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Yoursphere Post #2 – What are Spheres?

July 16, 2010 By

For my second post about Yoursphere for Mom Central, my assignment was to have Nathan check out Spheres, which are groups kids can join where they can also upload their own content. Spheres come in these categories:

  • Music
  • ourWorld
  • Causes
  • Sports
  • Gaming
  • Fashion
  • TV & Movies
  • Academics
  • Animals
  • Art & Photography
  • Travel & Places
  • Performing Arts
  • Notebook

Nathan joined the Music, Gaming, and ourWorld spheres. Spheres can have images, videos, and posts about that topic. Only kids 18 and under can participate in Yoursphere, and all postings are strictly monitored. So you can be sure your kids won’t see anything inappropriate!

Once your child joins a sphere, which they do just by clicking a button, they can create a sphere of their own, as long as it fits within one of the above categories. Nathan chose to create a Sphere within Music about his favorite band, Daft Punk. If you want to check it out the URL is http://yoursphere.com/s/27208.

What I like best about the Sphere creation process is that it’s very similar to a blog page, but way easier to customize. There’s a main content area plus left and right sidebars, and any can be dragged and dropped to a different section of the page. It’s easy to customize the background of the page with a solid color or upload a background image that will tile across the screen.

For an image for Nathan’s sphere, we just went to Google Images, stuck the image into My Pictures, then on the Sphere page, browsed to the image and uploaded it. Easy peasy!  Check out Yoursphere for yourself and use referral code YSMC-0040 so that they know you came from a Mom Central reviewer. Thanks!

Finally, I showed Nathan how to join another user created Sphere. On any Sphere page, on the left side is a list of spheres created by users in that category. Nathan joined the Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare under the Gaming category.

What makes Yoursphere unique from other social networking sites for kids is the ability to do so much customization. And the fact that I can log in to my parent account and see everything Nathan does, from creating spheres to posting comments.  Spheres are a fun way for Nathan to share his interests and find others who share them too!  Check out Yoursphere for yourself and please use referral code YSMC-0040 so they know you came from a Mom Central review. Thanks!

I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review.

Filed Under: Website Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Storkie.com Personalized Cards for All Occasions

July 15, 2010 By

Since 1990, Storkie.com has been providing customers with quality, affordable custom-printed announcements, invitations, and thank-you cards. Founded by a group of creative and artistic professionals, Storkie is committed to outstanding service, stock, and printing at a great price. They asked me to check out their website and tell MomReviews readers what I think of their site and products.

The first thing I noticed about the site is that it’s set up like a blog, which makes it easy for me to find what I’m looking for. Page navigation tabs at the top and Popular Categories links in the left sidebar link to the types of cards available. It looks to me like they have pretty much everything! Here are a few of the types of cards available from Storkie:

  • Baby shower invitations, birth announcements, adoption ceremony invitations,  baby’s birthday invitations
  • Baptism, Christening, First Communion, Confirmation, Bar & Bat Mitzvah invitations
  • Bridal Shower, Rehearsal Dinner, Wedding Invitations, Wedding Thank-You Cards
  • Birthday, Anniversary, Sweet 16, Quinceañera, Retirement Party Invitations
  • Graduation Party Invitations and Thank-You Cards
  • Christmas cards, Hanukah, “Holiday”, and New Year’s Eve Cards

This is cool – in addition to being able to customize text wording and colors, cards that have a customizable image such as a girl graduate can be customized to match hair color and skin tone. It looks very easy to make changes and see how they will look before placing the order.  Many cards are also available with recycled paper.

There are lots of sites that offer personalized cards, I think it’s a matter of finding the site that has a card that “speaks” to you, that when you look at it you say YES, that’s the exact card I want.   If you need to order cards for an occasion, check out Storkie.com to see if they have the perfect card for you!

disclosure: I will be compensated for writing this post.

Filed Under: Website Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Jizo and Chibi Jewelry Review

July 13, 2010 By

Jizo and Chibi Jewelry is the creation of Valerie Johns, but the story of Jizo goes back thousands of years. 2500 years ago, Jizo was one of the four principal bodhisattvas – enlightened teachers – in Mahayana Buddhism. Upon his enlightenment, when he could have transcended this life forever, he pledged to remain on earth until every soul was finished suffering. Revered as the protector of children, he can connect us to our inner child. Jizo also protects travelers.

While living in Tokyo as a teenager, Johns had two friends who were very tiny, and were called the “Chibi-ko Gang”, meaning gang of little ones.

As an adult in Japan, Johns began noticing small stone figures, sometimes scattered in groups alongside a road, sometimes one by itself in a backyard. Her host told her that the figures were Jizo. She explained that “Jizo protects all people, but mostly we think of him as the protector of children: healthy, sick, unborn, never born.”

When I was emailed about doing a review of Jizo and Chibi, I was immediately drawn to the story. I like the idea of wearing a piece of jewelry with a charm, a talisman of sorts, especially when I travel since Jizo protects travelers. I asked to review the gold Jizo charm. I like to imagine that under his coat he his holding a Chibi, a little one, close to his heart, protecting both me as I travel and watching over my kids at home.

Jizo Gold Necklace

At jizoandchibi.com, Johns carries both figures in earrings and necklaces, in sterling silver and 81K gold vermeil. She also has pendants with gemstones, and bracelets. Each piece is handmade in Los Angeles. You can also purchase Johns’ books “Why a Fly?” in which Jizo helps Chibi with unanswerable questions, and “what I heard & what you said”, a book about communication. The site also has Johns’ artwork, and a short meditation practice focused on the breath.

I’m really looking forward to wearing my Jizo pendant and explaining to people who ask who he is and what he stands for. I think I’ll feel a lot better about my trip to New York wearing Jizo around my neck! Please check out jizoandchibi.com and see if there’s a piece that speaks to you.

Filed Under: Clothing and Accessories Tagged With: , , , ,
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