WIP Wednesday 4/2/14

This past week I didn't get many projects worked on.  I intended to get blocks done for my Goodnight Irene sew along.....didn't happen.

One project that I am working on isn't sewing, it's getting my coupons in order.  I hadn't cut or put any in my binder for over a month.  The first thing I did was spend a day taking out the expired coupons.  Now I'm working at getting them cut out and into my binder.
You know, it's really hard to save money with coupons if you don't even know what coupons you have or where to find them when you do need them.

I worked on my yo-yo table runner during the quilt guild meeting this week.  It's moving along nicely for how little I work on it:

Last week I showed how I had spent a couple of days trying to organize all of my pre-cut hexagons for projects.
Hexagons become kind of a slow process too when I am working on them while also working here on the computer.
I completed the top for my table topper.  I have to free up some of my pins before I can complete it.
I got 2 of the flowers completed.
I need starch.  I used Best Press but it doesn't make them as stiff as I would like for shipping purposes.

I have yet to get a post up about my finished projects so far in 2014.  Here are my UFO and NewFO lists as part of the challenge you will see to the right:

UFO's:
Log Cabin quilt
Log Cabin wall hanging
Log cabin table runner
Rectangle quilt
2 rectangle table runners (one done)
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Quilt for sewing club at church
 (Finished) Applique Bunnies quilt
 (Finished) Penny Patch Quilt
Yo-Yo Table runner
Hexagon table topper
(Finished) Spoolin' Around

NewFO's
Sunflower table runner and matching placemats
Spiderweb quilt
Easter wall hanging
Cat wall hanging
Christmas bags (total of at least 25)

I am linking up with the following blogs:

1st Annual Loomy Awards by Loom Boom! (also Loom Boom giveaway)

January has the Golden Globes, February hosts the BAFTAs, and March is home to the Oscars. What better time than awards season to announce the first ever award for loom bracelet fanatics! This April, “loomers” from far and wide will submit their creations for a chance to become a Super Loomer in the 1^st Annual Loomy Awards! 

The Loomy Awards are sponsored by The Original Loom Boom, a first-of-its kind product intended to organize, display, transport and share your loom bracelet creations. Winners will be chosen from four categories: Best Bracelet, Coolest Charm, Wackiest Wearable, and Best Loom Boom. Three winners will each receive a $250 gift card, and one grand prize winner will receive a $500 gift card! Plus, all winners will receive a special edition of The Original Loom Boom! Entries can be submitted on The Original Loom Boom’s Facebook page beginning on March 30, 2014, and winners will be announced on a live web award show April 30, 2014.  


My granddaughters and my daughter all got the Looms for Christmas and we've bought many a package of the bands since then.  They are still enjoying making them!  It's a craze for sure that is also sure to stay around.
Just yesterday at church I seen 2 of the teens with numerous loom bracelets on their wrists.

 More information on the Loom Boom:
The Loom Boom allows you to organize, display, share and transport your loom creations.
It featured bright colored tubes that can hold up to 40 bracelets.
The tube detaches from the base to give easy access to the bracelets at the bottom.
The base has storage compartments.
Available in a variety of colors.

Loving the focus and creativity it provided for their children, moms Katy and Lauren co-founded the Loom Boom.
They were finding the bracelet creations all over their homes.
It was Katy's 5 yr old son who gave them the idea of the Loom Boom when he started putting his bracelet collection on a paper towel roll.  They jumped on his simple, but genius idea.

The Loom Boom can be purchased nationwide at Michael's and Learning Express and it's also available through amazon.

 


Don't forget to enter your creations in the 1st Annual Loomy Awards!!


One lucky Marsha's Spot reader will win their own Loom Boom. Just enter using the rafflecopter form below.



Disclaimer: I am being provided my own Loom Boom as well as information on the Loomy Awards and the Loom Boom. I was not compensated in any other way. Any opinions in this post are my own. This post does contain my affiliate link.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Earth Beauty All Natural and Organic--Review and Giveaway

Good Earth Beauty is a unique beauty shop carrying only natural and organic products that are NOT tested on animals. All products are chosen and personally tested by their staff. Product lines include Cosmetics, Bath & Body, Hair Care, items for Babies, Pets, and more.

