Blurb Book

A couple of months ago, I purchased a new digital SLR-style camera and memory card. With that purchase, I received a coupon to create and purchase a free photo book from Blurb.com. As always, since it was free, I was all over it.

I'll start by saying the final product is beautiful. You can hardly tell thanks to the terrible (playing with a new but crappy iPhone photo app) picture I included. But regardless, it really did turn out quite amazing.

Having said that, creating it was a tremendous pain. I will admit, I waited until the 11th hour before the offer expired to start creating it. Word to the the wise, plan ahead and commit the time to designing your photo book. Carefully choose pictures and organize how and where you will place them in the book. Unlike me, I was downloading and placing pictures everywhere in a rush to get the order in before it was too late.

I'd like to say the process of pulling the book and it's pages together was somewhat frustrating and cumbersome. But, I was rushing. Maybe had I started sooner and committed an appropriate amount of time to the effort the process would have been easier.

Overall, I like the final product. It would make an incredible gift for someone. The design and theme options are endless. In terms of price, they range anywhere from about $11 (plus shipping and handling) to $60+ depending on size, number of pages, binding options, paper options and so on.

I'd certainly recommend it and actually plan on designing/purchasing more....when I have time.

Shutterfly Notecards

So I was offered free Shutterfly.com notecards about 2 months ago and jumped on the opportunity to get them. The value was almost $20. I previously posted the image of the notecards I designed and ordered and have finally gotten around to reviewing them. I'm sorry, "freeviewing" them.

Overall, I think they are very nice. The cards are one sheet (not folded like traditional cards) and are made with a nice heavy stock of paper. The envelopes are a decent quality as well. I have already used them to write a few notes to friends.

In terms of the process of ordering, I'm not going to lie....for me personally, there were not a whole lot of card options that appealed to me. I felt like the selection was very limited. Granted, I have very limited tastes/expectations (purple, purple and more purple), so this may be a problem only I would encounter. Ultimately, I did find a customizable card with purple. But it kind of seemed like in addition to a low variety of card options, the opportunities to customize were limited as well. Once I placed the order, it took a while for the cards to arrive, but I would imagine that maybe they gave priority to paying customers.

Beggars can't be choosers...the cards were free. And they are great quality. So ultimately I am glad I got them. However, should I want to pay for an order of notecards, I'd probably explore other options that provide more variety and opportunities to customize.

Coastal.com - Free Pair of Prescription Eyeglasses

Just happened to be perusing my FaceBook newsfeed one day when I noticed a friend had accepted a "deal" for a FREE pair of prescription eyeglasses from somewhere. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more, but was a little skeptical considering there are a lot of "too good to be true" offers on FaceBook. I pursued it anyway, and wouldn't you know....it was the REAL DEAL. The offer came from a Coastal.com promotion where with a code used at checkout, your eyeglass purchase is free. Granted, you have to pay shipping and handling (which ended up being about $16) and you have to choose from the selection of glasses they give you. BUT...the selection is a good one. I found several pairs that appealed to me before deciding on these. And for $16, that's a good price considering my last pair of glasses cost about $200. With prescription glasses being so expensive, I only had one pair. However this deal offered me the opportunity for a back-up pair in case one of them breaks...and a little variety. I like to switch things up every once and a while.

You'll have to have your prescription handy for checkout, which I did having just gone to my optometrist in July. Besides that, the process was incredibly smooth and quick. Once I narrowed down my choices and figured out which ones I wanted, checkout was super easy. And the glasses arrived literally 2 days later! Two days!

Needless to say, I am very pleased with the glasses and my experience with Coastal.com. Prior to the FaceBook deal I had never heard of them. Quite honestly, I may purchase all of my eyeglasses from them here on out. Browsing their website, I came across some pretty good deals and styles I may want to take advantage of in the future.

The FaceBook promotion has since expired. However, they do have an ongoing deal for first time customers where all new customers can order their first pair of glasses for free. Again, you are limited to a specific selection of frames, but there are over 600 choices so one is bound to find at least one pair they like. And for heaven's sake....they're free!

