Back in Business!

I've been doing pretty well lately of getting a couple things listed in my etsy store each week and working on my zibbet store.....as well as working on other ventures....for the past few weeks.  I hope to continue!

I've been crocheting away on my cotton washcloths.  I am almost done with all of those so that I can move on to another project.  Honestly, I have enough craft supplies in this house to keep me busy for the next 10 years.  It's all a matter of finding the time I want and need to get things made!

I do have a couple more things to list in my etsy shop, but I did add 1 more to the quantity of the Cotton Washcloths set of 3 in Country Mauve, and the Pebble Baby Bibs.  (I already am about to list a couple more items too!)

I move 3 more items from my expired list on etsy over to my zibbet store.

I didn't get anymore books listed to half.com yet, but I did sell a book.    I'm concerned on how they pay to my checking account instead of to paypal, but it doesn't look like there is any other choice.  I have some personal issues with my checking acct. but hopefully can transfer the money to my paypal.

I've paid for one spot in the Spookky Celebration and may get another one.   I will be making more posts announcing the celebration as time gets closer.   If you've not checked it out, I really encourage you to do so.  Ralyn puts in a lot of work putting these together.  It's a very fun time for both those of us who are vendors as well as the guests that come to the party.

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I am linking this post with abitosunshine's Saturday Shop Hop!!
 

Oxy Clinical Acne Solutions Review and Giveaway

OXY Clinical offers breakthrough complexion care, providing pharmaceutical-grade medications and continuous-release technology to treat, heal and help prevent acne breakouts – all without a prescription.
 The OXY Clinical Acne Solutions pack consists of a Clearing Treatment, Advanced Face Wash and Hydrating Therapy. All OXY Clinical products contain an advanced delivery system technology that helps the product to work continuously over time. And, the OXY® Clinical Clearing Treatment has been proven to kill 99% of acne causing bacteria in 8 hours, so it starts working right away.
Some people have seen a positive outcome in as little as 3 days, and significant results in about 4 weeks. (It does take time for skin to renew itself, so typical benchmark times are 3, 10 and 30 days.)

My daughter Jasmine, who will be 15 next month, was given the chance to try Oxy Clinical as part of the Oxy School Ready Skin Challenge!
Our Oxy Clinical Acne Solutions Starter pack contained: Clearing Treatment, Advanced Face Wash and Hydrating Therapy.

Jasmine has been wanting to try the Oxy Clinical for some time.  We were both thrilled for the opportunity for her to give it a try.  Her acne has always been an issue of concern with her. 
She used the products daily as instructed on the box.  After the first day her comment was that her acne looked worse.  She didn't stop using the products though.  She used them daily until the starter pack was gone (about a week).  Her skin does look better.   I apologize for not getting pictures to include in my review.  She wishes to continue to try the products.  She enjoyed using them and the results she was seeing at the end of a week.

I was surprised at the low cost of the products.  Admittedly I never checked the prices, just assuming they were expensive.  The starter kit has an AVR of $14.99.  Watch for sales as well as coupons!  (you know me and my coupons).  For a limited time, buy the kit through their website for just $9.99 and free shipping! Visit OXY Skin Care now for all the details.

Disclaimer:   I received the Oxy Clinical Acne Solutions Starter Pack for the purpose of this review and giveaway.  I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions of the product are my own.

One of my lucky blog readers will win their own Oxy Clinical Starter kit!!   

 

Bounce It Off Millions Facebook Contest

Have an important decision to make and need help making it?  bounce is having a Bounce It Off Millions contest on their facebook page.

Head on over to the Bounce facebook page and ask your question. Click on the “Bounce it Off Millions” app to submit your question.  Your question will be turned into a poll where other bounce fanatics will vote to help you make your decision.

Four lucky users will be chosen to win a grand prize—the chance to turn their life’s great questions into a Facebook-wide advertisement, inviting Facebook’s 150+ million users to help you decide between your two options!

While you are on the Bounce facebook page also enter for a chance to win two Bounce Dryer Bars.  One to keep and one to give to a friend.  5,000 lucky winners will be chosen.

