Ready for some sun! Thank you Diane and Firmoo!

Free! Free! Free!!!

You read that right, I got these gorgeous sunglasses for FREE from Firmoo.

SIDE NOTE: I felt really silly while I was taking photos for this post because I'm not one who likes having my photo taken, but I promised Diane so... :)

I was first introduced to Firmoo, the online optical store, when I first read about them from Diane's blog. Diane also mentioned on a later post that the first pair of glasses you order fromm Firmoo is free!

And last December, Diane hosted a giveaway for $20 gift certificates from Firmoo and I was picked as one of the winners, yey!!

I signed up to Firmoo's site and found out that before I could use the $20 gift certificate I got from Diane, I needed to use the first-pair-free discount code first, since that was my first purchase. I picked these yellow sunnies. What can I say, I love color! I tried to use Diane's gift certificate on a second pair I picked (black rimmed prescription glasses) but the store only allows one discount code to be used per purchase so I cancelled the second pair and checked out with just the free pair. If I wanted to use the $20 gift certificate I won, I needed to make a separate transaction and pay shipping fee again for this second transaction. Only the glasses was free (frame + lens). I had to pay for shipping. I could have tried contacting Firmoo to ask if I could combine 2 free purchases into one shipping fee, but I was on vacation at the time and the gift certificate I won will expire before Christmas and I didn't have much time, so I let it go. Getting one free pair was still a very good deal!

I had to pay for shipping which is around P800+ (approx $20) to Manila, Philippines. Still not bad considering the sunglasses I picked was priced at $44.90.

After my payment was confirmed, it took about 2 weeks for my sunglasses to arrive. During those 2 weeks, Firmoo was sending email updates about the status of my purchase. Plus points for that feature! The glasses arrived in perfect condition: packaged properly, no damage, scratches, etc. The sunglasses came with a hard case, a cloth pouch, a cleaning cloth, a small screw driver and extra screws. More plus points for that! I use prescription glasses and if you have been a regular user of glasses, you know how valuable small screwdrivers and extra screws are.

Overall, I am happy with the transaction and am looking forward to shopping for another pair from Firmoo soon!

Diane Writes is giving away...

... 5 $20 vouchers to Firmoo, the global optical store.

5...

5 winners.

Great huh?

Head on over to her blog to find out how to join.

Diane Writes: Firmoo Giveaway

Enny the Panda: A contest

Have you ever seen anything so cute?

Catherine, a talented artist and blogger from Russia, is giving her away to one of her lucky readers anywhere in the world! How cool is that? I want to win her! Did I already say that she's so cute???

If you want to join the contest, head on over to Catherine's blog to find out how to join. The contest ends on July 20.

Posh Tykes Giveaway WINNERS!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who joined our giveaway! We had a total of 30 valid entries (deleted comments were NOT counted) and from those 30 we now have 2 winners!

Ready to find out who got lucky this Friday the 13th?

Our first winner is...

And comment number 18 is from Mae of I am Super Nanay who said:

And our second winner is...

And comment number 3 is from Alex of Cheeky Wee Brat who said:

Congratulations Alex and Mae for winning Posh Tykes' Washi Tapes giveaway! 

And THANK YOU Jo of Posh Tykes for sponsoring this giveaway! 

I will be sending both winners an email shortly.

Isn't this exciting? My first giveaway for 2012! I hope to have more awesome giveaways for you guys this year so keep coming back. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Coming up next week: more tutorials!

CLOSED: Washi Tapes Giveaway by Posh Tykes

- This giveaway is now CLOSED -

While I was on vacation, I was contacted by Jo, the mommy behind the Posh Tykes online shop* based here in the Philippines. 

She started selling Washi Tapes here and was surprised with how popular they are. Her initial inventory sold out within 10 days of being posted on her shop.  To celebrate the success of her business, she generously offered to give away 3 rolls of Washi tapes to 2 Of Pinks and Fairy Tales readers!

Not sure what Washi Tapes are? Washi Tapes are decorative masking tapes that originated in Japan.  It's like regular sticky tape, translucent, and comes in plain colors or decorative patterns.

Washi tapes can be used for scrapbooking or other craft projects. Here are some beautiful projects I found online.

Wedding-themed projects from Martha Stewart

From left: guest book, favor boxes, candle holders. (image source)

You can also make beautiful cards.

Image sources: here and here.

Are you excited yet? 

This giveaway is open to EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE!

To join:

STEP 1: Visit Posh Tykes online shop to check out the beautiful designs available.

STEP 2: Come back here and leave a comment telling me how you plan to use your Washi Tapes in case you win. Please do not forget to include your email address in your comment!

Only one entry per person. 

For example:

I will use Washi Tapes to turn my plain bottles into beautiful vases. My email address is ofpinksandfairytales at gmail dot com.

Two winners will be drawn on Friday, January 13th, 5PM my time (in the Philippines) via Random.org. I will contact the winners after the draw and endorse them to Jo of Posh Tykes so they can choose their prizes and finalize shipping details. 

Note to international winners (if any winner will be from outside the Philippines): shipping of your prizes will be done via postal service and will take 2-3 weeks. Shipping within the Philippines will take 1-2 days.

So let's get started! Comment away!

