Product Review: PolkaDotCardz

I'm clearly not a handmade goddess. I don't sew well {hello squiggly seams!}, and I'm really just lazy a whole lot of the time. I'd rather buy handmade than be the crafty queen {although, I have some projects to share soon!}. Still, I think its extremely important to highlight local/independent artists and businesspeople when they do amazing things and give wonderful service.

As you may know, I'm graduating with my Master of Science in about a month, and unlike when I got my Baccalaureate {doesn't that sound fancy?} I wanted to let people know. I'm pretty darn proud that I finished my thesis and did this thing! The announcements sold through my school were nice....sort of...but a little over the top, and extremely expensive. It cost around $75 for 25 invitations and they take about 1 month to process. So I turned to etsy, something I do quite a bit, and finally found Lara and PolkaDotCardz.

I'll let her introduce herself:

Hi everyone! My name is Lara, and I’m a music teacher turned SAHM turned Etsy shop owner! I taught for 10 years in a small Christian school, and I ended up making invitations every year for the Senior Formal, and Announcements for the graduates! My M-I-L suggested I give Etsy a try, and Voila! I found a new passion in paper. =o) My signature card is a circle that swivels. Most of my cards are either circle shaped or incorporate my beloved polka dots in the design. I also specialize in custom Graduation Announcements for High School and College.

Let me be clear: she is awesome! I contacted her with what I wanted and she not only made a sample for me to see, but also changed the announcement a few times with my nitpicky issues. Not only that, but she shipped extremely quickly, which gave me plenty of time to send them out.

And look how gorgeous they are?!

I *highly* recommend this shop for all of your invitation and announcement needs! Lara gives wonderful feedback on what she thinks will work {or not}, her products are high quality, and she is super quick!

And, guess what?! She is offering to give one lucky winner either three individual cards or a set of 5 custom invitations. How can you resist?!

How to enter:

Go to Lara's shop and leave a comment telling us what you favorite thing is!

Extra Entries:
Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect.
Blog, tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway! Feel free to use this: You should be jealous that I just entered to win stationary from PolkaDotCardz on @advntrsnflpflps's blog! {two entries total}

Blogging with integrity: I did not receive any compensation for this review. I bought my announcements with my own money and think its important to tell people when I get good, affordable products with excellent customer service. I'm pretty excited that Lara agreed to do a giveaway so you can experience her awesomeness for yourselves!

Made by Jewls: Product Review + Giveaway!

Can I confess something? I have wanted some covered button earrings for years. Years, I tell you! But, something always seemed to get in the way; money, didn't find any I liked, too big {I'll explain}. So, when Julianne from Made by Jewls put out a call looking for product testers/reviewers on Twitter, I jumped on it.

Before I go any further, I'm going to let Julianne introduce herself:

"Hi I'm Julianne, the girl behind Made by Jewls. I live in Utah with my husband and two cats. I live and breathe creativity, my husband often says that I can make anything - which totally isn't true but it's nice for him to think that :) . I love making anything from fabric covered button and flower earrings (that I sell in my shop) to crocheted mustaches on a stick. I absolutely love having my own shop on Etsy, it has been one of the best things I've ever done. I'm also a pinterest-a-holic (who isn't?!). You can also find me on twitter, facebook or on my blog. Thank you, Lauren, for hosting a review and giveaway for me and thank you to all her readers for checking out my shop!"

Boy, am I glad I contacted her! Julianne let me pick any two pairs of earrings that I liked, and then she sent them to me. She packaged them extremely well, and look how cute her boxes are!

I chose the You Melt My Heart and Yellow Rose earrings. And, can I say, they. are. so. cute. I just can't stop myself from wearing them and planning what I'm going to wear around them!

They're extremely well made, well-priced, and small. And, I mean that last one in a good way. I have itsy bitsy ears, and larger earrings always look like they're eating my earlobes. These? They give the perfect little accent.

I love them. And I will be ordering more!  And guess what?! One of YOU gets to order some too, because Julianne has graciously agreed to give one lucky reader $20 to her shop! That is just in time for some of her adorable Halloween earrings!

You can enter in the following ways:

Mandatory Entry:
Visit Julianne's Shop and tell me what your favorite pair of earrings are!

Extra Entries:
Follow both mine and Julianne's blog! {one entry}
Follow her on Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook {one entry}
Blog, tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway! Feel free to use this: I just entered to win $20 to @madebyjewls shop on @advntrsnflpflps's blog! {one entry}

Please leave a comment for each thing you do {possible total is 4}; the winner will be announced next week! Good luck everyone!

**Blogging with integrity: I was compensated for this review with two pairs of earrings. However, all opinions are my own and I plan to spend some of my own money on more earrings soon!

Mom blogs and feminism

I'm sure you've noticed that I tend to read Mom blogs.  Nobody panic: I am not trying to launch myself into motherhood (just ask the small children running around at my feet in Muldoon's). However, Mom blogs tend to have 1) recipes, 2) craft tutorials, 3) info. about coupons and being frugal. So, really they describe me, sans kids.

One of my favorites can be found on The Chron's website in their MomHouston section.

Nicki Woo is just, well, wonderful.  She's what I want to be when I grow up.  She's real, cooks, she crafts, and, well, she's a feminist.  And, I love feminists, particularly Nicki's type (and admittedly mine) who don't advocate for one type of woman (ie the career woman, the stay-at-home-mom).  Rather, we advocate for choice.

So, you should go read this post.  There's a pretty fun recipe at the bottom, but I just really enjoy the part at the top.

Happy Thursday!

A New Start?

I've been pretty active in reading various blogs as of late.  Given my browsing, I've noticed that my favorites (which you can see over on the left side) such as budget bytes, yellow songbird, and The Saved Quarter tend to be pretty focused.

Budget bytes, for example, is a great "cooking on a budget" blog. Lisa provides step-by-step recipes for readers along with price breakdowns and general tips for eating well on a budget.

Yellow Songbird (where I just won a giveaway!  Score!) talks about homemade crafts, her faith, and her blog communities.  Sometimes Kim gives tutorials, sometimes she showcases her etsy shop, and sometimes she showcases other blogs.  Yet, despite the variation, she has created her own style and carved her own niche in the blogosphere.

The Saved Quarter, on the other hand, I find fascinating because she details her adventures in saving 1/4 of her income and the creative ways she accomplishes that.  Pennywise is pretty close to her $6000 goal (yeah, she, her husband and two kids live off of $24000 a year....in the Bay Area) and I've been with her for a good portion of the journey.

So, I say, it's time for something new.  I've done a lot of thinking and decided to blog not about the random things that happen to me (well, as much), but about my cooking, my books, and sometimes, my reactions to other bloggers.  Are you with me?