worrall details the history of this church.

Since I wrote about the family building business in Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, today on All Things Fulfilling I thought I’d share with our readers these photos of a church restoration Batton Builders has recently been involved with. What a magnificent structure!

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St Johns

 Thankfully there is no fear of heights in the family.

scottSee you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

Community of Blessings

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“Community is a sign that love is possible in a materialistic world… It is a sign that we don’t need a lot of money to be happy–in fact, the opposite.”
― Jean Vanier, Community And Growth

Last summer I mentioned to my mother and sister the fact that the harvest season does not seem to be as decorated in the West as in the East. “Perhaps that’s because Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, the place of the landing of the Pilgrims, is geographically closer, so the season of fall is more celebrated. But, I really don’t know what it is,” I admitted.

On Sunday I arrived at the doors of my church and found it beautifully decorated for the fall season. The blessings of community and sermons of life lessons, relevant to today’s world, are always inside these church doors.

IMG_20151011_084245_836 Reflections last week from the Rev. Tim Selby included the question “And How Are the Children?”  Unfortunately in this day and age with all of the incidents in schools we can’t confidently answer “All are safely gathered in.”IMG_20151011_084455_846

By the end of the sermon each and everyone of us hoped our prayers would be heard as we sang the closing hymn “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

If you wish to hear the words of the message, keep your eye on the church website where recordings of each Sunday’s lessons are always posted.

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Lessons of Heart and Soul.

New Developments in E-Commerce

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“There is parity in the marketplace and as a result the consumer is beginning to make decisions, not on what things cost but the convenience of it.” ~ Howard Schultz

Cover_PA Oct-Nov 2015_220w_iPadAre you currently selling your artwork on-line or anticipate doing so in the future? If so, check out the article in the October/November 2015 issue of Professional Artist Magazine titled Finding Your Place in the New e-Commerce.

More than ever  before, new options have opened up for selling artwork on the world-wide-web.

You thought Pinterest was just a place to pin-up pretty pictures on an on-line bulletin board?  It’s capabilities have been expanded to include a “buy it button” integrated with an artist’s store on Shopify. According to the article in Professional Artists Magazine, “It’s made closing a sale even easier through a Pinterest app for Android users.” This is just one advance in technology for on-line art stores.

Things are advancing at a rapid pace and the article in Professional Artists Magazine addresses the issue of commission, shipping and handling, direct sales integrated with social media and the on-line version of the red dot.

“I already have a website,” you say? Does it have an e-commerce plug-in? Increase your visibility and exposure by adding a way to sell your art beyond brick and mortar galleries and stores. The tools for on-line selling of art work has come a long way and art collectors are looking for convenience.

This blog is brought to you by Cornerstone Fulfillment Service, LLC. A company specializing in e-commerce and e-marketing for independent publishers.

See you back here tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling. We will be featuring a few stories about professional development opportunities I had last week as a writer.

 

 

Links to Past, Present and Future

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My first duty is to write a gripping yarn. Second is to convey credible characters who make you feel what they feel. Only third comes the idea. ~ David Brin

Did you read Friday’s post on All Things Fulfilling about stitching yarns together? Today we are going to continue the conversation from a slightly different angle.

In my first publication, the award-winning memoir called Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, I wrote a first hand account of my memories.The facts were all there as best as I could remember from my childhood.

For years I have been told some interesting stories about a character of interest on my mother’s side of the family tree that I did not write about previously.  The tales could be full of baloney because they are a bit sketchy. I need to determine if they are fact or fiction.

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In order to find out the truth of the matter I recently joined in with a genealogy group at the Bud Werner Memorial Library in Steamboat Springs, Colorado to see if I can stitch together the vague pieces of information that I have been given my mother. If there is some truth to the matter, this figure from my heritage could prove to be a fascinating fellow.

Great resources are available at my finger tips! The Bud Werner Memorial Library (BWML) is an affiliate of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Some people find great fascination in tracing their family back many generations, I am not sure if I am up for the task. “But how will I know whether I’ll find that kind of research fulfilling or not if I don’t begin somewhere?” I ask myself.

I’ll keep you posted….

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, EVVY award-winning author of the memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and short stories Lessons of Heart & Soul.

Sundown for Labor Day

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What a glorious summer it has been.  It is the time of the year when I feel as if I have returned to days of my youth. An outpouring of memories come with that.

Over Labor Day weekend and for a few days next week I’d like to encourage our readers to check out some of the posts in the archives. You can look them up by category or scroll through the site. Something will catch your interest. There are over 1700 writings on All Things Fulfilling that have drawn 100,000+ viewers to this website.

Each of the postings is about something that has inspired me as a writer or as a human being to follow my own kind of bliss.

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See you back here a little later in the week. I promise. Refreshed, rejuvenated and with a wealth of ideas that will come together between now and the New Year.

This blog is brought to you by award winning author Sue Batton Leonard. Her books include EVVY award -winner Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and short stories Lessons of Heart & Soul.

Cowboy Ethics

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  • Real courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. ~ John Wayne

I doubt I would have ever become acquainted with the term “cowboy ethics” unless I had moved West. Sure, I believe and practice what it is about but I’d never attached such a term to it.

