Liza Perrat: Spirit of Lost Angels

      Personal note: I was given an ePub copy of Spirit of Lost Angels directly from the author back in October of 2013. Although I finished it not long after receiving it, life took over & I have failed to post her review! This review is LONG overdue, and I hope Liza Perrat can forgive me!

Tickety Toc Musical Pufferty Train and Matching Game #Review #Giveaway

Hashtags in the post title?

That can only mean one thing:

Growing Up Madison has another review/giveaway

& we're spreading the word!
*celebrate*

Thomas & Friends My First Ready Bed #Review #Giveaway

If you guys haven't checked out Growing Up Madison by now ... you really should! She posts awesome reviews, giveaways & general greatness! When her Mommy told me about the Thomas The Tank Engine Ready Bed? You know I had to share it with all of you! Just FYI: I'm seriously considering ordering one for Lilah ... ya know, for those nights she just has to sleep in the boys' room.

You can check out her review here (Seriously, click it!) & read below for some general helpful information: 

Review & Giveaway: Grace & Miss Mouse Soaps

Featuring a giveaway by Grace & Miss Mouse Soaps

co-hosted by the following amazing ladies:

Tatiana, Melissa, Jen, Jessica H, Jessica D & Annie

(click their names to visit their coordinating blog-posts)

     Having a daughter made really made me take a step back and look at my "beauty" regimen. I don't want to have Delilah associate makeup with beauty. I want her to realize that women are all different: some of us have freckles, some of us have more pigment, some of us have wrinkles laughlines. I want her to realize that even when I don't wear mascara, I'm still beautiful. With that being said? I am going through this almost militant re-haul of all my makeup and skin care products. Ok, maybe not completely militant. *shyface* Hey ... I never said I don't want to be (& feel) pretty!

     After double checking my skincare products on a site that ranks them by their hazardous potential ... I chucked over half of my products. After a frantic week (or so) of research, all roads lead to handmade/homemade soaps. Let me just say I was having a really hard time believing that a handmade soap could leave me feeling all fresh & silky soft like some of those "high-end" brands you can buy out here in LA. You know, the ones that charge you three hard-earned paychecks for .25 ounces of magical fix-all? Yeah, those. So when I found the amazing Grace & Miss Mouse Soaps? I was floored. As they say ... "a picture is worth a thousand words."

Teespring: Crowdfunding Apparel

     As a mom, there's always something to fund-raise: kids schools, sports, events, family reunions, bake sales ... jeez, the list goes on forever. Right?! Last year, we tried to make great tees for the Autism Walk. Let's just say it turned out horribly. We went to some crappy place, and they "printed" us shirts. Half of the shirts were wrinkled, disfigured and lopsided. The other half were so thin, you could see evvvverything through them! The cost was outrageous, and we raised a little less than a hill of beans after subtracting all the expenses. We didn't even have shirts in the right sizes. It was a disaster. Never doing that again! It felt like the company's slogan should have been "Oh, you're fundraising? We'll carelessly slap your logo on some 2nd rate crappy merchandise, overcharge your customers and force you to pay us 80% of your profit."

I wish I had known about teespring back then!

Review: Rubber Stamp Press

     Sometimes, I send pretty little quotes to people. Like a random "feel better" kind of quote written out, sealed up & shipped off. It's just a small reminder that someone, somewhere is wishing them a beautiful day, a little joy and a smile. Maybe it doesn't change their day. Maybe they throw it away. Who knows -  but I'm doing it. In my quest to single-handedly spread random joy, I have written my blog name in the upper left corner of one too many envelopes - and after a bit, it starts to look ... well, let's face it. Boring. Besides, who likes to write out the entire spiel of information every time they send something?! Yeah, no one. So, when Kim from Rubber Stamp Press and I started talking on Etsy? The ideas came flooding in.

     See, Kim makes rubber stamps. Self-inking and wood-handled ones. Ones with words, ones with art ... and yes, ones with both. The best part? You can't run down to some craft shop and buy these. She custom makes them for YOU. No one else in the entire world will have your stamp! If you know me, that's a huge bonus - I love being unique. Doesn't everyone? Through the ordering process, Kim and I discussed the options available, and she sent me proofs of my stamp, along with the exact dimensions/size so that I would know not only how it looked, but how large or small it would be. If I wanted changes, she made them. This is the last print she sent me:

Bright Star Kids (Review & Giveaway)

If you read ONE post on my entire blog, let it be this one!