Shutterfly

Just ordered this stationery for free courtesy of Shutterfly. I'll have to review them once they arrive. 

View the entire Shutterfly collection of cards.

Simple

There is a new line of products that just hit the US markets called "Simple." Evidently it is the #1 skincare product line in the United Kingdom and they are looking for a similar following here in the US. They are currently in heavy promotion mode as I have seen countless commercials for their products in addition to social media campaigns signing people up for free samples and more. There's even a Klout perk to receive some of their products, but I for once didn't get mine through Klout. I actually used a different social media connection.

Bottom line, I wasn't all too impressed. My skin is probably what one would consider "normal," not oily or sensitive. However after using the cleanser, my skin felt really dry. I prefer it feel clean, refreshed and "normal." Therefore, I'm not planning on investing in this line of products. Think I'll just stick with my "tried and true" brands. At least until something else free comes along.

Domino's New Artisan Pizzas

This week Domino's pizza is offering a free Artisan pizza to 75,000 Facebook fans. The first 25,000 were offered up today and rest assured, I got one of them. You have a limited amount of time to redeem the free pizza as it expires in 2 weeks so I decided to go ahead and get mine today. So I placed the order online 30 minutes before leaving the office so I could pick it up on the way home.

I ordered the "Italian Sausage & Pepper Trio" artisan pizza. And....it was FANTASTIC! The other artisan options are "Tuscan Salami & Roasted veggie," "Spinach & Feta" and "Chicken & Bacon Carbonara." They're $7.99 per 13" pizza and worth every single solitary cent. This one was free but I'd gladly pay for one of these artisan pizzas and am looking forward to trying some of the other flavors over time.

I have always been a Papa John's kinda girl, but Domino's has been a close second. Maybe now they're tied.

Tide & Downy

This fall, Tide and Downy both held Facebook promotions for two of their new products. The promotion offered Facebook users who "like" their fan pages the new products if they were among the first to sign up. Tide offered up its "Stain Release in-wash booster" which promises to aid in the removal of stains from laundry, in addition to keeping whites white, brighten colors and prevent dinginess. Downy offered up its "Un-Stoppables in-wash scent boosters."

I of course signed up for both. The free Tide sample pack came with about 10 boosters which is AWESOME. Love when promoters provide you with enough product to really get to use it and experience it over time. And as can clearly be seen by the photo, I have since used up all my Tide stain release booster samples. The instructions for the boosters are pretty simple. You just add one booster to your laundry in the washer at the beginning of the laundry cycle when you add the detergent.

Not going to lie...I really didn't see much difference in the "quality" of my clean laundry from before I started adding the booster to after. Granted, I don't often experience stains on my clothes to really be able to tell if the booster was quintessential in removing them. I think the laundry detergent alone does a great job of doing the very things the booster promises. So ultimately, once I ran out of the Tide stain release boosters, I didn't run out to buy more.

This however was not the case for the Downy Un-stoppables Scent Booster. The photo depicts the REPLACEMENT products I have already purchased because I loved it so much! Downy sent a sample package that contained one use. Same simple instructions as the Tide boosters. Sprinkle a cap full of Un-stoppables directly in your laundry at the beginning of the laundry cycle and that's it. Once the clothes have finished in both the washer and the dryer, they smell divine. I love this product. So much so, I not only bought it in the "Fresh" scent (which is the scent Downy offered for its sample), I also purchased the "Lush" scent.

Bottom line, I totally recommend the Downy Un-stoppables. They are worth it for how great they leave your clothes smelling and subsequently your closet, dresser drawers and YOU when you're wearing the clothes. As far as the Tide stain release boosters are concerned, I think detergent alone, at least for me, is enough.

Home Run Inn Pizza!

Another recent Klout perk arrived in the mail a little over a week ago. Chicago pizza chain Home Run Inn Pizza has a line of all natural, no preservatives frozen pizzas available in local grocery stores nationwide. I recently qualified for a free frozen pizza (actually two!) through their partnership with Klout.

