PrintRunner Postcards Giveaway

There are so many things you can do with postcards. They're cheaper to mail than letters, making them a preferable promotional tool for snail mail campaigns. They also have more space than business cards, which means you can put more information on them. This is the ideal solution for those of us who might have trouble filling all 6 panels of a brochure. Plus, most websites offering online postcard printing have handy design tools, so you can easily get what you need with minimal effort.

Thanks to online printing company PrintRunner offering to sponsor a giveaway, now you have the chance to win a set of 100 postcards.

Here are the product details:

• Prize: Postcards
• Size: 5x7
• Quantity: 100
• Colors: 4/0 Front Only Printing
• Paper: 14PT. UV Coating on Front
• Rounded Corners: Yes
• Proof: None
• Ready to Ship in 4 Business Days.

Also, the fine print: Giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. 

And my disclosure: In exchange for hosting this giveaway, I will receive a set of postcards. 

For a better look at the postcards, check out PrintRunner.com. Entering is easy because Rafflecopter is such a wonderful thing. Just use the handy widget below, and good luck! Entries close at 12:01 EST on April 12, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A huge thank you to PrintRunner for sponsoring this giveaway! They have been in business for 10 years as a full service, high quality printing company located in Chatsworth, CA. 

My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software

Here's something new and exciting! Well, actually the My Memories digital scrapbooking software has been around for a while, but I only just recently found out about it, so it's new to me. Years ago I tried to get into the scrapbook craze, but that was back when I had a lot of photographs. When we got a digital camera, I no longer had actual prints to work with because my photos were either on a memory card or my computer. I'm super lazy (and cheap) so spending the money to have prints made and then taking the time to compile everything in a keepsake album was not a task that appealed to me.
With digital cameras being so affordable and readily available on most cell phones, hardly anybody takes pictures with actual film nowadays. My Memories allows you to create scrapbook pages with your digital pictures on your computer, and then when you're done, you order the printed scrapbook album.
You can actually do a lot more with My Memories than just make scrapbook pages, but to be honest, I haven't had the chance to explore all the other options like cards and videos yet. I've been far too busy just playing around with making album pages using pictures of my cakes and other creations. I'll post some of the screen shots here, but you can view them all on Photobucket, either as an album or slideshow.
Basically, there are ready-made templates you can use which are very customizable, or you can start from scratch (I haven't had the courage to do that yet). Adding photos to the pages is super simple: just drag and drop. There are plenty of background choices, including different colors, papers, textures, and even the option to use your own pictures as a custom background. The journalling areas are preset on the template pages I've worked with, but you can change their size, shape, and even add more or remove them altogether. You can also get as creative as you like with the text options, and there's a cool feature called Word Art that's super fun to play around with.

But that's not all! There are many add-on kits you can get from the online design shop, some are even free, so I seriously doubt anyone would ever run out of options. If scrapbooking is a hobby you enjoy, why not take My Memories for a test drive and see for yourself? You can download a free trial on the website, and if you do, please let me know what you think. Alternative, you could play around with the Online Photobook Creator. Trust me, you don't have to be tech-savvy or a graphic design guru, as the software is very intuitive, and there are plenty of resources to help you out, including online tutorials, YouTube videos, and a blog which features weekly challenges to give you even more ideas and inspiration.

As if that's not enough, the really cool thing is that I'm hosting a giveaway for the My Memories digital scrapbooking software. Yes, one lucky person will win My Memories Suite Version 3! Entering is easy, thanks to the wonderful widget known as Rafflecopter. For those who can't wait for the giveaway to end and must have My Memories right now, you can save $10 on your purchase with coupon code STMMMS90048.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If the Rafflecopter widget isn't loading, try refreshing the page. If it's still not showing up, please let me know either via email (cakedarla at gmail dot com) or Twitter (@cakedarla). Thanks!

