Minted - #giveaway *

No compensation was received for this post. Minted provided a credit to me for this post, as well as one for the giveaway. All opinions expressed are entirely my own or that of my family.

According to the statement on their site, at Minted:

"Our purpose in life is to uncover exceptional design from all over the world and bring this to savvy consumers who won't accept anything else."

Whether you are looking for birth announcements, holiday cards, journals invitations or art prints, you can find them at Minted. They offer a variety of designs on paper for every occasion. Have an idea? Right now (through August 5th) you can enter their design challenge - create fresh stationery designs that will be great gifts for all personalities.

Minted makes it easy to find the design that is right for you. On each category page, there are several filter options to help you narrow down to just what you are looking for. I also really like their 'find it fast' feature, where you can upload your picture and view it on hundreds of cards...that way, you can choose the right combination to start and don't have to worry about whether or how your picture will fit the cards you like.

I really like their journals. They come with 40 pages of your choice of lined, unlined or graph paper - so you can use it like a sketch pad or a notebook, whatever suits your style. I think that I might have to pick one up with a picture of each kid or a picture of one of their art creations on the front and use them for the next Mommy & Me journal - where we write back and forth, like pen pals. How fun would it be to have a favorite picture on the front of a journal.

They also offer free recipient addressing on qualified purchases. You order your item, import your addresses or add them one at a time, you can even request them by e-mail if you don't know someone's address, and they ship them to you addressed and ready for you to add postage and mail. Talk about a time saver.

Looking for inspiration or want to inspire others? Check out their inspiration boards or create one of your own.

Giveaway!
Courtesy of Minted, I have the opportunity to have one A Busy Mom of Two reader win a $50 Credit to Minted.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway will remain open through August 29th. Giveaway is open to residents of the US only. Winners will be selected through Rafflecopter. The winners will have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

No compensation was received for this post. Minted provided a credit to me for this post, as well as one for the giveaway. All opinions expressed are entirely my own or that of my family.

Holiday Cards from Shutterfly - a Giveaway!

I know that it is only October and that Christmas seems to be a long ways off, but I can tell you that when I headed to the store a few weeks ago (in September, no less) they had already started to set up Christmas displays. I will give you that it was small, but it was still a display. Couple that with requests for Christmas lists and I am already starting to think ahead to the holidays. Last week, I even bought chocolate chips in anticipation of holiday baking.

Every year, I like to send picture Holiday Cards to our friends and family. Typically, we use a special pose for the picture. Last year, the kids put on Santa hats and we took a picture. My husband edited to make the picture black and white and the hat he left in color. I loved the way it turned out. We used to print out a newsletter too, but a couple years back, we took the newsletter electronic. If my husband had his way, he wouldn't bother with physical cards and would send them all by e-mail. Me, I love to receive cards and imagine that others do to, so I plan to continue to send cards.

For several years, I looked for a way to display all of our Christmas Cards during the season. I finally found a memory board that I hang in my hallway. I am able to display the pictures and cards that we get and others can enjoy them when they visit. I saw a great idea online the other day, it suggested that you use your cameras phone to take a picture of the cards and use those as the image for your contacts. What a great way to enjoy that picture all year.

After the holidays, I used to just tuck the cards all away together. Then, I decided that I should do more with the pictures, so I started a photo card scrapbook. I love to receive picture cards, especially from people that I don't get to see very often. It is great to see the highlights from their year or that special pose that they captured just for the card. The scrapbook includes Christmas cards and birth announcements (the only other picture card we receive regularly).

What do you do with the Photo Christmas Cards that you receive from friends and family? Do you send photo cards?

I always have a hard time picking out my cards. Sometimes, the one that I like won't work with the picture that I like. We typically try to stick with a Happy Holidays card, as we have several friends that are Jewish. Here are some that I am considering for this year:

Have you checked out the Special Offers at Shutterfly? They are having some deals now on Photo Gift items too.

You can follow them on Facebook and find them on Twitter.

Giveaway!
Courtesy of Shutterfly, one A Busy Mom of Two reader will receive a voucher for $50 off total order (does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos).
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway will remain open through October 27th. Giveaway is open to residents of the US only. One winner will be selected through Rafflecopter. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.

thThis is a sponsored post. I will receive credit at Shutterfly in exchange for this post. All opinions expressed are entirely my own or that of my family..