Handstamped Keychains From Joseph Allen Designs {Review & Giveaway}

I have mentioned several times that one of the benefits of blogging is that I learn about awesome products that I might otherwise not have heard about. One of those products is handstamped jewelry. I don't think I was familiar at all with this unique jewelry until I came across it on a few different blogs. Now I am hooked!

One of the best handstamped jewelry companies is Joseph Allen Designs. Joseph has been creating and designing jewelry since high school, and has had his own business for for over ten years. I love his unique, high quality, personalized jewelry! He hand makes all of the jewelry he sells, and only uses high quality Argentium Sterling Silver in all of the casted pieces he makes. You may already be familiar with the necklaces from Joseph Allen Designs.

Along with his beautiful necklaces, Joseph Allen Designs has something for the people in your life that may not wear a lot of jewelry, in the form of handstamped keychains. These one-of-a-kind keychains are great gifts for men or those who do not wear a lot of jewelry, but would still like a personalized, sentimental gift. The keychains are available in rectangles or baseballs (other sports may be coming soon), and even most necklace designs can be made into keychains.

Speaking of gifts for the men in your life, a personalized keychain would make a great Father's Day gift! With Father's Day just around the corner, I was more than happy to review one of these keychains, especially since I had absolutely no idea what to get for my husband who is so hard to buy gifts for!

Since Brian isn't a sports nut, I chose the Hammered Rectangle Tag Keychain for review, and had Rylie's and Bryce's names handstamped on it. It came packaged in a little box, and even had a pretty bow wrapped around it.

The keychain is very nice! The picture below really doesn't do it justice, because it is much shinier than it looks. You can tell that the names were handstamped and weren't done with a machine. The materials are very high quality!

Since my husband reads my blog daily, I wasn't able to wait until Father's Day to give him his keychain, and had to give it to him when we received it. He loves it! It is small enough to add to his keys without making them bulky, and just big enough to have that reminder of his children with him at all times when he is not home.

If you are looking for a unique Father's Day gift, I highly recommend these keychains from Joseph Allen Designs! Not only are the items high quality, the customer service is also. Most items ship within three business days, and some even faster than that. The rectangle keychains retail for $37 and the baseball keychains retail for $45. If you would rather have a necklace design made into a keychain, those prices vary and can be seen as an option on the necklace order pages.

~*~One of my readers is going to win a $50 Gift Certificate to Joseph Allen Designs!~*~

Mandatory entry: (This must be done in order for any optional entries to count) Tell me what you might purchase from Joseph Allen Designs if you win.

Optional entries: After you make the mandatory first entry above, you can get one extra entry (unless stated otherwise) for each of the following (please leave a separate comment for each):

* Sign up for the Joseph Allen Designs newsletter (on the left side of the Joseph Allen Designs homepage)
* Follow the Joseph Allen Designs blog via email or RSS
* Like Joseph Allen Designs on Facebook (feel free to tell them that The Life of Rylie...and Bryce too! sent you)
* Follow @handstampdesign on Twitter
* Follow my blog publicly with Google Friend Connect (sidebar)
* Subscribe to my blog by email and confirm your subscription (sidebar)
* Like The Life of Rylie...and Bryce too! on Facebook (leave your first name and last initial)
* Share this post on Facebook by clicking the Facebook icon at the bottom of this post
* Follow @thelifeofrylie on Twitter (leave your user name)
* Tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting this tweet and leaving me the link to your tweet (you can tweet daily for an extra entry each day):

Looking for a unique Father's Day gift? Enter to #win a $50 GC to Joseph Allen Designs from @thelifeofrylie! http://bit.ly/lTVNiD #giveaway

* Post my button on your sidebar or your blog roll for TWO extra entries (leave me two comments with a link to where I can find it)
* Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post for THREE extra entries (leave a link to your post in three separate comments)

Giveaway will end on June 15th at 9:00pm EST. The winner will be chosen by random.org. I will notify the winner by email within 24 hours, and you will have 48 hours to respond. If no response is received within that time frame, I will pick another winner. Please leave your email address or make sure it is in your profile so I will have a way to contact you. I will announce the winner once they have been confirmed. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Disclosure: All opinions are my own. I received the Handstamped Keychain at no cost for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. A big Thank You to Joseph Allen Designs for providing the giveaway prize!

