wwWhip-Up: The Pretty Peacock

Welcome to the wwWhip-Up hosted by Maternal Spark and sponsored by The Pretty Peacock.

Have you seen the amazing jewelry that Ana from The Pretty Peacock offers? I am a necklace gal, and I love all of her pendants, especially this Petite Circle of Love Pendant. Ana first started out on Etsy selling her creations from her home studio and has now has opened her own online store at The Pretty Peacock! Way to go Ana! She has also decided to help support C.O.L.E's Foundation by creating all of these pieces and donating the proceeds to the families who have been afflicted by childhood cancer.

To celebrate her new online store, Ana has created 9 of these princess necklaces to give away on 9 different blogs. Each necklace is a custom hand stamped necklace, with Swarovski crystal lining the crown, and a personalized washer that is finished with a brush finish. It comes with a sterling silver rope chain as well. These necklaces were specially created just for this event, and are not available in her store! (Don't worry though, because there are 9 different contests going on, which means lots of opportunities to win!)

She has also given my readers a coupon code for free shipping. Enter SNS between April 15th and April 30th to get free shipping on any order! (Can I say Mother's Day gift?) *hint, hint* :)

To Enter:

• Visit The Pretty Peacock and tell me your favorite piece other than the ones talked about on here

For Extra Entries: (You must do the above entry for any of the extra entries to count)

• Blog about this contest with a link to here and a link to The Pretty Peacock (5 extra entries)
• Twitter about this contest (1 entry per tweet- leave the link to your tweet in your comment)
• Subscribe to my blog (1 extra entry)
• Add me to your blogroll (1 extra entry)
• Add my button to your blog (1 extra entry)

Contest is open to US and Canada and will end April 30th at 11:59pm MT. Winner will be chosen by random.org. They will have 48 hours to respond, or I will have to draw a new winner. Please leave each entry in a separate comment.

Want more chances to win? Visit An Island Life to enter her contest! Or visit Maternal Spark to see all the participants!

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes Decor Canisters: Review and Giveaway

Clorox has recently come out with new canisters for their disinfecting wipes. They can now blend in with your own home decor. This is great for people like me who don't have a lot of cabinet space. I like to have a container of the wipes in my bathroom, and one in my kitchen, so now with all the fun designs, I can find one that fits for each room and can look pretty sitting on my counter!The disinfecting wipes are still the same, it's just the container that is different. How fun is that? There are 8 different designs to choose from. They have also changed the dispensing system to make it as easy as pulling a tissue out of the box. That is nice because I always seemed to pull several wipes out of the old container when I only needed one.

Thanks to the Family Review Network for this opportunity!

I have 3 coupons for a free canister to giveaway to one lucky reader.

To enter:

• Leave me a comment telling me where you would put your canisters. (That's it!)
  

For Extra Entries:

• Add me to your blogroll (1 entry)
• Add my button to your blog (1 entry)
• Tweet about the contest. (1 entry per tweet)

Contest is open to US residents only. Winner will be chosen by random.org and will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be pulled. Contest ends April 27th at 11:59pm MT. Please leave each entry in a separate comment.

Entrecard- To Keep or Not To Keep

When I first started blogging I remember seeing the Entrecard widget on almost everyone's blog I went to. I started asking around and was told that it was a good way to get traffic. You can advertise your blog on other blogs by paying with "credits" you get by dropping (basically leaving a virtual card that says, "I was here.") or by having others advertise on your blog.

Sounded cool to me, so I joined the Entrecard network. I added the widget and began dropping on all the blogs I visited that had it too. I finally got enough to start advertising on others sites, and I was ecstatic when people started to advertise on my site. I loved seeing my price go up and know that people would "pay" that much just to be featured in that little widget on my blog.

My favorite thing about it was to see who had stopped by and dropped on me. At first I tried to visit everyone back, but I didn't have time for that. But I love looking and seeing who visited my site, or who comes back often. I have stat trackers, but I like having a visual of that button to see who had come by.

