Tiny Prints Review - and a $50 Giveaway!

I can't believe Christmas is only two months away. Have you started thinking about Christmas yet?

Last year, we sent out Christmas Cards from Tiny Prints. As a scrapbooker and card maker, I love the quality of the signature matte paper and the clean and elegant design templates. The banners and the stacked typography are so hot in paper crafting right now. The rounded corners are my favorite detail on this card. 

photo credit: Darlene Denommee

We also sent Tiny Prints cards for our first married Christmas. I saved one and display it in a pretty frame with all the holiday decorations.

photo credit: Lea Lawson of Elle Photography

For 2012, Tiny Prints created a wonderful collection of cards in a variety of styles from modern to vintage to traditional. You will find many great cards  for Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years and more. They even have cards that showcase your pets!

Check out the Special Offers at Tiny Prints for some discounts on Christmas and holiday cards, and photo gifts..

Now for the giveaway! 
How would you like $50 off your order at Tiny Prints? 
(shipping not included, cannot be used with other offers or promos)
Just leave me a comment and I'll draw a winner on Saturday, October 27, 2012.


This post is part of a sponsored Tiny Prints Holiday campaign. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: You Have No Idea

I've always liked Vanessa Williams so when I received a copy of this book for the BlogHer book review, I dove right in and started reading.

I was impressed that she started talking about the Miss America/nude photo scandal right at the beginning of the book and didn't really pull any punches. She admits what she did, why she was naive (and a little rebellious) and what she regrets. 


But let's face it, she probably wouldn't have had such an extensive career post-pageant without this notoriety. She has tons of talent and this scandal helped make her a household name. It was interesting how she very much emphasized that she wasn't a pageant princess. She was a drama student with lots of training who entered the pageants for scholarships.


Williams is very open and honest in her book perhaps to a fault. Really, I don't need to know where your children were conceived and how you rushed into two marriages because you were pregnant. 


I did love the counterpart of advice from her no-nonsense mother starting the chapters. I wish there was more of Helen's side of the story told throughout the book. It really seems to me if Vanessa listened to her mother a little more she might have had a happier personal life. 


I think it's great that Vanessa tries to keep her blended family happy from two coasts. It's gotta be awkward at times to have two ex-husbands at the dinner table for Christmas. But is the only thing she cooks lasagna? She mentions that lasagna a lot. 


I wish there was more insight about her music career, her work singing Disney themes, her time on Broadway. It felt like the book skimmed through those twenty years to make quick mention of her most recent projects: Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. 


Join in on the discussion at BlogHer Book Club.


This is a paid review of You Have No Idea by  Vanessa Williams and Helen Williams for the Blog Her Book Club. All opinions expressed are mine.

Happy Birthday, Brother!

Masculine cards can be challenging. My baby brother had a birthday last week. My husband took charge of the shopping AND the wrapping of his gifts. I just had to make a card. 

The zipper envelope is a Kerri Bradford cutting file from the Signed. Sealed. Delivered. set. It is such a cool and versatile design. Love it! I added a little stamping to the zipper part to jazz it up.

The star icon on the front of the envelope is also part of the same cutting file set. There are an assortment of icons which makes it easy to customize the envelope. I cut a second star icon and layered it over the envelope for a little dimension.

I designed a folded card in Silhouette Studio to hold the gift card and fit inside the envelope.
The front was stamped with the A Muse Studio grunged sunrays and embossed in clear.
I stamped the Papertrey Ink sentiment in A Muse french roast ink on a scrap of (very, very) old My Mind's Eye patterned paper. 

This is what the inside of the gift card holder looked like. 

A rugged masculine card for a rugged masculine guy.

A Bold Thanks

I'm taking Kerri Bradford's Silhouette Getting to Know You class. It is a self-guided class full of great tips, easy to follow videos and a terrific message board. I'm enjoying it a lot. If you are Silhouette owner, check it out over at JessicaSprague.com. I'm looking forward to her more advanced class coming up later this month too.

One of the class projects was to make a circle card with one of Kerri's cutting files. I used this week's ColourQ Challenge for my color scheme. It's a bold color scheme that really makes an impact with a simple card structure. 

It's time to think about Valentines!

I can't believe that Valentine's Day is right around the corner. February is the shortest month but it's also the sweetest month. I love to send Valentine Cards to my family and friends. Tiny Prints has some fantastic Valentine's Day Greeting Cards from the funny and cute to the romantic and sentimental. And you can bet they have a lot of photo card options too. 


If you have school age kids, there are lots of Valentine Cards to share with classmates and party invites too. Here are a few that I thought were cute.

This one made me giggle.

Did you know that Tiny Prints can send cards directly to your recipients for you? I chose this Valentine card for my friend who is deployed to Afghanistan. Won't she be surprised to get mail from Tiny Prints!

I ordered a Valentine for my husband too. But I need to keep that one a surprise.

I am a big fan of the quality of the cards from Tiny Prints. You can follow Tiny Prints via Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.