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Do they have a drug rehabilitation sort of thing for this?  There is just so much cool stuff out there for stampers and scrappers, it is hard NOT to want to buy it all!

Today I got in the mail the Holiday Mini-Catalog from Stampin’ Up! They are now carrying the Sizzix Big Shot machine, as well as some dies that are exclusive to Stampin’ Up!  You can’t buy them from Michaels or A.C. Moore or anyplace else.  There are some really nice ones there, and they shall soon be mine.

If you don’t have an SU demonstrator to buy stuff from, may I recommend my friend, Annette Stewart?  You can visit her blog at ink-paper-scissors-rock.typepad.com.  From there, you can order online from her, join her mailing list, see the latest products, get good ideas for projects, and much more.

So, drug rehab for buying fun crafty stuff?  I don’t think so!  This is a much healthier addiction!  Just as long as you don’t spend the rent money, that is!

One of my favorite chain restaurants is TGI Friday’s.  There’s one in Everett, MA, which is not far from us at all.  I love this location because it has a HUGE bar area, which is separate from the dining room, and has many HDTVs.  It makes for a great, adults-only sports bar atmosphere.  Mike and I love to go there, plop our butts on a couple of bar stools, have a coupla beers and a meal, and enjoy whatever game is on TV. We don’t have cable at home…our choice, as we don’t feel there is enough good programming on it to justify the expense.  But since all the Red Sox games are on cable now, this is the go-to place to watch them.

In fact, we’re planning on going there for lunch tomorrow, to watch Johnny Pesky get his number 6 retired at Fenway.

Anyhoo, did you know that they have a loyalty program for their customers?  It is called Give Me More Stripes.  It is 100% free to sign up.  I’ve been seeing an awful lot of similar programs that charge you a “membership” fee to sign up and get perks and discounts.  This is ridiculous.  The whole idea of this thing should be to get people to return to the store or restaurant, why make them pay extra for anything?  If a business rewards frequent customers, they are more likely to keep coming back.

You can sign up online, right now, and they will generate a temporary membership card that you can print out and use right away.  They will mail you a real one in about 10 days.  If you forget your card at the restaurant, you can use your phone number to get credited for your visit.  Or you can go home, log into your account on the website, and enter the info off of your receipt to get credited.

What you get:  For every $100 you spend at any Friday’s location, you will be emailed an $8 gift certificate which can be used for food purchases only.  Alcohol bought with food will be counted towards your rewards, but if you just pop in for a beer, sorry, no can do.  This is not a problem for us, because we always eat when we’re there.  In our case, they would count the cost of both the food and the beer, so that’s cool.

And we do like the food there.  I’m not a big steak eater, but Mike is, and he likes their steaks.  My favorite thing is their broccoli-cheese soup, followed by the chicken fingers with honey-mustard sauce.  Their cedar-planked salmon pasta is very tasty, too, I had that last week.

So, if you live near a Friday’s location, go and sign up!

As you may well know, I LOVE Bare Escentuals makeup.  I joined their club, where they send you new shipments of foundations and Mineral Veil on a regular basis…you can log into your account online and decide exactly how often.  It’s cheaper than buying them at the store, and they often throw in free goodies with each shipment.  In the last shipment, I got a cute little brush case, with an angled blush brush and an angled eye makeup brush.

With my original kit, I got this compact for free.  To be honest, I don’t care for it much, mostly because I don’t like the brush.  It’s a flat brush, not a thick round bushy type of brush that one would normally use for applying the face products.  I put Mineral Veil in mine, because I use a lot of that, and that’s what I use for touch-ups during the day.  But this brush puts on too much, no matter how much you tap off the excess, and it makes you look like you are wearing a mask.  With this makeup, a little goes a very long way.  You apply just a little at a time, and if you feel you need a little more (if you’re like many women and don’t have perfect skin), add a little more.  But don’t put on a whole boatload all at once…a little at a time does the trick.

Anyhoo, I started carrying one of the small buki brushes in my purse with the compact.  But still, how nice it would be to have something that was all-in-one.

Well, now it is here…the Mineral Veil On The Go Brush.  This is a limited edition item, available only from Sephora.  Right now it’s available onliine to those who sign up for Sephora’s free Beauty Insider program, but I think it will be in their stores in October.

The way it works is that it has a retractable brush, and the bottom of the thing is filled with the Mineral Veil.  You unscrew the top off, twist the bottom so that the brush sticks out, then turn it over and tap the brush on the inside of the lid.  The Mineral Veil will flow though the brush, when you see it in the brush, apply as usual.

It does not apply it too heavily, so you may need a second application.  I found it very easy to use, and the product does not get all over the place, as it tended to with the compact.

The bottom os the box it comes in says that it is not refillable.  This is NOT so.  The bottom has a cap that screws on and off, and that’s where you refill it.  You just turn the thing on the bottom so that the brush retracts back into the case…the bottom cap will then be sticking out for easy access.  I’ve only had mine for a few days, it comes filled with Mineral Veil, so I’ve not had to refill it yet.  But I would recommend using a funnel when it comes time to refill, as the opening is kind of small.  You don’t want to waste product by getting it all over the place!  If you don’t have a small funnel, just make one from a small piece of paper.

This product retails for $28.  If you order from Sephora online, they offer free shipping for orders $50 +.  So I also ordered this Beauty-On-The-Go compact for my foundation.  When I’m out in the sun, say out at a ball game or on a boat, I do like to touch up the foundation during the day, because it is 15 SPF.  I’ll review this compact in a future post.

Shipping is fast, and I was glad to see that they will ship to a P.O. box, since I have trouble getting mail and packages at home.

So yes, if you’re a BE junkie, I recommend this new product.  But remember, it’s Limited Edition, so who knows how long it will be available?  Maybe if it sells well enough, it will become a permanent item.

With the holidaze coming sooner than you think, it’s time to start looking for that special gift for a child in your life.  Have you considered personalized gifts?

Kids Personally offers a large selection of items that can be personalized with your child’s name and picture.  They have books, music CDs, photo prints, puzzles, and much more.  Some of the items, such as the NFL photo prints, are also suitable for adults.  I wish they had baseball ones, now that would be really cool.  Maybe someday!

They also have DVDs which star your child along with his or her favorite characters.  Say your kid loves “Barney”.  You can send in a picture of the child, and Kids Personally will put it into a movie starring the child, Barney, and friends.  Here’s a video which shows how it works:

“My Party With Barney” Personalized DVD from PersonalizedStories.com on Vimeo.

I think this is a cool idea. Go and check out personalizedstories.com to see what else they have to offer!

It’s getting to be time to completely revamp my craft area again. I have so many supplies and things that it’s become a cluttered mess, and impossible to work in. I really need to go to a discount furniture place and look for some nice vertical storage.

I’ve bought so many cool crafty products this year that I’ve wanted to review here, but I just haven’t gotten to them.  I really hope to be able to do that soon.

I suppose I COULD quit buying stuff, but I can’t help myself!