I have a post right now on Hobo Mama about Amy Adele's fabulous idea of calling cards for parents and children and, as far as I'm concerned, bloggers, as well!

When I was poking around Amy Adele for my review of children's stationery, I was seized by an idea. It wasn't, to be fair, my idea. It's Amy Adele's. But I love it, so I'm running with it.

…

Check out this action:

Click over to read the full post and discover some ways you can use this calling card notion to your advantage as either a parent or a blogger.



Meanwhile, I wanted to be sure to blog right away with news of two HUGE, limited-time discounts you can take advantage of if you want to order your own cards from Amy Adele:

• Calling cards are currently on sale for a whopping 50% off until this coming Sunday, June 27. That means they start at under $10 for 20, or just under $14 for 40, and the price gets cheaper and cheaper per item the higher the quantity. Order fast to take advantage of this incredible deal! I usually see 15% or 10% deals at Amy Adele — a 50% off is a whopper of a savings!
• Typing in hobomama gets you 15% off your order. (I honestly don't know if the discounts combine or not, but you can try. ETA: They don't combine, but you can use this code if you're buying something else that's regular priced. Also, shipping is free over $50, which I forgot to mention!)

I was really truly pleased with the quality and high adorableness of the Amy Adele thank-you cards I received, so I know you'll appreciate the look and feel of the calling cards, as well as Amy Adele's commitment to being eco-friendly as a company.



Amy Adele has a whole section of calling cards categorized as "Distinct Designs" that is a selection of more adult-style drawings, such as a house, a palm tree, or simple floral accents, which would be perfect for more of a business-casual look or to use for gift tags, to announce a move, or to advertise a business such as an Etsy shop.





Check out Amy Adele's ideas or come up with your own, and enjoy!

A big congratulations to the winner of the Smart Mom Jewelry Teething Bling Necklace from Posh Baby Boutique — #190!

Tina at The Making of a Modern Mommy

I love the cotton candy blue necklace! … I'd love to have the necklace because it's pretty and functional. My LO loves to hold my neckline or necklace while he nurses. He's not teething just yet but he still loves to put everything in his mouth! And how pretty!!

If you were not the lucky Tina, you can find Smart Mom Teething Bling at Posh Baby Boutique at $19.99 for a pendant and cord necklace, $16.00 for a keychain, and $34.00 for a gift set that includes a necklace, two bangle bracelets, and a gift notecard (perfect for a unique baby shower gift!).

And remember to keep in touch with Stacy on Posh Trendy Blog, by signing up for the Posh Baby Boutique email newsletter, following @PoshBabyStore on Twitter, or liking Posh Baby Boutique on Facebook.

Thank you to everyone for entering! Be sure to keep an eye on my giveaway page for upcoming giveaways. There are some other fantastic ones right around the corner!

A big congratulations to the winner of a copy of SteamPotVille, by Steve Ouch — #23!

Mikki at Inspector Parents

I like the vibrant pictures; my son would love staring at this I know it!

If you're not the lucky Mikki, remember you can still buy your own copy of SteamPotVille, by Steve Ouch, at Amazon.com, on sale right now for $10.85 and eligible for free Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25, or at your local bookseller. If you can't find it there, ask them to stock it!

And remember to keep in touch with Steve Ouch on his blog, the SteamPotVille website, Twitter, and Facebook.

Thank you to everyone for entering! Be sure to keep an eye on my giveaway page for upcoming giveaways. There are some other fantastic ones right around the corner!

One thing I love about entering giveaways is connecting with blogs (and parents!) that are naturally oriented.

J and his mother over at Happily Southern have wanted to use cloth diapers, but J is 40 pounds and has Down syndrome, so they figured there was nothing out there that would fit him and other special-needs kids. One Southern Girl was complaining about the lack on Twitter, which is always the way to do things, trust me!¹

Less than a week later, a package arived. On the back it read, "you got fluffy mail! ♥ fancygrlnancy". Inside was a FuzziBunz Perfect Size Large in Baby Blue! I immediately put it on J after recovering my breath! His sigh as I stood him up made up our minds to cloth diaper him full time. As soon as we got the diapers!

So Happily Southern is launching an event to give away cloth diapers but more than that. The Fluffdom Express will be

geared to helping families of children with Special Needs find diapers for their child and helping families decide what diapers to use in a hospital setting!

Very cool, no?

Stay tuned for this August event. If you want to spread the news about the event as I've done, you'll get extra entries into the giveaway. If you tell Happily Southern I referred you, I get even more extra entries (pretty please and thank you!).