In fact, when I began this blog All Things Fulfilling, before I even knew what cowboy ethics were, I had decided I’d use all the principles associated with the term as I went about my mission of inspiring, informing and educating people about independent publishing. The fact that I found personal fulfillment in my writing was a bonus and a God-send.

In an interview on Living a Richer Life talk radio some months ago, the host, Earl Cobb,  mentioned that many people say they are going to write a book but never accomplish their mission. “How is it that you were successful?” he asked.  When I set out to prove to myself that I could publish a book independently as an inexperienced writer, I took to heart the inspirational words I’d heard someone say “I wanted it more than I was afraid of it.” I also changed my vocabulary from I was going to try to write a book to AM writing and publishing a book. I eliminated the word try out of my vocabulary completely. What a difference it made in the outcome and I even became an award-winning author, to boot!

If you want to accomplish your goals and if you can’t eliminate the word try completely, this video featuring Jim Owen of Cowboy Ethics points out another way of looking at the word TRY. You will find it interesting!

Last week in the blog post A Shepard’s Tea, I mentioned having a celebration after the New Year. Perhaps a Hoe Down might be more appropriate since I found fulfillment using Cowboy Ethics in Colorado. Want to learn more about the principles behind the term Cowboy Ethics, visit this website. 

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This blog is brought to you by award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information about her publications Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and short stories Lessons of Heart & Soul.

 

 

A Shepard’s Tea Party

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If a man loves the labor of his trade, apart from any question of success or fame, the gods have called him. – Robert Louis Stevenson

Cup Runneth OverAn exciting landmark is coming to All Things Fulfilling. Soon, one hundred-thousand readers will have hit this website which is amazing because when I began writing about what was an obscure concept to many people I had no idea how many would be interested. What I’ve concluded is that incorporating business with a thoughtful mission makes work more meaningful.  It puts the emphasis on conducting business for a reason beyond financial gain. It’s fulfilling way to live and work.

Shepard’s Garden, a Montana company is another company that has taken this idea and incorporated it into their products. They sell tea that has a verse attached to every tea bag which has been chosen “with the blessing, encouragement, and comfort of the customer in mind.” 

What a great way to reinforce the contemplative moments that come with the restorative ritual of having tea. If you are like me, the time I most appreciate a cup of tea is in the quiet of the morning. What better way to start the day than by reading a meaningful passage.

Check out this blog which gives thirty-one ideas for hosting a Shepard’s Tea Party. Most likely you will find something to inspire you, I have!

Stay tuned in the coming months. I am developing some ideas for the New Year that includes gifts for a few lucky recipients.

Tomorrow we will highlight another company of interest that puts a heart & soul centered mission at the core of their business.

This blog is brought to you by the author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and short stories Lessons of Heart & Soul by Sue Batton Leonard.

Heart of the Stories

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“A good story should make you laugh, and a moment later break your heart.”― Chuck Palahniuk

Do you miss those days when the words commitment, pride and work ethic really meant something? Are you tired of reading news stories that are sensational and shocking because healthy relationships are missing? The good news is stories about valuing oneself and others who are different than us do exist.

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Lessons of Heart & Soul, is a collection of stories that go back to the days when things were much simpler and when kids learned and understood what decent values were all about. These ten short stories which were cut from the award-winning book Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected were previously unpublished. They are bound to put a smile on your face.

If you are looking for something to make you feel good and lift your spirits, both publications will remind you of a time when life was not so complex. You’ll love Fanny the central character in the story and her pearls of wisdom. You’ll want to learn even more about her in the award-winning book Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, if you haven’t already read it.

Where is the best treasure in the story? Check out the memorable voice in the audio book, narrated by the author. Prefer to read it on a different platform? Select the paperback or e-book.

Books on Spirituality

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Statistics indicate fewer people are church-going. The reasons for the decline runs the gamut, and it depends on who you talk to and what media you favor. What do you think is the truth of the matter?

As I was writing this blog, I saw this statement come across my social media news feed.

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It immediately lead my ticker tape of thoughts to ponder what people really value in today’s world. Are we Americans perhaps not as interested in things that lead to inner growth and development and more interested in keeping up appearances? Does valuing one have to be exclusive of the other? I don’t know, but it sure begs the question.

I’ve noticed there is a new generation of books that have sprung up regarding spirituality.  Today on All Things Fulfilling, I’d like to mention a few of them. I am not pushing any of them or their authors because I have not read these publications. I’ve posted these publications for no self-serving reason other I find their titles interesting and thought worthy.

  • Wearing God
  • Accidental Saints – Finding God in All The Wrong People
  • Searching for Sunday
  • There’s a Woman in the Pulpit
  • Saint Mazie: A Novel
  • Prayer, Write, Grow
  • Mudhouse Sabbath
  • Girl Meets God
  • The Wisdom of Stability
  • Praying in Color
  • The Sacred Year: Mapping the Soulscape of Spiritual Practice
  • Tables in the Wilderness: A Memoir of God Found, Lost & Found Again
  • Every Bitter Thing is Sweet

Do any of these titles appeal to your personal interpretation of what spirituality means to you? If so, pick up one of these titles, read it and write a review on Amazon.com or send us your thoughts through this website.  Reviews help other readers decide whether a book is worth reading. Why did it touch your heart and soul?  Authors appreciate feedback from the public!

This blog is brought to you by award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. Click here for more information on her  publications, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and short stories Lessons of Heart & Soul.