Hurry!!  This ends September 19, 2011, so hop on over to the Bounce facebook page now for your chance to win. 


Disclaimer:   I participated in this campaign as a member of One2One Network and am eligible for a prize drawing.  All opinions stated in the post are my own.

Montagne Jeunesse Facial Masques---Review

Getting ready to head back to school or sending the kids back? Need a little time to yourself before jumping into the hustle and bustle of the fall? Need to get your skin back to beautiful after all the summer torment and sunburns? We have just the product for you, Montagne Jeunesse masques! Montagne Jeunesse masques are the perfect way to get yourself Zen and beautify your skin at the same time!



Each masque comes in its own sachet and there are many types and flavors to chose from.


I was sent 3 different Montagne Jeunesse masques to try as pictured below.

I was thrilled to be able to take part in reviewing the Montagne Jeunesse masques. It's been forever since I've allowed myself the luxury of pampering my face with a masque.
My 15 yr old daughter and I shared the masques. Each sachet is made for one time use but we found them to be more than enough to share. We both loved how our skin felt after using all 3.
Of the three, my daughter liked the Cucumber Purifying Peel-Off Masque the best. She says, "It peels off super easy and made your skin feel super soft."
I enjoyed the Warm Exfoliating Crystal Masque the best. I like the scent as well as the sugar cane crystals on my skin.
I loved all of them!!

I can't wait to try more of the masques. They are available at Walmart and Ulta Beauty and many other fine beauty establishments with a suggested retail price of $1.25-$2.25. Each masque has different "abilities". For example, the Cream & Honey Skin Polisher Masque with quickly unplug pores, remove blackheads and refresh the complexion, gently cleanse with unique cream & oatmeal skin polisher and is gentle enough to use daily. Eleven masques to choose from. I look forward to trying more and have a feeling I will not be able to choose just one to use one a regular basis.

The masques are great for spa night with the girls, slumber parties, stocking stuffers, "me time", etc. I know some on my Christmas list that will be receiving some of these!

You can find ALPHA HYDROX SKIN CARE - The one that works! on facebook--please like them if you would like to.

You can also fill @alphahydrox on twitter.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Frugal Friday Link Up

Welcome to Friday!



This has been a very long and busy week for me. I don't have any posts to share for this past week in my own linky, but I do hope many will come in and inspire us with their frugal type posts.



We spent many many hours at the Kansas State Fair this week. Monday was dollar day. We go each year on dollar day for the year. We always start by walking around with the Headstart class for the morning. I only spent $10 the whole day. $5 for midway rides, $3 for root beers, and $2 on something else that I can't even remember. (Told you it's been a long week). If you showed your DIllon's Plus card at the gate it was free to get in.



Wednesday not so frugal but that's my husbands day off. It cost the 3 of us $24 to get in to the fair. I told him we needed to pick up a lot of free stuff to cover that $24. Surprisingly enough, this year I didn't go around picking up everything that was free. We did pick up a few pens, several pencils, several emery boards, some stickers etc. The electric company gave out insulation to put behind your light switches and plug ins. One of Steve's bread customers gave us free food and drink from their booth (a funnel cake and 2 cherry limeades). We got free little cups of ice cream. We taste tested lots of dips and mustards with pretzels. We also tasted veggie stew and chili. I picked up some free devotional materials for the Lutheran Hour table. I even picked up an education packet from Birth Right---this will be used with Jasmine as part of health and they did a good job filling the folder with lots of information. We picked up 2 re-usable shopping bags, 3 sets of word magnets, 3 tops, and 3 of the little toothpick dispensers. Jasmine got a horseshoe with her name on it and John 3:16. Believe it or not, that's not even near the usual stuff we come home with. We probably did get our money's worth though, even just for having the family time out.



Moving on---today is the last of the baking soda tips from the 99 Cent Solutions. Who knew there were so many uses for baking soda?



