Shutterfly Wants You To Thank The Troops

I love Shutterfly, and I know I'm not alone.  Part of what they love is that they offer helpful experiences outside their product line, whether supporting schools and making classroom management and communication easy with their Share Sites or now with their free Thank the Troops campaign.

Just in time for Veteran's Day (Sunday, November 11), Shutterfly has launched a Facebook app that allows you to select one of four thank you cards and personalize it with your own message or photo.  Shutterfly will then print each card and ship it to troops.  There are over 1.5 million troops stationed overseas right now, and they aren't with their friends and family over the holiday season, nor do they often get the thanks and appreciation they deserve.

Shutterfly's goal is to get a card printed and shipped (at no cost to you!) to every one of the heroes, so that's a lot of cards to make.  Please consider creating a card and sharing your support with a serviceman (or woman).  And once you've finished, you have the option to share the initiative with your friends to encourage them to create a card, as well.

We don't often do much to celebrate Veteran's Day.  It gets lost in the shuffle, with just one more federal holiday - and the wee ones don't "even" get it off school - but this is a great way to honor the intention of Veteran's Day and to thank those who are serving us today.  I am planning to create cards with the wee ones, as it's such an easy and age appropriate way of contributing.

So go.  Spread your thanks and goodwill, and this year... celebrate Veteran's Day.  Which one will you choose?

In the interest of full disclosure, I will receive a discount code from Shutterfly as part of this campaign.  As always, all opinions expressed remain my own.

Shutterfly Holiday Card Giveaway

Shutterfly has their holiday cards up already.  That's crazy, right?  Well, maybe not so much.

Last week, the wee ones and I had a playdate at the park with a friend when there was no school on Columbus Day.  While there, I ran into a friend who went to the park purely to take photos of her kids for her Christmas pictures.  Apparently it isn't too early to start thinking about it.

Me?  I have a bad habit of not getting my cards out until just before Christmas even though I have the best of intentions of doing them the week after Thanksgiving.  Life just gets insanely busy then, so maybe this is the solution instead.

I have yet to figure out what photos I want on my card this year - although I know this one of Little Miss in her holiday dress will go on it, as I promised back in July.

I love the options that Shutterfly provides simply because there are so many options out there.  Whether you want a flat holiday card or a folded religious Christmas card, there is something perfect.  I've used Shutterfly for the past several years, and the cards are always a nice heavy card stock with great printing quality.

While I prefer folded cards, there are plenty of options that are flat cards on photo paper, as well.  Those cards start at $0.40 apiece for quantities over 225, while a 5x7 photo card might be $0.85 apiece for 50 cards.

My favorite "new" feature is that many of the cards offer either a "what we did this year" type list on the front of the card or a text area inside the card where you can input a (short) holiday letter instead of printing and sending another note with the card.  My favorite has to be Our Top Ten, but there are several others that allow you to quickly share what you've been up to.

Because I can never decide on just one photo - and it's rare that both the wee ones are behaving in the same photo - I tend to go for cards with multiple photo options.  If you remember last year's holiday card, I gave up on the behaving part in the end and went with a goofy photo, but it worked.  Framed Wishes (shown below) is really close to the card I chose last year.  I still love it, but I probably need to get a little more creative.

My brain always seems to be spinning with one activity or child or another, so I seem to be drawn to the holiday cards that have different sizes and layouts of photos, with everything not in a neat little line.  Very Merry Moments fits that perfectly, although because I have so many Jewish friends, I typically choose a card that doesn't blatantly mention Christmas.

Instead, I think I've narrowed my selection down to Peace Cheer Monogram holiday card.  I'm not usually a big plaid person, but I love it in this case.  And I think the colors will go beautifully with Little Miss's red dress - which she's since outgrown by the way.  Now I just have to figure out what other photos to put in there.  One down, five to go, right?

Have I inspired you to start thinking about your holiday cards yet?  Go check out the Shutterfly special offers to see what discounts you can get.  Better yet - if you're ready, I have a code to give away for $50 off your Shutterfly order (excluding shipping, can not combine with any other promotions).  First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Monday October 29 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 24 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me - when do you start your holiday cards?  Or do you not do holiday cards?

