It's A MOO! Printed Goodies Giveaway & Review

Have you always wanted to take your blog or crafting business to the next level with some creative handout materials?  Sleek custom business cards, stickers, gift tags - the stuff all the big crafters seem to have?  It's easy thanks to MOO.  I had a chance to try out them out and its amazing printing services and now 3 lucky Sew Can Do readers can too!

I've used a lot of different sources for printing business cards, labels and cards over the years.  Most have been ok, but I always felt that to make materials that looked really special you had to have amazing graphics skills or a big budget.  So I was excited when MOO asked me to pick a few items to try and review.

MOO makes it easy to have high end, standout materials.  There were so many creative designs and different card options - I went a little wild and got a bunch of styles.  There are lots of looks that appeal to crafters and many color ways for each one.  I loved this button themed design in the rainbow option:

I thought this Fabric Swatch set was so cool & perfect for us fabric lovers.  There were 2 more fabric variations too, but I was able to pick the ones I liked best to make up my set.  I LOVED having that flexibility.  You can actually see the texture of the fabric in the swatches and the back has a slick look for contact info.  I did mine in the gloss finish and they are SO fabulous. I feel like a designing superstar seeing my name & info on them:

I also made this design-your-own version with my own logo.  I opted for rounded corners on all of them, but you can go traditional and there's always 4 color printing on both sides - no extra costs for any of those options either!

The quality of the cards was much nicer than any others I've had done.  They just feel really rich (and I didn't even pick the ultra Luxe version!).  And each set came in a cool covered storage box:

They also do clever MOO MiniCards (half the size of a standard card).  These would make cool product tags.  You can choose their Printfinity option and make each one have a different image to show off loads of photos:

I couldn't help myself and got some stickers too.  These are beyond cool.  Just upload your favorite photos or your own graphics and BAM!  You've got some slick, glossy vinyl stickers to put on whatever you want.  I made some fun family-style round stickers.  My kids were so excited to see their faces on real stickers (especially Mr. Mustachio there):

And I splurged and bought a MOO StickerBook - 90 unique stickers, ideal for creating and promoting your brand and found my dream product.  Moo's StickerBooks have 90 mini stickers on tear out sheets in a matchbook-style booklet.  You can make all 90 stickers different too.  I choose some of my favorite projects to showcase (like a portable portfolio), but I could see these being great for party goodie bags:

or homework rewards:

And they would also make easy product branding, or work for special occasions like weddings. You can even pick the color of the match-box style package!

So many possibilites!  And the customer service was excellent too.  I definitely plan to buy more MOO in the future.  Now how about a chance to win some MOO for you???

THREE lucky Sew Can Do readers will win

their choice of:

50 business cards or 100 MiniCards!

Loads of easy entry options are below.  Good luck everyone:)


a Rafflecopter giveaway
I was not financially compensated for this post.  I received free samples to review.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. 

Tutorial Time: Let's Make Lip Balm!!

Today I thought I'd share a super easy & very rewarding how-to: Making Your Own Lip Balm.  With all the chilly air right now it's incredibly practical and so simple you can even make it with the kids.

I'm going to do the quickie method here.  I know there are more complicated ways to blend various ingredients, colors, etc., but for basic lip balm this is the way to go.  So let's do this!!

You'll Need:
- 2 oz. Lip balm base
- 1/4 tsp flavor oil
- Pyrex measuring cup
- Knife
- Stickers/Labels
- 10 Lip balm tubes & caps
- Optional: sweetener oil*

You can find the base, flavor oil & tubes at a lot of online shops.  Brambleberry is a good quality source with reasonable prices.  *Sweetener oil is available, but not necessary.  I don't want to give my 3yr old any ideas about eating lip balm, so I leave that out.

Start by scooping the base into the Pyrex cup.  It could be soft like this or more solid depending on the base - either way is ok since it'll get liquified when hot:

Microwaving for 30 seconds at a time on low/defrost setting (3-4) until melted.  In my microwave that was about 45 seconds total.  You don't want it to be boiling.

Stir until smooth, then pour in flavor oil and mix until blended.

Working quickly, pour the liquid balm into the tubes.  It helps to have them all lined up before you start so you can zip from one to another on down the line.  If it starts to firm up while pouring, just warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave.  Wipe away any drips and let cool.  Once hardened, if seem uneven at the top, just turn up slightly and then use a knife to smooth them over & add cap.

To make things look really nice, add some pretty labels.  My newest sponsor, Wholeport, carries these cool masking tape sticker sets that are ideal for this.  And FYI- they're also a totally fabulous source for other crafty goodies - including lip balm tubes.

I just stick a circle on the cap tops and write out the flavor on the strips for a nice custom look.

I think it makes them so much cuter -

Wasn't that easy?  It literally takes minutes and is way better than just buying the boring store varieties.  Even though I just made some, I totally feel like making more, which is always the sign of a good project to me;)

I'm also sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.

Click HERE to check them out!

PrintRunner Custom Stickers Giveaway!

I have always wanted to have some custom stickers made for Sew Can Do.  Seeing my design in print would make me feel like I'm in the big leagues (even though I'm still little old me).  I'd put stickers on all my Sew Can Do-related stuff to look and feel more professional. And by using online printing companies, it's gotten easier for everyone to snag that big deal look, no matter what size they are.  I'm excited to have PrintRunner sponsoring today's giveaway - one lucky winner will receive:

250 Printed Full Color Stickers 
from PrintRunner!

Use them to style-up your blog related stuff, kick your business materials up a notch or just pretty up your personal things.

PrintRunner strives to provide the best value and high quality full color printing at an affordable price.  All their services are done in-house, right here in the USA.  And not only do they do custom stickers and business cards, they also offer other things that are perfect for your small business or blog, like bumper stickers, hang tags and holiday cards.  

I love the idea of stickers with my Sew Can Do design on them.  I'd use them on packages, my patterns and on handmade gifts.  

Want the chance to win 250 printed stickers with your own design or logo?

To Enter:

Tell me what ways you'd use your custom stickers if you won.  Be sure to include an email address if it's not on your profile.

For Additional Entries (leave a separate comment for each one):

- Like PrintRunner on Facebook
- Follow PrintRunner on Twitter

- Follow Sew Can Do

- Like Sew Can Do on Facebook

- Follow Sew Can Do on Twitter

- Follow Sew Can Do on Pinterest

The winner will receive 
250 printed, full color stickers!

Prize Details: Sticker size 2"w x 3.5"h, printed on premium sticker stock, 4 color process (no proof and no design services are included), ready to ship in 3 business days.

Thank you to PrintRunner for providing this fabulous prize, I will receive a set of  custom stickers for hosting this giveaway and am super excited about them too.

Giveaway is CLOSED will be open until 11:59PM EST June 8, 2012. Giveaway is open to residents of U.S. only, over the age of 18yrs.  Void where prohibited.  The winner will be chosen at random and announced later that week.  Good Luck Everyone!