Lovable Labels

September is around the corner already here which means parents everywhere are getting everything ready. One of the biggest tasks is making sure everything is labeled! School supplies, lunch kits and containers, clothes, and anything else that might be put down anywhere on school property. Since Kiddo wears a uniform, it's especially important for us to label her clothes -- last year she lost two cardigans which cost almost $30 each. Ouch.

Faced with this task, I jumped at the chance to review a Back to School Mega Pack of labels from Lovable Labels! The pack includes shoe labels, sticker labels (not shown; same style as mini-labels but larger), mini labels, clothing dots, binder labels and mini metal tags:


For the trial pack, I was able to select a colour (Kiddo chose black), an icon (UFO), and get the labels printed with her name.

Last year, I had bought labels from another company -- Stuck On You -- and while there are similarities, their clothing labels were iron-on. They worked great on everything except the knit cardigans so I was curious to see how Lovable Labels' clothing dots would work.

Happily, they seem to work well once you get the hang of sticking them on (or in my case, peeling them off the backing sheets). The labels are a very thin vinyl (or similar plastic) that is easy to fold back on itself but after the second time that happened, I figured out a better way to approach it. My other issue with the dots were that there were very few pieces of clothing on which I could use the large size; I'd have preferred more of the smallest size instead. The nice thing to note about the clothing dots is that the care or content labels can be snipped off when passing clothes on to siblings or other families.


The small labels fit nicely on school supplies (again, they are the same material and can fold back on themselves if you aren't careful) -- we even put one on each pencil crayon -- and on other items, like lunchbox plastics. Aesthetically, I would have liked clear labels for the plastic goods but the coloured labels do stand out.

Overall, I was very happy with the number and variety of labels in the Back to School pack and the physical flexibility of the label material (especially noticeable in the shoe labels which conformed nicely to the shape of the shoe). I really appreciated the small metal tags, one of which is on Kiddo's backpack and the other on her pencil case.

If you are thinking of buying school labels, Lovable Labels has been kind enough to offer you (my readers!) a discount code, good for the next two weeks. (I believe the discount is specifically for the Back to School Mega Pack from www.lovablelabels.ca.) When you place your order, enter the code "dewolfes" to get 10% off!

NOTE: The Back To School Mega Pack is only available until September 30th.

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Here's a direct comparison between Stuck on You and Lovable Labels; I think you'll agree that the better value is the Lovable Labels pack:

Stuck on You Label Pack, CDN$49.95	Lovable Labels Back to School Mega Pack, CDN$44.95
25 small vinyl labels 20 shoe labels 25 clothing transfer labels (iron-on) 2 plastic bag tags.	15 sticker labels 60 slimline labels 48 press and stick clothing dots 16 shoe labels 2 mini metal tags 5 book/binder stickers

The Opposite of Chick-Lit

Summer is the time of the year when bookstores inevitably cram their shelves with fluffy quick-reads about romance, friendships, travel and shopping. Sure, I've been guilty of reading the odd chick-lit tome (Confessions of a Shopaholic springs to mind) but it's not my favourite genre.

Instead, I find myself reaching for the stuff on the other end of the scale. Is there an industry term for this type of book? Think spies, mafia, murder and mayhem. Thrillers or suspense, I suppose.

Anyway, I have been reading Charlie Huston's Hank Thompson books (downloaded for free -- thank you Random House & Stanza -- to my iPod) and also snuck in the quick-to-read Dark Harvest which takes place somewhere between Sleepy Hollow and the Twilight Zone.

I started the Charlie Huston books in order with Caught Stealing. The book introduces the reader to Henry "Hank" Thompson, an alcoholic bartender who agrees to do a favour for a neighbour that lands him in a world of trouble. It is confusing at times and brutal throughout. Plenty of people die. The pages are filled with fist-fights, guns, drugs, booze, blood, cars, and sports -- I almost expected a waft of Old Spice -- but man, it is a good read. I'm working my way through Six Bad Things now, which picks up where Caught Stealing left off, and I am already looking forward to A Dangerous Man, the third in the series.

I picked up Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge during our trip to Vancouver last month, on sale at the Book Warehouse. I got sucked in by the cover that features a menacing pumpkin-headed monster and pull-quotes promoting the author as the next-best thing in horror. I trusted that Peter Straub and Stephen King would not steer me wrong and took the Bram Stoker Award as further validation. The story is as twisted as the vines that make up the October Boy (the monster from the cover). Again I found myself reading about guns and gore and men with some serious rage issues but it wasn't gratuitous. OK, maybe some of it is gratuitous but it's still a good read.

