Two new Christmas cards

I just finished this card for a contest over at Lily-Boo.  The challenge this month was to make a purple card and I love purple on Christmas cards so the timing is just right!  It's a bit hard to see but the medallion was "blinged-up" a bit.

The glittered snowflakes were actually made and sold to someone I used to work with.  They were relatively painful to make because the glitter HAD to stick so it was a matter of stamping the purple, lining up the stamp again and stamping with Versa Mark, pouring on the Heat & Stick powder, heating it, pouring the glitter on it and heating it again to set.  I like the results though.

$50 giveaway to Oh-My-Crafts!

I was just looking for a reasonably priced (i.e. Free shipping) "When It's Cold Outside" Cricut cartridge when I came across http://mycricutscrapbooking.com/.  They're giving away a $50 GC to Oh-My-Crafts on Saturday, Nov. 14th.  Definitely a giveaway to look into!!

You've GOT to see this packaging!

I recently received a shirt for my son from Ufadili.com.  They carry a lot of kids' shirts that have animals on them and present their names in several languages and 30% of their profits go to charities.  Cute, cool stuff!  I'd seen their packaging online but getting it made it all that much neater. 

I ordered a blue raglan shirt with a blue marlin on it.  "Sulisuli" is blue marlin in... wait for it... Swahili!  Funky and bizarre but cool.

Gooseberry Patch... Big fan!

Gooseberry Patch is a nifty company that carries a fantastic amount of kitchen items with a country theme.  They have old style cookie cutters, dishes, cloth items, mixes, the whole lot! 

However, what I know them the most for is their huge number of cookbooks.  I recently bought several of their small books including "Country Friends® Merry Mixes" and "Country Friends® Merry Mixes II."  I thought these would be ideal for Christmas since this year more of our gifts will be homemade due to budget reasons.  I found a great recipe for a moccachino mix that my husband gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to.  I'll be trying the hot chocolate and a few other drink mixes that will go into glass containers and be given as a set or as stocking stuffers.  There are also bread, cookie, and soup mix recipes that I can't wait to try! 

Upcoming Giveaways

The Bragging Mommy
Pirate Mr. Potato Head: aka. Capt. Potato Chips!  How can you NOT love Hasbros' Mr. Potato Head,  particularly in pirate garb!  I recently bought Liam a Mr. Potato Head and it's been his favorite toy.  I've already been thinking about getting some of these "supplemental" outfits to beef (spud) up his wardrobe and this is a great one.

UV Skinz (winner's choice): While this is more of a summer item unless you're taking a winter "fun-in-the-sun getaway", it's still a great one.  UV Skinz carries very trendy looking UV blocking shirts and bottoms for the whole family.

$25 GC for Maukilo.com: Maukilo.com has some great toys that would be instant Christmas hits.  Among other amazing things, they have a full line of HABA toys which I think are some of the most fantastic (and unfortunately pricey, though you get what you pay for) items out there.

MomStart
Things Remembered Car Snowglobe: I know that I sometimes forget Things Remembered as an everyday giftshop but that have some great stuff.  This race car snowglobe is an example of that- how cute!  Liam would LOVE this... though he's not likely to be able to put his little mitts on it anytime soon without a LOT of supervision!

Klutz Encylopedia of Immaturity, Vols. 1&2: The Klutz series of kits and books never ceases to amaze me.  Whenever I see a spinny rack of theirs, I have to stop and look to see what they've come up with now.  There's always something new and fun!  They've put out 2 volumes of fun activities and projects, one geared to kids 10 and up and one to the younger set.

Kikkoman Gift Pack: Just in time for Thanksgiving, MomStart and Kikkoman are giving away a gift pack that contains everything from a $25GC for a turkey to turkey recipes for the mountain of leftovers that always seems to exist no matter how many people stuffed themselves at the table to "A Kikkoman Duck for your kids to play with as you prepare the turkey."  What a great pack of goodies!

Unilever Goodies & Samples: Unilever and MomStart are giving away a box of assorted products likely to include Dove, Vaseline, and QTips.  This is a great way to try out new products without spending a fortune to decide if you like it or not!

Chocolate A Love Story:  This is a book about a man, Max Brenner, and his company.  It's a story, photobook, and recipe book all in one.  How can that be bad?

