Shutterfly For The Holidays! Create Your Own Holiday Cards, Photo Books and More (Photo Gifts Are GREAT For Family!)

One of my new favorite gifts for the holidays (especially for family) are photo gifts (take a peak at a few of our Christmas cards from years past!)!

To me, photo cards and gifts are thoughtful and serve to share joy with others. For the past few years I've tried to keep the immediate family (especially grandparents) in touch with the lives of our kids (and us of course) by sending them photo creations at Christmas instead of gifts that are often thoughtful but unwanted. SO... bring on the photo books, key rings and holiday cards!

I love to send and receive photo holiday cards. It is fun to share a special moment from our year with everyone, and it is a blast to see those special pictures and moments from friends and relatives who send out photo cards for the holidays.

Now that I have your attention, I'll tell you my BIG secret! I use Shutterfly to make all my photo creations and gifts easily and quickly!!

Why am I telling you about Shutterfly? I have been a huge fan of Shutterfly for about five years, and create photobooks and other photo items every year (not to mention the ease of having pictures printed and mailed to me, or using the 1-Hour photo service at Target via my Shutterfly Account). Also, by sharing my experiences with you here on Wendi's Book Corner as a blogger, I'm going to get 50 free holiday cards... I can't wait!

So want to create your own holiday card this year?

Check out some of these great links... cards are quick, easy, and help you send personalized holiday greetings to your friends and family!

· Christmas cards

· holiday photo cards

· birthday invitations

· calendars

· Christmas invitations

· Christmas gift tags

And just let me add that the cards are great for more than just Christmas cards! They are also great for...

• Birthday Invitations
• Thank you cards (just take a picture of your kid/s and/or family, create the cards, then let everyone add their own "Thank You" signature to the card with a colorful pen or crayon)
• Just Moved notices
• Home Party Invites
• Baby Announcements

Every year Shutterfly comes out with great new designs, and this year they are even better than ever with so many designs to choose from, including some with overlays that look amazing and add layers to the cards. So far, my favorite holiday designs this year are Holly Frame and Peppermint Bliss - what are your favorites?

About Shutterfly: (from their site)

Company Highlights

Founded in December 1999, Shutterfly is an internet-based social expression and personal publishing service. Shutterfly is headquartered in Redwood City, CA with manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, AZ and Charlotte, NC. Shutterfly is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol SFLY. Shutterfly offers free online photo storage, and has never deleted a photo. Millions of customers have billions of pictures on Shutterfly. The Shutterfly flagship product is its award-winning photo book line, which helps consumers celebrate memories and tell their stories in professionally bound coffee table books. The winter holidays are the peak season at Shutterfly. Popular gift ideas include personalized photo books, holiday cards and calendars. Timeline In Spring 2010, Shutterfly announced the integration of the Simple Path photo book creation experience with Facebook, which allows Facebook users to access their photos and their friends’ photos to create premium quality photo books in minutes. Shutterfly was ranked number one in the "best photo book" category by TopTenREVIEWS.com in January 2010. In April 2009 Shutterfly introduced a new free photo sharing iPhone App that gives customers the power to upload, view and share their Shutterfly photos while on-the-go. The application, also compatible with the iPod Touch, is available free of charge at the Apple App Store. Followed by the initial launch of Designer Stationery in 2008, Shutterfly expanded their photo and non-photo stationery line with new coordinated suites of personalized Baby and Wedding Stationery in early 2009. At the end of 2008, the number of Shutterfly’s transacting customers totaled in 2.8 million people. Shutterfly customers placed more than 7.6 million orders in 2008. In September 2008, Shutterfly launched the Storyboard™ Tool which makes it quick and easy to organize and add pictures to a photo book. Users simply choose the photos they want to include in their book and the Storyboard Tool automatically chooses a suitable layout to fit the number and orientation of their photos. In August 2008, Shutterfly launched Shutterfly Share sites, a service that combines the best of photo sites, blogs, and social networking in a way that allows customers to easily connect and collaborate with friends and family in a safe and secure environment. In February 2008, Shutterfly launched Shutterfly Gallery, a community platform for sharing and connecting with others. This new Shutterfly social network leverages the power and enthusiasm of the viral Shutterfly community, allowing customers to creatively inspire one another by sharing their photo books online and exchanging comments about their experiences.

