be my FREAKIN valentine - link up

Yeah, so...I didn't realize until yesterday that today was link up day. I mean...in the back of my mind I knew it was coming up soon, but I still kinda forgot. I've been pretty busy making Valentine's card for um...that one holiday where everyone hates each others guts...what was it again. Oh yeah Valentine's Day. I'm vending at the City Market here and want to have at least 100 cards ready to go. That's a lot of cards when you want them all to be unique. No carbon copies like Hallmark here.


Anywho...Thanks to Rima for hosting this fun little gift exchange with me. I'm not a Valentine's Day grump or love hater as some people may be led to believe. I mean come on...it's a holiday that involves chocolate, how can you dislike that? I do dislike when people get all bummed out because they don't have a Valentine. Especially people who have children and loving families...those right there are built in Valentines. I guess some people just like to be miserable and complain.

Let me get back on topic. Money was tight when I did my gift shopping (rent was due) and I felt bad I couldn't do more for Setarra of The Burghal Gurl (I like sending fun packages). I plan to do something special for her though maybe later this month. I won't say when, it'll have to be a random surprise. *wink*

[insert picture of awesome Thundercats Valentine here]

Amber from The Chickapea & Me sent me the most awesome Valentine package ever. (I will post pictures later, it was late and the light in my apartment sucks to get decent pictures.) The card was so much fun. Thundercats + glitter = awesomeness. It's hanging on the board above my desk and I will probably never take it down. I felt spoiled by Amber. I mentioned that Hello Kitty was my home girl on the survey she sent me a couple of HK themed items. My favorite being the big coffee tea mug with the plushie attached. I can't wait to use it. It'll be great for soup too. She also sent alone some fun Valentine themed socks, chocolates (yum), lip gloss and a beautiful note book. Oh and she also sent me a small box of JUST red skittles (it was my random fact). I'm a little curious as to who had to eat all the yellow, orange, green and purple skittles. Ha!

Also as part of this gift exchange we asked that everyone make a donation to the American Heart Association as heart disease is the number one killer of women over all types of cancer. AND February is National Heart Awareness month or something like that. I know everyone is wearing red and it doesn't have to do with Valentine's day. 

Now how about you guys? What goodies did the mail carriers bring to you? Come link up with Rima and I below and check out some of the other links too.


reading - Bonk by Mary Roach This post brought to you in part by:

be my FREAKIN valentine - a gift exchange

DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! AAAAAHHH! Valentine's Day will be upon us soon. Sappy, happy, mushy, love day! And Rima and I have decided to team up and have a Valentine gift exchange. Okay, so I'm not big on society telling me when I have to tell someone I care about them, but I do love getting mail. Hey, at least I'm honest. Ha!


TIME LINE

• First Post to start sign up - 1/7 Monday
• Last day to sign up - 1/15 Tuesday
• Email out partners by -1/18 Friday
• Last Day to mail package - 2/4 Monday
• Link Up - 2/12 Tuesday

RULES & THINGS

• Follow our Melissa at [insert sarcastic remark here] and Rima at Bolu by Rima. 
• Fill out the form below.
• February is National Heart Awareness Month and we're asking you to make a donation to the American Heart Association. Did you know heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women than all types of cancer combined! Hop on over to Nurse Rima's blog for more information about women and heart disease.
• MAKE your partner a Valentine Card, yup, get out the construction paper and glue, it's time to get crafty!
• Get to know your partner and put together a Valentine themed package valued at $10 to $15.
• Gift Exchange IS open to all you international bloggers.
• Please don't commit if you don't think you'll be able to follow through.
• Grab the button below and post it on your blog and spread the word. Let's share the FREAKIN love. mmmkay!

<br /> <div class="goals n schtuff-button" style="width: 150px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://sarcasticremark.blogspot.com/search/label/gift%20exchange"><br /> <img src="http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj613/chickenb00/valentinegiftexchangebutton_zpscf2d0236.jpg" alt="goals n schtuff" width="200" height="200" /><br /> </a><br /> </div> <!--end button code box--><br />

reading - A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin This post brought to you in part by:

Winter Gift Exchange Link Up

IT'S LINK UP TIME!!! Are you ready? I hope by now that everyone has received a package from their gift exchange partner. If not, please let either Allie or I know.


