Shutterfly Magnets

I feel like blogging again. Blogging is seasonal, I think, for a lot of bloggers. Sometimes you feel like doing it, and sometimes you don't. Something just popped into my head: Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. I think it has something to do with candy bars. Anyway....

I've ordered quite a few little 8x8 inch photo books from Shutterfly. They are nice, and I've shared some of them here on my blog. I'm constantly getting Shutterfly coupons. Sometimes I use them, sometimes I don't.

One of the things I got a coupon for was a free magnet. I selected the Photo Gallery Set of 4 2x2 Magnet. Here is a screen shot of the page:

I was a little surprised when I got the magnets. I was expecting something hard and solid, like acrylic. I don't think the description makes it clear, and I didn't read any reviews when I ordered, but these are flat flexible magnets. Like the kind that a restaurant might give out with their phone number on it. They appear to be made of a printed paper that has been bonded to the magnet sheet.

They come on a single sheet with the images in the four corners. A cutting machine has stamped the cut lines around each individual image, and you have to tear them apart.

I found myself quite pleased with these little magnets, and when another coupon came my way, I ordered another set. So now I have eight little 2x2 inch magnets. I think I want to cover a large portion of my fridge in them.

They aren't the best print quality, but that is fine for me. They stick to the fridge very well, and I've found that in trying to reposition them, there are places where my fingernail caught on the printed paper layer of the magnet and started to peel it up.

On my first set, the cutting machine was misaligned at one corner, so that magnet has a funny cut in it.

Here is one more close up.

I enjoy looking at these magnets on my fridge. I plan to get more. The $14.99 price (+shipping) seems a little high to me, so I will probably continue to take advantage of coupons and maybe add some magnets on to other orders that I happen to be making.

One of the things I love about Shutterfly is that you can save coupon codes in your account. They are sorted by expiration date, and when you place an order, their cart will automatically apply the appropriate coupon. And I think you can usually combine a coupon if they also have a sale going on.

I have also ordered some custom iPhone cases from Shutterfly, so look for reviews for those in the coming weeks. Thanks for stopping by.



UPDATE. I ordered some more magnets, and wanted to add a note here. The Photo Gallery Set of 4 2x2 Magnets gives you the option of adding a line of text on each magnet.

On all of the magnets I ordered, I simply left the text area blank because I didn't want any text. When I Previewed the magnets before ordering, they looked exactly as I wanted - no text, and the text box was invisible.

Once the Magnets were placed in the Cart, I received an error message because I had left the text boxes blank. I just hit "Ignore" and everything turned out fine.

Snow

I have not seen snow for a few years, but my family members got a little bit last year. I grabbed some pictures from my sister-in-law off Facebook. Technically, this should have gone into my 2013 book, but I overlooked these pictures when I had that book printed. So they will go into the January section of my 2014 book. I know it's not ideal, but I can live with it because I love getting those big ol' Blurb books in my hands.

All About the Frame Templates by Scrapping with Liz; Winter Sparkleland by Scrap Orchard designers
StraightLine Stitched White No. 3 by Anna Aspnes

I'd like to give a little shout-out to Anna Aspnes and Vicki Stegall at Oscraps. I bought some stitches in Anna's advent sale the other day, and just as I was downloading I realized I bought stitches I already had. And the really ridiculous part was that I had my Anna Aspnes folder open when I went shopping, so I would make sure NOT to buy stitches I already had. Oops! I sent off an email to Anna, and within an hour Vicki Stegall had written back to me with a coupon for a replacement product. They even made sure I bought my new product with a coupon, instead of a direct link, so that I would have a valid record of the purchase, in case an issue comes up in the future. Thanks, Anna and Vicki!

Other Good Things

I'm sharing a scrapbook page that depicts fun at my brother's house in the country. The horses aren't his; they are my dad's and step mom's. But my brother does have goats, and chickens, and lots of land with a creek and wilderness and a tree fort. The kind of life I always pictured for myself, but life didn't turn out that way. I ended up with other good things.

I struggled with this layout for a while, but in the end I love how it turned out, and it's my new favorite page.

Cloudy with a Chance of Happiness by Amanda Yi and Cornelia Designs;  Life Quotes N. 5 by Sabrina's
Creations; A Story Captured Vol. 3 Templates by Anita Designs; Gold Foil Text Styles by Mommyish

Thanks for stopping by.

My Rainbows are Mushrooms

We have had a nice bit of rain out here in northern California, and more is on the horizon. Aw, how I love the rain. The sound, the smell, the mushrooms. The only thing I don't really like about rain is having to drive in it. We went on a little nature walk, and I found LOTS of mushrooms.

