{Life Made Lovely}

I spend most of my days at home...homeschooling, homemaking, because I tend to be a bit of a home body.  I love my life, I love that my husband's hard work and God's blessing allows me to work in the home.

But...ya'll i can get a tad stir crazy.  As such, I may or may not stalk my mailbox until the mailmen delivers.  Our mailman must be on vacation because all last week homeboy dropped the mail off around dinner time and we usually get it at lunch.  Normally {yeah right} I wouldn't mind, but I was expecting some goodies instead of the boring bill and junk promo promising me a million smackers in exchange for buying Cat magazines. {I kid, I kid. Cats are cool.  For you.}

When my pal, Jess raved about Mat Kearney and getting to meet him {yo!} I started listening to his music and homeboy is kinda amazing!  I however, rarely buy a CD, so when One2One Network offered his CD, Young Love to review I was all over that like white on rice {be jealous of my wittiness}!

I love his rustic, soulful voice paired with catchy melodies. One of my favorite things about this album is he leaves you wanting more, you can't help but love every song because it is lyrically and musically married perfectly.  I pretty much keep it my purse to transfer in and out of the car so the hubs doesn't take off with it to work.  Sad, but seriously that good. Here's my favorite track:

One of the things I love about blogging is the community to support handmade business'.  I love finding a new treasure I've been searching for or a shop I have never heard of.  Both are true of Life At The Table.  Kris Hansen has a really adorable blog where she shares her heart and life.  She is truly talented and has some amazing pieces {and prices} in her shop.  I was so excited to stumble across her shop because I have been pinning away trying to find a quality reusable set of sandwich bags in cute fabrics.  Life At The Table, definitely fit the bill.  I was SO happy when her handmade happiness made it's way to Texas by way of Oregon!  I can't recommend her enough...and her reusable lunch totes and bags are ADORABLE!

Along with that fun mail, came some other fun!

Awesome straws and packaging from Urban Scarlet.

Lots of twine goodness from Pick Your Plum.

All of my new marketing materials printed up from Vistaprint with my AWESOME new logo created by the lovely Heather of Life Made Lovely Designs.  She is a rockstar!

Pretty, pretty lace from Cottage Green...can't wait to get crafting with it!

I also participated in the Handmade Gift Exchange with Craftaholic's Anonymous...oh a few months ago.  Just now getting the photos uploaded to share.

This is what I sent to my partner, Emily.  Mostly goodies from my shop and some earrings I made especially for her.

And she made me the most perfect pillow!  I love it!

I really encourage you to participate in Linda's exchange...it's always a ton of fun!

Linking Up with:

Our 2010 Christmas Card

Rejoice Lord King Religious Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

{oh Christmas card, oh Christmas card}

Oh Christmas card, how I love thee.  Christmas cards may be one of my favorite Christmas traditions.  Growing up in a military family, we met lots of families along the years.  Many of those families have treasured places in our hearts from many a meal or celebration enjoyed together.  Paired with the blessing of meeting so many people in the military comes the inevitable move.  Years have passed and my parents still get Christmas cards, typically with a yearly update, from these treasured friends.  I love pouring over the Christmas cards and letters as they begin to arrive to see who is married, who is having children, who has switched jobs, who has endured hardships and heart aches.  It's a lifetime of memories strung together like twinkling Christmas lights, only instead friendships are strung together throughout the years with Christmas cards.

Here are some of my favorites from the Christmas Card line:

 Pine Cone Toile 



O Holy Night 

Keep Believing

I think I have a thing for the clean classic look...it's just so pretty!

The Holiday Card line has some adorable options, as well.

 

With Love Blue

  

Kaleidoscope Noir

Woodblock Joy

Along with the great options they have in the Christmas Card line and Holiday Card line, they have endless options for gifts like their fabulous desk calendars and mugs.  They pretty much are a one stop shop with so many amazing products to choose from.  The great thing is they know a thing or two about customer service too and send out fabulous promotions when you sign up...run don't walk to open a Shutterfly account.  I promise they will not disappoint!  I can't wait to get started on designing my Christmas cards for 2010 and I better get cracking!

37 Days til Christmas!

With love, 

Jenni

 

Christmas Shopping Anyone?

One of the lovely (in)courage ladies I follow on twitter and on her fun blog posted a GREAT deal earlier today that I took advantage of and want to offer you, too.

I joined an online shopping site, called One Kings Lane and was able to earn $15 credit towards my first purchase.  I was able to select an item for $15, making it free and only paid $7.95 to ship it to me. 

 

These items are gorgeous quality pieces that would be perfect Christmas presents.  In turn if you purchase from the link I provide I will also earn another $15 credit.  You can then of course invite your friends and family to do the same and earn the same.  New products are offered daily, so act quick to snag your favorite piece!  Happy Shopping!

CSN Review #2

I blogged about an opportunity to review an up and coming site, CSN back in May and then I posted a follow up in July.  My experience was bittersweet.  I loved the site, I loved the customer service reps, I loved the product I chose...but some of the policies were a little wonky and that frustrated me a bit.  Always one to give some one another a chance I was eager to give them another try when a CSN rep contacted me to do another review.

So I thought the best way to do that was to start with fresh eyes and review all the site had to offer. To give me some inspiration, I pretended I had money to spruce up my house. If I had some of that pretend money and could change something  about my house I would start with the kitchen.  It's a galley kitchen and a tad cramped.  The biggest hurdle is the tiny space allotted for our kitchen table, which happens to be near the washer and dryer.  Given the space for a larger dining room set, I would be interested in this one.