Want to add these to your bookshelf? Here's more info:

the web is a funny place

... and that's a good thing because right now, our older cat Max is home recovering after a brief stay at the vet hospital. Sigh.

So, on to the funny:

Despite the fact that Roger Ebert no longer sits in a soundstage version of a theatre balcony to dish out reviews, he still posts them online and frequently makes me laugh out loud, like today's review of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He sums it up like so:

If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination.

I had never heard of the Voynich Manuscript before reading this xkcd panel... but it makes perfect sense to me now:

click here

1. Went out with Kiddo this evening to see Race to Witch Mountain -- wrote a full review, if you're interested.
2. Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino features prominently in Witch Mountain, leading me to ponder whether Disney owned a chunk. It doesn't seem like they do, according to the fascinating Who Owns Vegas pages.
   
3. Awesome craft of the day? A needle-felted Horny Toad Roomba cover. So want one.
4. Clever idea of the day? The Peepoo Bag. Yes, it's what you think -- it's for the 2.6 billion people around the world who lack proper sewage/sanitation systems; as it breaks down the waste, the bag turns it into useable fertilizer.
   

Movie and Maple Syrup

Friday night, the three of us went out to see Coraline (in 3D) -- my only beef was the extra $4 each we had to pay for the 3D glasses; the movie was fine. If you're curious, I posted a full review at the MediaNook.

Today, we decided to actually take in one of the events I regularly post on FrugalVictoria -- the Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival at the BC Forest Discovery Centre north of Duncan. I actually had no idea you could tap Big Leaf Maples which are native to the region -- I thought all maple syrup came from Sugar Maples. Nifty.*

We watched a tapping demonstration -- someone actually drilled a hole in a tree, hammered in a plastic spout and attached a 15L wine bag with some tubing (unlike the traditional bucket-under-the-spout method which offers a healthy dose of bugs along with the sap). We checked on the bag about an hour later and there was a good amount of sap already collected, maybe a litre or two. Of course it takes about 45L of sap to get 1L of syrup -- which explains why those litres were selling for $20 each.

However, after tasting several varieties, we happily bought three bottles from local farms and families, and continued with our visit. We rode the train, explored the grounds, and let kiddo run off some steam at the playground. Then we headed into Duncan for lunch (at a great little hole-in-the-wall diner) before heading home.

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* Turns out Bigleaf Maple tapping is pretty new to the Island and the subject of recent research at UVic, too. What I find most interesting is that the industry could actually increase biodiversity in the region because the trees are often seen as a "pest species" and are specifically removed. By proving their value, these trees may be saved.

I've got a crush on my iPod.

I do! I luuuuuuv my iPod Touch -- and I never, ever thought I would say that about any Apple product but I there it is. I think I have used it every day since I got it for Christmas (thanks again, Hubby!) -- it makes the morning (and afternoon) transit much more bearable and it is a pretty good bribe for Kiddo, too.

Of course, I personalized it. After packing it with music, I discovered video podcasts. Educational, entertaining, esoteric -- little bursts of eye candy! I love being able to watch clips of The Hour or science tidbits from NASA or whatever other weirdness there is to offer. I downloaded some games, too -- Bejeweled2 and a cute little Eye-Spy type game called Little Shop of Treasures. (The only drawback is that the videos and games are quick to drain the battery).

However, the best application I found has to be Stanza, an e-book reader. When there's a wireless connection you can download books from a dozen different sites, many of which are free. (Hubby even uploaded one of his books to Smashwords, one of the catalogues supported by Stanza.) I've been reading like crazy -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald (good story, pity they had to make a movie), I, Robot by Cory Doctorow (well written but somewhat cliched), the Smashwords publishing and marketing guides, and The Public Domain by James Boyle (still in the midst of this one). I've got 23 items (books, stories and collections) in my Stanza library right now, including a couple for Kiddo, some classics (Heart of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu, The Picture of Dorian Gray...), fiction and non-fiction. I love that Stanza remembers my page and is so easy to hold and use that I can read with one hand!

Sigh.

Today we had a visit from a home stager -- part of the package our Realtor provides -- and it went about as well as expected. (By that I mean "poorly"; I really don't understand the need to live out of a suitcase and make our home look like a hotel suite for the length of time it is on the market.)

