Monday, March 28, 2011

ATTN: Rachel!

Attention Rachel!  You've won the giveaway from Scrapbooking Supplies R Us!  Please email me at Sarahbr18@aol.com with your info so I can get your prize to you.  If I don't hear from you by Friday, April 1, I'll have to choose another winner.  Thanks!

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I did, despite the gnarly sunburn I got on Saturday.  Lesson learned: wear sunscreen when I'll be outdoors for a while, especially in this Arizona sun!  I'll be doing some more givaways later this week of what's left of my Scrappy Garage Sale, so stay tuned!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Winner Winner!

Happy Saturday everyone!  Does anyone know how to get the random.org image onto the blogs?  I used random.org, but couldn't get the image to put on here.  Ok, according to random.org, the winner for the Scrapbooking Supplies R Us giveaway is:

Rachel!!!

Congratulations Rachel!  Please email me at Sarahbr18@aol.com with your info so I can get it to Holly and she can get your prize to you.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  We're off to the base today for a huge picnic with pony rides, jumpy houses and a petting zoo.  My sweet girl needs some good playing time!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Giveaway from Scrapbooking Supplies R Us!

I just posted my March sketch challenge for The Crop Spot.  Normally, there is a monthly challenge for it, but with the site going through an overhaul right now, it's on a little hiatus.  Therefore, the design team is doing a giveaway on our personal blogs.  Here is the sketch for March and you can see my take on it here.  Please leave me a comment on THIS POST to be entered in the giveaway.  I'll pick a winner on Friday, March 25 and that winner will receive a prize from Scrapbooking Supplies R Us!  And don't forget to check out the other design team blogs and enter their giveaways as well!  Good luck!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Sampler March Sketch

It's sketch time over at The Crop Spot!  This page came together so flawlessly with The Sampler's March kit and the March sketch challenge.  The silhouette paper from Hambly is just so gorgeous and worked so perfectly with the topic of my page.  This page is about my parents and we recently found out that they have an ancestor in common!  How crazy is that?  Here's the page I created for the March sketch challenge:





Definitely one of my favorite layouts that I've recently made!  Don't forget to be sure to get your March Sampler kit...it's gorgeous!

And check out the other talented Sampler design team members to see their takes on the sketch:



Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Last Week of my Scrappy Garage Sale

This will be the last week of my Scrappy Garage Sale!  After this week, I'm not sure what I'll do with the items, so if you've been eying something, I suggest you jump on it because you might not have another chance!  I've sold quite a few things already and I've dropped my prices.  Please don't hesitate!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Adventures in Couponing - I love Walgreens!

Today, I was loving Walgreens!  Found some great deals!  Here's what I picked up today at Walgreens and CVS:

Walgreens:

2 Right Guard Men's Deoderant - On sale for Buy 1 Get 1 Free...also had a coupon from the newspaper, I believe in Red Plum from 3/13, for Buy 1 Get 1 free on any Right Guard purchase = got them BOTH FOR FREE!
Walgreens Packing Tape - coupon in circular to get it for $1.99
Flushable Most Wipes - on sale for $1.99

Total Price: $3.69
Saved $12.88!
Loving Walgreens!!!

CVS:

Gillette ProGuild razor cartridges - $32.99 - not on sale, but hubby needs them and I got $2.00 in Extra Care Bucks back which paid for my.....
Skintimate Shaving Cream - on sale for $1.99 (free with my ECBs)
2 Gain Dish Liquids - on sale for 97 cents each
Glade Air Freshener - had coupon from coupon machine for $1.00 off which made it $2.59
M&Ms - Buy 2 Get 1 Free (we ate two of them in the car, but we bought 3!)

Total Price: $44.86
Saved $5.34
Doesn't seem like much, but we needed the razors, which NEVER go on sale OR have coupons!  It's a conspiracy people!  But everything else was on sale or had a coupon for cheap.

I also hit Albertson's because this week they have a ton of meat on sale.  I got:
*Sanderson Farms Chicken Breasts
*Petite Sirloin Steaks
*Gordon's Fish Sticks
      *ALL BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!
Found some Easy Mac on the clearance rack - 6 packs for 99 cents!  Got some!

All in all, it was a good day!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Troubleshooters? Yes please!

I finished the first book in a series called The Troubleshooters Series by Suzanne Brockmann.  They're about a team of Navy SEALS and their families and the dramas that surround them.  Each book concentrates on a specific person or relationship with others lightly tied in.  There's a TON of books in the series and I believe the 16th one just released last week.  I'll definitely keep reading them!  The first one that I read is called The Unsung Hero.  It honestly took me until about halfway through to get to a point where I didn't want to put it down.  By the end, I was begging my 3-year-old to entertain herself so I could finish it.  So I will continue to read the series.  Hot Navy SEALS and some pretty good sex scenes?  Sign me up!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Who's With Me?