1. Revitalize wallpaper. Remove greasy fingerprints by rubbing the stain gently with a damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda. Rinse and pat dry. Your wall paper will be good as new.



2. Don't lose your marble. Brighten up your marble countertop by dipping a cloth in water and lightly sprinkling it with baking soda. Rub gently in a circular motion and rinse with cool water and buff it dry, The marble will gleam again.



3. Green your baby clothes. Get rid of that stiff feel and smell of chemicals by washing your baby clothes in scent free baby detergent and adding 1/2 cup baking soda.



4. Down the drain. For a minor blockage pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain followed by 1 cup of white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes then pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain. Repeat as needed. (I've used this trick many times over the years!)



5. Detergent expander. To extend dishwashing liquid, add one squeeze to a dishpan partially filed with hot water. Stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons of baking soda. The water won't be as bubble but it will feel soapy. Grease will disappear and baked-on food will come off easily.

Life in Spite of Me by Kristen Jane Anderson

Life in Spite of Me Extraordinary Hope After a Fatal Choice by Kristen Jane Anderson with Tricia Goyer ISBN 978-1-60142-252-1 Published by Multnomah 2011

There are some books that once you start reading them you don't want to put them down until you are done. Life in Spite of Me is one of those books.

Life in Spite of Me is the life story of Kristen Jane Anderson. At the age of 15, life started going down hill with the death of her grandmother. From there some of her classmates committed suicide, including one classmate that she had been close to. The final straw was when she was raped at a party. So, at the age of 17, she decided to end her life. She laid on the railroad tracks and waited for the train to run her over.

God had other plans for Kristen. She did not die when the train ran her over-----she did, however, get her legs cut off.

In Life in Spite of me you read along as she survives her failed suicide attempt. The ups and downs, the wondering, and her coming to Christ.

Throughout the book, and her story, Kristen has put in personal notes of encouragement to those reading the book. I like this. 

A wonderful story of surviving and then using that survival to go on and help others. I recommend this read for everyone. Teens who are in a state of depression will get a lot out of this book. Everyone should read this book! I found myself crying during several areas of the book as I read her story. 



Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not compensated for my review and all opinions are my own.

Squidoo Blog Hopping 9/15/11--Linky!!

Ack!  I've been so busy away from home this past week.  You can probably tell that by the fact that I've not even done a post on my blog since last Saturday.

I've been in and out of squidoo looking at other's lenses but did nothing to any of my own---other than finding out I forgot to link the banner in my Online Craft Mall lens to actually make it go to the information page.  If you've not been to the lens and checked out the Spoooooky Celebration, please do so.

Otherwise, here are just some of my lenses that are in the pink.  Some are repeats that I still need to take time to get some updating done on.  All of them, I can at least choose a charity to give 10% to.  If you want to give them some lens love that would be awesome!

Jasmine's Lapbooks
WWJD for Kidz Book Review
Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy 

I hope to really start to see more hopping along with us each week with more hopping along each week. Thank you Sara for helping to get the word out....and Ruth too.

Spoooooky Celebration!!

For this week's Shop Hop I would like to highlight the upcoming Spooooky Celebration with the Online Craft Mall. 
I've updated my Online Craft Mall squidoo lens to include this information as well. 

Ralyn, the owner of the online craft mall is working hard to bring back our online parties. The Spoooky Celebration is a great one to start with. She spends a lot of time putting together haunted houses to go through as part of the games and things. (Games get you entries to win prizes) 

If you sell online, we hope you will consider joining us for the celebration. Spots are just $5 each for 45 minutes of presentation time. If you know others who sell online, please help us spread the word. I hope to see all of you joining us for the fun, games, prizes, and sales too! Please click the banner for full information. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

 

In other news, I've listed 2 more items in my etsy store:

Cotton Crocheted Washcloths Set of 3 in Black and Sage

Baby Bibs Set of 2 with Pebbles

I also got 2 more items moved over to my zibbet store:

Strip (or String) Quilt

Strip Quilt Pillows

I also updated my Zazzle Custom Postage Stamps squidoo page again.  I didn't add anything new but put in about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

I added just 2 more books to my half.com.  Is there a way to promote just the books you have for sale there?  I was looking but I'm not seeing anything like the about me page over on ebay.

