Photo Freebie!

Today only! You can get a FREE Classic Photo Book via Walgreens.com if you use the code FAVORITEBOOK2 at checkout. All you pay is shipping. I love these photo freebies and this one would make a great Mothers Day gift!

***Monica***

Super Quick Eco-Frugal Tip

Start growing those veggie seedlings indoors.

Shabby Apple Giveaway Winner

After a huge turnout for the Shabby Apple dress of choice giveaway, the day has arrived to announce the winner.

Drum roll, please....

Lisa @ Simplified Saving who said:
I follow you publicly on GFC

Congrats to Lisa!

Lisa--You have been emailed and need to respond to the email within 48 hours to claim your prize before another winner will have to be chosen!

It seems that Lisa failed to respond to my congradulatory email within the allotted 48 hours, so I have drawn another winner to take advantage of this awesome prize!

How about...

Aubre said...
I'm following you on Twitter!

Congrats to Aubre! I will send out the email to award it to her now. I hope she replies!


Side Note: Lisa nor Aubre were actually not the first name selected. The first comment chosen could not be declared the winner because they did not follow the rules of the giveaway. Make sure you read and follow the rules to be eligible to win!

Baby news!

After two miscarriages and three live births I was a nervous wreck these past couple weeks as I awaited my sonogram. My last miscarriage ended after my progesterone levels dropped (not a good sign). Well my progesterone dropped this pregnancy as well and I got on supplements much faster. I still wasn't sure what we'd find at our sonogram. Would we find a baby without a heartbeat? Would we find a live baby? With my tripling hCG would there be twins?!?!?!

To read about what happened at my Valentine's Day sonogram please go over to my personal blog When Does Daddy Come Home?!  I can't wait to see you over there! Also visit my post about Pregnancy, Babies and Births to share your own blog with me. My usual bloggy friends have been so quiet so I'm looking for fresh new blogs to follow. Leave some comment love on the posts so I know you visited and so I can get to know YOU too!!!


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Joy is a stay-at-home-mom to three daughters. She is the wife of a worship leader & youth pastor. She runs her own Etsy shop selling handmade, hand-stamped sterling jewelry. Joy has taken courses in journalism, play writing, poetry, was in Honors English throughout school and has had small publications made of her work (mostly poetry).

Heart Recycled Paper Note Cards Review and Giveaway

*** Giveaway Now Closed***

Winner # 8 rubynreba

If you know me you know I love recycled products a lot, especially hand crafted recycled products. The Heart Recycled Paper Note Cards, from Etsy seller sparklytrash, are no exception. I've been inspired to craft more myself.


First impressions: The first thought that popped into my head when I opened up the envelope the cards came in was, Cute!  I received five cards, but the set actually only comes with 4.  So, I appreciate the extra gift. There are no envelopes included with the set, but they fit into a standard sized envelope and I don’t think they really need envelopes.


Inspired? I was inspired by the simplicity of these handmade cards. What a great eco-conscious craft! While looking at them and how they're made I realized how much my girls would love these cards. I thought about all their friends and how much they would like them too.

I thought the cards are perfect for handing out during a kid’s valentine school or girls scout party. They are perfect for a teacher or someone like a Girl Scout leader to place in a party goodie bag. I’d love to get  a card like this from my husband and children (with organic chocolates and a planted rose bush). I think they would also be a great product for a fundraiser. They could even be used as invitations. They are great for everyday use too. For example, I could grab a few of these cards; write a sweet, I love you. Have a great day at school, note on the inside of each card and then slip them into my kids’ lunchboxes or backpacks. I know they'd love and appreciate it. 


How eco-friendly are these cards? The cards are hand cut out of heavy weight brown paper grocery bags. In addition sparklytrash notes on her product description that, “This set features my hand printed hearts with each in a different shade of purple and pink. To make the prints I cut the design into recycled styrofoam trays and use only water-based block printing ink. This ensures that your cards are eco-conscious from start to finish!” (sparklytrash).   