Another Kelly Purkey class?  I'm so there!  She just announced that Sketchbook 3 is coming in April!!!  No words to describe how excited I am!  I took Sketchbook 2, which you can see in previous posts, and I purchased the PDF's for Sketchbook 1 that I had missed.  So when this was announced, I marked my calendar to sign up.  Her classes are wonderful and she's so talented!  You can register starting Monday, March 14 and the class begins April 4 and runs for 4 weeks.  So....who's with me?

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I Have Decided...

That I need an Instax.  Not just a fun little, oh, I think I want that....that looks fun.  No.  I NEEEEED it!  And I'm going to get it.  In a few weeks when I can save a little money since they're not super cheap.  I'm going to treat myself.  And I even have a project in mind.

I just signed up for Ali Edwards' self-paced class called Scrapbook on the Road.  Ali is one of my biggest inspirations and to finally get a scrapbooking while traveling class from her is so exciting!  She goes over her process and shows some really cool techniques that make me want to go out and buy some paint...real paint!  I'm so excited to try some of these cool tricks.  P.S. This class is only $14...soooo worth it!  Highly suggested.

So anyway, not only am I learning cool things, now I'm really wanting to travel just so I can make a book!  However, that's not in the cards for us right now.  There is a big trip we will be making in July...a trip to the hospital to welcome a little angel into the world!  I was inspired by Ali's class to make a mini book to take the hospital with me to document the birth of our second daughter.  And I thought it would be really cool to take all the pictures with the Instax camera.  Of course, we'll have our big camera and our video camera as well.  I just thought it would be special to take the small, credit card sized pictures that print instantly and place them right into the album at the hospital.  How special does that sound?

So I decided that I need an Instax.  I NEEEEEEED it!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Adventures in Couponing - A Hectic, but Successful Day

So, we went shopping today for some groceries and deals.  Let's just say...we survived.  It took a long time and we kept getting frustrated.  Big shout out to my awesome husband for being patient with me!  Ok, here's how it went down: we went to CVS, Walgreens, Fry's and Safeway.  Here's the breakdown.

CVS:  I had three checkouts today at CVS in order to use my Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) that I got for buying certain items.  Luckily, the cashiers at my local CVS are so sweet and patient and understand that a girl just needs to save some money!
First transaction:  Bought Physician's Formula Organic Mascara for $10.49 (received $7 in ECB's)
Second transaction: Bought Men's Dove deoderant which were 2 for $7, Crest Pro-Whitening toothpaste for $3.29 (received $3.29 ECB's).  I used my $7 in ECB's from the first transaction to help pay for it, which made both of the deoderants FREE!!!  That helps since my hubby needs to stock up on personal care stuff for his upcoming deployment.
Third transaction: Bought 2 Colgate 360 toothbrushes, which were Buy One Get One Half Off.  I had a 75 cent off one coupon that I used and I used the $3.29 in ECB's from the previous transaction.

Overall I spent $19.14 and Saved $16.82!  Almost half, pretty good!  Basically, I got two free deoderants, free toothpaste and two toothbrushes for $1.73 each.  I had to buy the mascara full price, but it was worth it to get the ECB's and I'll use it.  Good trip!

Walgreens:  I had two checkouts at Walgreens today.  I made sure to group all the items that I would receive Register Rewards (RR) for in one transaction and then turned around and used them in the second transaction.
First transaction: Pull-Ups (on sale for $8.99 and received $2 in RR) and used a $2.00 off coupon I had, Baby Magic Hair and Body Wash (upcoming baby and all...$3 and received $3 in RR), Colgate Total toothpaste $2.99 (received $2.99 RR).
Second transaction: Neutrogena Naturals face wash were Buy One Get One Half Off and I had $1.00 of coupon for one, Excedrin was Buy One Get One Half Off and I had two coupons to use - one for 75 cents off 20 ct or larger and one $1.50 off 80 ct or larger.  We also picked up some Walgreens brand thermometer covers since we ran out.  I used all of my RR from the previous transaction on this one.

Overall I spent $35.07 and Saved $26.14!  Close to half there as well.  Basically I got Colgate toothpaste for free, Baby Magic wash for free, Pull-Ups for 4.99 and discounts on face wash and Excedrin, which are both pricey.

Safeway:  It was a good day in Safeway.  I won't go through everything obviously, but a few deals I got were Buy One Get One Free Round Roasts, Doritos were B1G1 Free, and everything was either on sale or used with a coupon or both. 

Overall I spent $55.21 and Saved $49.38!  Woo hoo, almost half again!

Fry's: Fry's was a big trip.  Most things were either on sale, with a coupon or both, but not quite everything.  We tried to buy a cheap as possible and scored some great deals including B1B1 Free Pork Chops, Free Ice Cream with a Fry's coupon that was mailed to me, and got a free AirWick Warmer plug-in when I bought a refill, which I had a coupon for as well.

Overall I spent $154.60 and Saved $93.41!  Pretty darn good and we're fed for two weeks!

Despite the long shopping day and the frustration, it was worth saving all that money!  Have you started couponing yet?  I'd love to hear your adventures!