Good Earth Beauty offers free shipping on orders in the United States!  This is always with no code needed.
There is shipping for other countries at a flat rate, but you can email them for the exact amount if you like.

Free samples are included with each order.  If you see something you would like to try, they will do their best to make it happen.

The newest products are the lip scrubs:

The lip scrubs come in several flavors and as with all of their products, they are all natural and organic.  The ingredients listed on the jar include sugar, organic sunflower, coconut, and almond oil, organic shea butter and organic jojoba oil.

Here is a close up of an opened jar of the lip scrub:

My thoughts:
I was anxious to give the lip scrubs a try.  I've heard of body scrub, this was the first I've heard of lip scrub.
I have a bad habit.  Instead of biting my nails when I am nervous or bored, I use my nails and pick on my lips.  This leaves them in really bad shape.
Winter does it's own damage to lips without any help from me.
From the first use of the lip scrub, I've not picked at my lips, and they are soft and supple.  I couldn't pick on them now if I wanted to.
It only takes a tiny bit of the scrub each use.
Since it's all natural, I lick off what's left. 

I left my granddaughters give the lip scrub a try over the weekend.  That was a bad mistake.  I found them just sneaking over to eat it several times.  They even had my 2 yr old granddaughter in on the action.

Good Earth Beauty is going to give one of my reader's a chance to try the new lip scrubs as well.  Just enter using the rafflecopter form below.

Disclaimer:  I rec'd a set of 3 lip scrubs to try for the purpose of this review and giveaway.  I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions are my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Frugal Friday with Marsha 3/28/14

It's hard to believe that March is almost over. A month ago today I was off to a weekend quilting retreat. It was here in town at a building at our state fairgrounds. It was my first retreat and I hope more to come.
I'm still kind of reeling from spending the $75 to go but I know it was important for me to get away from it all for a bit. I had a great time, completed 2 projects, and came home with $69 retail in prizes and goodies too. Of course we also were fed all of our meals and snacks.

This has felt like a rough week. There has been NO money to spend. Yesterday I did get in a $12 check for doing surveys and was able to buy milk. I'm expecting a paycheck in the mail today from my merchandising job.
I have a smallish list made out of essentials.
I'm actually going to shop at Aldi where I know that items are cheaper. I need to make shopping there a habit since I can't keep up with my coupons, and it's rare to have a coupon for milk, eggs, etc anyway.

Speaking of coupons.....I've not cut out the coupons from the Sunday papers for 4 weeks now! I'm having a hard time working that back in to my routines.
I've looked through them and taken out ones that I wanted to use right away. I have used coupons that I've printed from the internet too.
Not saving much this way.

I'm still reading Lean Body, Fat Wallet: Discover the Powerful Connection to Help You Lose Weight, Dump Debt, and Save Money It's such a good book and I highly recommend it. I'm working more on the health part and changing my diet....next comes exercise.
I still need to get my husband on board on the wealth part of the book since he is the main money earner and bill payer.


Motivate me!

An InLinkz Link-up

Squidoo Hopping 3/27/14

It's Thursday again already.  I swear I don't know where the days are going.  Here we are already almost to the end of March.

How is the weather in your parts?  It's finally looking a little like Spring here.  I don't believe there is any more snow in the forecast.  It rained all day yesterday.  Today it's sunny and on the windy side.

I didn't get any lenses updated or built this past week, but I have been to a lot of lenses.
Do we still have the limit of liking only 10 a day?  I've not been sure, but have been wondering.

Anything else new with squidoo that I have probably missed?
I also need to get in to HQ and read more often.

One lens that I've not kept up with is the one that I was listing the charities to choose from.
Another one is where I list the last 10 lenses that I've built.  I've built 11 or 12 since updating it!
Oh the work to do in squidoo.

Thanks to those who have regularly been linking up each week.  If you have any ideas on getting more to link in, please let me know.

