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Celebrating Valentine's Day with a Giveaway!

Valentine's Day is one of those holidays that you either love or you dislike passionately.  I have known countless numbers of people who not-so-lovingly refer to Valentine's as Singles Awareness Day.  I, though, do not fit into this category.  Even after my very painful divorce I looked forward to Valentine's Day.  To me, the whole sentiment of the holiday is not that you have a partner but to simply take joy in those around you that you love and that love you back.  

My children back in what seems like a long time ago, yet just yesterday!  And yes, my scrapbook skills have improved immensely since then. :)

One of my fondest Valentine's Day memories as a child is, honestly, odd.  I have no idea the circumstances or exactly what happened but this is what I remember.  I must have been in about 2nd or 3rd grade and I was in my parents' room.  My mother was sitting on the bed and she said there was a surprise for me in the closet.  It was a new pair of church dress shoes!  Now why this memory has such a fond feeling for me, I have no idea but I just remember being so happy.  In retrospect, my mother probably didn't have my traditional Valentine's chocolate box for me but did have a pair of shoes for me in the closet so she just settled for that.. I don't know.  It's funny how we remember some of the oddest things in a very fond way.

Of course, the most important activity for any school child was (and is) the Valentine cards.  Oh how I adored making the most beautiful box every year to house my cherished Valentines from classmates.  There was one boy which was in several of my classes throughout the years.  He attached "love" stamps of varying values to the cards of all the girls.  If you got a high value love stamp you were definitely more popular and prettier than the rest.  I remember thinking 'if only Ryan would give me a great big love stamp I would have more friends, be more popular, etc.', how silly!  Of course, I always got a low value love stamp!  Illusive 6th grade popularity darn you!

This is the actual card with the 'love' stamp from my 6th grade class.  Yes, I keep everything but hey, at least it's nicely organized in my scrapbooks. :)

 Nowadays there are so many choices for Valentine cards, both for kids and adults alike.  There are some great online options that give you so many fun choices.  Shutterfly seriously has some gorgeous - and I mean gorgeous - Valentine's Day card designs.  Oh, I can image back in the day if I had the option of giving out designer cards with my photo I would certainly have been the most popular girl in school.  Don't you think?  At Shutterfly I could have even created wonderful stickers of my own to attach to my Valentine's Day cards.  Or maybe even given some very cool Valentine's Day gifts!  Ok, ok.... getting myself worked up here.  Seriously though, Shutterfly has fabulous options for all occasions, even Birthday Invitations. 

So, now you're thinking you definitely want some of these gorgeous Shutterfly cards for Valentine's Day, right?   Shutterfly has very reasonable prices and will even give you free shipping on your order of $25+ with the code SHIP25.

*The giveaway is now closed.*

Shutterfly is also very graciously offering one of my readers a promo code good for 25 free Valentine's Day cards!  Fabulous!!  Want the chance to win?  Here's how:

*1)  Simply leave a comment below telling me your favorite Valentine's Day memory or tradition.  This is all that is required for entry!

EARN EXTRA ENTRIES:

*2)  Leave a comment on one of my non-giveaway blog posts.  Be sure to leave a comment here letting me know that you completed this.

*3)  Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect and leave me a comment letting me know that you are new or already a follower.

*4)  Follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.  Leave a comment for each method, one entry each.

Giveaway ends February 01, 2011 at 11:59 pm MST. Be sure to leave your email or have it in your blogger profile so I can find you if you win. Winner will be selected by a true random generator. Winner must respond to winning email in 48 hours or a new winner will be selected.  Winning code is good for 25 free 4x5 stationery cards and expires 3/01/11.  Winner is responsible for any taxes and/or shipping charges.
 

Thanks for stopping by the Chaos!

I will also receive a promo code for 25 Valentine's Day cards from www.shutterfly.com for this blog posting.  This has in no way affected my opinion of the products offered at www.shutterfly.com.

Smile With Me Saturday HOP

Who needs a smile? And a new friend or two? I do!! Be sure to follow me, leave a comment and then click on the big smiley face to find more fun blogs to connect with.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Valentine's Day Digi Scrapping

Lately my daughter has been obsessed with Photoshop and finding brushes. Her passion has sparked up a want in me to do some digital scrapbooking or some hybrid scrapbooking. Just what we need, fighting for the computer! Plus, Valentine's Day always makes me feel like scrapbooking. Probably because there are so many adorable things associated with this holiday. The cards above are a previous years' scrapbooking project.

If you'd like to play around with a little digi scrapping, here are some links to some fun freebies to get you started... or add to your collection!

Shabby Princess Amore
Memory Makers Valentine's Day Kit
A Cherry on Top With Love Card
Digital Scrapbook Place Freebies Gallery
Fish Scraps Samples

And for inspiration, here are some more of my past scrapbooking projects.

Have fun creating art!!

Free Lotion at B&B Works

Facebook fans of Bath and Body Works (well, who isn't!) can print a coupon for an absolutely free trial size of the new Carried Away body lotion. No purchase needed! Offer is valid this weekend only.