I didn't really notice getting much traffic to my blog through it however. Being that that was the reason I signed up, I thought maybe it's because I'm new at it. Well, I've stuck with it, and still don't really get much traffic from it.

Now they've started their paid ads. The one thing I really don't like about it, is that we're not getting paid to run those ads on our site. I know Entrecard says that down the road when they make enough money, they can start paying us for our credits, but I don't know if it's worth it! Especially when some of those paid ads show pictures of girls with large breasts and lots of cleavage. How is that relevant to my site at all? I do not approve those ads, since this is a family friendly site and I want to keep it that way.

I know a lot of my bloggy friends are done with Entrecard. Most have taken down the widget. I still have mine up, but I'm thinking about taking it down myself. If I signed up to get more traffic, and I'm not really getting more traffic from it, doesn't it defeat the purpose?

Snaptotes

When I was contacted and asked to do a review of a photo bag from SnapTotes, I said sure, why not. I figured I'd make up a tote bag for my mom that had a picture of all of us kids on it. She could take it to work, or to church and show off all 5 of her kids.

Then I went browsing to see what other things they offered, and I was surprised to see more than just basic totes. They have messenger bags (which would be great to use as a laptop bag!), wallets, makeup bags, purses, clutches, totes, diaper bags and more! Then I saw the Gigi Bag. That's when all the notions of making a bag for my mom left my head and I knew I had to have that purse for me. I'm usually not selfish, but it was love at first site, and I had to have it.

First I had to decide what pictures to use. I haven't really taken a ton of my daughter lately, and most that I did have were horizontal, instead of vertical. So I decided we'd go outside and take some pictures. Well, my daughter loved the being outside part. She wasn't too thrilled by the taking pictures part, and I rarely got a smile out of her, but I did manage to get a few good candid shots that would be perfect.


Once I had decided on the bag I wanted, and the pictures I wanted to use, it was easy! I had to decide what pattern I wanted on the sides of my purse, and then it was time to add the pictures. I simply uploaded the pictures, and then positioned them where I wanted on the bag. I had to use the move tool a few times, and then the nudge tool to get them just right, but it was super easy to do. I had already edited my pictures to turn them black and white beforehand, but you can edit them once you have uploaded them. The whole process of customizing and ordering my bag was super easy. I did it all today during my daughter's nap. You can see one side of what my bag will look like with the screen shot above. You'll just have to wait until I get my bag to see what the other side looks like!

I cannot wait for my bag to get here so I can start using it! It's a great Mother's Day gift to myself, since I doubt my husband will get me anything. If you want to order one for yourself, or for a gift for Mothers Day, you can use the code SASSY10 for 10% off! If you want to get it in time for Mother's Day, however, you better order soon! The last day to order to have it in time is April 30th.

Monday's Free Redbox Code 4/13

Here is the free Redbox code for today:

J89LA2

Remember that it only works today!

Office Max [IN]Place System by Peter Walsh

I was recently invited by Office Max to be a part of a web cast with Peter Walsh, who was debuting his new [IN]Place System. Since I am not the organized person, but I want to be, I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this. Who wouldn't want to learn from someone involved in TLC's Clean Sweep and Oprah? You can watch the webcast here if you like.

Now my desk is always a mess. I try to keep it organized, but with product reviews and bills and other mail, there really isn't much space. So after watching the webcast, I decided I'd try to implement a new filing system using some of the goodies Office Max sent me from the [IN]Place system.

In fact, just recently as we were doing our taxes, I had to go through piles and piles of mail to find the correct items we needed. So I took the handy dandy file tote, grabbed some clip tabs, and the erasable marker, and went to town. It's only been up about a week, but I've remembered to file things accordingly, so hopefully it will work out.


Let me just say that I love this erasable marker. You can write on the tabs, but then if you decide later you want to change them, or if you are like me and decide your handwriting isn't pretty enough, you can erase it and start over. Genius!

One thing I learned from the broadcast is to color code everything. Then when you are looking for stuff, you can simply pull out that color file, and you have everything you need! Like say I have a file in my tote system that says bills paid. But they won't fit in there anymore, but I need to keep them, so I transfer them to an expanding file. I can make sure to use the same color coding for each system. Then it makes things easier to find.