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):
1) Earn one additional entry for following me on Twitter, then tweeting this contest with the following tweet: "It's only October, but @Shutterfly has holiday cards read.  Win $50 off your order via @honestandtruly. http://bit.ly/WqrJIk" (leave a link to your tweet as your comment and make sure you do all the steps!)
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.
4) Earn one additional entry by liking Honest & Truly! on Facebook. (Yay, it's legal again, so long as you know you have to leave a comment here to enter and that simply liking me isn't the entry, along with acknowledging the fact that Facebook has nothing to do with this giveaway whatsoever.
5) Earn an additional entry by putting me in your Google Plus circle. Am I already in your G+ circle? No problem - just leave a comment letting me know that you've added me or already have me there.

Good luck!

In the interest of full disclosure, I will receive a discount for my holiday cards as part of this campaign for Shutterfly.  As always, all opinions expressed remain my own.

Shutterfly Long Live Summer Facebook Contest

I've posted about my family's RV trip - you know, the one they're taking without me?  I sent the wee ones with their digital cameras, and they tell me that they're taking a ton of really great pictures.  And so am I.  I had a blast capturing Mister Man walking in his first Fourth of July Parade.  Little Miss is memorialized climbing super high the tree growing in our front yard.  They're both captured splashing around and having a blast with friends in the pool.

I'm horrible at actually printing out my photos and putting them in albums.  Forget having done it in the past year, I not only haven't done it since before the wee ones were born, I haven't done it since before my husband and I were married.  Fortunately, we can share our photos in other ways now - and I do.

Shutterfly is running a contest now through August 12 where you can win all sorts of prizes from the grand prize of a trip for four to the Bahamas with a professional photo shoot to weekly prizes.  You even get an instant win prize just for submitting your photo.

Each week has a different theme.  Just upload your favorite photo that fits the theme and caption.  The themes?
Week 1: Americana (7/9)
Week 2: Great Outdoors (7/16)
Week 3: Water Fun (7/23)
Week 4: Sports & Activities (7/30)
Week 5: Parties & Celebrations (8/6)

You can enter once per week, and each week five photos will be featured on the Facebook fan page and awarded a $500 gift card on Shutterfly, in addition to the new Lonely Planet travel photography book.

So what do you say?  Long live summer!



Don't forget to take a look at the official rules of Shutterfly's Long Live Summer contest.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free photobook from Shutterfly in exchange for posting about this contest.  I was not compensated, and all opinions remain my own.

Winners!

Yes, it's once again time for some winner announcements. I've had two giveaways end, and I think there are going to be some happy people.

For the Shutterfly giveaway, I had three winners who will receive codes for 25 free cards each - note that they expire December 31, 2011! The winners have 48 hours to contact me with their information or I will have to choose a new winner. Congratulations go to: Shutterfly Adict from Shutterfly Experience, Angie from Angie's Spot, and Carrie at In the Hammock. Congrats, ladies!

I also have the $100 Red Envelope gift card winner to announce. Congratulations, Eunice from Random Walk Down Mommy Street! She also has 48 hours to get back to me before I choose a new winner.

Enjoy - and come back soon for more great fun and giveaways!

Giveaway: Shutterfly Cards

Now that it's officially November 1, I can start to talk about Christmas. I still have my focus on Thanksgiving, but this is finally going to be the year when I get my Christmas cards out on time. By on time, I mean mailing them early enough in December - or, la! in November after Thanksgiving - so that it doesn't look like I'm only sending people cards because they sent me cards first. That means I need to think about what cards I want to send and start getting a holiday picture taken now.

I was one of the last people I knew to convert from the traditional Christmas cards where you sign them yourself and write a little note inside to the preprinted photo cards. I resisted them a long time because they seemed so impersonal to me. They've changed a lot, however, in the past few years, and I actually enjoyed sending them last year - along with a Christmas letter, of course.

Now many of the cards are more traditional folded cards where I can still sign myself and write a little note congratulating people on their new babies or asking how lives are going in new cities and the like. I can keep my connection with them, and it feels much better to me.

In fact, I think I've already found the card that I'm going to send this year. I'm not sure it fully replaces the Christmas letter that goes in each of the wee ones' memory boxes, but I love how the card itself is personalized with memories.

Because so many of my friends aren't Christian and don't celebrate Christmas (hello, my Jewish friends!), it's important to me to find a card that is something I can share with them. In the past, I've had to carefully sort through my cards to find ones that are focused on the "season" - though I hate that expression as it has been co-opted - to send to them in recognition that not everyone celebrates Christmas. Fortunately, Shutterfly offers lots of holiday cards that aren't so religious, including many that focus on it being the end of the year and recap and reconnecting rather than Christmas. Fortunately, even some of the ones that are overtly Christmas in the Shutterfly collection can be edited to not say "Merry Christmas" as needed - and yes, I need it.