The package arrived in a cool sparkly blue envelop and contained tons of information about the business including its history, restaurants, products and more. It also included a super cool pizza cutter and two coupons for free frozen pizzas. I picked up one of those pizzas Friday night for a pizza and movie night, perfect choices considering how dreary it was outside.

I'll be completely honest, I have never liked frozen pizzas. The few times I have invested in them and given them a try, I was not pleased. I can be considered somewhat of a pizza snob. Even when ordering pizza from local delivery chains, my standards and expectations are high. I kind of really only like Papa John's. Although I can tolerate Domino's and Pizza Hut on occasion. Little Caesar's, CiCi's Pizza...no and no.

To my surprise, the Home Run Inn pizza was fantastic! I chose the Classic Sausage & Pepperoni. It was simple to prepare and only took about 15 minutes. They cost $7.99 at my local grocery store. Would I invest in a Home Run Inn pizza beyond my free coupons? Maybe. I really am partial to Papa John's, and with their rewards program, I often qualify for a free pizza here and there. If I do carryout, the pizza costs nothing. Delivery? Only about $4 for the delivery fee and a tip. I hate spending money, so free is always my first choice. But I'd be willing to pick up a Home Run Inn pizza on a grocery trip for "one of those days" when you don't feel like paying or waiting for a pizza chain delivery. $7.99 for a two-topping pizza seems reasonable all things considered.

Zoya Nail Polish

Zoya, an online beauty supply store specializing in nail care products recently launched a new collection of colors. To kick-off the launch, they offered up your choice of two of their current polish colors...for free! Obviously I was all over that. And even more obviously, I opted for two shades of purple. "Zara," a light shade of purple with gold flecks and "Areetha," a metallic shade of purple. It seems as though Zoya assigns each color a female name. One color happened to be called "Tia," however it was a shade of pink. Clearly my love for purple over powered my desire to have a bottle of nail polish that shares my name.

For the record, I generally only wear color polish on my toenails, preferring clear polish on my fingernails. However, because it is winter, my toes are generally covered with closed toe shoes. So once my Zoya polishes arrived, I decided to step out of the box for once and paint my toenails and fingernails with my new polish.

The colors are beautiful. I chose to apply two coats to fully cover my nails. I have had the polishes for a couple of weeks now and each time I paint my nails the color seems to last about a week to a week and a half before they start chipping, which is pretty average. The website is easy to navigate, and they do a great job of describing the polish in terms of color, finish, intensity and so on. And from my perspective, the colors on the website pretty much match what color the actual polish is. Or at least it seems pretty close (although this may somewhat depend on how good your computer monitor is).

They cost $8 a bottle regular price plus shipping depending on how many bottles you buy. I happily recommend the polish if you're willing to spend $8 a bottle. There is a HUGE collection of color options to choose from. If there is a color that knocks my socks off and I can't manage to find a similar shade at the drugstore, I myself might be willing to purchase it at $8 plus shipping. Otherwise, I'd rather save shipping costs and opt for a $4 - $5 bottle from a local store. Especially since I really only wear color polish on my toes. Clear kind of looks the same no matter what brand it is. I'm just saying.

"Areetha" & "Zara"

Cleaning Made Easy...(er)

Next up on my Freeview blog is the Swiffer 360 degree duster, which promises to trap and lock 3 times the dust thanks to its "Dust Lock Adhesive." I managed to score one of these kits thanks to my participation/membership on Vocalpoint. A kit comes with 1 handle and 3 unscented disposable dusters.

Short and simple, I love it. It works exceptionally well and manages to capture just about all the dust. Easy to put together and pretty straight forward on how to use it. You just dust with it. And it's safe to dust just about anything...blinds, furniture, electronics and so on. My only complaint would be that it seems like you get only one use out of each disposable duster. This may be normal, or what the expectation is. But I'm cheap, I'd rather get at least two uses out of. Granted, this may also be a testament to how often I DON'T dust leaving too much dust for one duster to manage.