All a Little Crazy

I missed putting anything up lately because it's all been, as you might guess, a little crazy.  Liam's recovering from his run-in (literally) with the sliding glass door track and the resulting trip to the ER to glue his forehead closed.  Soon after that, I decided to try to give blood again.  After 2 nurses spent 30min trying on both of my arms, they pretty much dismissed me, one suggesting that I don't come back unless I'm sure it'll go well because it causes them to have paperwork to fill out and take a "ding" against their successes for the day.  Excuse me for trying and for prepping by drinking 90oz. of fluid before I came in!  I ended up icing my arms for 4 hours, still have bruises about 3" in diameter on both arms 5 days later and it's the first day neither forearm aches from "bruised veins" (I didn't even know about that!).  Then, to top it all off, I had a massive allergic reaction to something (not sure what) starting Monday night.  By Tue. morning, half of my face and neck was red and swollen with hives.  Today is again the first day where I'm starting to get back to normal though my neck is still a red mess.  Really.  That's enough. 

So, next post... the good stuff.  :)

Giveaways ending 11/1-11/8

Babes & Kids: This is another of those sites that I find I frequently have giveaways entries at.  Nice stuff!
They've got two REALLY big ones right now:
Leapster  That's right, Babes & Kids is giving away a Leapster learning system.  It looks like this would be great for the pre-school to grade school aged kid who is happy to play learning games, particularly since a lot of them appear to have licensed characters in them (Kai Lan, Star Wars, etc.)
Leapfrog Tag  In addition to that Leapster system, B&K is also giving away a Tag reading system.  This is the "older brother" of the Tag, Jr. system which I know is a very nice gadget.  My son and I have played with the Jr. and it's definitely going to be a popular item here.  There are over 25 books available for the Tag system making it something that won't get old fast.

Born2Impress: I'm a big fan of this site because of the great reviews and giveaways, cute girls' accessories, and oh yeah, it's where I won my very first giveaway!  :)
Delicae Gourmet GC  Born2Impress is giving away a gift certificate for Delicae Gourmet, an online shop that specializes in gourmet sauces and dressings among other things.  I thought that a $20 GC wouldn't go very far but Delicae Gourmet is very reasonably priced!

Divvies: You can win a 3gal. popcorn tin from a rather unique candy shop- they specialize in candies and sweets while considering food allergies.  The munchies look spectacular!

Your Baby Can Read  Honestly, I'd seen the commercials on TV and thought, "Nuh uh.  No WAY!" but the more I hear about this, the more I think there's something to it.  While I wouldn't necessarily want an infant learning to read (there are limits to "pushing" to me), I think that if it could help a reading-aged child make more sense of the words, it's got potential.

The Bragging Mommy
The winner of this giveaway gets their choice of kids' BabyBanz, some really nice looking sunglasses.  Baby Banz are best known for their unique wrap-around, banded design and 100% UV protective lenses.

Ecobabyz
Someone will win a pack of 5 Kid Konserve Food Kozies in their choice of lime green or orange.  I LOVE these!  The "convenient 13" round circles are made of recycled, FDA approved, non-toxic, non-leaching, recyclable PE plastic. They contain no Bisphenol-A or Phthalates."  Essentially, you just wrap them around your sandwich, fruit, veggies, cookies, whatever.  Then just wash them up and do it all over again. 

Frugal Creativity
There's a 4-pk of winter flavored SoftLips lip balms going to the winner here.  In addition to these limited edition flavors, SoftLips carries some unusual ones like Chai Tea, Papaya, and Acai Berry.

The Otherhood
There's a new outdoor game on the market called Djubi and Otherhood is giving one away.  It's a neat cross between a ball being launched a standard butterfly-net style catch.

The Veater Family
There are two great jewelry giveaways at the Veater Family blog right now. 
The first is for New Fashioned Whispers.  This is an etsy shop and has some really fantastic looking pieces, many of which have, as you may guess from the shop name, a new but old-fashioned look to them. 

The second giveaway is for Joolwe Jewelry.  While this is more traditional jewelry, there's a wide selection and they have an interesting program that I haven't heard of at many jewelry stores- every dollar spent earns you points towards free jewelry. 

More MomStart giveaways! (Ending 11/2-11/9)

MomStart has a great list of giveaways happening right now including these 3...

My Yoga To Go  This product is made for anyone who needs to brush up on their yoga poses or just come up with a new routine and MomStart is giving one away.  It looks like it would also be nice for someone who's just dabbled in yoga and could use a small "cheat sheet" nearby.  (Not that I would know anyone like that, of course!) 