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post in response to a TwitterMoms RAMBO alert, making me eligible to get 50 free Shutterfly Holiday Cards. You can learn more about Shutterfly at http://www.shutterfly.com.

Fracture: A New Way To Display Your Photographs!

I have just learned about a very interesting new way to showcase favorite photos... printed on glass! As described on their site (www.fractureme.com) it is a photo and frame in one. They claim it is three easy steps, and it really does look easy: 1. Upload photos, 2. Customize it, 3. Hang it up (should have an order step in there too!).

Why am I telling you about Fracture? First off, I think it is a really neat concept, especially as I LOVE taking pictures of my family and finding creative ways to show them off. Also, if I am among the first 100 bloggers to post about it, I may be chosen to receive a free Fracture to review here on Wendi's Book Corner!

So what exactly is Fracture?

Looks:
* Vibrant, rich and glossy colors
* Perfectly flat glass surface
* The "HD-TV look but for photos"

Customization:
* Because the entire frame is printed digitally, there are potentially limitless ways you can make your Fracture unique
* While we offer a variety of border options to add depth and flavor to your photos, keep your eyes open for an ever-growing list of options in the future

Safety:
*Safer than an ordinary glass frame and more shatter-proof
* No sharp edges

Economy
* No need to go to multiple stores to print, frame and hang your photos - a Fracture is the economical one step solution.
* When you buy a Fracture, you don't need anything else - not even screws to mount it with.

Mounting
* Arrives ready to be mounted with everything you need

Life-Span
* Images won't fade
* Guaranteed to last even under the worst conditions at least 3-5 years (continuous exposure to full sunlight)
* Because the print is actually on the backside of the glass, it is never vulnerable to scratching so you can windex as much as you like

About Fracture: (from their site)

How did all this silliness start? During the summer of 2008, Alex and Abhi were doing non-profit work in Swaziland, a tiny little country on the south eastern edge of Africa (seriously). During much of their down-time, they got to thinking about things they cared for the most, things like art, entrepreneurship and peanut butter. While pondering these deep thoughts, they realized that the concept of art and art display had pretty much remained the same for hundreds of years. Then Abhi said to Alex: "…and we shall call it… Fracture!". Ok, so we skipped a bunch of details, but eventually after lots (lots) of brainstorming and a bit of action, we were sold on the idea and scrambled to make it a reality. We stuck with the name because it really embodied the sense of surprise, irony and story-telling that went hand-in-hand with our vision for the future. Since then, Fracture has grown and changed in dozens of ways as we learn and try to adapt to the real needs of our customers and our market. Thats a philosophy we strive to keep alive - even when it means reinventing the company for the third time. Today, Fracture's vision is clear: to make printing as customized and personal as the pictures themselves and to make decorating as easy and exciting as taking the picture was.

Check out Fracture online:

Website - http://www.fractureme.com/

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/fractureme

Blog - http://www.fractureme.com/blog/

Posterous - http://fracture.posterous.com/

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post in response to a TwitterMoms RAMBO alert, making me eligible to get a Fracture picture frame for review. You can learn more about Fracture at http://www.fractureme.com.

Life IS Too Short For... Can YOU Share Any Time-Saving Tips With Me? I've Posted a Few of My Own

I just read a post on Twitter Moms, and I've got to share my 10 cents and try to win a copy of the book Life is Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets: Your Ultimate Guide to Domestic Liberation by Lisa Quinn.

You see, I DO believe life is too short to make things too hard to accomplish (spotless windows just don't happen - especially with little fingers around that like to point to a squirrel or butterfly), and I want to concentrate on our family, not trying to impress the neighbors. That said, I don't want to feel embarrassed by my home either...

Life is to short for...
1. Spotless windows (um, I DO need to wash mine soon - we've lived here for over 4 years, and have yet to give them a good clean... it IS time, but I'm not going to make sure they are spotless)

2. Having perfect grass with no moss... lets face it, in the Seattle area where we have evergreen trees and lots of rain, you CAN'T get rid of the moss and keep it gone without paying a lawn company to do it, or without spending hours every month on lawn maintenance yourself. I don't have the extra money to pay to have it done, and I'd rather play on the extra cushy mossy lawn with my boys laughing by my side! (I was going to see what I could do about it, but let's face it... when everyone else's lawn is brown because of the hot weather that we do inevitably get for at least two weeks in summer, my lawn will still be nice and green in most areas because that darn moss can live through EVERYTHING!)