Next Day Flyers Giveaway

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in this giveaway! The winner is Shannon from Peace Love & Poop, and she's going to put the postcards to very good use:

I am on the Committee to bring a Dream Park to my city and we need all the help with promotion we can get! This would be one less thing we need to spend money on!

Congratulations, Shannon, and good luck with your fundraising!

With summer officially over I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures, colorful leaves, and getting started with the seasonal baking. I seriously love this time of year because there are plenty of excuses to make yummy stuff. I have my standard recipes I always whip up, but I also like to throw in a few new ones to try. These are usually recipes I find in books or online that I scribble on sheets of scrap paper, and they often have a way of migrating to random places in my kitchen. I really should be more organized and have my recipes on cards or something.

I was thinking about this the other day when, low and behold, a representative from Next Day Flyers contacted me about hosting a giveaway for a set of 100 4x6 standard postcards. Now, postcard printing isn't something I know a great deal about, but these would be great for keeping track of recipes! Of course, you can also use them to send notes via snail mail, as postcards are cheaper to send than letters.

These are quality postcards, too. Made from thick 14 pt card stock, the front of the postcards will be printed in full color and the back will be in black and white. Winner can choose either a UV or matte coating. But here's the best bit! These postcards are customized with either a print-ready file that the winner can upload, or the winner can use the company's Online Design Center to create their card layout. The Online Design Center allows for uploading photos, adding text, and other design elements, and there are helpful video tutorials that show you how to use it on the NextDayFlyers YouTube channel. So many possibilities! If you're one to give out homemade baking mixes as gifts for the holidays, these cards would make ideal gift/recipe tags.

To enter the giveaway, first take a look at the NextDayFlyers.com website, and then let me know how you'd use the postcards if you win. I'm sure there are more creative ways to use postcards than the few I mentioned above. This is the mandatory entry and must be done in order for the bonus entries to count, but I've set up a handy Rafflecopter widget to make this as easy as possible.

Once you've completed the mandatory entry above, then feel free to do any or all of the bonus entries below.

• Like the Next Day Flyers Facebook page.
• Leave a comment on the Next Day Flyers Facebook page letting them know you're entering this giveaway.
• Subscribe to the Next Day Flyers YouTube channel.
• Follow @NextDayFlyers on Twitter.
• Tweet about this giveaway, up to once per day: Enter to #win a set of 100 4x6 postcards from @NextDayFlyers in @cakedarla's #giveaway http://bit.ly/pbYyiw ends 10-10 (please leave a comment linking to the tweet).
• Follow this blog via Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs.
• Like Darla's Cake Blog on Facebook.

UPrinting Giveaway

I would like to thank everyone for participating in this giveaway! The winning comment is...

Number 14, which means ~ April ~ EnchantedDandelions gets the poster. Congratulations to the winner, and many thanks to UPrinting for sponsoring!

How about a giveaway to round out these last few days of summer?

I'm pleased to present you guys with the opportunity to win a customized poster from UPrinting. The website features an easy design tool that lets you add your own images and text, or you can upload completed artwork to print. They also have poster templates, which are available for free download in a variety of poster sizes. Of course, they don't just do posters. They also offer all kinds of promotional products like business cards, brochures, banners, calendars, post cards, you get the idea. But this giveaway is for an 18" by 24" semi or high gloss poster.

Entering is easy! All you have to do is comment below telling me that you want to win the poster. Please also leave an email address so I can contact you if you're the winner.

If you'd like some extra entries, then you can also:

• Like the UPrinting Facebook page (leave a comment letting me know)
• Follow Uprinting on Twitter (leave a comment with your Twitter username)
• Tweet about this giveaway. Example: Enter to #win a 18" by 24" poster from @UPrinting in @cakedarla's #giveaway http://bit.ly/pVzsgQ ends 8-16 (please leave a comment linking to the tweet)

Please remember to leave a separate comment for each entry letting me know what you did, as well as any relevant links, otherwise it won't count.