I really enjoyed participating in this gift exchange and I'm glad Allie let me host this with her. It was fun for me to do some non holiday, kinda holiday shopping for someone else. Shopping for someone I don't know very well can be stressful because you want to make sure they get something they like. I think I had enough information about Alyssa of A Latte Love that I feel like I did a pretty good job. I hope she feels the same way.


Rebecca from Grown Up Plus was the awesome lady who drew my name for the Winter Gift Exchange. I included my etsy favorites in the what do you like/dislike portion of the survey and she picked up something from there to send to me. Awesome idea, I'm stealing it for my next gift exchange/swap. I have yet to open up these goodies, but can't wait. I'm a lip balm junkie and now have peppermint to add to my stash (this stash includes Unicorn Farts and Crispy Bacon). I can't wait to try out the body polish and body butter. Maybe during/after a nice relaxing bath after the holidays have died down at work.


I also received an awesome package from Allie of A Day in a Joyful Life, my cohost in crime. MORE lip balm to add to my stash. I really don't want to open it since it's from London. And aren't those mustache cards the cutest. I'm probably a tiny bit hipster at heart. Ha! I've been so buy with craft fairs and work that I didn't get my package out to her yet. Slacker. But it'll be on it's way shortly!

As for the charity portion of this gift exchange, I'm in the process of making two quilts for Quilts for Kids. I won some fabric a few months back and had a friend gift some fabric she wasn't using to me. I really enjoyed making the first quilt I sent to Quilts for Kids that I thought I'd make and send a couple more. You can usually request a quilt kit from them and they'll send you all but the batting to make a quilt, but they're currently short on funding to ship those out. If you'd like to make a shipping donation, you can do that here. These are quick and easy quilts if you're a first time quilter and they got to a good cause. Check it out and give it a shot.

Now how about you guys? What goodies did the mail carriers bring to you? Come link up with Allie and I below and check out some of the other links too.





reading - A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin This post brought to you in part by:

thankful and other business

photo via wallpaper pimper

This is my obligatory Thankgiving/thankful post. It's nice to be able to get back online and read blogs and write posts and work on other things. I'm happy to be finished working on Handmade Promenade items (though I have a few more things I want to make and drop off). I've got plenty of other things I have to start working on. I have a few more deadlines to work on. More about those later. Let's talk about what I'm thankful for...

• another day. Waking up this morning.
• a roof over my head. 
• food to cook and eat today. I've got a lot of extra if anyone is hungry.
• clothes on my back.
• a job to go to tomorrow. 
• that I didn't have to work today. I think it's crazy that stores are already open as I write this. Let people spend time with their families.
• friends and family. The support they've given me. The smiles they put on my face. The hugs and all that sappy, mushy stuff.
• my customers. You guys rock! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have much of a business.
• the friendships that have formed from my blog. The support y'alls give. The fact that you don't judge my craziness...or maybe you do, but you keep it to yourself.
• my health.
• and a bunch of other stuff that I can't think of right now, but am thankful for. 

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get on to other business. Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for the Winter Gift Exchange hosted by me and Allie from A Day in a Joyful Life. Come join in on the fun. We changed things up a bit, so it's not your typical gift exchange/swap.


What else? Um...tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year...for big box stores or tonight for those that are being douches and open already. For us smaller businesses we've got Small Business Saturday on well...Saturday. So save some of that money you plan to spend tomorrow and support your favorite small businesses and your local businesses. As for me, I'll be having my last advertised sale of the year.

My etsy shop might be a little bare right now because I've been working on things for Handmade Promenade, but that doesn't mean I don't have anything to sell. I love to do custom work. Ask Rima from Bolu by Rima. She asked for a little bunny hat and the Bolu Bunny Hat was born. Let me make you a bear hat or if bears aren't your thing a dinosaur hat (if you need it child size, I can make them child size as well). Maybe the weather has actually cooled down where you live and you could use a soft and warm popcorn cowl. Or maybe you're looking for something else. Just let me know.