~*~Winner!!!~*~ Kidtoons - Olivia Prize Pack

Thank you to everyone who entered my May Kidtoons Giveaway! The winner of the Olivia Prize Pack is...



And the winning comment was...



Congratulations sweetsue!

For more chances to win cool stuff, check out my current giveaways in the sidebar.

~*~Winner!!!~*~ - Pirates of the Caribbean

Thank you to everyone who entered my Pirates of the Caribbean Giveaway! The winner of the Pirates Prize Pack is...



And the winning comment was...



Congratulations jayedee!

For more chances to win cool stuff, check out my current giveaways in the sidebar.

Tell Us Something Good: Safe Travels {Linky}

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Welcome to Tell Us Something Good! I'm so glad you're here. Every Tuesday, my friend Andrea from Angelica's Awesome Adventures and I will be sharing something good with you. We hope that you will share something good with us too. So grab the button at the top, tell us something good on your blog, and link up your post at the linky on the bottom.

My "something good" for today is the fact that we had a great vacation to visit family in Alabama, and we made it there and back safely!

I am writing this post on Monday evening. We returned home from our trip to Alabama just a few hours ago and I am exhausted. I came home to find that my hard drive on my computer crashed, so I can't download any pictures to show you all of the fun we had. But since this is all about something good, I won't go into how I'm actually sick to my stomach over the whole hard drive thing right now.

So back to the good...

We had a great vacation! We had so much fun with my aunt and her family. We had a super fun birthday party for my cousin Alaina on Saturday that included a 20 foot water slide! I'm still hurting from that. On Sunday my aunt and I spent the day out shopping, and as usual, spent way too much money, but had way too much fun.

Aside from all the fun we had, the really great part is that the car ride up and back (almost 400 miles each way) went well. The kids were wonderful! They watched their movies and napped and I wasn't pulling my hair out. Since it was a holiday weekend, there were a lot of cops on the road, so I watched my speed. There was one point that I may or may not have been speeding just enough to get a ticket, but lucky for me, a little speed demon in a sports car went zooming past me just as we saw the cop in the median with the radar gun. The dude pulled over before the cop turned around. What else can you do, I guess? And the most important part is that we made it there and back safely. I certainly couldn't ask for much more than that.

I'll be back later in the week (with a new hard drive, hopefully) to tell you all about it, and to show you proof of why my body feels like I was in a fight. I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend, and that your travels were as safe as ours were.

OK, now it's your turn. Tell us something good...

*Please note: This linky is only for those participating in Tell Us Something Good. You are welcome to link up a recent post about something good in your life, we just ask that you include the Tell Us Something Good badge somewhere in your post. We hate to have "rules", but we want to be fair to those that are participating. Thank you for understanding.*

Nutrisystem Weekly Weigh In: Week 4

Who wants to join me for lunch?

Yeah, so there's a reason I don't vlog. There are plenty of them, actually. If that had just been a picture I would have been able to photoshop that nasty cold sore out of the corner of my mouth. Blech. And I wouldn't have made you all sea sick with the shakiness at the end. Apparently the Flip cam requires a steady hand. But there you have it, my first vlog.

I am still amazed at how well the Nutrisystem food tastes! I mentioned in the video that I particularly like the Margherita Pizza. It is so yummy! Some of the other meals I enjoyed this past week were Double Chocolate Muffin for breakfast, Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing with Diced Chicken for lunch, Lasagna with Meat Sauce for dinner, and Golden Pound Cake for dessert.