This giveaway ends at 11:59 CDT on Tuesday, August 16, 2011. Winner to be chosen from the comments using random.org and will be notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Contest terms:
One(1) Winner of 18" x 24" Poster
Semi Gloss / High Gloss, 1 Business Day Turnaround.
Restriction: Limited to US residents 18 years old and above only, who have not won a contest or giveaway sponsored by UPrinting in the past 6 months.

Disclaimer:
This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting. No monetary compensation was given, and I will receive a poster for hosting. Check out UPrinting.com to see more of their poster printing options, poster sizes and poster templates.

Southern Women's Show and Tickets Giveaway

Entries are now closed, and the winners have been selected (thanks to Random.org) and contacted via email. If you're a lucky winner, please reply to the notification email within 48 hours so I can get your tickets to you! Also, if your circumstances have changed and you can no longer attend the show, please let me know so I can pass the tickets along to somebody who can. Thank you to everybody for participating, and maybe I'll see you next week at the Nashville Southern Women's Show!

This one is mostly for the locals or those who live within reasonable traveling distance to Nashville.

The 25th annual Southern Women's Show is coming to the Nashville Convention Center April 14-17 this year. That's right, this will be the 25th anniversary of the Nashville show! To celebrate, the first 25 visitors each day will receive a prize. Also, anyone who is 25 years old (must prove it with a valid driver's license) will get in free, and they'll be giving away $25 in "show bucks" every hour. Pretty cool, huh?

But there's so much more... With over 500 exhibitor booths featuring all things of interest to women, including fashion, health, beauty, travel, boutiques, and other products and services, there truly will be something for everyone. Not to mention, several celebrity appearances are scheduled, including local cake decorator Jay Qualls who was a contestant on TLC's The Next Great Baker, as well as the winner of that competition Dana Herbert, who will be there on Sunday, April 17th. Radio host Dr. Josh Axe will also be there in addition to a beauty pageant winner or two and somebody else who will be giving make overs. Good stuff!

I'm personally looking forward to the events. Like the Firefighter fashion show, live cooking stage, and test driving a Chevy Camaro or perhaps even the new Volt (don't tell my dad though, he's an avid Chrysler man). I'm also hoping to meet Jay and may even get up the nerve to ask him for a job.

Okay, so now that I've talked it up, I'll get to the good part. Tickets are normally $10 each, but the awesome folks in charge of promoting the Nashville Southern Women's Show have graciously supplied me with TWENTY tickets to this year's event to give away! I'm giving the tickets away in groups of four, so you can attend all four days, go just one day and treat three friends, take your best friend to the show for two of the days, or however you want to use them.

So, who wants to go to the Nashville Southern Women's Show? Just leave a comment on this post letting me know you want to go, and you'll be entered to win one of the five sets of tickets. Please also leave your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. This is the mandatory entry, by the way.

If you'd like to rack up some bonus entries, feel free to do any or all of the following, just be sure to leave a comment on this post for each entry so it counts.

• Visit the Southern Women's Show Nashville website and let me know something you're interested in seeing at this year's event.
• Like the Southern Women's Show Nashville page on Facebook.
• Leave a comment on the Southern Women's Show Facebook page. If you're feeling really generous, you could even mention that you're hoping to win tickets to attend from Darla's Cake Blog.
• Follow Darla's Cake Blog via Google Friend Connect (if you already follow, just leave a comment letting me know).
• Follow Darla's Cake Blog via Networked Blogs.
• Like Darla's Cake Blog on Facebook.
• Tweet about this giveaway, up to once a day. Please include @cakedarla, and a link to this post in the tweet. Example: Enter to #win 4 tickets to this year's Nashville Southern Women's Show in @cakedarla's giveaway: http://bit.ly/fkxZjq

This giveaway will end at 11:59 CDT on April 4th so I have enough time to get the tickets to the winners. FIVE winners will be chosen at random from all the comments using random.org. Please remember to leave your email address in your initial entry so I can contact you. Winners will have 48 hours to claim their tickets. Good luck!

Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves: Giveaway for Valentine's Day

WOW! We had 133 entries in this giveaway, which is very impressive. Thank you to everyone for participating. I really appreciate it. The lucky number chosen by Random.org is...

Brooke Anna left comment number 94, so she's the lucky winner, congratulations! Thanks again to everyone who entered, and a HUGE thank you to Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves for sponsoring this giveaway for you guys. They are a fantastic company to work with, and they have awesome cupcake sleeve designs.

Do you guys remember the Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves giveaway I hosted late last year? Well, they are generously letting me host another one! This time the prize is a pack of their Cupcake Valentines design. These are Valentine's Day Cards made into cupcake sleeves. Or, I guess you could think of them as sleeves that transform your cupcakes into Valentines. Either way, how cool is that? These are perfect for playgroups, school parties, and really any occasion where you'd give a Valentine's Day card. Only you'll be giving cupcakes. Valentine's Day is only a month away, you know.

To enter the giveaway, first visit www.roundaboutsleeves.com and then leave a comment here telling me what other Roundabout Cupcake Sleeves design(s) appeal to you. They have a HUGE selection! This is the mandatory entry that must be done in order for any bonus entries to count.

Once you've done that, feel free to complete any or all of the following bonus entries, just be sure to leave a comment for each entry so it counts. Just like my other giveaways, the winner will be chosen by random.org based on comment number, which is how each comment equals an entry.

• Follow @RoundaboutWraps on Twitter.
• Like Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves on Facebook.
• Come up with your own original idea for a Roundabout Cupcake Sleeve design (they do custom orders, you know) and leave a comment here describing it.
• Leave a comment on my Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves review
• Take my cake class survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/379WGP8 (if you've already participated that still counts, just let me know in the entry comment)
• Follow Darla's Cake Blog via Google Friend Connect.
• Follow Darla's Cake Blog via Networked Blogs.
• "Like" Darla's Cake Blog on Facebook.
• Leave a comment on the Facebook page for Darla's Cake Blog.
• Follow @cakedarla on Twitter.
• Post a link to or "share" this giveaway on the social networking site of your choice (Facebook, CafeMom, etc) then leave a link to your post in the entry comment.
• Tweet about this giveaway, and then leave a comment here with the tweet entry URL. You can use any wording you like, just make sure to include @cakedarla and a link to this blog post. You get one entry per tweet, but only one tweet entry per day, please. Example: Enter to win Roundabout Cupcake Sleeves from @RoundaboutWraps in @cakedarla's #giveaway: http://bit.ly/eb5DHw

This giveaway ends January 30th at 11:59 p.m. One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on January 31, 2011. If you're not on Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, or Google, please leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you. Winner will have 48 hours to claim the prize. Good luck!

Wilton UltraGold Cake Pan Giveaway

Are you guys ready to find out who won the UltraGold cake pan? First, let me thank everyone for participating! This one had more entries than any of my previous giveaways, which is awesome. Now, the winning comment number is...

Number 79! That was some easy counting. Congratulations, allysmama! I have sent you an email.

Okay gang, it's time for another giveaway! As I've mentioned before, I have quite a large collection of bakeware that I love and use. I tend to stick with what I know works well for me, and I don't have the kitchen space to hoard extraneous cake pans, hence all the giveaways. This one is for an 8-inch round Wilton UltraGold, which is a new line of bakeware they released. You can read all the cool stuff about it here: link to UltraGold page on Wilton website.

Wilton sent these out to instructors way back in the spring, and mine has been sitting on the top of my kitchen cabinets, neglected. I would much rather send it on to somebody who will put it to use rather than let it stay here going to waste.

Since I haven't used it, I can't comment on its performance, so here is a list of cool features which I have copied verbatim from the product label: premium aluminum, even heating-won't warp, durable anodized surface, oversized handles for easy lifting, creates cakes perfect for decorating, limited lifetime warranty.