At one point, I actually left the room when the stager was telling us to sort things "dispassionately" and when I expressed concern over potential stains on a new carpet she told us to "control [our] pet" -- really? You try telling a cat not to hack up a hairball on pristine carpet.

After she left, Hubby and I had a discussion in which some compromises were made. Yes, we'll paint. Yes, we will get rid of all the shelving (this is a major compromise on my part -- I don't understand the point of a living room without a single bookshelf or media shelf.) But we aren't going to do quite as much work on the kitchen as she thought was needed and we are not going to "make the [storage room] door disappear" by painting it white. The carpet is still up for debate.

Of course this means it will be at least a month before the "For Sale" sign goes up -- I think I was hoping for half that time. Sigh.

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In other news: I posted a review for X Saves the World over on the Medianook and for those who are interested, we are posting details of what we're selling/giving away over at ThoseDeWolfes.

This might be interesting....

Some time ago, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of Temple of Cod, Adrienne Jones' novella which forms the first third of her full-length novel Brine. Despite not being drawn in by the cover art, I found myself unable to put the book down. (My original review is over at the Media Nook, should you wish to read it.)

It remains high on my list of fantasy/horror tales and I am curious to see where she takes the story next. It is available for pre-order now but if you visit the Brine site, you can also listen to the audio version of Temple of Cod for free, or download it once you register.

Zigzaggers review

Some of you may already be familiar with the Zigzaggers blog -- it's a great resource which collects reviews of sewing machines. Anyone who has considered buying a machine at a yard sale or thrift store might want to read through the growing number of entries before parting with their cash! (Think of it as the Lemon-Aid™ guide for Sewing machines.)

Anyway, my Singer Style-O-Matic review has been added to the blog (thanks!) and the attachments I mention in the review have now arrived, so I may submit an edit sometime in the future.

Make room for new toys!

Ack! Have I mentioned how small our place feels these days? It's like when you decide to get your hair cut, suddenly it's in your eyes every five minutes!

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A couple of weeks ago, we offered to review a Brother printer and it arrived yesterday in a very big box. After walking around the elephant in the room for a couple of hours, I asked Hubby, "So, where are we going to set it up?"

Unfortunately the only real answer was "the office" although in the past year it has metamorphosed from a computer-centric workspace to a sewing room/storage room/clutter magnet. Aside from cleaning/rearranging things, we would have to carry the 30 kg (66 lb) box up two flights of stairs.

I started by hauling out a few things that no longer needed to be there -- a spare office chair (which causes much pain to all who choose to sit for longer than 2 minutes), an aluminum step-ladder, an empty plastic CD-case (three drawers surrounded in lovely faux-wood mac-tac), and a small bag of garbage. Then I rearranged a few things until there was a space big enough to accommodate the printer. I also tidied Hubby's desk (or rather, found the desktop), and shuffled a few more things (including a booster seat and Halloween decorations) into hiding.

The next task was to set up the printer on the network, though the hardest part was following the 1-2-3 instructions for loading the toner -- the label for step 3 was inside the printer! However, once that was done, it was pretty straightforward to set up and I also managed to install the drivers on my computer and print to it.

The printer we got to review is the Brother HL-4070CDW which is a full-colour laser printer with a built-in duplexing unit. It retails for about CDN$650/US$500 and we get two months to put it through as many tests as we can imagine.....

I will definitely be printing the insides of my Coffee Haiku books (a project which has been on the back burner since August due to our crappy Cannon printer and its inability to print clean copy twice in a row), Christmas-themed stuff, some knitting and sewing patterns I've bookmarked "to print later," more Cuppajoe Cozy labels, some Creative Miscellany bumf, and maybe even a zine, you know, if I get bored.

So, expect a full review of the Brother sometime after Christmas. Until then, let me know if you need anything printed.

Back in the Saddle

Monday morning was back to work, albeit only for half a day. In that half day, I got about 15 minutes of work done -- mainly because people kept asking how I was doing, but also because I had a meeting to attend. Yesterday was a bit better, but I didn't have access to my computer as my profile was being migrated to a new server. This meant I didn't have access to my calendar program and didn't get the notification about a meeting yesterday... which I subsequently missed.

Sigh.

Meanwhile, my evenings have been busy-ish. Monday I had to finish a review for a Nancy Drew DVD Game (yes, you play the game on your DVD player), The Curse of Blackmoor Manor. Last night, I spent a couple of hours putting together kiddo's costume for this year: a spider. It's not quite done yet... but if she had to go now, she could.




Next challenge: prepping for the Halloween party she is hosting on Saturday afternoon.