Monday, November 29, 2010

Christmas Cards

If you're like me, the whole Christmas card thing is kind of an ordeal.  I always procrastinate on taking our family picture, then take forever looking for the cutest card with the best price and before I know it, it's January and no one has heard from us yet!  But not this year.  This year I took that bull by the horns and my cards are DONE!  Ok, not in the mail or anything but printed at least.  And the best part?  I spent a whopping $28 for 200 photo cards!  Yes, you read that right.  Here's what I did....

We took a family outing about a month ago and bribed the kids with ice cream if they behaved and smiled for the camera when I asked them to etc.  Sadly, they did NOT earn their ice cream...they were complete turkeys - yes, I'm the kind of mean mom who follows through on things like that.  I was very unhappy at the end of the experience and we ended up taking our screaming clan home without their ice cream.  Ugh.  But, that's not the whole story.  Here in SLC we have such beautiful fall colors and I wanted to capture them.  I decided taking the clan up to the foothills of the Wasatch front would be ideal.  There we found a kind biker who volunteered to snap some pics for us while we posed (did I mention we are CHEAP and don't pay to have our pictures taken?  Yes, we use the self-timer and a tripod).  Anyway, this is the kind of thing we ended up with:

Ya, turkeys right?  And what the heck am I thinking with those two huge white power poles in the background?  I thought that the wagon would be a fun prop but it ended up being a death trap for the tiny tot who wouldn't sit down to save his life. 

So, we got into the car and headed off in search of a better location.  I remembered a little bridge, tucked away in the middle of the city next to Old Navy.  It is a little piece of nature inside the city.  So, that's where we ended up.  Really, I couldn't believe we actually got any 1/2 decent pics out of the day but I did end up with one that was "editable" enough to use (since I'm not about to subject us to that kind of torture again). 

Next, I took said image and imported it into Picnik.  I have photoshop on my computer but it takes so long to open and use on my 4 year old ancient laptop that I prefer to use something quick and easy like Picnik.  If you haven't found it yet it will change your life!  I am addicted.  It's so easy to boost color and edit photos with fun effects!  You'll love it.  Here is the photo that we started with:



No one would sit still.  But I guess it kind of captures our life right now!  So, I then headed on over to picnik.com and made it black and white, boosted the contrast and faded the effect a little so that some of the green showed through and then I added text to make it our Christmas card.  They have a ton of fun fonts you can use and it's all FREE!  Here's the finished product:


No bad eh?  So THEN I got online and sent the sucker to Costco's 1-hour printing service (I've searched around a bit and have found that Costco really does have superior quality compared with the other brick and mortar businesses I've tried).  I ordered 200 copies, matte finished with a white border for $.13 each and picked them up 1 hour later!  Yahoo!  Anyway, I'm supposed to be printing out my envelopes right now but instead I'm blogging about my great deal.  Again, I'm a procrastinator.  Happy holidays! 



Friday, November 26, 2010

Coupon Codes....Hooray!!!!

Well, at LOOOONGGG last Etsy has set up the capability for us to use coupon codes!  Hooray! So, instead of convo-ing me before your purchase, all you have to do now is enter the code: PREGO to get the pregnant deal this weekend!  Just to remind you, it is going on through Monday only - that includes the free shipping deals.  I am super excited about this coupon code thing...I'll definitely be using it often!  After my sale this weekend I plan to employ a 'BLOG' coupon code for you faithful readers.  More on that next week!  In the meantime, enjoy those wonderful turkey leftovers.  I know I've been resisting the urge to raid the fridge...now that it's lunchtime I think I'll go unleash my appetite on the overstocked refrigerator! 

Monday, November 22, 2010

Happy Birthday SALE!

In honor of my little guy's first birthday (yesterday) I am offering FREE SHIPPING to purchases made in the U.S.!  This sale will go through Black Friday and end next Monday (11/22).  This only applies to instock items, not customs so you'll notice that the custom items haven't been adjusted. 

Also, I'm extending a sympathetic gift to those of you who are expecting.  I remember one year ago being in the overdue days of my pregnancy and my heart goes out to you :)  So, to ease the discomfort of preganancy and to help with your nesting impluses I'm upping my discount to 20% off for pregnant mamas!  Just convo me before your purchase and I will adjust the price.  This is ONLY for expecting mamas (if you are adopting that counts as expecting too:)!

So make your way over to my little corner of Etsy and clear out my inventory PLEASE!:)  And, have a fantastic Thanksgiving this week! 

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

They Are Finally Here

Ok, I know I promised weeks ago (at least it seems) that I would post my new diapers for sale....and then I didn't:(  How bad.  Anyway, life just got crazy and it seems my 5 minutes here and there just wasn't sufficient to make it happen.  Also, I have been selling them on the side to friends and such and kept finding my inventory depleted!  BUT, I have finally found the time to post a bunch for sale over at my store, so go check them out!!  And, thank you for your patience, so sorry to not live up to my own expectations:)

Here is a sneak preview in case you decide to wait to check them out there:)