My First Official Product Review is up!

I was surfing the web over a year ago, and on ELiving Media I crossed pathes with Dee, from What's The Buzz. I have always had an intrique for reviews and trying products/doing giveaways and honestly just critisizing everything... I applied for a position on her review team, and after a few months, there was an opening and see added myself and a few other gals to the review team.

Over at What's The Buzz, I am a writer/reviewer. I get to opportunity to receive products for review and possible promotions... My first review went live Monday Night regarding Natural Vines Licorice.

Go over and check it out here!

Zhena's Gypsy Tea- Peach Ginger Black Tea

I just want to say... Yum! Being in the PNW, I'm proud to say we are the home of Starbucks and many other fine coffee companies.

While in Forks, WA with my best friend a few weekends ago, I saw this tea and thought it sounded delicious. Other than Starbucks Passion Tea in the summer and Peppermint Tea at night to help me fall asleep or relax I don't drink an overwhelming amount of tea.

I am now officially hooked on another beverage than coffee!

With the comforting taste of black tea, but the undernotes of the peach and ginger it has a 'sweet tangyness' I can't help but LOVE!

I was not paid, nor given any product to review in this post and actually am writing this without any encouragement; so it must be good!!

I bought my tin (of 22 tea bags) for $3.00 on clearance at Forks Outfitters Coffee Shop, but I've found it on Amazon as well in 6 tin packs for about $4.75 a tin.

Enjoy!
Dawn

A Few of my Essential Tools...

I thought I would do a generic post today, with some of the items I use in almost every project I make.

From Cards to Layouts, Birdhouses to Bind-it-All books, I find myself consistantly reaching for the same products.

Cutting Fiskars 12" Rotary Trimmer --- I used to use the Provo Craft Paper Trimmer, and it was okay; I went through a lot of blades since it wasn't a rotary cutter and almost always seemed to have some sort of 'fuzz' along my cut before I splurged and bought this. I used a 40% off coupon at Michaels to help cut the cost a little!

Good Scissors (Full Size)-- I use the Corporate Express Brand, and they are from one of the office supply stores, and scissors you do decide to designate for paper only, I recommend you write that on them, and make it clear throughout the household; it's amazing how quickly a pair of $20 scissors can become useless (not like I'd know....)

Better Scissors (Small, for detail)-- Cutterbees; I swear by these little scissors. They can cut everything (big or small) and always stay sharp. I clean them every so often (like few months) and they have never failed me. Be careful though, these seem to attract my three year old like a bee to honey (must be the pink color... and sharp blades).

X-acto Knife-- Mine is pink, but even if it wasn't; these are very inexpensive and so helpful! I've used it for peeling stuff off my Cricut Mat, or quickly trimming spots that didn't cut. Overall, very useful for the price.

Scoring-

Martha Stewart Scoring Board- Again; a great investment. I'd never had a scoring board before I bought this one with a coupon from the Oprah Show to try a Martha Product at a discount, and I can't believe I lived without it, for cardmaking, envelopes or boxes. It's nice to make the little medallion type circle things also!

Inks--

Stamping-- Staz On; any color. This stuff ROCKS! Seriously, it works on everything and creates clear, crisp images from even the cheapest clear acrylic stamps that dye inks don't work well on. LOVE this stuff!!

Tim Holtz Distress Inks- I have 9-10 colors, but love them all equally. They are all amazing.

Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool & Foams-- I use this tool everytime I use my Distress Inks.

Adhesives:

ATG 700 Gun w/ 1/4" Adaptor- I bought this before the Pink 1/4" gun came out, and paid a hefty sum for it; but even after that... I did a little breakdown/review of the costs... it can be found HERE and it still is less expensive than using Snails for the rest of my life.

Liquid- Scotch Quick Dry Adhesives-- seriously, don't put this on if you aren't sure you want paper to stick; it's gonna stick and FAST. Great for small cricut cuts.

Stapler- There is a company that makes colored staples, and I'm addicted to those too, so this gets used often also!

