Yesterday's Bargain Hunting

Started off the day at the dentist.  Well, after getting the kids situated & started on home school. Apparently my daily breakfast of Diet Mt. Dew and a caramel Fiber One granola bar (AFTER the morning teeth brushing) was a huge mistake.  Had more cavities develop in the last 6 months than in the 10 years prior.  Ugh! And I HATE going to the dentist.  Anyway, after the expensive stop at the dentist I needed to find some bargains.  On the way home I stopped by Aldi's for some milk at $1.99/gallon.  Our family drinks 5-6 gallons per week, so whenever we're on the side of town where Aldi's is we stop & buy the limit.
In the evening,. dear hubby & I made it errand date night after grouting the bathroom tile and putting the little kids to bed we headed out to hit a couple of sales and pick up some meds.  First stop: Fred's.  They had Reach toothbrushes on sale for $1 each.  I had 2 coupons for $2 off 2.  So we got 4 toothbrushes for 24 cents of tax :)  And it was on the way to CVS so no wasted gas!
CVS was a little disappointing.  They didn't have the deodorant or the Cadburry mini eggs that were on sale. But we did pick up 2 packages of silly bands for Easter goodies for our two littlest.  They were on clearance for 10 cents each.  I also picked up a moneymaker of Zyrtec.  Pack of 5 pills on sale for $5.99 less $2 off coupon (net $3.99) with $5.99 ECB back!  I also picked up a fancy Schick Hydro razor for $1.99 (after ECB and coupons). 
Oops. Almost forgot about one more deal of the day.  We have a new gas station that just opened down the street from our house.  Yesterday must have been their first day because they were running a special gas price about 20-25 cents cheaper than everyone else in town.  We didn't really need gas, but why not top off the tank with that great price?!
Happy bargain hunting!

New Cards - K and Co. Jubilee

On Saturday DD2 talked me into stopping by Michaels while we were out running errands (sale hopping).  She didn't have to beg too long, but I KNEW I'd end up spending all the money that our sale hopping would save!  Of course, I did just that! Our Michaels had some really cute K and Co. embellishments on clearance for 50-60% off.  I couldn't resist.  And then I had to get some patterned paper to match - and of course those weren't on clearance (but they were on sale and I used a coupon). So, below are two cards I put together with the new supplies.  These are made with the Jubilee line. The "thank you" I snagged on Listia.  Pretty cool site!

September/October 2009 Layouts Recently Completed

Here are a couple of layouts I recently completed.  This first layout is about a little baby chipmunk DD2 rescued from one of our cats.  I used Basic Grey Max & Whiskers patterned papers, stickers, and doillies.

I'm so proud of my youngest son! He is SO far ahead in school.  Since we homeschool he listens to his older siblings' lessons and when it's his turn for the material he breezes through it!  No idea on the source of most of these supplies.  The chipboard letters are from Maya Road.

Just finished this one today.  Lots of fun.  Halloween 2009 with our dearl friends.  The background papers may well have been in my stash for 10 years, but I'm glad I kept them because they worked out great on this page! Most of the embellishments are from an embellishments kit called Spook Alley by Making Memories.

New Cards - Indie Bloom Cards

Here are a couple of recent cards I made.  The first 3 use papers from the Indie Bloom line.  I think these papers are very pretty with nice bright colors, without being to bold to work with. The two stamped images I received in PIFs from Friends That Scrap yahoo group.  I colored them with my new Prismacolor pencils and gamsol for blending.  Lots of fun!

 

This last card uses a small piece of paper from Basic Grey's Picadilly line and blue Petaloo flowers.  I received the embossed card base and the ribbon from a Super Bowl prize pack from a friend at Friends that Scrap yahoo group.

Couponing and Recycling

I've been watching sales and doing coupon match ups for about a month now. Things are getting serious! I had to clean out a cupboard in our laundry room (we didn't really need 25 backpacks for 4 home schooled kids!) for our stockpile of groceries. Almost daily I'm watching the web trying to make sure I printed out all the important coupons. It stinks when you read about a great deal with a sales price but don't have the coupon to go with it! My little photo holder that I re-purposed years ago to hold my coupons was busting at the seams. I needed better coupon storage. I looked around online and initially thought I'd use baseball card storage sleeves in a 3-ring binder. But I hesitated because a) buying the sleeves costs money, b) I'd have to wait for them to come it and I was ready to tackle the project NOW, and c) I'd have to fold the coupons or they'd hang out of the pockets. With a little more digging online I saw the suggestion of using a 5x7 file card box. Which got me thinking...I went to our trusty storage closet to see what I had stashed away. I found a children's shoe box, likely been around for 10+ years - perfect size for coupon storage. Next stop - fire place kindling pile. I grabbed a bunch of cereal boxes & cut out pieces for dividers. And wa-la! FREE coupon storage. So far it's working out great! And the price is right in line with the purpose!