To be honest though, I don’t know that I would pay the price for the cards. I think they are adorable and quite useful, but the price is a little steep for my frugal thinking. However, I would consider making a purchase if the set was a stack of 10 cards for $4. I would buy 4 sets, 2 for my daughters’ school valentine school parties and 2 sets would be for their Girls Scout Valentine parties.


The Giveaway: The giveaway: Sparklytrash is offering a set of her recycled pair of purple soda can earrings. Take a look at them here. The giveaway deadline is Feb. 28th, 2011. To win visit sparklytrash’s store. Then leave me a comment letting me know what product you are interested in. You can get extra entries for following us through GFC or Subscribing via email. Make sure to let me know in the comments. I will choose the winner using Random.org. Please make sure your email is on your profile or leave it in your comment. If you win and I cannot contact you then the prize goes to the next person. Please respond within 48 hours.

Disclosure: I received the Heart Recycled Paper Note Cards for free for review from sparklytrash. My opinions are my own.

JustGANO or JustAVOID?

I do not dish out negative reviews very easily. In fact I've debated posting this and have decided to just relate my personal experience with JustGANO (Just Get A New One), an online jewelry subscription. I saw this company on another reviewer's blog and thought, "Hey I'll try it out!" So I subscribed to one of their subscriptions that cost under $8 a month. I would be sent one piece of jewelry of my choice each month. This price included shipping.

I filled my "Wish List" with items from the website that I thought were beautiful and fashionable. The item in the number 1 spot would be sent to me every month and I was free to rearrange my Wish List so if a more desirable piece caught my eye I could move it to the number 1 spot and get it in my next shipment.

When my first order arrived I was highly disappointed. It looked like something from the dollar store and all the packaging said, "Made in China" on it. Some of the beads were glued on with hot glue and you could clearly see the glue.

The woman who runs JustGANO put out an inquiry for people to submit reviews of their items for her website. I submitted mine stating that the jewelry looked and felt really cheap. She never posted it online. When a company can filter their own reviews and only post the positives it is a huge red flag to me. Consumers should get honest reviews from other consumers.

I decided to keep giving JustGANO a chance thinking perhaps I chose my first piece poorly. They ended up sending me a ring with one of my regular shipments for the purpose of reviewing it. They sent the Forever Blooming flower ring and I will admit that this ring was very nice compared to the other items I had been receiving. You must note that on most rings it is one size so if you have larger fingers some rings may not fit you. The Forever Blooming is an adjustable ring and has a nice, heavy feel to it. However the other rings I chose (and paid for) were a one-size set of stackable rings and they were size 5. I can't wear them at all. Another subscription paid for and disappointed with.

And then my computer crashed. Which meant I had to close my online Etsy shops and also meant my PayPal was empty. JustGANO debits your PayPal without authorization each month. Because my computer was down and it was the last thing on my mind I ended up having my PayPal debited which reflected to my equally empty bank account (for my business; not my personal). I just now, months later, got the overdraft fee reversed

When I did notice that the incident happened with my account overdrawing I contacted JustGANO for a refund and to cancel my subscription. I was very unhappy with the customer service (I had to contact three separate times for her to cancel and to explain my account overdrew). Without a word of apology or any help my account was canceled.

I am responsible for the fact my bank account overdrew and that I didn't cancel the jewelry subscription at some point during my computer being out of order. BUT... I believe JustGANO should authorize payments each month or send a reminder message to customers so they remember to put the money in their PayPal. As of my subscription there were no prompts to remind customers that their upcoming fee was due. If something doesn't change... there will be a lot more unhappy customers with overdrafts and cheap jewelry to show for it.

Do you have a subscription with JustGANO? Do you like it?
If you don't subscribe, would you? Why or why not?

I truly feel horrible posting a negative review but I felt my story should be told. There may be better experiences for people out there but for me I'm better off without this service.


JustGANO was a paid subscription by me. This company did send me a free item to review along with one of my regular shipments.

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Joy is a stay-at-home-mom to three daughters. She is the wife of a worship leader & youth pastor. She runs her own Etsy shop selling handmade, hand-stamped sterling jewelry. Joy has taken courses in journalism, play writing, poetry, was in Honors English throughout school and has had small publications made of her work (mostly poetry).