$100 Visa Gift Card  Along with Scott's Common Sense Community's "Change for the Better" push, MomStart is giving away a $100 Visa Gift Card.

Bake-Me-A-Wish Cake  I've seen these as giveaways on quite a few sites and MomStart is offering it again!  Not only does the company give cakes to soldiers overseas, but they're also have a "Mortage Apple Cake."

5% of your Mortgage Apple Cake order will be donated to GreenPath Debt Solutions,

a nationwide non-profit consumer credit counseling service that helps people resolve

financial problems, achieve financial goals and get relief from debt since 1961

Did I mention the cakes look fanTABulous!?

Giveaways ending 10/26-10/31

But wait!  There's more!!
MomStart:
"Clorox wants to help you Say Boo To the Flu. With the CDC predicting a very bad flu season everyone seems to be on high alert. Families Fighting Flu (a group of parents who have lost a child to the flu), Visiting Nurse Associations of America and Clorox have teamed up yet again to help families Say “Boo!” to the Flu and help keep flu prevention as simple as possible."
In support of this, MomStart is giving away a chance to win a Chlorox gift pack if you pledge to get a flu shot- not a bad tradeoff since many of us are planning to get shots this year any way!

MomStart also has a giveaway for the Wii game "30 Great Games Outdoor Fun" which I've heard is pretty good.  I'd love to give this one a try!

Brown Paper Packages is giving away a really cute brown paper bag scrapbook of the winner's choice

Scrapmaster's Paradise is giving away a great Elmer's Glue prize!  I won an Elmer's "Extra Strength Glue Stick" from Samantha earlier this year and I LOVE the stuff!

MNM Special has a few giveaways going on too. 

The first is for a Yoplait Yogurt prize pack.  I don't think I need to tell you what Yoplait is all about!  :)

The second is for a Funky Monkey variety pack.  Funky Monkey is a brand of air dried fruit snacks that I think the kiddies would love!

See Kai Run giveaway at MomStart

I won a pair of See Kai Run shoes for my son earlier this year and they're great!  While I was hoping for arch support that they don't appear to have, they are well padded inside to give nice shock absorbancy.  MomStart is giving away a pair of See Kai Run (their bigger boys' style) or Smaller (little boys' style) on Nov. 10.  Personally, I think "Justin" is a great style!

They look like really cute blue bowling shoes to me.  :)

Good luck!

Mommy PR giveaways ending 10/26-10/29

I'm telling you.  This site is FANTASTIC and they've got a load of amazing giveaways (and motivational articles and informative articles... they have it ALL!)

There are quite a few giveaways that I found interesting on their site:
Dunecraft Medieval Herber   Dunecraft makes great kids' stuff and there's a giveaway for a medieval castle that kids grow herbs in and around.  VERY cute for the kids into fantasy!

ELK shoes for kids- I'd never heard of them previous to this but they look great!

Avery's DIY Organizational Package   Lot's of labels and tabs to help you get organized- key if you have a room used for crafts, the office, and a spare bedroom all-in-one like I do!

 

Pluma Down  Now THIS is a giveaway.  One lucky person is going to win a down comforter and two others will win 2 down pillow each!  This is a MUST enter!

Tastefully Simple  If you're familiar with this company you'll know why it's such a great giveaway.  Tastefully Simple is a company that offers their products through home party sales and has a great line of all types of foods- appetizers, entrees, sides, desserts, breads, and a good number of soups.

Jack Lalanne's Power Juicer Express  This is an AWESOME giveaway.  Juicers don't come cheap and JackLalanne is quite the name!  It would be great to get fresh fruit and veggie juice without getting scraps of fruit and juice all over the place while using a hand squeezer!

Giveaways ending TODAY

An AWESOME looking Shrinky Dinks (LOVE 'EM) Halloween set at Gobs of Giveaways

The Gooseberry Patch Cookbook "Super Fast Slow Cooking" at the Speedy Gourmet

The Gooseberry Patch Cookbook "Autumn with Family and Friends" at Snafood

A great pair of Livie & Luca kids' shoes of the winner's choice over at Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with Strings

Giveaways ending TODAY

Mommy PR always has some fantastic giveaways running and I've happily won quite a few great prizes there.  The giveaway ending tonight is for Colonial Candle.  If you have a few minutes, check it out to win these great Halloween goodies.