CONTEST

I need your help!!  There's a facebook contest for a free Photography website valued at $3500!  I submitted a picture and need you to LIKE it on Facebook!

This is what you do:

1. Click this link
2. I think you have to LIKE the hosting page (Exquiture)
3. Like my actual photo (is a little girl w a hat and has a watermark that says Tiffany Dawn Photography)
4. Share with your friends so I have a better chance of winning!! :) PLEASE!

The one w the MOST like's by SEpt 30 wins the free blog.  It would be FABULOUS if I could get that since I'm pursuing photography more now!


Check out a sample of what my site could look like here: http://juliekraaiphotography.com/
Fabulous right??

I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!

Thanks,
Tiff

Birthday FREEBIES 2011

Ok so I have ALWAYS ALWAYS loved birthdays.  I actually dont even know why... but they just get me excited! I like planning parties and going above and beyond to make them special, unique, memorable!

Last year was my 30th and I LOVED my bday party.  The party was PERFECT - almost like a Mini-Wedding! So fun!! So this year, I'm turning 31 and realized my excitement is not quite as high as it usually is.  (Case in point- its 1 wk from my bday and I haven't even really thought about the party a whole lot.  No ideas.  Its just blank!)

This year I've decided its my goal to use as MANY bday Freebies as I can before they expire!  Here's a list of Freebies I've gotten so far. Most are by EMAIL from email clubs.  I'll be updating this at the end of my attempts to use them all!  Stay Tuned!

Hint: To join these, simply goto the website and look for their "club" links and sign up.  I use a separate email address so as not to clog my NORMAL email with offers and coupons all the time.

Photos, Cards, & Shutterfly!!

I love Shutterfly! 

So I have gotten a couple of codes to try out new greeting cards online at Shutterfly and LOVED them.  The first one I ever did was for Father’s day.  I had to upload pics to my Shutterfly account that captured my last yr with my dad.

 I uploaded a lot of pictures HERE using the super easy uploader because I didn’t know which ones would look the best together when I picked my card.  I always try to have MORe than I need, because it stinks to get part way through your design and have to go hunting for a picture for one specific place.  I have actually started using shutterfly to store a lot of my photos online.  They make it easy to share with friends and when I go to make cards or prints, my pictures are already loaded!  

I also have created several “Share Sites” which is a website (can be password protected which is great for kiddos!) that you can create for free and store lots of pictures on it.  Then your friends and family can easily go and view/download/order any of their favorite photos! I LOVE share sites!  Here’s one that I’ve recently added pictures to.  I created it when our Lifegroup was doing events ALL THE TIME and everyone wanted to see the MANY pictures I took.  We also had a calendar and some contact info for the members.  It was pretty cool.  I don’t think people really used it a whole lot other than to see the pictures, but I liked the concept.

Anyway, I was super pleased with my dad’s cards.  I think I like the one from Nate the best.  To me, it looks like he’s telling the world “I Love my Grandpa”!   Here’s a picture.... what do you think? 

So, I’m not very good at making Christmas cards, but I take LOTS of pictures throughout the year so I want to start sending some out for the holidays!  This year, I am thinking I will try this card called Joy Sage Story.

I like the modern look of the front and then how the inside will let me put 6 photos and a little blurb about each one of them and feel like it will be a great (easy/quick) representation of the year 2010! I never do newsletters but I always like reading them.  I feel like this is a good compromise!  Its like a cliff notes of the year!  I am already thinking about my six most memorable 2010 moments that will make it to this year’s card.

If you like the inside layout of that card, there are a couple other designs that are similar - like Most Wonderful Story and Joyous Holiday Story.  They also do flat cards and of course all sizes of prints.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some of my fav's!  

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If you have a blog and want 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, Click here to go to Shutterfly for information on how you can get 50 free cards this holiday season, and make sure to select Clever 1000 as the referral source.

On Becoming a Photographer

I just got (another) camera!!

This one is the BEST yet!

I am now the proud owner of a DSLR camera!!! (after wanting one since a college class in 03!)  Its a Canon Rebel XT - so an older one - prob from '05ish... but hey- it looks like its in decent condition, and it works!! :) AND it was free!!!!!!!!

How did I get it free you ask?? Well, I got a little bit of money for my bday and decided I was going to put it towards a used DSLR.  So I posted on FB asking ppl what models they liked, etc and this guy from High School who I was in band with (he was a Sr when I was a freshman and I was friends with his sister) saw my facebook post asking for advice on what used DSLR to look for, etc.  So he messages me and says- you can just have mine!

He lives in AZ and even paid to ship the camera.  It was a CANON REBEL XT camera body with battery in it & strap... no lens, no battery charger/cords/memory card/case/manual/etc...