As you may already know, I am on vacation over this long weekend. And since this post was pre-written on Thursday, there will be no weekly weigh in since I don't have my scale with me. My weight from Thursday morning was almost a pound less than last week, but since I am on vacation, there is no telling if that will be the case when I get home. I am taking some Nutrisystem food with me, but we'll be running around the whole time we're in Alabama, so I hope I have the willpower to make good decisions when it comes to meal times. I am so happy about my weight loss thus far, and I certainly don't want to see the number go up at all!

Week One Loss: -3.2

Week Two Loss: -2.0

Week Three Loss: -1.0

Week Four: Vacation

Thank you all for following along with me on my Nutrisystem journey! I hope you will check back next week to see my progress.

We all know that support is a key to losing weight, so it would be great if you would also cheer on some of my Nutrisystem Nation friends: Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier, Melissa at The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom, Colleen at Shibley Smiles, and Heather at Family Friendly Frugality. Thank you for your support!

Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting Nutrisystem.com.

Disclosure: All opinions are my own. Nutrisystem is providing meals and program services to me at no cost as part of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program. No other compensation was received.

Relax & Surf Sunday - May 29th {Linky}

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Welcome to Relax & Surf Sunday, with your hostesses The Life of Rylie...and Bryce too! and Shibley Smiles! This is a great blog hop for everyone to make new friends! You can find some new blogs to check out, and also get your blog out there and gain some new followers.

Here are the rules...

Wait, there are no rules! That is the whole point behind "Relax & Surf". We just want you to relax, and surf around as much as you want to. You don't have to make a post. You don't have to post our button. You don't even have to follow us. Of course we hope you like our blogs and will want to follow us, and we WILL follow back! Just add your blog to our linky at the bottom of this post, and visit as many blogs as you would like to. If you decide to follow a new blog, make sure you leave them a comment so they will know you are following them.

Each week we will randomly select one blog from the previous week's entries to be our featured blog for that week. If that blog happens to be yours, you will get a cute little button to display on your blog, and you will also get the #3 spot for that week!

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Our Featured Blogger this week is Bizzy B. Bakes!

Hi, I am Bizzy from Bizzy B. Bakes and true to my blog title, I lead a "busy" life and I love to bake. I have two goals for my blog, one is to expand my baking skills and share them with you. The second is to post my QED recipes, Quick, Easy and Delicious as well as spotlighting QEDs from guests.

I just started a new linky that I am excited about, Bake with Bizzy. This linky will hopefully provide all of us with a variety of tempting edibles. For me, the best part of blogging is getting to know other bloggers and I hope, I will get to know you so come over and visit. Please help yourself to a cookie or piece of cake.

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Link up below and have fun! Thanks for stopping by!

This linky will be posted every Saturday night at 9PM EST. Please link to your blog's main page only.

Saturday Playdate - City Girl Gone Coastal

Welcome to another fun Saturday Playdate! Today we're playing with Amanda from City Girl Gone Coastal. I'm super excited about this one, because this is my first international playdate! Amanda is the "mum" to adorable twin boys. She left the hustle and bustle of London a few years ago and now lives in a relaxed and laid back coastal town. Her blog is all about crafts and DIY. Her projects are really awesome, and she makes it all look so easy. There are so many neat ideas to see on her blog!

I recently asked Amanda if she would share one of her fun crafts with us, and here it is! This is such a fun idea! When you're done here, please check out City Girl Gone Coastal. Give Amanda some comment love and let her know you stopped by from the playdate.

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If your kids are anything like me, you’re in for a long summer full of indecisiveness! I’m terrible at making decisions; even deciding on dinner can have me in a spin, which is where the Dice of Decision comes into play.

Each side has a pocket into which you can insert various option coupons, whether its activities, days out, dinner or chores, it lets the kiddies get involved in making the decisions.

