ATG Anyone?

This morning while I was talking to Margaret, I convinced myself to order a Scotch ATG (Advanced Tape Gun). I've heard only good things about them and I cannot believe that as a scrapbooker I've gone this long without one! I think I got a pretty good deal too! I ordered the pink ATG that comes with 2 rolls of tape for $17.50! Everywhere else they ran around $30+. If you're interested in ordering one, check out A2Z Scrapbooking Supplies. If you have one of these, please leave a comment and let me know how you like it! I'm sure it will be a lot better than spending all of the $ on tape runners that I spend!!!

New on Etsy!

I just took all of my ebay re-lists and stuck them in my etsy shoppe! Now you don't have to wait for the bidding to end, you can Buy it now!!! Mention that you saw this post and I will give you FREE SHIPPING on 2 albums or more from my etsy shoppe!

New to etsy? Check it out! Etsy is just like ebay, except there is no bidding, it's all buy it now for handmade items and supplies, just like going to a craft shoppe! If you are looking for beautiful handmade christmas gifts of any kind, etsy is the place to go shopping!!!

Visit my etsy shoppe and view my items for sale at http://createserendipity07.etsy.com

Custom Orders & NSD!

This past Saturday was National Scrapbook Day. I decided to do a little shopping! Lots of stores had great sales and I snagged a few great deals!


My first stop was of course, Archivers! I did this cool make & take with the K&Co Citronella line of paper. It's so pretty & summery I had to pick up a pack as well!


I did a little shopping... got lots of Prima Flowers, a few paper packs, some cute cupcake paper & wooden album by Kaiser Crafts, and lots of other fun stuff! The flowers in the large tube in the back that say Archivers were a free gift for being a newsletter subscriber! How awesome is that?


I FINALLY picked me up a rolling craft tote to take with me to crops! Hobby Lobby had all of their totes 50% off! What a great deal! I also picked up a matching caddy for tools and stuff and a matching green glitter album.


Now to my custom orders... I got 6 this past week all for paper bag albums! That's more than I've done all year! I'm so excited to get new customers! This is a start to one of the albums that I am working on. She wanted a pastel 40th Birthday album for her friend. For me, it was kind of hard to think pastel and Birthday. So I rummaged through my paper stash and found this beautiful paper from the LilyKate line by Basig Grey! I think it's turning out nice so far! I'll post pics of all of the albums once I'm finished!

Now you know what I'll be doing all week.... SCRAPPING!!!

My Daughter the Supermodel

Well, I hate to say it, but that time has finally come... I have become one of those "Gymboree Crazed Mommy's!" I didn't think I would ever fall into the Gymboree fad for my daughter because their stuff is usually so expensive! A few weeks ago I got on their website and they had stuff marked down 60%, which brings it to about the same prices as Carters and other stores that I normally shop at so I thought I would give it a try because I know Gymboree has a wonderful quality to their clothes. I also had a 20% off coupon that I could use as well. I ended up buying a few things from the Happy Rainbow & Wild One lines. Well, let's just say that I got addicted! Everything is SOOO cute!!! The cool thing is that all of their lines have accessories and everything that match! That way if I buy lots from one line I can mix and match everything! I ended up getting a lot from the Happy Rainbow line and she's pretty much set for her Spring & Summer clothes for this year. I thought I would go ahead and buy some 2t in the Wild One line and keep it for the fall. It's hard to buy ahead because I don't know what size she will be in, but I guess it's worth a shot! If it doesn't fit her at that time, there's always eBay! With this shopping trip I ended up earning $75 in GymBucks which are like coupons that you can use during a certain "redemption" period. To use them I had to buy $150 worth of merchandise and I ended up getting it for $75, so basically 50% off. When I redeemed my GymBucks {last week} I got her a lot of 3t sized clothes for next Spring & Summer from the Social Butterfly line. It's all just too cute... and addicting! I feel like Reagan is my own little Barbie Doll! :-)


Here she is in outfit #1 from Happy Rainbow


She finally let me play with her hair, since it's long enough now we keep it in pig tails when we go out.


Outfit #2 from Happy Rianbow


It was a tough job... but she let me paint her little toenails!