Regardless, it is a great product and I have already purchased a pack of disposable duster refills as I intend to continue to use this Swiffer product. That having been said, I totally recommend it.

Ready for Take off!

Pan Am Travel Tote Bag

I LOVE the 60's. At least, the positive things about the 60's. The clothes, the cars, the music, etc. To me, it seems like a time when things were a lot simpler, more concise and polished, so to speak. Looking at pictures and videos taken from that time, everyone looks so well put together. Something that you don't see a lot of today. Expectations and standards back then were a lot different than they are now. I sometimes joke that I should have been born in the 50's to have lived through the 60's & 70's. (Disclaimer: I'd choose iPhones and other techie stuff over the 60's any day!)

One of my favorite things about the time period is how glamorous travel was back then. It seemed like a time when travel was a lot easier, enjoyable and affordable as opposed to how it is now. More people did it, more often. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to "people watch" in a 60's airport! And the luggage! I LOVE vintage luggage! So much so I collect purple vintage luggage. My collection currently has almost 20 pieces!

Two Amelia Earhart pieces from my collection.

I share this because one of the free social media gems I happened upon not too long ago is a travel tote from the tv series Pan Am. The show premiered during the Fall 2011 season and focuses on the airline during the beginning of the commercial jet age. It depicts the era exactly how imagine it. And the tote bag... is wonderful! It is well made and feels solid enough to actually travel with. Love how the tags mimic the luggage claim tags the airlines actually put on your luggage when traveling.

The bag is called the "Pan An Explorer" which retails for $89 and can be purchased on the Pan Am Brands website along with other Pan Am merchandise. I managed to score one by following Pan Am on Twitter and tweeting my thoughts about the show...and the fact that I really wanted a bag during one of their promotional contests.

Would I spend $89 on this bag? Probably not, although I do think it's worth it. Knowing my OCD obsession with the color purple, I'd rather spend that money on a vintage purple luggage find. But I would recommend it for the avid jet setter. It's very chic and fun! I'll use it!

MOOOOOOO!

Next up on my Free-view blog is Moo Cards. Not too long ago, I signed up for Klout, a social media site/tool that measures a person's social media influence and presence. The more Klout you have, the more influence you supposedly have. Some argue that Klout is a croc. I am still on the fence. They may be on to something. And I really enjoy Klout's perks. What are "perks"? It's free stuff you get because Klout has determined you can influence other people about whatever it is. Bottom line, once you get the free stuff, the expectation is that you'd talk about it and share your experiences with it through social media influencing others to go out and buy whatever product or service you're talking about. I have gotten quite a few free perks through Klout over the past few months which I intend to write about on this blog. The first...Moo Cards.

Moo Cards is a company that specializes in business cards. They have other products but the majority of their efforts are in the production of business cards and business card innovation. I say business card innovation because I have discovered two unique business card concepts I had never seen before through them. The Moo MiniCards and Facebook cards.

In an effort to share the Moo MiniCards with the world, Moo partnered with Klout offering qualified influencers a free pack of them. I qualified and took advantage of the offer. And I love them! I loved everything about Moo. Their website, the design process, the ordering process and the cards themselves! I love that you can use as many pictures you want to design the backs of your Moo cards. The customization process is extremely simple and easy. Once you've placed your order, the cards are delivered in what seems like no time at all. I decided to make these cards my personal cards as opposed to business cards. The quality is top notch. I almost don't want to give them out I like them so much. But that defeats their purpose. That having been said, when I run out, or need more MiniCards for whatever reason, I will happily buy more.

After having become a Moo customer through my Klout perk, I managed to get on their email list and began receiving email newsletters. Through one of their newsletters I happened upon another new concept for business cards through Moo, the Facebook card. With the launch of Facebook Timelines and the introduction of the Facebook cover photo, Moo decided to create the Facebook Card which combines your Facebook profile picture, cover photo, and whatever other information you choose. And again, they were giving away free packs of them! So of course, I signed up. Granted, I still haven't figured out exactly what I would use these cards for (maybe personal cards as well?), but I am sure there are tons of possibilities. Just have to get creative. Again, the designing and ordering processes were seamless, the cards arrived in no time, and they were top notch.

