OTL: Shutterfly Holiday Cards

When it comes to designing our holiday cards each year, I’m not sure which is more difficult – choosing the family photo or the card design. It seems like we never have a picture where all three of us look good. Last year I ended up choosing a card from Shutterfly that allowed me to put pictures into holiday ornaments so I could crop each one of us out of the best picture from the year. This year I was really hoping to get a great family picture when we were at Disney World but Elizabeth was just not in the mood to get her picture taken so that didn’t even come close to happening.

Shutterfly doesn’t make choosing the card design any easier since they have so many different designs to choose from. I love that they offer holiday cards that work for various winter holidays as well specific Christmas cards. While the main assortment may be overwhelming, Shutterfly allows you to narrow down your options by selecting the card size, number of photos, and style of card that you are looking for.

The process of creating a photo card on Shutterfly is easy as well. You can upload various pictures into your account and then play with the photos, layout, and text on your card until you get it just the way you want it. The cards will come looking just as they are pictured on the website.

Shutterfly offers more than just holiday cards though. They also have various invitations, thank you cards, and photo gifts that can be customized for your special occasions. We used Shutterfly for Elizabeth’s birth announcements three years ago and my mother in law commented that she had never seen a card with multiple pictures like the one we chose. With such a variety of options, I think it would be hard for someone to not find at least one card they like on Shutterfly!

I wrote this post while participating in Shutterfly’s 2011 Holiday promotion and did receive a code for 25 free photo cards. Links within this post are not affiliate links and I will not receive any additional compensation. All opinions expressed and experiences related in this post are entirely my own.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

OTL: Avery Mini Binder

The Avery Mini Durable View Comfort Touch Binder helps make organization easy. I love the 5.5 x 8.5 size which is perfect for carrying everywhere and isn't too bulky. The binder is very durable as the name suggests and will hold up to a lot of use. There are pockets on the inside of the front and back covers which are nice for storing any extra papers that do not work with the ring binder system. The front cover also has a see through plastic pocket for adding a cover to the binder. The one inch ring lets the binder hold plenty of material without being too thick.

I also discovered that the binder is very easy to clean. I let my daughter draw on some of my note pages while I was going over some paperwork at the school and she managed to get ink on the back cover as well. It wiped off easily with a damp cloth.

The only feature that I feel the binder is missing is a place to store a pen. There is simply no easy way to keep a pen in the binder at all times.

The Avery Mini Durable View Comfort Touch Binder works very well with the other products in the Avery line designed for the 5.5 x 8.5 inch size including filler paper, write on dividers, and binder pockets.

I received the Avery Mini Durable View Comfort Touch Binder with 1 inch Round Ring, 5.5 x 8.5 Inches, Dusty Blue (17347) from the Amazon.com Vine program for the purpose of providing an honest review.  Avery also sent Avery Filler Paper, 5.5 x 8.5 Inches, 100 Sheets (14230) and Avery Mini Studio Collection Write-On Tab Dividers with Retro Flower Design on Divider, 5.5 x 8.5-Inches, 5 Tabs (16187) to use with the binder for review purposes.  These products are not included with the purchase of the binder.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

OTL: Swagbucks

The first Friday of each month, I post about Swagbucks.  That is because every Friday means Mega Swagbucks for searching (but I don't want to overwhelm people with reminders every Friday)!  Haven't tried Swagbucks yet?  It is super easy - simply use the Swagbucks search engine to do your normal Internet searching and sometimes you will be rewarded with Swagbucks which can then be redeemed for some great prizes. My theory is that if I'm going to be searching the Internet anyway, I may as well get rewarded for doing it.

My favorite prize is the Amazon.com gift card.  I earned almost $200 in Amazon.com gift cards through Swagbucks last year which is how we paid for Christmas gifts.  There are also tons of other gift cards available or you can redeem for various merchandise as well.

On Fridays, Swagbucks gives out more Mega Swagbucks (anything over 10) than usual which means you can earn your desired prizes even faster.  The most I've gotten from one search so far is 59 Swagbucks.  I'd love to hear if one of my readers finds a high value one today or any other day!

Swagbucks has added a lot of options for getting bucks on a daily basis even without searching.  There are Special Offers, Daily Polls, Surveys, Tasks, Swagbucks TV, and games to play.

With all of these great ways to earn Swagbucks and get gift cards or other items that you really want, what are you waiting for?!  Sign up and start searching :-)

Swagbucks links contained within this post are referral links and I will earn some Swagbucks if you sign up using those links.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs by Heather Lende

Sometimes I don't think I am meant to read memoirs.  Once in a while one really resonates with me but the majority of the time I read knowing I am supposed to be gaining some kind of understanding of a universal truth but not quite grasping it within the stories.  I think a good part of my difficulty with memoirs is that they often do not run in a linear fashion with the story moving in chronological order.  This is certainly true of Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs by Heather Lende.

This is Lende's second book with the first being If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska.  Both books revolve around the citizens of Haines, Alaska and the impact that living there has on the author.  Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs begins as Lende prepares to go on a book tour for her first book but is literally hit by a truck instead.  Her months of recuperation, the illness and death of her mother, and writing obituaries for the town residents lead her to reflect on her community and her faith.  The book is deeply spiritual without being preachy and Lende is able to add some humor to what might otherwise be a very somber story.

Lende moves fluidly throughout time tying together the past, the present, and even hopes for the future.  One memory or story gives birth to the next as she tells the stories of those she knows and has known.  While the book was interesting in parts, there was much that simply failed to capture my attention.  I am not sure if it is because the wilderness setting of such a remote Alaskan town has no connection to my life or if it was because I was unable to relate to the various characters and events portrayed in the book.  It is also very possible that I was simply not in the right frame of mind when I was reading it due to my own personal circumstances.

I think Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs will appeal and resonate with a great many people.  I just don't happen to be one of them.

Find our more about Heather Lende and her books at www.heatherlende.com

I received a copy of Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs from FSB Associates (although I don't remember requesting it) in exchange for my honest review.

  

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

OTL: About.Me

I was introduced to about.me through an invitation to a Bzz Agent Campaign. About.me is an easy way to keep all of your online information in one place. You can add links to your profiles on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. Now you can direct people to one page that allows you to connect through all of your online avenues.

Check out my about.me page at about.me/LibraryGirl  I chose one of their preset backgrounds but it looks easy enough to add your own photos and customize your page.  My page didn't take very long to set up at all.  I didn't include my Facebook page on there because I don't have one for the blog, just a personal account.  I have links to Twitter, LinkedIn, and this blog as well as a way to email me.  Through about.me I received a customized email address which I am now using for blog business (LibraryGirl@about.me) and I can also receive a package of business cards with my about.me information for the cost of shipping.

It is really interesting to browse through the profiles on about.me and see how people have customized their pages!  There are some really creative people using the service from actors and business entrepreneurs to bloggers and musicians.

An about.me page would be easy to include in a media kit or business proposal so that contacts would have all of your information in one place and know which social media and online outlets you use the most frequently.

Overall about.me was very simple to set up and won't take much updating to keep current.

I wrote this post while participating in a campaign for about.me through bzzagent.com, a word of mouth marketing company.  I will receive MyPoints for my participation.  All opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.