That's all for me this week.  I want to thanks Ruthi of abitosunshine for offering this shop hop blog hop for us.  It keeps me inspired to continue to work to add things to my shops.  Please click the button below and join us and/or support others who are working from home.

 

 

  

Frugal Friday Link Up 9/9/11

We've had some frugal dinners this week.

I picked up a bag of popcorn chicken on sale for $1. We picked up 2 bowls of chicken chow mein noodles for .99 each. We mixed it all together with some sweet and sour sauce my daughters boyfriend had brought home from work free. $2.98 for that quick meal on the run.

Another night I picked up a package of hot dogs for $1 at the store, along with some cottage cheese on sale for $1.25. We had bought a cantaloupe on sale for $1.99 a couple days before. I also opened up a can of baked beans we had bought for $1.38. This meal cost a total of $4.62 we had a decent meal. It was only the 3 of us eating so we had the same meal for lunch yesterday too. Two meals for $4.62. Pretty good.

Last night I pulled out items that we've had for awhile---and I do mean awhile! I found a package of boneless check breasts in the freezer along with a bag of spinach and a box of mixed veggies. I had cooked the chicken in the crockpot. I cooked up what was left of 2 different kinds of pasta in the cabinet, I add it to the chicken and a jar of Alfredo sauce I found in the back of the cabinet. I opened a can of applesauce that we had gotten with commodity foods. My husband works for Sara Lee so bread is always free. Add in some bread with supper and we had a good meal.

What's for supper tonight? I really have no idea!

Here are this week's tips from the 99 Cent Solutions book. We are still on baking soda!

1. Eat naked fruit. Give your fruits and veggies a baking soda bath. Dampen the produce with water, sprinkle a vegetable brush with baking soda and scrub before you eat them. Rinse well. This will remove the wax and reduces pesticides.

2. Be tender to tummies. A very tiny pinch in tomato soup, coffee or orange juice can prevent an acidic stomach for those with delicate stomachs.

3. Faux age wood. When putting new wood next to older wood you can stir in 1 cup of baking soda into a liter of water. Scrub the mixture into the wood with a stiff brush and splash on cool water to rinse. When it dries, the fresh new look will have faded.

4. Miracle for the microwave. Put one cup of water and a few tablespoons of baking soda into a glass container. Microwave on high for 3 minutes then easily remove all that baked on gunk and grime in a snap with a damp sponge.

5. No stick, no rust, no kidding ! For non-stick pans that food did stick to just scrub the spots with a damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda. Make sure to wet the sponge well to dissolve the baking soda to avoid scratching your non-stick. This also works to get rust off of cast iron.

That's it for me today. I hope to see lots of link ups this week!

Squidoo Hopping 9/8/11--Linky

Here we are to Thursday again. I did do a little updating of lenses this past week. Even including one of the ones I had thought of deleting. More on that one later.

I found out the concensus of the etsy module is that I will have to delete the modules and re-add them for them to be current on what I have for sale there. Since I am moving items over to zibbet I am going to add a black box module there with the link to my zibbet store. This all will hopefully by done over the weekend.

I updated my Gather--The BEST in Social Networking adding in my most recent payments rec'd. Oops, do need to add the last $30 though.

I updated my Zazzle Custom Postage Stamps lens. It hit me one evening to do the print screen in paint and then edit it down to just the stamp in order to get the picture. Each one is linkable to the stamp for sale, which is the way I wanted it. The sale I put in ended yesterday though so this is a lens that I can keep updating both as sales change and as I get more postage stamps created.

Then, I updated my Online Craft Mall lens. If you are a crafter, or sell anything online for that matter, please check out the Spooooky Celebration coming up the beginning of October. She is getting us back in to having the online parties. I had my own debates on whether I was going to sign up, but I do plan on signing up now. I will blog more about that later too.

Until next week--Happy Squidooing!