If you don't have an etsy account, that's okay. We can work out the details of a purchase via email (issa[.]ino[at]gmail) and I can invoice you via PayPal instead. Pssssst...*whispers* I just wanna take your money and make you something fun.
And lastly, before you go...as you gear up to shop online this weekend, make sure you check out Mr. Rebates so you can earn cash back on all those purchases. Over the past few years I've earned over $200 back on my purchases. Mr. Rebates also lists coupons available for your purchases. No I'm not being paid to include this in my post. This is a service I've been using since 2006. I love using it when I shop online. I placed an order via Modcloth this morning (they have a lot new stuff for 50% off) and I'll earn 10% cash back from my purchase!

I also like to use ebates to shop as well. I usually check both Mr. Rebates and ebates to see who has the better cash back percentage. Yeah. I'm one of those shoppers.


reading - A Feast of Crows by George R.R. Martin This post brought to you in part by:

small business saturday and where I'll be

I've got the next 2 days to finish up things for Handmade Promenade and I've got a full day of work today so when I get home from work today I'll be avoiding my computer and all your lovely blogs. It happens. I'm not nearly as for along that I wanted to be. Procrastinated a bit...no a bit...a lot.

Anywho, Small Business Saturday is this weekend and it'll be my last advertised sale I have this year. All orders are 20% off! Custom orders included. The catch is that you order has to be submitted and paid for by midnight PST on Saturday. I know there isn't a lot in the shop right now, but that's why I'm offering the discount on custom orders. And I love doing custom work. If you have any questions, please shoot me an email at issa.ino at gmail.com.

And if you haven't already, check out my post last week about the Winter Gift Exchange.

reading - A Feast of Crows by George R.R. Martin This post brought to you in part by:

it's FESTIVUS for the rest of us! - a winter gift exchange

I don't celebrate Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa. So the holidays can be a weird time of year for me. Especially since I work in retail. I see and hear things that make me shake my head and make me sad that that's how people think of this time of year.

But anywho, because I don't celebrate I sometimes feel a little left out on the giving and yes receiving portion of the season (who doesn't like getting fun packages in the mail from friends). So I was playing with the idea of doing a gift exchange or swap or something that wasn't holiday related. Then Allie from A Day in a Joyful Life tweeted that she wanted to do a holiday swap so I told her my idea . We then started conspiring via email and the Winter Gift Exchange was born.

This gift exchange is for everyone regardless of what you celebrate or if you don't celebrate at all. But there's a little twist, we wanted to add a little more focus on the giving side and not just to your partner, but to your community or to those in need. People are still recovering from Sandy and other disasters (huge explosion in Indianapolis).

So not only will you be asked to send something fun to your partner, but we're asking you to do something charitable as well. What you do is up to you, it doesn't have to involve money, time is just a good. You can donate food or clothing to a shelter, donate a toy to a toy drive, shovel your elderly neighbors driveway after a bit snow, volunteer at the ASPCA, give your friend or coworker a break from their children for a day so they can unwind, relax or do their holiday shopping. Just do SOMETHING. There are no restrictions on what you do, we're just asking you to share your experience with use via Twitter, Instagram or your reveal post.

Okay, so let's get to the rest of the details

• Nov.16 to Nov. 23 (Friday) - sign ups
• Nov. 24 to Nov. 30 (Friday) - partners go out (hopefully we get them out before Friday so you have more time to get some shopping/creating time in)
• Dec. 12 (Wednesday) - last day to get your package in the mail
• Dec. 21 (Friday) - reveal and link up post
• gift value should be in the 15 - 20 dollars (this doesn't include the charitable portion)

Use the form below to sign up and share this with your friends. The more the merrier. Also feel free to grab the button below to add to your blog. (I'm pretty proud of that button, yes I'm tooting my horn about designing it.) Any questions can be directed to Allie at adayinajoyfullife{at}gmail{dot}com.

<br /> <div class="winter gift exchange" style="width: 150px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://sarcasticremark.blogspot.com/search/label/gift%20exchange"><br /> <img src="http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj613/chickenb00/giftexchangebutton.jpg" alt="winter gift exchange" width="200" height="200" /><br /> </a><br /> </div> <!--end button code box--><br />

reading - A Feast of Crows by George R.R. Martin This post brought to you in part by: