Heading to bloglovin'!

By now we all know that Google Reader will be no longer come July 1.  Why they would get rid of it is beyond me.  I have been looking at other reader options and Bloglovin is simple and user friendly, just like Google Reader.

So, you can find me over here at 

Do you Shopkick?

Since joining the iPhone world I've discovered a wonderful app called Shopkick.  Basically you earn points for shopping, browsing through the app, and walking into stores.  With those points that you earn you can get gift cards for various places like Starbucks, Best Buy, Target, iTunes, Old Navy, Macy's, Sephora, & Lowe's to name a few.  You can also get gift cards for Tiffany's and Coach!  

Some of the ways to earn kicks (points):

• Just by visiting the app each day (1 kick)
• Browsing through the look books and opening the surprises (can vary from a bonus board piece to kicks)
• Walking into stores (Varies but usually over 50 kicks)
• Scanning items in the stores
• Purchasing a certain dollar amount with a linked VISA or MasterCard.

You can see in the above photo at the bottom "Find kicks waiting nearby", you click on that it will find your location and give you places to get kicks in the area, excellent if you're in an unfamiliar place!

I've only been using this app for 5 days and already have 1130 kicks, they add up quickly!  I haven't used the linked card method yet but you can get some sweet deals, works out to way more than $1 per point if you meet certain limits.  As you can see Toys R Us gives you 2 kicks for ever $1 spent PLUS more kicks if you spend over a certain amount.  Best Buy is 1 kick per dollar and 350 bonus kicks for $75 spent, 800 for $150 spent, and 1250 for $200 spent.  This is in addition to any points you may earn with their Reward Zone card!  Wish I had this when I bought my iPad!

The 85 kicks you see in the upper right hand corner are the walk-in kicks I unlocked just by browsing the look books available for Toys R Us.  Next time I walk in to TRU I pull up the app and it will give me my 85 kicks.  Some of them have expiration dates but usually are within a week, others are just a few days.  I also have received 160 kicks in the last 2 days just from walking into Target, so that one resets every day.  

Clicking on the heart on the bottom right will bring up any in-store scans that may be available.  All you have to do is tap on the item to be scanned and it will bring up the camera, it will 'scan' the barcode and you will get the number of kicks it says for that item.  These are some of the kicks I have available to me for my nearest Walmart.  I'm not sure if others are different.  If I scan every item in my list I have a potential to get 105 kicks.  

Sometimes you will get 'scavenger hunt' type scans.  Today at Target for example, there are Easter scans.  There are 3 items listed that you can scan, after scanning all 3 items I got a 50 kick bonus.  I think each scan was worth 10 points.  

A word of caution, not all items will be available at each store for scanning.  For example, I had those Oreos you see to the left available to scan at Walgreen's but my local Walgreen's didn't carry them. 

Here is the Bonus Board.  Most of these are found by opening the surprises within the look books but as you can see there are some that you can scan and earn points for.  There is an error on mine, it shows the Target one as being un-scanned but the Pantene one as scanned, but when you click on it it's correct.  You can collect multiple bonuses for each time you complete the grouping.  I've completed the Crystal Light bonus 2x already and working on a 3rd time as you can see.  

So far I really love this app, it's SO much fun!  I went to Target today with the kids and they really had fun looking for the products to scan.  They truly couldn't get enough of it.  

The only thing that will delay your kicks are purchases with the linked cards.  Debit cards cannot be used because they can't be tracked from VISA and MasterCard.  Those kicks are also 'banked' until the return period has passed, when that happens it will release your kicks.  

So do you Shopkick??

**DISCLAIMER** I'm not in any way compensated for this app review, I just happen to love it!.  The app is free in the Apple App Store and in Google Play.  It's not compatible with all devices, my old phone (T-Mobile Prism) was not compatible and was not compatible with my wi-fi only iPad, not sure if it's compatible with the 3G iPads.  Also, clicking the above links will send you to my referral site and I will earn kicks for you signing up.  You can do the same for recruiting your friends and family!  

What happens when...

...you have a BUNCH of Vintage Modern leftovers from the Designer Mystery BOM?

Simple, you buy Vintage Holiday and start making some blocks!

So far it looks like I'll only have to buy some border fabric and backing.  I'll most likely have enough left over from the finishing kit and BOMs for the rest of the top.  The blocks go together SUPER quick and even with having to cut all the pieces I was able to crank out all 4 in a little more than an hour.  

Dust Beasts

Because bunnies is too delicate a term for what I found inside my sewing machine today.  This afternoon I took the back cover off of my machine and cleaned the heck out of it!  I have a very basic machine probably about 9 years old now so way out of warranty so do not attempt this if your machine is advance or still within warranty, doing so could cause irreversible damage and void your warranty.  

Now that the disclaimer is over here is what I found inside:

This is looking up from the bottom of the machine with it on it's face.  I blew it out with canned air and then got a swiffer duster in there to clean off some parts that wouldn't come clean with the air.  I don't recommend using canned air on an electronic machine, it could damage the components.  Since mine is so basic and I've used canned air before with no problems I didn't have concerns about doing it this time.  

There was lint so packed it took the shape of where it was packed into.  My sewing space (which doubles as my dining room) is SO dusty right now!!  

I also oiled my machine today too.  I found the easiest way to do this was with a q-tip of all things.  Now she hums along as quietly as ever.  

Remember! If you have anything more than a basic machine like mine don't attempt to take it apart and clean it!  You could do expensive damage to it that would make anyone sob.  Even if you have a basic machine tread carefully.  I didn't mess with any internal workings, the only screws I took off were ones that held the housing on.