Let's get down to business! - contest, new pics & a cool link

It's CONTEST time! Here is your chance to win a great new and totally cute diaper from Cutiepoops!



First let me tell you a little about Adrian who is the Everything behind Cutiepoops.

"Ever since I became a mom, I've done various jobs working from home so that I could stay at home with my kids. After I had my 3rd baby I had a hard time finding someone to babysit for again. So I decided if I couldn't find a job to do at home I'd at least try to save money where ever I could. I decided to switch to cloth diapers because it was a great way to save money. A little scary to think about trying, but it will save me around $2000 between the two boys I still have in diapers. I ordered 12 Bum Genius diapers for $217. Love them, they work great, but they are expensive. I needed more since 12 was not enough for two boys. I decided there had to be other diapers out there that worked that were not as expensive. I found a gal on Ebay who sold some AIO diapers for a great price so I bought 3 to try out. Big mistake, they leaked right from the start, they didn't keep the skin dry, and they took forever to dry. I've been a crafty person most of my life so I decided that I could make my own (how hard could it be, right?) I grew up with a mother who sewed all the time and she was very good at it. I was sure that some of that talent rubbed off on me. The first few I made were redo's of the ones I bought off of Ebay. I used vinyl shower curtain liners for the waterproof layer, I found this stuff called wicking jersey for the layer against the skin and I decided to stick with microfiber for the inserts (same as Bum Genius). I turned these AIO diapers to pocket diapers and they worked! I was so excited! I went out and bought some more fabric to make a few more. I had a friend who was wanting to make the switch to cloth too and she suggested I sell my diapers. I decided to use her daughter as a guinea pig before going public. The diapers were working great, but I really liked the suede cloth that was on the Bum Genius diapers. So I found a great supplier and started making them with suede cloth instead of the wicking jersey. It took me a little while to perfect my pattern to get it just right. I looked at several different brands and took features I liked about them and a few of my own to get my diaper to where it is today. I look back and laugh at some of those first diapers I made trying to create a pattern."



"After I went public and had a few orders under my belt I hit my fist snag.... there was a defective batch of the vinyl that went out. I couldn't take the chance of the vinyl going bad again so I needed to find another waterproof fabric to use. My friend who was testing out my diapers for me had suggested that I use nylon instead. She had some diapers that used nylon. I decided it was the way to go, and since it's an actual fabric, it won't get rips in it. So I sent out a few free diapers to those who got the defective batch and have used a urethane coated nylon ever since. I only want to use the best fabrics out there for cloth diapers. I also want to keep my prices down so that quality cloth diapers can be affordable to anyone on a budget. I've managed to find great suppliers for all of the fabrics and notions I use. I share my savings with all my customers."



"I have been very blessed over these past 8 months that I've been in business to see my little diaper company grow and grow. I have a very supportive husband who encourages me every step of the way. If you'd have asked me 5 years ago if I'd be using cloth diapers I would have laughed. But I love cloth diapers, they are so easy to use and not at all as gross as I would have imagined. I am very lucky that I have found something to do to help out my family that I enjoy."


Shannon here again. I took some photos of Blake & Madison in the diaper Adrian sent us to review. The rest of the diaper pictures are my cute twins! Madison was pretty grumpy so most of her shots don't show her face. :-)


My awesome friend, Molly, introduced me to the world of cloth diapers. My reaction was pretty much the same as Adrian's was. Cloth diapers? Laugh. Laugh. No way. When Molly educated me about the modern wonders of using cloth I was hooked. We have been using the same batch of diapers we purchased before the babies were born. A friend of ours posted a few pictures of the cloth diapers she would be using when her baby was born. They were so cute! I checked out Cutie Poops and contacted Adrian to see if I could review them & have a contest. She was so sweet and loved the idea. I've been using the diaper she sent for a couple of weeks now. We love it! It is very fashionable, not too bulky, easy to clean & it fits both babies very different bodies well. I definitely recommend these diapers to anyone.



If you haven't ever tried cloth diapers and wondered where to start look no further then Cutiepoops!

Here is how to enter the contest to win your very own super cute cloth diaper from Cutiepoops. The winner will be chosen with a random generator and the comment checked to make sure :

First and mandatory entry - Go to Cutiepoops and come back here to leave a comment letting me know what your favorite fabric is.

Any or all of the additional entry options are open to you after the first one is met. Leave a seperate comment for each entry
2. Check out my fine art photography - comment here telling me what your favorite photo is by the type (such as City Details), number & why you like it. Just cuz is a perfectly acceptable reason! If you would like to buy some great prints even better! Here is a discount code to get 15% off!!! Use the code: LoveIT. Purchasing my artwork will get you 5 extra entries which I will enter for you. Some fabulous new stuff will be added this week including some old cars from the 20's to 50's.
3. Become a follower and/or subscriber to this blog.
4. Become a follower and/or subscriber to my photography blog.
5. Let me know what your favorite photos are on either this blog or my photography blog (not a photo from this post).
6. Become a fan of S & G Photography on Facebook. Comment here letting me know you became a fan.
7. Book an appointment for your own photography session. We are in Raleigh, NC and often travel. We are most often in SLC or Phoenix. If you do not live or travel to the Raleigh, SLC or the Phoenix areas you can email a friend who does to refer them to S & G Photography for an entry. Just copy me in the email. sandgphotography@cox.net. Comment here or I will enter a comment for you.
8. Comment letting me know something you would like to learn about any aspect of photography! I would like to have more sharing and instruction on my photography blog for all levels of learning.
9. Become a fan of my friends, Rick and Liz, hoping to adopt group on Facebook 'Help Rick & Elizabeth grow their family'. Getting the word out to help these great people become parents is a fabulous thing to do. You never know when or how you or someone else will run into a potential birth mom!



The contest is open until 7/31/09. I will use a random generator to determin the winner. Make sure to leave your email in the comment if it does not show up in my notification. If you are unsure put your email into your commnet. I will announce here and email the person who wins with instructions on picking your fabric for your custom diaper! The person who wins will have 48 hours to contact me back.

I'm realizing this would be a monster post if I add anymore photos. Well, who cares. I'll add them anyway.

We had an excellent time swimming with friends. The kids were all twitterpated when they realized Blake loved having his sopping wet hat lobbed at his face AND that I let them do it! All of us had a blast. Madison was enjoying her Little Lumpa Love way of sitting in one spot observing all the happenings around her.




Here are more of the bubble blowing pictures I promised. I really do need to get in some photos! Yet again, I've not been in a photo for weeks. Guy sweetly ordered a remote for my camera so hopefully we'll get this corrected very soon.


Check out the link below if you are a photography lover. I am soooo hoping to win the Lightroom mentoring! I've been putting off learning how to use my Lightroom for way tooo long.
The JAG Game

Wish me luck! Tomorrow is my laser eye surgery. I'm way excited about it but not looking forward to the 'maybe' things that can happen. The biggest common one being vision fluctuations for a few days. With no corrective lenses it will be weird if it happens to me. Hope not!