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday 3/26/14

I didn't end up doing a WIP post last week.  I hadn't done anything except work on the race car quilt for my special order.  I finished the last of sewing on the binding at my Needlers group last Wednesday.
I just chose not to post since that was the only thing I could have taken a picture of for the week.

Since I didn't take that picture, I will include a picture of my daughter holding up the finished quilt.

Since then I did work on my yo-yo's a bit.  I finished making yo-yo's with the bit of fabric still left in my box.  Since I didn't add any more to my table runner, I chose not to take a picture.

Then I've been working hexagons, hexagons and more hexagons.  I knew there were hundreds of them pre-cut in my little box.   Let's try thousands....just over 2000 of them pre-cut!
I first was just sewing on them, then I decided to sort them.
I have 10 piles of 9 sets that will become flowers, plus a few more sets.
I have 3 stacks that will be used to make things like the table topper that you see in the picture that I am working on.
You can see what I have made, plus the ones that I have the cardstock pinned on to sew.

I didn't start working on my March Goodnight Sew Along until yesterday evening finally.
I sewed for hours but didn't get my 3rd row done.   I decided to work mostly on getting squares together for the 16 patch blocks instead.
Hopefully by next week I will not only have March's row done, but also Aprils 4th row on as well.
I took a picture to represent that I am at least working on it.

You can find out more about the Goodnight Irene Sew A Long by clicking the button to the right.
I have yet to do posts on my 2014 finished projects yet for the UFO/NewFO challenge.  That button is also on the right.

Here are my lists:
UFO's:
Log Cabin quilt
Log Cabin wall hanging
Log cabin table runner
Rectangle quilt
2 rectangle table runners (one done)
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Quilt for sewing club at church
 (Finished) Applique Bunnies quilt
 (Finished) Penny Patch Quilt
Yo-Yo Table runner
Hexagon table topper
(Finished) Spoolin' Around

NewFO's
Sunflower table runner and matching placemats
Spiderweb quilt
Easter wall hanging
Cat wall hanging
Christmas bags (total of at least 25)

I am linking up with the following blogs:

COLGATE® OPTIC WHITE® INTRODUCES THREE NEW PRODUCTS FOR A BRIGHTER, WHITER SMILE

 Whitening That is Convenient and Affordable

Colgate® introduces a new breakthrough product to the Optic White line, Colgate® Optic White^TM Toothbrush + Whitening Pen. The toothbrush contains a built-in whitening pen for convenient whitening. It’s as simple as BRUSH.WHITEN.GO.™

·         Brush: Brush as you normally would with your toothpaste.

·         Whiten: Turn dial at bottom of pen and apply gel. It takes only seconds to apply and adhere to your teeth. No waiting, no rinsing.

·         Go: Store pen inside brush.

Also new to the Colgate® Optic White® line is the Colgate® Optic White® PLATINUM Whiten and Protect™ Toothpaste which deeply whitens more than three shades while sealing out new stains and the new Colgate® Optic White® WhiteSeal™ mouthwash which protects against future stains with advanced stain prevention technology. 

Clinical studies show that using the Colgate® Optic White ^TM Toothbrush + Whitening Pen twice daily will help users achieve whiter teeth in 2 days*. Use with new Colgate® Optic White® PLATINUM Whiten and Protect™ Toothpaste and Colgate® Optic White® WhiteSeal™ Mouthwash for whitening results even faster – brush, rinse, whiten and go!  


My daughter was very happy to get to try the Colgate Optic White system.

Here is her before photo:

Here is her after photo---after using the system for 5 days:

She is very happy with the results!


Colgate is generously offering 5 Marsha's Spot readers a chance to try the Colgate Optic White for themselves.  Just enter using the rafflecopter form below.