To make your own you need to gather

Fabric for dice

Fusible interfacing

Contrasting fabric for pockets

Fabric for pocket lining

Toy stuffing

Sewing machine

Sewing bits and bobs

Card for coupons

On the wrong side of the main fabric draw 6 squares. 11” x 11”, cut these out. Cut out and iron the fusible interfacing on the wrong side of each of the squares,

On the wrong side of the contrasting fabric draw 6 squares, 4” x 4”, cut these out.

Cut out and iron the fusible interfacing on the wrong side of each of the squares,

 On wrong side of the pocket lining fabric draw 6 squares, 4” x 4”, cut these out. 

Iron all the pieces.

Place the pocket and pocket lining right sides together and pin, sew along 3 sides leaving a gap in the 4^th for turning right side out. Before turning right side out, trim off any excess fabric and square off the corners. Once turned out, sew the gap closed.

Repeat for the remaining 5 pockets and press.

Place a pocket on the centre of each piece of main fabric, pin in place and sew round 3 edges, leaving the tops open, press.

To make the dice, place 2 pieces of fabric right sides facing, pin together and sew along 1 edge. Remember to back stitch at both ends!

Place another piece of fabric, right sides facing, on one of the 2 pieces already sewn together, sew along the edge. Repeat until you have 4 pieces sewn together in a strip.

Sew the 2 end pieces together; this will make up a cube.

Pin one piece to the top and another to the bottom, make sure right sides are facing!

Using your sewing machine, attach the top and bottom, leaving a gap for turning.

Prior to turning right side out, trim off any excess and square corners. Turn right side out, you should now have your dice.

Stuff with toy stuffing, using a chop stick or similar to get stuffing in the corners.

 Once you’re happy with the filling, sew the gap closed.

To make the coupons trim some card so it’s the right size to fit inside the pockets, make as many as you need.

Write on them different options, you could have themes,

Rain day options

Outdoor activities

Friday night dinner

Insert coupons in to pockets and get rolling’!!

The dice also works well as a football and a cushion!

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Thanks for stopping by for our Playdate! I hope you had fun! If you would like to come over for a Playdate, let me know in a comment or an email.

Weekend Win It - May 28-29 {Giveaway Linky}

Welcome to Weekend Win It! This is a great way to spread the word about your giveaways, or find some great ones to enter! And remember...you don't need to be a blogger to enter these giveaways! All you need to do is know how to leave a comment. It's that easy!

I have a few great giveaways going on right now!

Giveaway: Pirates of the Caribbean Ends: 5/28 Prize: Pirates of the Caribbean Prize Pack

Giveaway: Kidtoons Ends: 5/31 Prize: Olivia Prize Pack

Giveaway: Kidorable Ends: 6/1 Prize: Choice of Kidorable Backpack

Giveaway: Cooking with Coke Ends: 6/5 Prize: Ingrid Hoffmann 12qt Tamale Pot and Steamer with Lid by T-fal®

Giveaway: George Foreman Grill Ends: 6/8 Prize: George Foreman Control Temp Grill and Griddle

Giveaway: PetCakes Ends: 6/9 Prize: One PetCakes Plush Toy

Here are some great giveaways that I found this week...

Giveaway: Justin Bieber Never Say Never Blog: Shibley Smiles Ends: 6/4 Prize: Justin Bieber Never Say Never DVD

Giveaway: Summer Infant Blog: Thanks, Mail Carrier Ends: 6/17 Prize: Choice of a Disney Pretty as a Princess or Disney Lil' Speedster Booster

Giveaway: Purse Organizer Blog: Circle of Love and the Craziness Around It Ends: 5/31 Prize: Handmade Purse Organizer

What are you waiting for? Head over and enter these great giveaways now! And if you are hosting a family friendly giveaway (or twenty), please link them up below! I would love to find some other great giveaways to enter! Please come back and let me know if you win a giveaway that you found at Weekend Win It.

Have a great weekend!

*Please enter giveaways in this format: Blog Name - Giveaway - End Date. Thanks!