And if you're looking to build a fluff stash for bigger babies or children, this is good news!²

---

1 (No, seriously, it's gotten me a garden, sponsors, and tons of advice.)^↩
2Mikko wasn't special needs, but he was large. We cloth diapered him till he was 23 months and 35+ pounds (see below for a visual of the adora-bulk). We had custom covers made by a WAHM on eBay, and we had that peculiar heartbreak of seeing a string of too-small cloth-diapering options pass us by and go back into the closet. :)^↩

Amy Adele has got to have the cutest children's stationery in the world. Because of the enchanting designs, and the fact that the company is eco-conscious, and because it's run by a husband-and-wife team, I eagerly signed up to be an affiliate when I started my blog Hobo Mama.

Also, I lurve their ads, because they feature the same adorable drawings as the stationery, so that was a plus!

But Mikko was so young that I hadn't yet had an opportunity to try out any of the cute cards, invitations, or labels. I thought of it both as the type of stationery I'd have died for when I was a little girl and as the type of stationery I'd buy when Mikko was a little older.



Well! The affiliate manager contacted me, and I had the opportunity to review two items in Amy Adele's vast product line. The hard part was narrowing it down, of course!

I was really intrigued by the pre-printed thank-you cards with fill-in blanks, because we had a birthday coming up, Mikko's third. I love the idea of making thank-yous doable for kids, easy on parents, and still charming for the gift-giver (i.e., Grandma).



I also wanted to give the photo cards a try, both because I wanted to put Amy Adele's quality standards to the highest test I could devise (printing photos on cardstock can be very tricky, in terms of making sure the image is still sharp and vibrant), and because I just love my baby's cute face!



So here's a little picture diary of my order, my thoughts on the items, and how we put them to good use:




Could you die for the cuteness of how the notes come packaged? The bags are reusable, and the packing peanuts are cornstarch that will dissolve in water — completely biodegradable.
The turnaround and shipping took, like, no time, and looking at the FAQ, I see they expect to get your custom cards printed within ONE business day. Then they ship out either Priority Mail or FedEx. Speedy delivery!



Of course, Mikko must inspect his "presents," which he says more like "peasants," which makes me think he has a lordship complex.



Oh, the cute! Couldn't you die for those drawings of Amy's (yes, she's a real person and a mama of three little ones!)? We chose these mostly blank flat cards and used the site's brilliant suggestion of making a fill-in-the-blanks thank-you note. Don't you think that's ideal for beginning writers and antsy little gift recipients? You can completely customize:

• the message
• the font style
• the font color

So it's really up to you! The fonts they offer are charming and let you set the tone of the card. There are flowery ones and more neutral ones, and they all mesh well with Amy's childlike drawings.



Well, of course, I like the photo cards with my little guy's cute face on the front! But I was super impressed with the quality here. I intentionally ordered a photo card to make sure the photo printing was up to snuff, and it really was. It's hard to tell in a photo of a photo card, but the colors are deep and vibrant, and there was no bleeding into the cardstock. The cardstock itself has a quality feel and thickness.

Speaking of the cardstock, it's 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Seriously! Amy Adele is all about environmental responsibility. The paper is also acid free, chlorine free, made with 100% renewable energy, and procured through renewable forests. This is for all their stationery. Only the waterproof labels are made with polyester. Clothing is 100% cotton and made sweatshop-free in the USA.



Mikko checks out his likeness. It passes muster.

The photo cards are standard folded notecards, with a blank interior to write messages. These would be ideal for older children to write their own thank-yous or just use for everyday correspondence.



Then it was time to decorate. Mikko took this part seriously! He dictated what he wanted to say, and we did the writing, since he's a little young yet.



Here's what we ended up with.



Don't forget to address the envelope!


Bottom line: I was expecting to like Amy Adele products, because the designs were so super cute and innovative. What I wasn't expecting was to love them so dang much. (Hey, don't say it, or I just might marry them!)

I'm beyond impressed with the quality (the cardstock, the printing), the fast turnaround (for personalized stationery, for crying out loud!), the environmentally friendly details (100% post-consumer recycled cardstock, biodegradable cornstarch packing peanuts), and how happy everyone has been to receive these cutie-patootie cards!

BUY IT!

I have great news: Amy Adele is offering my readers a special discount till the end of the month (June 30, 2010). Just type in hobomama and receive 15% off your order. How cool is that!



So go to AmyAdele.com, and find the styles and products you like.