He also recommends using a calendar to organize all your schedules, and to color code everything. Have one color for work things, have another for doctor's appointment, have one for kids activities, etc. That way everything is in front of you and you don't miss anything. We did this growing up, and it was a great lifesaver. There were five kids, and all of us did different activites. This helped keep my mom sane and kept track of all of our different schedules and appointments. It was also nice if we got home and she wasn't there, we could usually look on the calendar and see exactly where she was at. I've started using a calendar to keep track of when I need to post reviews and it has helped tremendously. Now I don't feel like I will forget one by accident.

If you are like me and looking for ways to get organized, be sure to check out the [IN]Place system at Office Max!

Pitch Bloggers- Brings Bloggers and PR Reps Together

Have you heard of Pitch Bloggers yet? It's a brand new site that is just opening, and is a way to bring bloggers and PR Reps together. If you are a PR Rep who is looking for a list of bloggers who would be interested in reviewing or hosting giveaways of your clients products, you NEED to go check it out.

From their site: "Is reaching out to mom bloggers part of your public relations or marketing strategy? If so, you may be overwhelmed by the number of moms talking, connecting, and sharing online. How do you know who is right for your pitch, how to get in touch with them and what is the best way to optimize your relationships with these influencers once you have connected?

The social media landscape shifts at breakneck speed and keeping up with this market takes a lot of time and work. Whether you are an in-house marketing or media relations professional, or work for an agency, we know your time is at a premium. You need a resource to help you engage with this sought after community in the most efficient and effective manner. Look no further."

Bloggers who are interested in connecting with PR reps can join for free. You simply fill out an application, as well as an ethics agreement. The ethics agreement is a way for PR reps to know that they are working with honest bloggers, because, let's face it, there are people out there who only want free stuff and end up not following through with their side of the bargain. By filling out the ethics agreement and posting the ethical blogger badge on your site, companies and PR reps can know that they are working with the right people.

So what are you waiting for? Go check out Pitch Bloggers and join me today! Be sure to check me out on the featured bloggers page.

VeggieTales An Easter Carol

Those lovable vegetables have done it again! I recently had the chance to see the new VeggieTale movie, VeggieTales: An Easter Carol. If you like the traditional Dickens story of Scrooge and Marley and a Christmas Carol, you will love the Easter Carol!

In An Easter Carol, Ebenezer Nezzer tries to make Easter bigger and better by filling London with plastic eggs. Plastic eggs never die and are what Easter is all about, according to Ebenezer. In fact, he thinks church only traps people and prevents them from going and buying his eggs. So he plans on knocking down the church Easter morning to build Easter Land.

Cavis and Millward (Bob and Larry) along with angel Hope must try to convince Nezzer that Easter is more than just eggs and candy. Can they save the church before it's too late?

When we got this my husband was so excited. He loves VeggieTales, along with the Christmas Carol. We enjoyed watching it and hearing all the new songs. I love the fact that Veggie Tales teaches kids good values and I would let my daughter watch this anytime. I highly recommend adding this to your VeggieTales collection.

A big thanks to the Family Review Network for letting me review this movie.

National Name Yourself Day

Did you know that today is National Name Yourself Day? So you get to choose the name you want to go by today.

I heard about this and started thinking if I would want to change my name for today. I've kind of grown accustomed to my current name. When I was little I wanted to be known as Rose. My cousin and I both had secret names and we used to sign all of our letters with our secret names. I was Rose, and she was Crystal. So together we were Crystal Rose. Somehow though, I don't think Rose is my name of choice anymore. :)

It makes me think of the Friends episode when Phoebe decides she's going to change her name "Princess Consuela Bananahammock" and Mike decides he's going to change his to "Crap Bag." I guess I could change mine to my nickname in high school "Redheaded Curse." Or maybe something elegant, I just can't think of anything right now.

I don't know, what should I go by today? And what would your name of choice be today?