On second thought, maybe I'll go with this card this year.

Or maybe this one.

Ok, so maybe part of the reason I always get my cards out late is because I can't decide. But hey, if Shutterfly didn't have such a great selection of holiday cards, I wouldn't have this problem, would it?

Because misery loves company (yes, my tongue is placed firmly in my cheek here), I'm not the only one going to have to agonize over what card to send this year. I have three codes for 25 free cards from Shutterfly to give away to lucky readers. Yay, right? So what do you have to do to win? First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Tuesday November 15 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 48 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner. Though there are two prizes, a person can only win once.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me which holiday card you would choose.

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):

1) Earn one additional entry for following me on Twitter, then tweeting this contest with the following tweet: "Time to start thinking about your holiday cards. Win a 25 card #giveaway from @Shutterfly and @honestandtruly http://bit.ly/s3mu0f" (leave a link to your tweet as your comment and make sure you do all the steps!)
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.

And no, you won't earn any extra entries for it, but you will get good karma for liking me on Facebook!

Good luck!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a package of 50 free cards from Shutterfly. I was not compensated for this campaign. That said as always, all opinions expressed remain my own.

Opportunity: Shutterfly Holiday Cards

Well, tonight is Halloween which means that we all officially need to start thinking about the next holiday. Wellll maybe not getting too into it (I have a firm policy of fully celebrating my birthday before really getting into Christmas), but at least starting to plan for it.

I'm one of the people who sends out cards every year. As my Christmas card list has grown over the years, my cards have changed, as well. I used to hand write long notes on every card that were customized to the person. Those notes over the years slowly shrunk. With the birth of the wee ones, I added a typewritten letter to people I didn't see often and an even shorter handwritten note. I also began including a family photo in the cards, which started to get pretty expensive.

I finally moved to photo cards with my letter, which made it far easier. Anyone who needs a little more update on what we're doing gets the letter - and it's easy enough to add some handwritten notes on that instead of on the actual card. The challenge for me is making sure that I get my cards ordered in time to send them out. I can't just go to the store and grab a pack of them at 8pm the night before I want to send them out anymore!

Enter Shutterfly.

Shutterfly has all sorts of great holiday cards. While I've used the phrase "Christmas cards" a few times, I do have several friends who are Jewish or otherwise don't celebrate Christmas, which means that offering more widely appealing holiday photo cards is a great bonus.

I love that with Shutterfly you simply upload your photos, design your card, and you're done. They offer the option of also stamping and mailing cards for you in addition to sending the completed cards to you for you to mail yourself (and add that special letter!). With a variety of shipping options, including next day, I no longer have an excuse for not getting my photo cards done.

As I perused the site, I saw plenty of cards that I would love to send out. The Joy Magic Story Christmas Card 5x7 folded card is a beautiful classic design that allows me to still write a quick personal note on the inside - and I love receiving hand signed cards still. Call me old fashioned.

The Bright Red Snowflakes 5x7 folded card is another design I love that again is folded and allows me to make my card a little more personal with notes while still being a lovely card that shows off the wee ones with three different photos of my choosing. I can also choose between a matte and glossy finish, depending on my preference (matte, I think!).

I am a big fan of cards that allow me to showcase multiple photos, and many of Shutterfly's Christmas photo cards do just that. While the folded holiday cards cost over a dollar a card (and worth it, in my opinion), there are also great options that are flat cards that are less than $0.50 per card. The Classic Snowflakes Christmas 4x8 photo card would cost me $0.47 per card for my needs with the 25% discount they have going until November 3 - see, shopping early pays! Even though this one has "Christmas" in the name of the card, the greeting on the card is not preprinted and can be completely customized - don't let yourself be thrown by the descriptors of the cards.

And I will be choosing one of these cards for my holiday needs this year. I will receive 100 cards from Shutterfly for posting this. And bloggers - you can get some free Shutterfly cards, too. How? If you do your own blog post about Shutterfly's holiday cards, you can earn 50 free cards from Shutterfly, too. How awesome is that?

In the interest of full disclosure, this post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. I will receive 100 free cards from Shutterfly. I received no compensation, and all opinions expressed are my own.