Amy Adele carries a wide and uniformly adorable selection of products for boys, girls, babies, and teens and adults, too:

• notecards
• flat cards
• thank-you notes
• birth announcements

• baby shower or birthday party invitations
• baptism cards
• moving announcements
• waterproof labels
• address labels

• calling cards (how chic for your little one!)
• graduation announcements and thank-yous
• recipe cards
• even t-shirts and onesies

The prices start at around $18.95 for 10 flat cards ($16.11 with the "hobomama" discount), which is approximately $1.90 ($1.61) per card, but once you start increasing the quantity, the per-card price keeps dropping. For instance, 50 cards is $49.95 (or $42.46 with the 15% off), which is down to under $1.00 per card ($0.85 with the coupon code).

So it's nice, because you can choose a smaller quantity (10 or 15) if you want a variety of designs (such as for an assortment of calling cards or notecards), or you could save money by getting a larger quantity of one design in particular (such as for party invitations, announcements, or baby-gift thank-yous).



All mailing card prices include envelopes, and you can have your envelopes personalized with your return address for a small fee.

Amy Adele has regular sales, so you can always catch a bargain there, too. Just check the sale section for the current deals. And don't forget to use the "hobomama" discount if you order this month for 15% off any order!



You can receive FREE Priority Mail shipping if your order totals $50 or more; otherwise, it is a flat rate of $7.49. You can also choose FedEx 2-day service.

I can vouch that the turnaround and shipping are incredibly speedy. Not even joking, but they strive to get orders printed within ONE business day of your order, and then send it Priority Mail or FedEx, which takes only another 2-3 days. This means, if you're a procrastinator like me, you actually can wait till the last second (OK, week) to order personalized cards!

For items like birth announcements, they have the useful service of letting you pre-order envelopes so you can get the addressing done before the baby's born (when you have time and free hands!). Then you can go back and update the announcements with the birth stats, name, and photo as desired. Smart, huh?

You can submit special requests for an additional fee, such as color changes (e.g., hair or skin), additional lines of type, or custom artwork specially drawn for you and your child. What you request might even end up in the Amy Adele rotation!

Amy Adele offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so there's no risk to trying them out.

So there you have it. Amy Adele's designs are delightful, the prices are reasonable, the website's easy to navigate and use, the shipping is super fast, and the quality is remarkable.

And your children will charm the socks off all their correspondents!



P.S. See my companion piece on writing thank-you notes with babies, toddlers, and beginning writers at Hobo Mama.

Awhile back, I was asked to review a new children's ballet DVD called Caterina and Her Baby Ballerinas. I can only assume the PR rep saw one of my articles on ballet as it relates to me (I take adult beginning classes) or to my son (I wish to enroll him in a preschool ballet class), because otherwise why would anyone in the ballet world target a random mother of a two-year-old boy?

So, while other mothers of toddler boys (and many mothers of toddler girls) might have demurred, I was jumping in excitement. See, I was actually looking for children's ballet DVDs at the time. Perfect synergy, no?

Every week when I head off to my ballet class, Mikko pleads and cries to come along with me. It's one of those break-your-heart-but-sorry-Mama's-out-of-here moments, because, you know, it's an hour and a half a week. I deserve an hour and a half a week to devote to exercise and stretching and centering myself and feeling like more than a mother, right? Right?

I thought Mikko might appreciate more why and where I was going if I went ahead and signed him up for classes right away. He was still two at the time, and even though the school usually doesn't start seeing little ones until they're past their third birthday, I asked and received permission to bring him in for his trial class.

We didn't make it out of the hallway.

Mikko looked in on the class, already in progress because I'm late for absolutely everything (sorry, everyone in the world I've bothered with that trait!), and quailed at the thought of entering that whirling mass of white-leotarded cuteness that is a roomful of three-year-old girls.

So I sat out in the hall, and he stood on my leg so he could peer through the window at the dancing girls, like an adorable peeping Tom in training. For my part, I tried to look innocuous and casual, as if I always hung out in the hallway of the dance studio with a boy perched on my thigh.

I had this brilliant idea after the fact that perhaps I could better prepare him at home for his next encounter with the scary experience that is Ballet Class. My plans tended along the same lines as my preparations for our airplane trip this summer.

I went to the library and checked out every book I could find on children and ballet (and one on a dog ended up in the mix as well). I knew about Prima Princessa from a giveaway I had entered, so that DVD went onto my list, too. I then tried to squirrel away in my memory every detail I had seen or heard from the pre-ballet class I had witnessed from the hallway, so that we could practice some of the moves in our living room.