I love to try the new scents that they come out with at B&B Works but then I miss my favorites because they always seem to be discontinued!

Big Lots 20% Off ENTIRE Purchase!

Heads up on this one!! Score 20% off your ENTIRE purchase at Big Lots from 1/22-1/30. Big Lots always has lots of fun inexpensive holiday goodies and trinkets for gifts and decorations. I think I'll go check out the Valentine's Day selection. :)

*Nice* ULTA Coupon

Now through Saturday (1/22) you can get $3.50 off a $10 purchase at Ulta Beauty in-store and online. Coupon is good on sale and clearance merchandise! Just go HERE to get the coupon.

20% Off at Burlington Coat Factory

Sign up for emails from Burlington Coat Factory and receive a 20% coupon for any one item. With the great deals you can get at Burlington the extra 20% could be epic! To sign up, visit www.burlingtonsignup.com.

Blog Hop!

Looking for a few new reads? Want to make some new friends? Let's blog hop!

RCWilley $25 Gift Card

**UPDATE** Recipes should be submitted on the website HERE.

Submitting a recipe to the RC Willey Super Bowl Recipe Contest will get you a $25 gift card! Do you have a favorite appetizer recipe? If so, submit it and win. You will need to email your recipe along with your name and address. You can find all the details on the RC Willey Room to Talk blog.

And speaking of the Super Bowl, check out my post with recipes and fun game ideas!

*Almost Time for SuperBowl Parties

Contact Me

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Want help getting the word out about your product? Want to sponsor a giveaway? Would you like to have your product reviewed? Talk to me!!

Please email me at artsychaos@ yahoo(dot)com I'd love to hear from you!

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Read my Scrapbooking Resume at Scrapbook.com

My Boring Kitchen

My kitchen is very boring. The home we live in is, in part, nearly 100 years old but not in a cool architecturally designed 100 years old. It's more of a small square built to function 100 years old. However, there are small bits of charm. We have new wood floors and an arch that leads into the small dining space. I'd really like to play up the small bits of charm to detract from the basic builder grade cabinets and plain laminate counter tops.

I've been looking for a black? chandelier to hang above my table. This is proving to be a somewhat hard task since I need one that has a plug and can swag versus a hardwired one. An alternative would be a decorative piece that looks like a chandelier but is not electrical; some hold candles.

One of the biggest problem spots, in my opinion, is the space above the stove/range. We don't have a hood or a mounted microwave so it's just a big empty space. Lately I've been thinking that some decorative shelves that can also be used as storage would be a good thing. Maybe something like this:

I do have the fabric for the curtains, yay! It's a black and white damask pattern and I lurve it! The only thing that I can't decide on is the accent color. The kitchen in my mind is mostly black and white - a sort of baroque style - with accents of.... DEEP LUSCIOUS RED? RICH VELVETY PURPLE? Can't decide.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think: Red or purple?

The Body Shop Clearance and Free Shipping

I just found out about this!!

TODAY ONLY you can get free shipping at The Body Shop with code FREESHIP17. They have some really good prices on their Specials page including $3 originals (reg. $8.99) and body spray $4 (reg. $14.00).

These could make for some really nice Valentine's Day gifts!

LE Plaid Girls Skort $2.97 Shipped!

Land's End has a cute knit girls skort on clearance for $2.97. It comes in a couple of different plaid color combos so it may work great for school uniforms! Looks like it is available in big and little girls sizes. Plus, shipping should be free using Lands' End Coupon Code shippingisfree and PIN 5859 (exp. 1/28).

Hancock Fabrics Coupon

Hancock Fabrics has just put out a 10% your entire purchase coupon which can be used this Monday, one day only, from 8am-noon. The best part is it can be used on sale priced items as well!

New Sitcom on CMT

Today I had the opportunity to preview CMT's new sitcom Working Class. As a child of the 80's, sitcoms occupy a spot in my heart and I always enjoy a quick 30-minute TV laugh. I also enlisted my 15-year old daughter to preview Working Class with me simply because she is a TV junkie.

Working Class stars TV veteran Melissa Peterman ("Reba") and Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Ed Asner. Peterman's character, Carli, is a struggling single mom who lives with her brother, her 3 children and works at a grocery deli counter. Asner's character also works at the deli counter and is a likable if not crotchety old guy. The first episode doesn't delve much into the characters' pasts but it's obvious that Carli is a bit of a redneck in a new town of plastic surgery, dogs in a purse and yoga moms.

In the premier episode 'The Buddy System', Carli’s old flame from high school shows up hoping to re-ignite his “spark” with Carli — even if it means humiliating her in front of her new boss. Working Class is easy to watch, has some good one-liners and has the possibility for some genuine relationship tension and humor; definitely a sitcom that's pure entertainment. My daughter gave it 4 out of 5 stars and a thumbs up. We will definitely be tuning in for the premiere and second episode.

The premiere airs on CMT January 28 at 8pm EST/PST, followed by a second, all-new episode at 8:30pm.

This CMT preview was made possible by my involvement with the One2One Network.