*The Posh Tykes online shop is hosted in Multiply. In the Philippines, Multiply is the more popular site to start an online shop. 

And we have a winner!

I am so sorry for the late announcement. I was stuck in meetings from 10AM until 2:30PM this afternoon. Seriously... I only had a short break for lunch. Whew! Now that that's done... you excited? :)

So we had 12 comments in all... and according to random.org, the winner for this draw is:

And comment number 1 belongs to Dianne of Dianne Writes who left this comment:

 

Congratulations Dianne! I will be sending you an email shortly to confirm your winning and to give you instructions on how you can claim your prize.

To all those who joined my first giveaway, THANK YOU SO MUCH! :) I hope to have another giveaway soon (already working on it) so stay tuned!

Giveaway: My Memories Suite

-- GIVEAWAY CLOSED --

My Memories Suite is a top-rated digital scrapbooking software that allows you to make digital albums, photo books, cards, invitations, calendars, movies and a lot more! It's so much fun and easy to use. This is what I used to make my story photo book that I posted here and here.

-oo0oo-

After using this software for a few day, here's what I can say about it.

INSTALLATION - After purchase, you can download the installer for My Memories Suite from the link that My Memories will provide you. Running the online installer will require you to download around 500MB worth of components though. If you are not using a high speed internet connection, this might take a while. However, if you are in the US, you have the option to get a CD installer from My Memories which has all the system components already so you don't have to go through the download stage. You have to add $4.97 plus shipping if you ask for the CD but I suggest this option. I'm not in the US... so I had to download. After the download stage, the software installed easily.

EASE OF USE - Very easy to use! My Memories Suite can be used on a PC or a Mac. It runs pretty fast on my home laptop. The software comes pre-loaded with the components (e.g. backgrounds, embellishments) you need to make digital projects so you can start right away. Everything I used on my story photobook projects are just the built in components. For the text, this software uses any existing fonts you already have on your machine. So you can integrate your favorite fonts to your projects. If you want more options, My Memories offer digital scrapbooking kits and templates at their website at very affordable prices (from $0.99 to around $9 per set). And they have a lot of free stuff too! Do check it out. These can be downloaded from a link that will be provided to you after check out.

This scrapbook software is great for both beginners AND more advanced users. For beginners, My Memories Suite has built in pre-designed photo album templates where you can select the template you want, and simply insert your photos in the photo slots on the templates. Ta-dah! You're done. Here are some examples of their pre-designed templates.

 

More advanced users can start with a blank page and choose each component that goes into a page. One look at the user interface and you know which buttons to click to find the stuff you want, see?

You can select a page format (or start from blank), add backgrounds, text, shapes and other embellishments from the menu on the right side of the page. The pages I made for my story photobook are all built from scratch. I'm having too much fun trying out different combinations of page elements to see how they would look :)

Not into scrapbooking? Here are a few other projects you can make with My Memories Suite:

How about a blog button?

You can customize by adding your images or graphics.

Or a blog header!

I can feel a blog redesign project coming soon! We'll see :)

Or cards! (e.g. Christmas cards, invitations, birth announcements

Christmas with grandma and grandpa

You can make printables too.

NOTE: All rights for this printable, including the text, belongs to me. If you plan to use any part of this, please give me due credit. Thanks!

And a whole lot of other projects!

-oo0oo- 

 

The BEST part? 

My Memories has offered to give away one My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software to one of you! This is a $40 value!

To join the giveaway:

• Become a follower of Of Pinks and Fairy Tales. This giveaway is open to anyone with an internet connection :) Just click that the 'Join this site' button located on my right side bar. 

• Visit My Memories and check out their digital scrapbooking kits and templates.

• Leave me a comment below telling me which of their scrapbooking kits/elements you like best. Please include your email address (emailid at emailprovider dot com - use this format please) so I will know how to contact you if you win.

For example:
My favorite is the Pizza Pie Pack (because I'm thinking of giving Andrea a pizza-themed birthday party this year). My email address is ofpinksandfairytales at gmail dot com.

You have to follow ALL 3 steps first to qualify for the giveaway. Only comments posted on this post qualifies as an entry.

For additional entries, you can also:

1. Follow My Memories Blog and leave another comment here telling me you did so = 1 additional entry

2. Like My Memories Suite on Facebook and leave another comment here. Please include the name you are using on Facebook so we can validate. = 1 additional entry

3. Follow My Memories Suite on Twitter and leave another comment here to tell me you did. Please include the name you are using on Twitter so we can validate = 1 additional entry

Please remember to leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

Winner will be drawn on  September 14, 2011 at 10AM my time (GMT +8) via random.org. I will contact the winner via email (so make sure you leave your email address on your comment!) after the draw. The winner has 1 week (7 calendar days) to reply to me to acknowledge that he/she is accepting. If I don't hear from the winner within one week, I will draw another winner.

If you want to buy the software now, you can get it at a discounted price. My Memories is giving a $10 discount on their My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software to readers of Of Pinks and Fairy Tales! If you buy now, you only pay $29.97. Simply enter this code upon check out to avail of the discount:

STMMMS46091
Please copy and paste the code to make sure you enter the correct value.

Ok then, time for you to join the giveaway! :)