Bella Sara Package

One of the first products we received to review was a package of Bella Sara cards, and though we’d never heard of them, they were an instant success with Cameron.  She loved collecting the cards and really loved the website.

When I discovered that Team Mom was sending us a new set of Bella Sara products, I kept it a secret so that Cameron would be super surprised.  Check out the great assortment of Bella Sara products we received:

I saved them and gave them to Cameron on a day when she had to stay at school late with me so she would have something new to play with while she waited on me, and she had such a blast.  

We received 2 miniature figurines of Bella Sara horses and 2 packages of Treasures trading cards that also included stickers and temporary tattoos.  In the past we had only seen the plain trading cards so this was a real treat for Cameron.

If you’ve not seen the Bella Sara cards, they are kind of like Pokemon cards (remember those?).  You buy a set of  trading cards and trade them with your friends to have the exact horses you want.  However of course, now that the Internet is common in every home, these cards go a step further than Pokemon did. Girls create accounts at www.bellasara.com and put the codes on each card into their account to see their horses come alive. I’ve not played on the site much, but I’ve watched Cameron play it, and it’s quite interesting.  Last night I watched her clean out one of the horses stalls.

I’ve received a few different products since starting this transition into reviews and giveaways, but the Bella Sara cards may be my top recommendation.  They are such a reasonable price. The packages we’ve bought have come in 5 card packs, and the most I’ve seen a package cost is $3.95.  They make great small rewards for doing great on a test or doing chores without being asked.  

If your daughter (or granddaughter, niece, or sister) begins to love this fun game as much as Cameron, you’ll be interested to know that you can also buy a Bella Sara DS Game (this was in our stocking this year along with 3 packs of  trading cards).  I even found puzzles at our local Wal-Mart before Christmas, and today I found a Bella Sara scrapbook kit.

This looks like it may be something on its way up – will be something that every little girl wants – so if you have little girls in your family, pick up a package and see if they take to them as much as Cameron did.

Saying Hello from Iraq

My brother is currently in the US Army and is deployed to Iraq. He is looking for ways to stay in touch with family and friends. We’ve come up with two ideas. First I am setting him up his own blog, but many of our older family members still do not use the computer so that will not work across the board. For our second idea, we are going to make photo cards that he can send out to each family once every 3 months or so.  He wants to be able to take pictures while he’s in Iraq of himself and put them on the cover of the cards. I’ve been looking for cards at a reasonable price and I found a website I think has great deals.

Cards Direct has easily customizable cards. All you have to do is pick the general card you like and then you can put your own picture on the outside and your own words on the inside and outside. So really you have complete control over your final product. There is a minimum order of 25 cards which is not that many if you are sending them out across the entire family.  The prices are reasonable too, and not only that, but they offer some great extra features – 4 Lines of Personalization free, a custom verse, and free shipping. They estimate this to be a $65 value for FREE!

Here’s the card I found that I think we’re going to use. I really like the green border and think it looks very “armyish.”  If you are looking for custom photo cards, you too might want to check out Cards Direct.