Feel free to ask any questions; I'd be happy to answer!!

Review Time: Creative Memories (my first time using their stuff)

With this review going on over at Scrapbook Reviews, which is a favorite of mine to get ligitimate reviews before I buy things, I saw this review on Creative Memories this a.m. which convieniently I had splurged on and purchased a paper pack from them last weekend.

I purchased the 12X12 Beautiful Day Additions Kit for $9. I didn't really pay any attention to what came in it, assuming that is was $9 and chalked full of papers. Had I read the package, I would have known what it came with- but I didn't so that was completely my fault! The heavyweight cardboard to protect the papers tricked me! I was dissapointed to find out that it only included four (4) sheets of double sided paper (light weight, but beautiful patterns!) 8 double sided photo mats (5X7 I believe) and two sheets of stickers. The 'title' stickers were more of accent stickers in my opinion. But- the 'epoxy-like' (as CM describes them) stickers were good. They were a good, heavy quality and I did have to peel a couple off and restick them, since I hadn't placed them perfectly. There was no chance in H-E- double hockey sticks I was getting the 'title' stickers off once they were stuck on, especially on their paper. Maybe, on heavier, or textured paper (like DCWV textured paper) I would have possibly stood a chance, but not using their products exclusively.

One thing I did fall in love with, actually I fell into an infatuation with it- was the Corner Maker. I used it on the Princess and the Pea Layout I did while cropping and I loved how smooth the cut was. It took basically no pressure at all, caught all the scraps/trimmings and is actually a fairly decent price. At $9.00 I would buy this. I will be getting one, and using the awesome Creative Memories consultant that was there to do so. Karen Smith was our Consultant at the crop, and she brought lots of goodies to look at and let us use. I really appreciate how great she was about sharing her tools! I probably won't be getting anymore paper from Creative Memories, I do think the price point was much too high for what I got, but I did like the patterns, which tempts me to spend too much on paper just to get more. Lucky for my logical brain, the set I fell in love with is limited edition, and I doubt I could get more without hunting (and my wallet *and fiance* will thank me for not going on that hunt). You can see I used it on the photo, and the 4 (ha) mats I have under it.

They have lots of adhesive options, which is great, but as we were using their Precision Point Adhesive which was $6 per pen. I noticed it was almost identical to my Zig 2 Way Glue Pen with the fine tip. I paid a whoppin' $2 for each of my Zigs, not on sale or anything special- so I can't seem to think that their could be better for $4 more! The link to the Zigs, I found them online for $2.24 per pen. I actually prefer the chisel tip, but I think I shoot through those much faster, maybe because of the larger tip. Those are only $2.50 each at my local Walmart (the link if for the top Zig pen, and at Walmart I buy the third one (chisel tip) down.)


I also used their Tape Runner, while doing the make and take, and I liked that when the adhesive 'tape' goes down it is in little strips so you never have to worry about not getting a clean edge. Again, the price is the killer part. At $8 for the runner, and 34 feet of adhesive, it breaks down to about .24 cents a foot, which really isn't affordable, especially if you're an adhesive junkie like me. I have my ATG Gun, that cost me roughly $43 dollars, and I bought 6 rolls of tape with it, for a total of $15.24. The gun, plus shipping and tape was $75 dollar-ish. Which breaks down (including the cost of the gun!) to only $.11 cents a foot! Remember too, that is INCLUDING the ATG Gun itself! I didn't go with Gold Tape, which would have ended up more expensive, but really I'm not all that concerned with the acid free (I know, tisk tisk, right?). Next time I order tape I will get it through the Tape Depot, and go with an off name tape, to save a few more pennies. For 12 rolls, or 1296 FEET of tape, it will be $23 bucks. Did you know that works out to less than $.02 cents per foot!?! Amazing, right? I know, I'm a nut.



I hope you enjoy my review, and please- let me know your thoughts on their products too! I always love to learn about new stuff!