In college I took a photography class and had to buy and SLR camera.  I got the Canon Rebel film version bc digital was just getting more popular and it was super expensive.  I also had a Camera bag already for this camera in college!  The bag will work PERFECTLY for all my new stuff- cool huh!?

AND luckily my old FILM Rebel kit zoom lens fit on it - so all i needed to start shooting was a memory card!!  I knew I would need a battery charger soon too!  So I checked out the battery and started researching what charger I'd need to order, etc.  Even thought about getting an extra battery at some point... chargers were about $70, batteries $35 ish.  

HOWEVER an extra bonus- the camera a friend gave me that stopped working - the Canon G9 - it had a chargeable battery (with the charger) in it... well the battery is the SAME exact one that this new camera uses meaning - I have 2 batteries and a charger already!! :) Praise the LORD! :)

Oh AND did I mention I already owned a CF card reader from my very first Digital camera (that i haven't used in years!!) and i knew where it was?!  Cool huh!? :)

I quickly bought a new lens to play with also- its the 50mm 1.8 that most of my friends use to get the awesome portaits with a "blurry" bg!  I found it locally at Competitive Camera in dallas for 99.95+ tax!

AND i realized I didn't have a cord to hook the camera to the TV - so I found one of those online.  I also found a Memory card converter that will convert a regular SD card (I have like 4 of these already) to CF format in your camera.  I felt like I would rather invest a little in a converter and be able to use the small, easy to find SD cards in my camera instead of the older, more rare CF cards.  I take LOTS of pics and now that I'll be shooting in RAW, I'll need more space!!

So this is what I've spent for my camera so far:

Memory Card: $26

50mm f/1.8 lens: $108.00

A/V video cable: $10

CF to SD card converter: $16

Grand total: $160.00

Can you believe it?!! I've spent $160 and I now have everything that follows for my camera:

Canon Rebel XT 8.1 mp complete with Camera bag, Kit Lens, 50mm Lens, 2 batteries, a charger, a video cord, a 4gb CF memory card, a card reader, SD to CF converter, numerous SD cards.

I'm so excited!!! God is SOOO good to me!!  Can't wait to start bettering my photography skills!!

I think I'm gonna start praying for a MAC Laptop with Adobe CS5!!  Bring on the BHAP! :) (big hairy audacious prayers) and lets see what God wants to do!

They Say its your BIRTHDAY!! : )

Did you know that lots of places want to give you presents on your birthday!?  Well I thought I'd blog about all the emails and offers I'm getting on my birthday this year.  You can pick your fav's and goto their site and sign up on their email list.  Usually the first time you sign up- you'll also get an additional freebie (like a free appetizer @ on the border, etc).  Then its fun to try to figure out how to use them all before they expire.  

The list below are all from emails.  I have also gotten 2 birthday Freebies in the mail as well this week.  One was from Red Hot & Blue and it was a free dinner entree with purchase of another entree and the other was a $10 gift card to Victoria Secret that expires on 6/30/10!!  I LOVe free!!

Birthday Freebies


**Update: I'm going to cross them off as I use them! This will be tricky to get them all used before they expire since I"ll be out of the country from Friday, the 4th through June 13th!!! (But I'm gonna try to use as many as possible!!)


Email Received Location FREE Requirements EXPIRES



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Black Eyed Pea Free Appetizer   w/Entrée Purchase 6/9/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday On The Border Free Dip Trio or Brownie Sundae w/Entrée Purchase 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Marble Slab Free Regular Cone 6/9/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Great American Cookie Free Cookie Cake Slice 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Boston Market Free individual dessert  w/any meal purchase 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Smoothie King Free 20oz Smoothie w/purchase of 20oz Smoothie 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday TCBY Free Sm. Cup of Frozen Yogurt 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Arby's Free 12oz shake w/any purchase 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Schlotzskys Free Small Original Sandwich 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Chili's Free Brownie Sundae w/Entrée Purchase 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Taco Bueno Free 2pk cheesecake chimichangas w/purchase of any platter or combo 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Texas Land & Cattle Free Appetizer  w/Entrée Purchase 6/16/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Spaghetti Warehouse Free Spaghetti Entrée & Free Spumoni Sundae 6/29/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Maggiano's $10 off meal Must be $30 or more 7/2/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Buca di Beppo Free dessert w/Entrée Purchase 7/2/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Texas de Brazil Free dinner w/purchase of full-price dinner 7/2/2010



6/2 -1 wk before Bday Souper Salad Free lunch or dinner buffet 7/2/2010

Lovable Labels Giveaway

http://workoutmommyreviews.com/2009/12/02/lovable-labels-giveaway/

Do you like to LABEL EVERYTHING!?  Well check out one of my favorite Mom sites and enter the giveaway!

Ps- eventually I'll write a REAL blog.... I promise!