Squirrels & Nuts by creashens; A Story Captured Vol. 9 by Anita Designs
flower from Autumn Days by Amanda Yi

Note: The scientist is only pretending to eat that mushroom. He is a smart scientist in that regard.

I think it is really fun to have a "thing" that you like to photograph. For me, right now, that thing is mushrooms. A couple years back, when my mushroom photography project was just starting, we went camping with family. My sister-in-law was spotting banana slugs left and right, and she took a few pictures of them. When we saw our family at Thanksgiving, they told us about another recent camping trip they took, and they took pictures of banana slugs again. She had said, "I'm like Tiff with the mushrooms!" It was definitely a fun thing for them - finding slugs and snapping pictures. Do you have a thing you like to photograph?

Thanks for stopping by!

News and New Layouts

My scrapbooking news is that I have a creative team spot at the new The Digital Press. My spot is more of a trial/guest CT position. We'll see how it goes and if I can keep up. I also, coincidentally, stepped down from a team. The Etc. by Danyale team is a wonderful little family, and it was sad to go. I cried just like my last day teaching before I left on maternity leave. I hate endings.

Here are some layouts I've made this week. First up, the Christmas tree. We have had real trees the last few years, but with the scientist traveling a lot for work, I decided to pick up a fake tree to make things simpler. I got this tall skinny "pencil" tree and I love it. It's the perfect size for a small home. I even decorated it with ornaments! (The last couple of years I only did lights and beads). I love to look at it all day, every day.

Colorful Christmas - The Digital Press collaboration; So Selfie Photostrip Freebie by Scrapping with Liz

We have had a couple of rainy and cloudy weeks here in northern California. Mushrooms are alive and fruiting. Bliss! Several weeks ago, a patch popped up right outside our front door! I'm on the look out everywhere I go.

Hello Love by Creashens

And here was some Thanksgiving fun with family.

Selfie by Sabrina's Creations; A Story Captured Vol. 9 Templates by Anita Designs

Thanks for stopping by!

Apples

The Fuji apple has been my go-to apple for years. The skin varies from green to red, and they can be lopsided, but they are usually always nice and crisp and sweet. I find it to be an apple that you can count on. It is in stores all year long.

Fuji Apple

Sometimes I like a Pink Lady. They are tart and light, and dry if that makes sense, but I can't always find them. They often look a little bumpy and uneven. My store did not have any today, so I've go no picture for you.

Last week, my grocery store had two types of apples on sale: Honeycrisp and Envy. I decided I'd be adventurous and try both.

I quickly located the Honeycrisps in the large apple display, but did not see the Envy. I asked the grocer where they were. He proceeded to tell me that the Honeycrisp is the best apple. A big knife magically appeared, and with two flicks of his wrist he had cut a slice of apple for me to try. I tried it, and it was nice.

Honeycrisp Apple

I said, "I usually buy Fuji apples." You should have seen the sneer on his face! This man clearly had a low opinion of the Fujis, my go-to apple! I was about to buy the Honeycrisps, and pass on the Envys, when the grocer asked me if I still wanted to try an Envy. I almost said, "No," but then I thought about it: I already knew that the two of us have very different opinions of Fuji apples. Maybe I would like the Envy despite his abhorrence of it.

Another two flicks of the wrist and I had a huge (the Envy apples were very large) piece of Envy apple to eat.

Envy Apple

I tasted. I liked. I liked it a lot. I liked it better than the Honeycrisp! It was crisp, it was sweet. "It's nice," I said. The grocer was dumbfounded and walked away.

The End.

Actually, that's not the end because I LOVE the Envy apple. It is my new favorite, and I'm going to keep buying it as long as it is available. Or until I get a bad one. The Envy apple even has its own web site. They are grown in the northwest U.S., my favorite part of the world (yeah, it's the only part of the world I know).

If you see the Envy apple in your store, give it a try. I'm glad I did. Maybe it will be your new favorite too.

Goodbye, Liz (the lizard)

I'm sure you've figured out by now that I was not the Cropped champion. Nope, it was not to be. After a little recuperation, I'm back to scrapping, though.

The current obsession is lizards. Several poor little lizards have been caught by Miller and the scientist. And one named Liz was held in captivity for a couple of weeks. He was a cute little western fence lizard. I'm sure he is happy to be back in the wild fending for himself and blazing trails. Or rather, beefing up and finding a place to hibernate.

Climbing Trees and Falling Leaves by Etc. by Danyale; Autumn Watercolor Nature Papers by Dawn Inskip
Kriss Kross Stitched Overlays No. 2 by Anna Aspnes; Sahlin Studio Sept. '14 Template

Thanks for stopping by!