Must love little dogs

I have always been a dog person and until recently, a big dog person. I hadn’t met a little dog that swung my thinking away from my perceptions of little dogs being ankle biters, yappers, etc. Then I met Milo.

Seriously! Doesn’t get any cuter than this! Milo belongs to my friend and daughters tutor/teacher. I met him during the summer when I dropped my 10 year old off for her tutoring sessions. Milo and I love each other, there is no doubt of that! So when Milo’s (mom/owner) was wondering what she would do once school started and she and her family would have to be away from the house for long days, I begged her to let me come over for “play time” with him.

Now I’m getting my own Cockapoo from Echo Hills Ranch. He’s actually Milo’s half brother and was born on 9/1/09.

Just goes to show you how perceptions can change. Now Milo and the new pup can play together! I’m sure nothing will change my love for Milo. You know how sometimes pets just “get” you and you “get” them, well that’s how it is for us.

So as a thank you to Milo’s family, for letting me be a part of his life and for introducing the kids and I to our new future Cockapoo, I went to the Costco Photo Center and made the cutest notepad with his picture on it. Check it out!

It took all of 5 minutes to upload the photos from my computer and drag it into the photo spot. Oh, and you can add text too if you want. There are tons of different themes to choose from with spots for 1, 2 or 3 photos and they are only $4.49 until September 30. Seriously! I’m going to make a notepad for EVERYONE this year. They’ll be great stocking stuffers for the holidays.

While you’re there…check out the notebooks too. I don’t know about you, but between me and my 8 and 10 year old, we go through tons of these notebooks and here I can make personalized ones for them for $5.99 each!

I can’t wait to see Milo again on Monday and get our new pup (who we’ve already named Musgongus, or Gus for short) at the end of October.

Fantastic reviews and giveaways for photo gifts!

I’m having so much fun with these cool bloggers setting up reviews and giveaways. I said last year at BlogWorld Expo that I’ve never met a nicer, more outgoing, friendly group of people and I continue to meet more peeps that I would love to hang out with in person!

Here are some more great opportunities to get a head start on holiday gifts (or b’day or anniversary or anything really)…

Here’s one from Jill at Frugal Plus that expires tomorrow so get over there to win a collage poster from Costco, a photo book from CVS or a velvet photo book from Sam’s Club. Jill made some really cool products and turned a photo book into a personalized recipe book!

Here’s another fabulous review and opportunity to win a a CVS photo book, a Sam’s Club personalized calendar, or a Sam’s Club photo collage from Ruminations of a TwentySomethingMomma. Wait until you see what she created of her little cutie patooties! Her giveaway is going right now and expires on October 1.

I love this site! Kristen at Goodie Goodie Gumdrops made an awesome CVS photo book of her sweet baby boy commemorating his first year. She did a great review of the process of making one and is offering a free photo book from CVS to a lucky winner. Get over to her site by October 3 to enter!

More to fun reviews and giveaways to come for all sorts of great photo projects over the next month. Can’t wait to see more of what these creative peeps can make!

Puzzled?

We love puzzles in my family, especially ones of Maine scenes. So when my mom and I had to get rid of a bunch of puzzles at our cottage, I decided to replace them with new ones made with our photos…

There are a bunch of different puzzle options at the Walmart PhotoCentre site. I especially like the foam ones. What a great idea for kids! Another great b’day/holiday gift idea!

How am I going to stay motivated?

I know this may seem awfully simple-minded but for me the little things make a HUGE difference in my ability to stay motivated as I work from home throughout the day. I start my day with some Death Cab for Cutie or Jack Johnson and that gets me in a rhythm. I am always opening my calendar in outlook for flipping through the pages of my Treehouse Point calendar to see what date falls on what day and how many weeks away an event is. I thought I could kill 2 birds with one stone (I always hated that saying but what else works) by making a motivational poster with the annual calendar and a photo I love that I took on a hike last week. So I went to the Walmart Photo Centre site and got to work. Check it out…

AND how great would this be for a holiday gift. Hmmmm…I’m going to have to start working on what photos and words I’ll choose for my friends and family!

The beauty of a gift is watching it given

My photo calendar came today for my daughter. Watch me giving it to her (Note: after she said on video that she didn’t want to be on the internet, she asked me to post the video and she’s seen it and gave permission)

I’m so excited for her and my son. His arrived last week! Now they’ll know on their own when they have days off, special dates and other activities.

Awesome giveaways from some cool bloggers!

Here are some links to some really fun giveaways for CVS photobooks!

This one ends on September 11th…so just a couple more days!

Sweeps4Bloggers ~
http://sweeps4bloggers.blogspot.com/2009/09/photo-book.html

This one ends on September 15th…

The Attic Girl ~ http://atticgirl.blogspot.com/2009/09/cvs-photo-book-giveaway-at-mommys.html

I’ve made a few of these so far and LOVE them. I just made one a couple of weeks ago of summer photos for a “What I Did This Summer” book for my kiddos and have some great plans for holiday gifts this year. I’m always looking for meaningful gifts that are flat and easy to mail!

Big thanks to Valerie and Jen for great reviews and giveaways! There are a bunch more coming and I’ll keep you posted so if you don’t win one of the above, you’ll have other chances =)

Creating simple “how-to” videos for sharing photos

Just wanted to do a quick video sharing my latest news

Personalized recipe book for the aspiring chef

My 10 year old daughter all of the sudden has taken an interest in cooking. So much so that she opened a backyard “restaurant” this summer, complete with carefully designed menus, fancy tables and an order window. She and her friend even wandered the neighborhood with tickets to hand out to perspective diners.

So when a blogger friend asked me if I would make a video “how-to” of the recipe book option from
Sam’s Club I had an idea. I pulled out an book my mom had put together for me of passed down recipes and decided to make a personalized recipe book for my daughter complete with photos of her. Check it out…

It was super fun and easy to make. I hope they consider more choices of designs in the future but the one there is really cool