A Card Maker's Confession

     I love making my own cards.  I haven't had the chance to stamp as often as I would like in the past few years, but if given a choice I would much rather send a homemade birthday card to someone than send a store bought one.  However, this does not apply to Christmas cards.  I have tried to make all of my own Christmas cards, but there are just too many to make...and then pictures and a letter to print out...I get stressed out and end up not sending out any.  Solution?   Shutterfly!  Shutterfly has a great selection of holiday cards in many different styles.  I love the ease of just choosing a design and adding my choice of picture(s) to it! Click here to check out their Holiday Photo card selection.

 I think my favorite card design is "Simple Memories."  Those of you who know me know that I love my cards simple and to the point :)  I like that the card fits 4 different photos on it.

They also have designs available where you can print your Christmas letter right on the card.  Seeing as my printer always seems to have issues when I NEED to get something done, it would be really nice to have the letter right on the card--no extra printing needed!

Or if simple is more your thing, this card  leaves 9 spots for short sentences to share what happened throughout the year. If I can think of nine sentences I might use this one!

If you aren't into cards they also have different photo calendars. I haven't gotten a calendar yet because I just think that photo calendars are much cuter when you have kids. :)

So head on over to Shutterfly and then come back and tell me which design you like.

Disclaimer:  I wrote this post as a part of the Shutterfly Holiday Card promotion and will receive free holiday cards, but all opinions are my own.  I only promote products/companies that I like and trust.

Saving Money

I have a lot of time on my hands lately and not a lot of cash so I have been doing what I can to save money and still buy the things I need.  A few friends and family members have been asking me to share a  money saving tips/how to get free stuff!

1.  Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a search engine that gives you swagbucks (points) just for searching.  You can redeem those swagbucks for prizes or gift cards.  I think that the amazon gift card is the best deal--$5 gift card for 450 swagbucks.  I have redeemed two of these gift cards so far since signing up--which comes in handy since I am involved in a book club and get the books from amazon.  If you sign up don't get frustrated if you aren't earning a lot of swagbucks right away.  Just use the site like you would google and slowly you will see things adding up--it really does work!   Click here to check out Swagbucks and sign up.

2. Before I go shopping or out to eat I do an online search (usually through swagbucks :) ) to see if where I am going is offering any deals or has coupons available.  Yesterday I decided to use a gift card I had from Bath and Body Works so I went and checked (just put in a search for "Bath and Body Works coupons") and found a coupon for a free travel size lotion with any purchase.  I was going to make a purchase anyways so for me it was a great deal!

3.Ebates
This site is great if you do a lot of online shopping.  You get a percentage back for shopping online--% varies by store. They also share deals/coupons that the stores have for online shopping.  Plus you get a $5 sign up bonus when you make your first purchase.  I don't do a ton of online shopping so for me earning money on this site has been slow going, but I still think it is worth it.  I have heard of many people who love it and earn quite a bit through ebates. With Christmas coming up it might be useful.  Click here to check it out.

4. Coupons--Matching coupons to sale prices and deals is a great way to save money or get free items. You don't even need to get the Sunday Paper coupons to score deals, although that is helpful.  I get most of my coupons online.  I don't have time to search out all the good deals so I depend on others to do that. :)  Here are a few websites I like  She Saved,  Coupon Geek   and   Penny Pinchin' Mom   (If you are interested let me know and I can share a few more websites/blogs like these.)  I don't think any of these ladies live in my area, but I still have gotten some great deals by reading their blogs and ones like them...including the free full size bottle of shampoo that I got yesterday :)

Hope this helps. :)

Sweet Things Challenge

A few Saturdays ago I got to spend an afternoon stamping and laughing with a few very talented stampers. I had never met two of the ladies before that day, but left with two new friends.  One of the reasons I like stamping with others is you get to borrow their supplies and try them out! :)  While using each other's stamps Jami decided we should have a card challenge. We all had to use the same image on a card to see what we could come up with.  We agreed to use Sweet Thing by Penny Black...love this cute little girl with her cupcake! 

I tried to challenge myself even more by trying out Taylored Expressions sketch challenge for this card. 
Here is what I came up with.

Check out what everyone else did:

Jami

Rachel

Lisa

a few pictures from the day:

stamps: Sweet Thing by Penny Black, Make a Wish by Taylored Expresssions
paper: cardstock-Stampin' Up!, Designer paper--Crate
other: Prisma Colored Pencils, odorless mineral spirits, Ribbon--My Mind's Eye, brads from Target $ spot

Baby Boy--Tie Onesie

    I have been working on a gift basket for my friend who is having a baby shower tomorrow.  She is having a boy. I think that baby girl things are so much easier than baby boy things.  No pink, no ruffles, no bows....what to do?!?!   I have seen cute tie onesies for boys lately so I decided to give one a try.  I ironed wonder-under on the fabric I was using and then just hand drew my tie onto the back of the wonder-under before cutting it out.  I made 2 parts, one is the "knot" and the other the tie hanging down.  After you have the tie cut out you just peel the backing off the wonder-under and iron the tie on to the onesie--so easy!  I then sewed around the edge of the tie to keep it stuck to the onesie.

    I have heard good things about the wonder-under, but I have to say I wasn't impressed.  I found it hard to get the backing off and then I had trouble getting it to stick when I ironed it.  The project turned out fine, I just wasn't impressed with the stuff.  Maybe I did something wrong??

   I can't wait to give this to the mom-to-be!

Click to see blog parties I link to

With Love to Mom--Part 2--Table Runner

I promised a picture of the table runner I made my mom.  Click here to see Part 1 where I shared the place mats and history of the fabric/project.
Here is a picture of one of the quilt squares I used for this project.

And the finished table runner...(My table is shorter than my mom's so it will look a little better).

And one last picture of the table runner and place mats. (yikes, someone should really use the iron on projects before taking pictures!)

Click here to see parties I sometimes link to.

A student wrote this last week in her journal while I was subbing.  I will just ignore the fact that she wrote basically the same things about her friend the day before. ;)

Can you see that I am totally rocking the purple braids in that picture?!?!