Bright Star Kids is a company located out in New South Wales, Australia, famous for name labels, clothing, wall stickers and schoolbags (& accessories). You'd think that a company of this size with all these different types of products, a beautiful website and great prices ... would have less than great customer service right? Negative. Bright Star Kids' customer service goes about 10,000 steps beyond being great - and goes right into the fantastically magnificent zone! I'm not even joking ... I won't deal with companies after I have a customer service issue. I'd be willing to bet a lot of you are like that too, right? Well, no worries with Bright Star Kids in Australia ... they're simply amazing.

My review is on the personalized labels, which I decided to personalize for Mrs. Campa: a wonderfully brilliant teacher who takes each K-2nd grader with Autism in our entire school district into her classroom with this magical skill, a giant smile on her face and a crazy amount of love in her heart. Needless to say, Mrs Campa's organizational skills are super important to the coordinated chaos that is her day ... and Bright Star Kids was totally willing to help this saint of a woman label all her cool supplies! I'm telling you ... Bright Star Kids is FANTASTIC!

Sunset Dreams: Motivational Photography Book

Sunset Dreams by Suzy Liebermann is listed as a "motivational photography book," but it reminds me of more of a coffee table book or a relaxation book.

Bites Baked Goods Review (& Giveaway)

     Bites Baked Goods, by Christina Covell located in New York? Never heard of them? Yeah, well - I hadn't either. I am so glad I got to talk to Chrissy (the owner) though! She's got a really sweet talent, she's awesome AND super excited to get some views and feedback, so make sure you go check out her great work and leave her some love on etsy, her blog, instagram or even facebook! If you get a chance, visit her blog and read more about her, but if not - here is a little teeny snippet:

"... Bites Baked Goods was born. Now I run a licensed business and work out of a professional kitchen, producing custom orders ranging from colorful decorated sugar cookies to wedding cakes to savory hors d’ oeuvres."

She's got the whole Etsy thing on lock too! Check out some sample photos from her shop:

Earth Cookie Creations Review (& Giveaway)

     There's this awesome little Etsy shop I have to tell you about. It's called Earth Cookie Creations. Earth Cookie Creations is owned and operated by a very friendly chickadee named Jessica Gleason. She is a total sweetheart who happens to have an amazing creative knack & adorable kids. Her spectacular talent has even been showcased in GreenCraft, Somerset Life, 400 Ideas AND Stamper Sampler! If you didn't already know, those are some pretty great crafting magazines. There's this really cool vintage-rustic-bohemian-classic-earthy-beautiful vibe to all her products,and best of all - they are handmade. While I'd love to load you all down in a photo-heavy post, I am only going to show you a few things, but feel free to check out her shop and browse for a bit! Check out six of my personal favorites:

Rob @ Tiny Bird Press

     Ok, so this post has been a long time in the making. But I have to let you guys know about a great artist and instagram friend of mine. Ok, so we have never met in real life, duh - thus the "instagram friend" distinction. Whatever. The point is, he has GREAT art ... and you really should take a look. I could sit here and type 4,000 things on how awesome he is, but I'd rather let the man speak for himself! This is Rob Schwager, owner of Tiny Bird Press, in his own words:

I work as an illustrator and graphic designer. For the past 19 years, I've worked in the comic book industry as a digital colorist and painter. I love hanging with my wife and kids. I'm into learning about God, lowbrow art, comic books, cartoons, nose art, pickelhaubes, steampunk stuff, pin-up girls, vinyl art toys, cyanotypes, acrylics, oils, hot rods, kustom kulture, pinstripes, tattoos, tiki stuff, chicago gangsters, vintage metal signs, screen printing, fabricating stuff with my hands, old school punk rock (the classic stuff, late 70's early 80's), 50's rockabilly, rock posters, 'zines, digital painting, etc...

      And seriously? That blog was updated in 2008. *giggle* Who am I to judge his blog? Mine is a total train wreck haha. Okay, soooo. I'll shuttup & let you look at some of my personal favorites from his massive array of art:

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

"No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl."