Outfit #3 from Happy Rainbow


The rest of her wardrobe & accessories from Happy Rainbow


Her Fall wardrobe & accessories in Wild One

If you have children and you haven't shopped at Gymboree because of the higher prices, I suggest that you check out their sales! They get new lines every month so they have to make room for them by marking down the old lines! You can also find coupons in magazines like Parents, Parenting, Plum, etc. To learn more about how to get deals & steals at Gymboree, check out GymboHaven or GymboFriends. Sometiems the deals make the clothes even cheaper than Walmart! Beware, Gymboree is ADDICTING!!!

New Blog Design & Domain Name!

Hi everyone! Sorry I change things around here so much! I never can find something that I really would like to stick with! I think I've found one now! I LOVE this new layout! It's called "Haute Spring" and it's a blog in a box design by Zoe Pearn. If you haven't checked out her stuff on Sweet Shoppe, you must! She's a wonderful designer! Click the logo below to visit her store!



I've also bought a domain name! Now an easier way to get here is to visit http://www.createserendipity.net GoDaddy is having a domain name sale, I bought this domain for just $1!!! Visit Go Daddy and enter code LOVE99 to get this awesome deal for yourself!

I'm still editing everything and getting my blog back in order, so stay tuned!

What better to do on a Sunday evening?

I've been sitting here pretty much all evening... just sitting here in front of my computer... cutting... cutting coupons! I'm pretty much addicted! A few months ago I saw an interview on my local news channel with a lady who would go to the store and buy a whole cart full of stuff for under $20. I decided that I needed to be more like this woman. With our econemy the way it is, why not? So I went to her website () and it opened up a whole new door to me! I began reading her blogs, clicking away on the links, and then I was hooked! I immediately signed up for The Grogery Game () and decided to try my hand at couponing. At first, I thought I was doing pretty good, only spending $50-$80 per trip which normally would cost me over $100. Now that I look back, that wasn't the best I could do. The trick to the grocery game is to get a stockpile going. If something is on sale, stock up. Combine sales with coupons for the best deals. I began buing 4 Sunday papers every week. Coupon clipping became a job to me. After a few months, I got my stockpile built up pretty good. Now I am only buing 2 papers every Sunday, unless there are some must have coupons, then I will buy 4-6 papers.

So where am I going with this? Well, after several months of the grocery game, last month I decided to live off of my stockpile and not grocery shop at all except for the must have items like milk, eggs, cheese, etc. So I've just started grocery shopping again and getting in the hang of couponing again. I decided that since I already have so much stuff in my stockpile, I don't need to buy much unless it's an absolute can't pass up deal, or if it's free. Today, I've been sitting here looking at deals, clipping coupons, and matching sales with coupons. Now, I'm ready to go shopping!

Here are some of the deals that I have found this week:
Sally Hansen Nail Polish - FREE
Scotch Brite Nail Saver Sponges - FREE
Nesquik Flavored Milk - FREE
Excedrine - FREE
Celestial Seasonings Tea - FREE
Cottonelle Toilet Paper - FREE
Brut Deodorant - FREE
Pantene Styling Product - FREE
Pantene Shampoo - $.65
Green Giant Frozen Vegetables - $.50
Yoplait Kids Yogurt Multi-pack - $.89
Snack Pack Pudding - $.50
Pampers Swipers Baby Wipes - $.99
Gilette Shampoo - $.25

And lots more deals!

It's so simple to find these deals! It just takes a little time. While getting a little r&r on a Sunday evening, sit down with the paper and look through the ads and coupons. I find it relaxing. It's actually addicting to me now! I have to see what all I can collect for free each week! If it's something I don't use, I usually give it to my mom, my sister, or my grandparents, one of them will usually use anything I can get for free! Since starting the grocery game in August, I have enough shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, and face wash to last me probably 2 years! And I only bought it because it was a deal that I couldn't pass up!

I urge everyone to give it a try! The Grocery Game has a month long trial membership for $1! If you decide to give it a try, please put me as a reference (email: emfine99@aol.com) I would appreciate it!

Shop away! :-)