There were lots of dining room sets to chose from,  but I loved all the details on this one. I love the bench, the criss-cross back of the chairs,  and the fact that it has cushions...which I would recover.

Moving on to the living room, I would replace our TV Stand with an actual armoire. 

I am in LOVE with this armoire! To be honest if I could afford this beauty I would keep it exactly the same and work my living room around the paint color...this would mean a COMPLETE redo!

And since I have my parents bedroom set from when I was growing up, that would be next on the list.

I would love the ceilings AND budget to afford this one....four poster bed = to die!  Guess I loved my childhood bed more than I remembered!  This set is gorgeous and HUGE... I would definitely need to gut and expand our master to make it work.

Whew, that was quite therapeutic!  Shocking that I was able to window shop without money and enjoy it!  I will be honest and say that given the budget I would probably STILL not have any of those gems as the hubby would surely VETO 'em!

Guess, I'll have to some back to reality with my next CSN purchase, I'll keep you posted with what I pick.

*Full Disclosure: CSN Stores contacted me with this promotional opportunity. I am being compensated for my review concerning my personal experience with CSN Stores.

Follow Up CSN Review

So I posted here about an opportunity to check out a new online website called CSN.  My post was honest, I was impressed with the variety, prices and overall ease of the site.  Because I completed the post website review I was compensated with a gift certificate to purchase anything on their site.  I was in need of cookware bad!  SO I shopped around until I found what I thought was an overall good choice and price.

So then I was faced with a dilemma. Because I use SWAGBUCKS I also had the option to use gift certificates I acquired cashing in my SWAGBUCKS  OR I could see what CSN could offer me.

The items I looked through on the CSN site had an option to select a "Seen It For Less" button and submit a competing price.  So comparing the price of the item on CSN with Amazon I thought let's see if they will match or better yet beat the price.  ***Crickets***  As in no response for a week.  Placed a call, only to find out even though the option was listed, it WAS NOT available for that item.

Huh?  I was a tad annoyed.

Sooo, I quickly got over it knowing I could purchase it at Amazon, which I did and decided I would stick to getting a free item and be done with it.

Or so I thought.

I decided I still wanted a skillet to go with the set I purchased from Amazon. They have a clearance section, so you KNOW that was calling my name!  There were two skillets available and either would work and would still be free.  I selected the first one, went through the entire order process until I got to the payment instructions.  It required I provide my credit/debit card information prior to selecting a payment option.  No bueno, I was paying with a gift certificate that would make it free and it also had free shipping.  Needless to say I called up Customer Service and the SUPER NICE rep went took care of the entire process with me over the phone. Ahhh, but wait.  Then she explained the item was no longer available.  It seems they have a 30 minute hold once a item is selected for purchase and that this particular item was not available since I had just tried to purchase it.  Although she was SUPER NICE I told her I would call back later.

Funny enough I decided on the other skillet by the time I called back (a day later).  Enter another SUPER NICE rep!  Only problem it happened AGAIN!  And I PROMISE I did not put it in my (online) cart this time.  She suggested that she would watch it til it was available again and call me back to complete the purchase.  What else was I supposed to do? Yes, PLEASE please call me back.

All the while the SUPER NICE rep who contacted me originally about the review was keeping my sanity  corresponding by email and sent me a free shipping code in case I selected something without free shipping or over the gift certificate amount.  Because I am not one to waste a dime, I scouted the CSN website to see what I could possibly get with my free shipping code and the remaining $5.01.  I settled on paper towels, because who can't use extra paper towels ( I had not yet hit my 58 package windfall)?

Not 30 minutes later the last SUPER NICE rep I talked to, called back and gave me a confirmation number for my order as she was so SUPER NICE to place the order on my behalf the minute my skillet was available.  Ummm, paper towels?  Yeah, had to let that one go, but I did get this beauty 5 days later.

***SIGH*** Free? Yes, but...it depends how much you value your time.  Truth be told, I LOVE the skillet and it was ALL worth it in the end.  CSN  has quite a bit to offer and I would actually shop there again.  Their AWESOME customer service is definitely money in the bank, however they should use some of that money to polish up the site and policy issues they have.  So there you have it...thumb and three quarters up.

Disclaimer:  I was compensated for my review of CSN with a gift certificate to purchase any item of my choice.  This review is in no way affiliated or being compensated by Amazon or Swagbucks.

CSN Review

So one of the things I have been trying to do in the last several years is save money.  I know, I know so is everybody and their dog.  But really intentionally trying to save money.  It is not, let me repeat NOT easy for me.  I am not what I would consider a high maintenance gal, but I love to shop.  I especially love to bargain shop.  In these last two years of being home I have to practically put into practice the art of saving a buck.  I have nearly mastered the art of grocery shopping, but I'm starting to branch out.  Online shopping has become a bit of a treasure hunt.  Whether I'm on the hunt for TV stands or a Salad Spinner, CSN seems to be the spot for great deals and variety.  I, like most Mommas are busy.  I love the opportunity to shop in the comfort of my own home in jammies.  Why not, be able to do it all in one place too? CSN is one such opportunity to shop from 200 online stores in ONE website.  Definitely is a time saver too.

So, I'm off to shop in the comfort of my jammies and find something I really want, umm need for the Carlisle Casa!  Ciao!

*Full Disclosure: CSN Stores contacted me with this promotional opportunity. I am being compensated for my review concerning my personal experience with CSN Stores.