Congrats to Sarah@theautomama for winning this giveaway!

Two weeks ago, I ordered Will’s birth announcements and I must have thumbed through 1,000 photo card designs before I found something that would work.  It’s not that there aren’t cute cards out there– there are– but there are so few with Christian messages.  I remember having the same problem last Christmas.

Then, last week (too late for me… I’d already ordered Will’s announcements), I found out about the Little Card Company.  It’s this amazing photo card company that offers supercute and stylish cards with Christian messages.  How amazing is that?  I wish I had know about them before…and just so y’all don’t have the same problem, I asked them if I could do a little interview/review.  Even cooler, the nice folks at The Little Card Company offered to do a GIVEAWAY so read through and you could win some really cool goodies!

Tell me a little bit about The Little Card Company.  Why was it started?  What do you sell?
The Little Card Company is an online Christian photo card company started by three moms – who also just happen to be friends and cousins and Christians. One recent Christmas season, we were hanging out together with our kids and the topic of Christmas cards came up. We each shared our frustration that we hadn’t found a fun, stylish photo greeting card that also included a genuine faith-based Christmas message.  We wanted amazing cards that said “Merry Christmas” and couldn’t really find them, let alone great designs with Christian wording or a scripture to help us share the joy of Jesus’ birth! It was on that morning that the idea for our company was born! 

We provide a number of designs for the major holidays – Christmas, New Year’s, Easter – as well as a full suite of products for parents of newborns:  birth announcements, baby dedications and baptisms, etc.  Every card is designed with a faith-based element, ranging from simple scripture references to complete scriptures, from familiar Christian greetings to detailed renderings of the town of Bethlehem, and so on.

What are a few of your favorite items?

We have so many great designs, but we’d say that these hold a special place in our hearts.  Here are a few of our favorites:

 

What makes your cards different from the competition?

There are quite a few online photo card sites out there. After all, it’s a great way to share photos of our beautiful kids, right?! The Little Card Company offers a similar personalization process and a high quality output, but our major difference is that we offer customers the means to share their precious life moments and their faith at the same time with the people they love. One of the best compliments we’ve had is from a mom who bought our thank you notes and told us she planned to send one to her neighbor in the hopes that it would open conversation about her faith in Jesus. Hallelujiah is all we can say!

The three of us enjoy being able to offer a product that we not only needed, but one that we truly believe in. We are grateful that the business also allows us the opportunity to help: we donate a portion of our profits to three amazing child-centered charities to bless others who aren’t as fortunate as we are.

So that’s us, and The Little Card Company! Moms-turned-business- women working hard to create a worthwhile product which we hope makes a difference.

How can people find you?

You can find our store online at www.littlecardcompany.com. We’re also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/littlecardcompany and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/littlecardco.

NOW for a chance to WIN cool GEAR from The Little Card Company:

The Little Card company has kindly offered to give one of my readers a gift pack that includes a small tote, a pack of thank you cards and a $15 gift certificate to their store.  The deadline is July 15th.  Here’s how to enter:

1 entry:  “LIKE” the Little Card Company on Facebook

1 entry:  Follow The Little Card Company on Twitter

CONGRATS to Gretta Johns for winning this book!

This morning, I woke up late.  Not pre-kids late (oh, those were the days) but I was jolted awake by the baby screaming at 7 am and shot out of bed to find my older kids eating goldfish crackers on the couch in their pajamas and my husband already gone at work.  I grabbed the baby and breastfed him (yes, that takes talent) while I made PB & J sandwiches for my kid’s breakfast.  I threw clothes at my older kids and found something (sorta) clean to put on myself and rushed out the door at 7:45.  By 8, the older kids had both been dropped off at their respective Vacation Bible School classrooms and we were en route to the baby’s pediatrician appointment.  After VBS comes gymnastics (for my three-year-old), tee-ball (for my five-year-old) and a work meeting where I’ll have to figure out a way to keep (read: bribe) all three kids silent while I pretend to be 100% engaged in the meeting.  Whew.  All that and my kids aren’t even in elementary school yet.

My point in telling you this? Moms these days are WAY, way too busy.

Which is why I was so excited when my amazing, smart, hilarious and talented friend Joanne Kraft sent me her book “Just Too Busy“– a story about how her family took a “radical sabbatical” and took a break from all extracurricular activities for an entire year.

I confess:  when I first heard the concept of her book, I was skeptical.  While business is a part of my life with young kids, I also felt my heart revolt at the idea of stopping all activities for an entire year.  I mean, what about tee-ball?  And ballet class? I wasn’t ready to give everything up…

But, after reading the book, I feel like I really understand Joanne’s heart and vision for Christian families.  She’s not asking everyone to give up all of the sports and hobbies and classes that they love, but instead to really think and pray about the vision God has for our families.  Does he call us to spend every night shuttling kids from youth group to soccer practice to the drive-thru?  No.  He wants us to live lives with purpose and love and with relationships that go deeper than a quick conversation in the minivan– and that’s what Joanne wants us to take away from her book.