Disclosure:  I was sent the Colgate Optic White along with information to share for the purpose of this post.  I was not compensated in any other way and any opinions are my own.
Sponsor is responsible for mailing out the prizes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Frugal Friday With Marsha 3/21/14

It sure seems like it's been a lot longer than just one week since my last Frugal Friday post.
I've been super busy and on the go almost constantly.
My computer was acting up and I had to use hubby's for a couple of days. Then I took it in, they said they fixed it, but no, it was doing the same thing again.
Back to using hubby's computer while it was in the shop again.
This time they assure me that it's really fixed. I sure hope so!

This past week the heating element has gone out on my dryer. At least it picked a good time with Spring finally being here. I've been hanging the laundry on the line again.
I have been bringing it in and putting the load in the dryer for 10 or 15 minutes to fluff them. I don't have any type of fabric softener right now, not even vinegar.
I love using vinegar in the laundry in place of fabric softener.

I've used all of my vinegar making an all natural citrus cleaner. Forgive me if I've wrote about this before.
You put orange peels in with a jar of vinegar. You put the jar in a dark spot for a minimum of 2 weeks. Once it's been in the dark to soak for the 2 weeks, remove the orange peels and you have your cleaner.
It works quite well!

This past week I shopped on 'experiment'.
With my teenager only here for supper on occasion anymore and hubby coming home later than usual, I made a decision....like I said, an experiment of sorts.
I've been thinking a lot about keeping the freezer stocked with lots of varieties of frozen entrees and meals.
This past week the store offered Lean Cuisine and Stouffer's frozen entrees and meals 5 for $10. They then offered a $3 off 5 e-coupon to add to our card, which we could use the e-coupon up to 5 times.
I saw my opportunity and went for it. I bought 15 of them.
Nice price, plus lots of variety, plus codes to use for their rewards programs.

Now, that's not all I bought. I bought apples, bananas, and pears (fresh) for our fruits for the week. We always have bread and butter around.
I also bought 2 bags of chips for something different than bread if wanted.

I'm having a good time this week as I'm so busy and I've just not felt like cooking lately. Of course this week it happened that we were eating away from home twice too.
I figured hubby would be really upset with me.
I think under normal circumstances he would have, but he attended a Men's Encounter this past weekend and he's a change man in a lot of ways now.

What have you done this past week or so to live frugally?

I hope to see some link ups....keep us motivated.

An InLinkz Link-up

Join the Campbell's Address Your Heart Campaign

My family and I are working to eat healthy and improve our lives. This includes being heart healthy....in fact, it's most important!

We are starting with our diets.
The American Heart Association has certified recipes. I am including my favorite 5 to share with you today.

Broccoli is a staple vegetable in our family. This casserole is more than delicious!



Summers at family camp taught us to love squash.



Here is an interesting twist on lasagna.



Another staple vegetable for my family is cauliflower....yum!



My mom taught me years ago to use ground turkey instead of ground beef. It's our ground meat of choice and this is a great meatloaf.



Click on any of the recipes above to be taken to the Campbell's Kitchen website. There you will find lots of great heart healthy recipes that your family is sure to love!

Click HERE to find lots of great printable coupons for Campbell's products as well!!

Health is foremost on people’s minds, keeping your family in tip top shape can be a challenge in these busy times. Campbell’s Soup wants you to “Address Your Heart” with Heart Healthy Tips, recipes and more!

Visit AddressYourHeart.com to get heart-healthy tips, including 21 Campbell’s recipes that are certified by the AHA and product coupons, as well as Facebook.com/campbellskitchen for the latest Campbell’s recipes and offers.



Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Campbell Soup Company.

Squidoo Hopping 3/20/14

Welcome to the first day of Spring!   We are going to have a nice Spring day here in Kansas.

Sorry I'm a little late posting this week.  My computer was in the shop on Monday, then had to go back yesterday with the same problem.
I picked it up about 30 minutes ago and they tell me they fixed it for sure.   I surely do hope so!
I've been using my husband's computer off and on in this down time, but not doing a whole lot of anything really.

I did build a new lens this past week, so I will share it in the linky along with another lens that I will choose.

I hope you all keep me busy hopping from lens to lens and also to blogs with link ups this week.  :)

Happy Squidooing!!

An InLinkz Link-up