[ July 2013: BestieBook Choice ]

     To be perfectly honest, I wasn't ready for the awesome that is Cinder. It all seemed too familiar fairy-tale for me. It was the promise of cyborgs, a female protagonist and lunar people that made me agree. I am super glad I did! Marissa Meyer has earned a spot on my favorites list with this series of amazing literary renditions of classic, but super-outdated fairy-tales. Cinder is only the first of four, so if you enjoy it, please look for Scarlet, Cress & Winter. Go check if your local library has this one, guys. It's completely worth it! [You can find Tatiana's review here.]

     Cinder is not the storybook Cinderella in glass slippers and a pretty blue dress! Lihn Cinder is living in New Bejing, 126 years after WWIV. As a self-conscious cyborg mechanic busying herself with work, adoring her littlest step-sister, upgrading her cyborg sidekick, and figuring out how to run away - Cinder has her hands full. Throw in a stereo-typically evil stepmother and her haughty and equally vicious daughter? She's just trying to blend into the wallpaper and make her epic escape. Too bad her amazing mechanic skills just got her noticed! When Prince Kai shows up at her shop one afternoon, her whole world changes. Prince Kai is handsome, soon to be in charge and he needs her. Desperately.

     This is where the story spirals into a crazy new life: a mysterious illness, a psychotic Lunar Queen, self-discovery, ballroom dancing, and strange scientists. Suddenly Cinder is center stage, and the spotlight is on. She has some very important choices to make, and it may cost her (and every one else) more than they bargained for.

Red Stamp: App Review

     So, how many times have you meant to send out those thank you cards? Or just plain forgot them in the hustle-bustle of everyday life? Or had the fact that you need to actually purchase cards escape to the bottom of some long-lost to-do list? How many times have you said "I'll send that out tomorrow," only to never actually get it sent out? Do you own something with an Apple branded on it? Keep reading, I have an awesome app for you!

     I can't even tell you how many times I have had this happen. I was app-searching for photo stuff (yeah, I Instagram entirely too much) and stumbled upon RedStamp. You can find it in the AppStore here. I was a bit skeptical at first, after reading some not-so-lovely reviews online. I decided to give it a shot anyway. It's free, what could it hurt? Omg, I love this one! I can make little personalized "thank you"cards, and more. Let me show you some screen-shots of what I did in the first hour of actually having the app:

     They have thank you cards, congratulations cards, announcement cards, seasonal cards ... It's pretty awesome, to be honest. On each and every model card, you can select (pre-set) customization options.  There are even preset messages if you just don't know what to write. There are a lot with spaces for photos, but some do not need photos. I could definitely see this as coming in handy after the kids' birthdays ("Hey Grandma, the shoes you bought me fit perfectly!") but the options are endless! I would like if they let us have more control over the color schemes and whatnot, but this is STILL an awesome app.

     I love that I can send these out through instagram, facebook, email, twitter, text messages and even snail mail! Yes, you read that right, SNAIL MAIL! Even though the app is free, you can have them send a hardcopy of your cute little creation for two bucks. Two little bucks, and your beauty is signed, sealed and delivered. Love!



What was your favorite thing about this? The fact that I can snail-mail them to people & all the cute layouts.
What would you change about this? I'd like to have more control of colors and set up. Maybe a create your own feature using the icons and fonts?    
Out of ten stars, what do you rate this? I'd say about a 9. It's awesome, and has great features. I would be willing to pay for more features though, but as is, it's still pretty high on the free-app scale.
Will you continue to use this? Most definitely.
Do you recommend this to others? Yes, I linked a few people to it already!
   

Bestie Book Landing Page

     Tatiana & I choose a book and hold our own little monthly book club, and call it BestieBook. We take all month, dive into the literary piece we've chosen - and present a review for you on our blogs at the end of the month. Our reviews are not compensated, and seeing as how I volunteer at a public library --- we try to check out the books rather than purchase them. The only exceptions to this are publisher/author proofs, and we will let you know when those happen.

     Remember that we are on opposite sides of the United States, and are bibliophiles looking for completely different things in our literature. What I love, she may be completely bored with, and vice versa. It totally helps to go read her reviews too...

Tenative Schedule

(under construction)

Cinder - July

Scarlet - August

The Creation Of Eve - September