3. Washing the cars often... again - this is Seattle. If I wash the cars today, it will likely rain tonight and re-spot them anyway. Now I will admit, my husband pointed out the pollen that has now caked on the cracks of both our cars, so it might be time to give them a good scrub, but I'm not going to do it every weekend!

4. Ironing! Unless we are going to a wedding, it just doesn't happen... in fact I have a divided laundry hamper, and the third section that is hard to reach is specifically for those items that are dry-clean only or that need to be ironed! If something ends up in there, I DIDN'T buy it! I KNOW better. :) I don't like to iron... I've never understood why people iron their jeans (sorry to the 3 relatives I know who do this! Your jeans always look great, but I like mine wrinkled and comfy, plus I tried to iron them a few times, and only managed to iron in more creases!), or why they iron their pajamas (Grandma V - that one is for you! Yes - your nighties are beautiful, but when you put them on and sleep in them, you wrinkle them anyway... never really understood that one either).

I could really go on and on here, but instead, I'll share a few tips I've learned with the hopes that you'll leave a comment and give me some more!

Tip 1: Get those Lysol (or other brand like Costco) wipes - they make simple cleaning a breeze, and REALLY shorten the amount of time it takes to do a quick clean when you are having company over or someone calls to say they are just down the street.

Tip 2: Do a really good cleaning job throughout the house every other week instead of every week... lets face it, the dirt is just going to come back, and as long as the toilet and sink aren't turning pink, who will know anyway? Yikes - confession time here - I don't even do a GREAT job every other week!

Tip 3: When you are in a hurry, vacuum the open areas and do a quick sink/toilet clean - people are more likely to notice dirt on the floors and a dirty sink/toilet than to look for dust and cobwebs!

Here's the post from Twitter Moms:

Lisa Quinn, known as the House Doctor on the ABC San Francisco show, "View From the Bay", is out with a new book.."Life is Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets: Your Ultimate Guide To Domestic Liberation".

What else is life too short for?

Says Lisa Quinn:

1) Life is Too Short to Plant an organic garden of heirloom vegetables and flowers in the form of P for perfect.
Here's the brutal truth, Ladies, you can't have it all. Why would you even want it all? Consider the alternative for a moment. Consider a life without all this pressure, imagine having happiness, order, peace, and success in your life without all the drama. It begins by stepping away from perfectionism.

2) Life is Too Short to Judge Yourself by Other Mom's Opinions of You.
I met a busy mom of three the other day who in the midst of our conversation admitted that she sometimes skips out on playdates because she feels her clothes and the clothes of her kids don't measure up. I had a similar story to share. I bought a fake Chanel bag once, for certain occasions. I was always terrified that someone with a real Chanel bag was going to out me. It wasn't enough that I was outgoing and personable: I apparently needed a $2500 purse, too. It's not just fashion, it's everything. You've got to love the little zingers you get from the other moms who just want to help. "Oh...so you send Gillian to preschool...Well, I'm sure that makes it so much easier for you" or "Wow, you let him eat that?" or "Bless your heart, you're working so hard. It's no wonder you can't keep the house up." My favorite is, "You Look So Tired." How do you even respond to that? Should you apologize?

BTW, I still have that fake purse. It sits on a shelf in my closet stuffed with plastic bags to help keep its shape. I hang on to it to remind myself what a knucklehead I can be.

3) Life is Too Short to Say Yes.
Are you a yes-woman? Do you consent without even processing the request? Do you agree to volunteer (again) then instantly dread the whole process? Do you feel guilty when you say no?
Thinking you are a bad person for saying no is a symptom of the 'disease to please.' I say take care of the ones you love and shamelessly deny the rest. It may be difficult at first, but after a while, you'll see the payoff: more time and less dread. Just say no. And when you do say no, keep your answer short. Lengthy justifications just make it seem like you are lying. A drawn- out response might also give you time to start feeling guilty and say yes--especially if you are lying.

Moms: What do you think life is too short for? Blog your responses to win a free copy of Lisa's book for review and mention on your site by answering the question and posting a link to your blog post in the comments section below.

LOL - sadly, I've got THAT purse in my closet too! Glad I'm not the only one, and I just might donate it this weekend - it never did make me happy. I'm also one of those yes-people who has trouble saying no to anything... need to really work on that one as my time gets soaked up by things I don't want to do.

How about you? Do you have any tips for taking back your time so you can spend it doing the things that really count?