Ultimately, I think Moo is a great business that provides excellent products and customer service. I highly recommend them and can say this is one time when something free will result in a future paying customer.

Lipton Green Tea SuperFruit

Another sample I signed up for through Facebook is from Lipton. They have recently introduced a new series of green tea with "Superfruit." The flavors include White Mangosteen & Peach, Purple Acai & Blueberry, Red Goji & Raspberry., and more. The samples I received were the Purple Acai & Blueberry. No complaints here, purple is my favorite color so why not?

I'm not much of a hot tea drinker. I am really not that big of a tea drinker in general. Although I will admit that I LOVE Lipton's "Half & Half" Lemonade iced tea and will definitely drink that when I am fortunate enough to find it and buy it in stores.

The tea was not that bad. I actually enjoyed it. Had to add a little sugar to it but not that much. Green tea is supposedly good for you because it provides health benefits for your heart, cardiovascular system, brain, and helps with weight control and disease prevention. I don't know this for sure, but that seems to be what most studies say. I understand the acai berry also has some health benefits including improving energy levels, helping with digestion, and detoxifying the body.

All in all, I enjoyed the tea. But it was not mind blowing. With the health benefits I may consider purchasing and drinking it every now and then, but I am not rushing out to the store today.

Crystal Light Energy Drink Mix

For the record, I have received countless free items from my social media efforts. I am going to have to make it a point to post reviews on them over time. But for my first official post on this blog, I will be reviewing Crystal Light's new "energy" drink mix.

I vaguely remember a Facebook campaign where I signed up for a sample and  it arrived in the mail yesterday. The packaging boasts "90% fewer calories than leading beverages." And that it provides energy through "caffeine and energy releasing B vitamins." The flavor of the sample sent was citrus although it is also available in "Peach Mango," "Wild Strawberry" and "Grape" varieties.

As usual with drink mixes, you pour a packet in a bottle of water and shake to mix it. In terms of convenience, I love that the packets are small enough to carry around in your purse so that you always have access to them. I guess if you are at a restaurant and ordered a glass of water instead of a soft drink or tea, you could pour a Crystal Light packet into your water to add flavor. The instructions suggest adding the packet to either 16.9 ounces of water (your standard sized bottle of water) or 2 cups of water in a glass. I  also love the concept of having a product that promotes the consumption of healthy beverages as opposed to those packed with sugar and other unhealthy byproducts. Presumably, this is about as close to drinking a glass of water you can get and still have a little flavor.

But let's be realistic, if it doesn't taste good, you're not going to drink it. The first couple of sips left an unpleasant after taste. But it seemed as though the more I drank it, the less I noticed the after taste. It definitely had a citrus flavor to it. I wasn't overly pleased with it, but it didn't completely turn me off either. I can personally admit that I need to drink more water and make healthier beverage choices throughout the day. But the reality for me is, I'd rather just drink a bottled water than invest in these drink mixes. Furthermore, I didn't notice myself having a boost in energy from drinking it. I felt the same as I would after drinking pretty much anything else. That having been said, I don't see myself recommending this product to anyone. It's not great, and it's not bad. For me to purchase something, it has to be great and/or meet some kind of need. So there we have it, my first official review of something I got for free.

Eureka!

Couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with this particular blog. I have so many now. But recently I had an epiphany! I can use it as my product review blog. With the rise in social media has come the rise in FREE stuff to sample and share your opinion about....on social media. I have been diligently following and pursuing free social media products for a while now and have amassed quite the collection. Everything from meals, cleaning products, beauty products, business products and the list goes on. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before! Most businesses give out the products with the hope that recipients will share their experiences and encourage friends and family to also try (and buy) their products. So I'll do just that, right here.