You guys remember the drill, right? All you have to do if you want to enter this giveaway is to post a comment below telling me your favorite dessert. It doesn't have to be cake, but this is the mandatory entry that must be done before any others count. Oh, and please leave me your email if you're not on Facebook, Google, or Twitter so I can contact you if you win.

Then, once you've done that you can put in extra entries by doing any or all of the following, just remember to leave a separate comment for each entry letting me know what you did, otherwise it won't count.

• Take my cake decorating class survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/379WGP8
• Follow Darla's Cake Blog via Google Friend Connect.
• Follow Darla's Cake Blog via Networked Blogs.
• "Like" Darla's Cake Blog on Facebook.
• Leave a comment on the Facebook page for Darla's Cake Blog.
• Follow @cakedarla on Twitter.
• Post a link to this giveaway on the social networking site of your choice (Facebook, CafeMom, etc).
• Tweet about this giveaway, and then leave a comment on this post with the tweet URL. You can use any wording you like, just make sure to include @cakedarla and a link to this blog post.You get one entry per tweet, but only one tweet entry per day, please. Here's an example: Enter to #win an 8-inch round Wilton UltraGold cake pan from @cakedarla: http://bit.ly/fPg5cZ #givewaway

The giveaway runs from now until December 15th at 11:59 p.m. CST. One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on December 16, 2010.

***Wilton has neither sponsored nor endorsed this giveaway.***

Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway! The lucky winner of Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves is..

Comment number 9!  Congratulations, BusyMom!

Not only did the lovely folks at Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves send me their new "Nutcracker" and "Delicious Drums" cupcake sleeves to try (click here to check out the photos and my full review), but they are also sponsoring a giveaway. That's right, one lucky reader will win their pick of Roundabout Cupcake Sleeves! Want to win? Well, there are many ways to enter, so read on...

First, and this is the mandatory entry that must be done in order for any bonus entries to count, visit www.roundaboutsleeves.com/ and tell me which Roundabout Cupcake Sleeves you want if you win. It can be anything from their selection of over 70 designs, although I personally have to throw in my vote for the "Santa Oops Chimney" sleeves because I think they're hilarious.

Okay, once you've done that, you may complete any or all of the following bonus entries, just be sure to leave a comment for each entry so it counts. Just like my other giveaways, the winner will be chosen by random.org based on comment number, which is how each comment equals an entry.

• Follow @RoundaboutWraps on Twitter
• Like Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves on Facebook
• Come up with your own original idea for a Roundabout Cupcake Sleeve design (they do custom orders, you know) and leave a comment here describing it.
• Leave a comment on my Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves review post.
• Take my cake class survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/379WGP8
• Follow Darla's Cake Blog via Google Friend Connect.
• Follow Darla's Cake Blog via Networked Blogs.
• "Like" Darla's Cake Blog on Facebook.
• Leave a comment on the Facebook page for Darla's Cake Blog.
• Follow @cakedarla on Twitter.
• Post a link to this giveaway on the social networking site of your choice (Facebook, CafeMom, etc).
• Tweet about this giveaway, and then leave a comment here with the tweet entry URL. You can use any wording you like, just make sure to include @cakedarla and a link to this blog post. You get one entry per tweet, but only one tweet entry per day, please. Example: Enter to win your choice of Roundabout Cupcake Sleeves from @RoundaboutWraps & @cakedarla: http://bit.ly/e7oyoF #giveaway

This giveaway ends December 10th at 11:59 p.m. One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on December 11, 2010. If you're not on Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, or Google, please leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you. Winner will have 48 hours to claim the prize. Good luck!

Pink Sugar Bowl: Real Food Giveaway

***Please click here for the cake decorating tools and book giveaway!***

Pink Sugar Bowl is hosting a giveaway for a copy of The Vintage Remedies Guide to: REAL FOOD by Jessie Hawkins and some delicious dark chocolate from Olive and Sinclair. Check out their blog for more information and to enter. Better get a move on, though. The giveaway ends on Sunday!

http://pinksugarbowl.blogspot.com/2010/06/real-food-are-you-taking-challenge.html