Reading this book forced me to really assess my family’s priorities– even if I’m not ready to go as radical as giving up all activities from a year.  With Joanne’s help, I went from always looking for something to do to always looking for a way to connect.  And that shift in mindset is radical.  I also really appreciated Joanne’s advice on honoring the Sabbath.  Before, Sunday was just another day for us to get work done and squeeze in errands.  Now, we’re really working to honor God’s day and spend time together and with Him.

Anyway, if you’ve ever had a morning that looked like mine did this morning– or a week that felt like you spent more time in the car than at home– I highly recommend this book.  It’s funny, easy-to-read and poignant– and Joanne’s message is really life-changing.

Question for you: Are you too busy?  What priorities could you cut out to give your family a radical sabbatical?  Tell me in the comments and I’ll pick ONE commenter to win a copy of Joanne’s book.

Betcha never thought you’d see THAT title on my blog…but I kid you not, that’s EXACTLY what I have for you today.  My amazing, funny, smart, talented and did I mention funny friend Marla Taviano just released a new e-book today called “The Husband’s Guide to Getting Lucky”

And, since Marla is a bone fide sexpert (I’m not kidding…she’s the author of the books “Is That All He Thinks About” and “From Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife“) AND she’s funny and honest and loves God to boot, I’m really excited that she ventured into the “husband” arena and wrote a sex book for husbands from the perspective of a woman. What a cool gift for your hubby (hint, hint, Father’s Day is Sunday)!

Anyway, here’s what Marla has to say about her new book:

1.  So, Marla, not many Christian women are willing to tackle a subject like sex, yet this is your third (or fourth?) book on the topic?  What made you want to become a “sexpert”

It happened by complete and total accident. And shhhh… don’t tell anyone, but I’m not an expert. I just write from my own experiences and struggles.

I had actually just finished writing my first book, From Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife, and had chopped a few thousand words from the sex chapter–enough to start a book. When the publisher asked what I wanted to write next, I included that as one of five topics. They picked sex immediately. Of course they did. So I freaked out, then calmed down and started writing. These days I go around talking to groups of women (and sometimes men) about sex, and it’s no big deal. Lots of fun even.

2.  This book is about sex for husbands. Is it written from the perspective of a woman?  Is it your personal advice or did you recruit other volunteers to help?

It’s for men (husbands) from a woman’s perspective. But after all these years of research and writing, I’ve gotten to know what goes on inside a guy’s head fairly well. I also had 130 husbands who (anonymously) filled out a 10-question survey about sex, so  a lot of their input is in the book. Their answers were super helpful. They really did a great job.
3.  Maybe it’s just me, but it’s nearly impossilbe to pull my hubby away from SportsCenter to read a book.  What is he going to gain or learn from reading this book?  Any tidbits or snippets that will motivate him?

That’s why it’s an e-book. (And half the length of the books I write for women.) A guy can read it on his phone during commercials or at stoplights or in bed at night. I’m hoping the subject and the title will be all the motivation most men need to at least check it out. And I know I’m biased, but I really think they’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s written simply and conversationally, and I think the message will really click with them–and hopefully bless their marriage (and their marriage bed). It’s not your typical Christian book on sex in any way.
4.  So, you’ve written four (or is it five? six?) traditionally published books and now you’re releasing a self-pubbed e-book.  Tell me a little about the process of releasing a book like this.  Is it something you’d do again?  What are the differences between traditionally publishing a book and self-pubbing a book?  Which method do you like better?

Just four. And wow, I don’t think I have the space to go into all that’s involved in creating an e-book. I’d love to come back sometime and share all about it though. Unless something goes terribly wrong, I’ll absolutely do it again. When my first book came out in 2006, I barely knew what social networking was. I had just started blogging and I don’t think Twitter and Facebook even existed. I did a lousy job marketing the book (I thought the publisher would do all that for me.). Times are a’ changin’, and I’m excited to go with the flow.

And I have to give a super-huge shout-out to my husband Gabe (http://gabetaviano.com). He’s a web designer and social media guru. His title at work is “Director of Digital Presence.” So if this e-book happens to sell tons of copies, I owe it first of all to God and second of all to Gabe.

I’m also really excited, because we’re taking whatever profits I make from the book and going on a mission trip to Cambodia as a family. Gabe and I went last July, and it rocked our world. We want our girls (10, 9, and 5) to be a part of it.

Thanks Marla for joining us today and can’t wait to read more of your work!  You rock!