I was sort of surprised (and yet, in retrospect, not) that the pre-ballet class, for the 3-5-year-old range (or thereabouts), is not very balletic. It's a lot of running in circles, kicking, and flexing toes, and it's a short class: thirty minutes long. It's a warmup for true ballet classes, when kids have the discipline, stamina, and, more importantly, the physical development to attempt proper ballet form.

So Caterina, when the DVD came, was the perfect addition to my bag-o-ballet-prep. Here is a trailer, and following it are my thoughts on the DVD.


The backstory is that Caterina is a Siamese cat who grew up among ballet dancers and so learned to dance (not unlike that dog story, seriously). Caterina is played by a lovely dancer in a black costume and face mask, and she peppers her talk with phrases like "That's cat-astic" and "Feeling feline?" The theory behind using a cat is that little children respond well to animal narrators.

The format of the DVD is a standard ballet dance class, at (is this sad?) my level. So, um, maybe 8-12 years old? The class follows the typical progression of barre exercises combined with stretching, followed by moves out on the floor. It finishes up with ideas of some simple but pretty moves to do with friends.

The "baby ballerinas" dancing along with Caterina (Kaylani Parks and Lucia Connolly) are probably around 11 or so (I am not renowned at guessing ages, so take that with a grain of salt), and are two lovely young ladies and skillful dancers in their own right. (Just found this nice article on Kaylani and her quest to go to the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, and it says she's now 12. I win!)





The DVD is, therefore, a little old for Mikko, who just turned 3, although only a little old. I think kids who are familiar with ballet might start watching it at 3 or so, but beginners might do better starting around 5 years old (on up and up). That said, Mikko likes it anyway, probably because I mix our pre-ballet moves into our experience of watching it. We do a lot of running around, then freezing and pointing our toes, then more running, then kicking, then holding hands and twirling in circles. It's a workout! Is this following the DVD at all? Well, no, but it's our background accompaniment.

He likes the cat character, and I can hope he's absorbing some ballet terms (all that French!) and observing some proper ballet form. It's kind of like how I'm raising him bilingual in German as a non-native speaker — I definitely don't want to be his only influence in the language, and it's the same with ballet!

For myself as an adult dancer, I do like having ballet class videos on hand. Sometimes I can't make it to class, and this is an easy and non-embarrassing way to practice what I would be doing in class. If you're a beginner, you could follow along and drop out whenever it gets too hard. As Caterina points out, you don't need special equipment like a barre — you can use a straight-back chair instead.

I also think the woman playing Caterina does a good job of being feline and engaging. I even like the campy way she rolls her Rs when she tells us something we (puportedly) did was "purrrrfect."

The only real turn-off for me on this video is the sound quality. It's got that class-film level of audio. The voices are louder when they're close to the camera, and tinny with a lot of background echoing and white noise when they're far away. It's too bad, because I imagine the only way to fix the sound would be to completely redo either the sound track or the whole film, but it would go a long way toward making the film seem professional rather than an amateur production. The video transition effects are a little cheesy, too, and the DVD case looks like it was put out by a mom-and-pop company. Not a bad thing, but first impressions count for a lot. The setting is a plain ballet studio, but I don't have a problem with that except to say that adding some scope with additional settings in any future installments might be nice. The costumes of the three dancers are simple but attractive. I hope what I saw was maybe just the first Caterina DVD as the company finds its footing, and that the company plans to improve the production quality with the next release.

One other issue I have with pretty much any ballet DVD geared toward children (or book or whatever!) is that it focuses solely on girls. "Baby ballerinas" is what the viewers are called, and the sidekick dancers are girls. I understand this; I really do. But I have a boy. It would be nice if there were some love thrown to the boys who want to dance; they probably feel unusual enough as it is.

Overall, I think Caterina is a lovely contribution to the genre of children's ballet DVDs. I just hope they fix their sound problems sooner rather than later. It's nice to have a narrator who takes children through the terms in a clear fashion and shows them how to have an enjoyable class session. I like how encouraging and complimentary Caterina is toward the baby ballerinas (ballerinos) onscreen and at home. Mikko keeps asking to watch it, so something's clearly bringing him back each time!

BUY IT!

You can find the Caterina and Her Baby Ballerinas DVD on Amazon for $19.95 (and eligible for free Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25) or directly from the website at www.CaterinaBallerina.com for the same price of $19.95 plus $2.99 shipping/handling.

Happy dancing!