Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop 06.05.11 + Prefense Giveaway

{Update: Giveaway is closed and winner is Homemaker In Heels.}

Howdy, everyone! June crept in so quickly and before we know it, it'll be Christmas time again. At any rate, we'll always be here to celebrate creativity in our Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop so friends, welcome to our 10th CBPH edition!

I'd like to open up this party with an exciting giveaway from Prefense, so please indulge me because I'm so happy to share my latest discovery.

Giveaway
I always hear from family and friends how their hands dry up, get wrinkly, and even crack due to frequent washings. I suggested that they use hand sanitizer instead, but their common complaints are that ordinary sanitizers dry up their hands, too. What's worse is the alcohol content of these common sanitizers also stings their hands! This used to be my concern, too, until I tried Prefense, the NBA champ of all sanitizers.



Let me tell you why this is the most SUPERIOR of all sanitizers.
• No alcohol! Prefense is made of all-natural organic ingredients and has absolutely NO alcohol in it!
• Their technology protects you for 24 hours or 10 hand washings! This is what moms really love to hear about!
• Prefense is non-toxic and safe for kids! It will not hurt you if swallowed!
• Prefense is silica based which means it doesn’t dry out your hands like traditional alcohol sanitizers. It actually smoothes and softens your hands. You can totally see this when you apply it!
• Prefense protects against staph, strep, E.coli, drug resistant MRSA strains, and more. It fights germs that other hand sanitizers can’t.
• Because “one spray lasts all day” the 1.5 oz Prefense Botanicals Hand Sanitizer offers 120 applications, costing only $.08 per day, compared to $1.20 per day with alcohol hand sanitizers.

My family and I used the 1.5 oz Prefense Botanicals Hand Sanitizer that they sent me to try and I was so pleased with the results. I like that it foams when sprayed so that it gives a pleasant smooth and silky texture on the hands. What's more, I didn't have to contend with the overpowering smell that other sanitizers have - it has that faint good smell after applying it. Whenever I pick up my kids from school, or just being outdoors, applying Prefense on their hands is the first thing they MUST do upon hopping in the car, and I've observed how dramatically it decreased the occurrences of sickness in the family.



And here's the biggest exclamation point. It is now available in hand wipes format so you can keep your family safe and healthy! You can buy them from Prefense's online store or in their Amazon store. Now you know what I'll buy with my Swag Bucks :) This is such a blessing because while wiping away the dirt from our hands, we're already assured that germs were also killed in the process.

Here's the good news to you, my friends! They are giving away a big Mac Prefense, an 8 oz bottle that offers 640 applications! It is valued at $16.99 and they'll ship it to you directly within U.S. How cool is that?

To be eligible for this giveaway,
1. You must be a U.S. resident, and comment what excites you about Prefense.
2. Like Prefense in Facebook.
3. Follow Prefense in Twitter.
For extra entries,
4. Follow me and leave me a comment that you're doing so. If you're already a follower, leave a comment, too.
5. Like me in facebook, and leave a comment.
6. Follow me in Twitter, and leave a comment.

You have 6 different ways to win it and here's your chance to discover what parents are raving about Prefense! Giveaway ends on June 16, 11:59 pm, PST.

Co-hosts
It's so great to have another week with two co-hosts. First is Wendi from Project Purple, fresh from Turks and Caicos vacation :) She's just a girl in a house of BOYS who LOVES all things purple - purple crafts, purple food, purple fun, purple projects. And take note, she now owns the most-coveted Silhouette machine! She used this machine to make several projects that you can see in her blog.

My other creative co-host is The Paper Princess at Create With Joy. What pulled me to her blog is her tag line, "Be Original * Be Daring * Be Unique * Be Inspired * Be Yourself. Live With Passion!" After ensnaring me to her blog, she held me captive with her What's on Your Mind discussions where you can share your thoughts on provocative blogging topics such as: Social Media - Fad or Revolution?, Where do you find creative inspiration?, Balance versus Burnout, Share your thoughts on blog advertising, and many more.

Please visit and follow these awesome-and-worth-having blog friends.

Blog Tips
eblog templates teaches you how to install google analytics on blogger. Very useful in case you want to track the traffic in your blog.

Favorite Blog
You clicked, inlinkz tallied. The readers' favorite blog this past week out of 215 links, being the most viewed post, is Molly from Just A Little Creativity. She revamped these spice racks and converted them into paint holders and glue holders. What's amazing about this project is these spice racks were used differently from what they were originally intended to be - and that, my friends, is a sign of creativity over the rooftops.



Our Party
To the main course of this post.
For those of you joining us for the first time, we only have 2 easy, simple rules:

1) Link up your creative post - can be a DIY project, decor, photography, crafts, recipes, poem, thrift finds, link party, or that informative syndicated post that can make us laugh, or cry - in short, whatever you're proud of! And if you like to link more creative posts, go for it! We'd love to see them :) (No links to businesses or giveaways.)

2) Follow as many blogs as you desire, preferably starting first with the one who linked before you and after you, before branching out, and let them know by leaving a comment. (Following me and the co-hosts will be very much appreciated, and we definitely follow back. Just let us know you're following.)

You’re not required to include the party button but if you’re so inclined to display it in your blog or your post, you’re very much welcome to do so :)

Link opens up every Sunday at 5:00 pm, PST.

Because I like something different, I'm using the reverse entry for inlinkz - so the most recent participant will show up as number 1, thus giving everybody a chance to have the #1 spot.


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Friends, go ahead and mingle with one another :) Happy partying!





Burning question: Do you use google analytics?

I started using google analytics this April and I've discovered a lot about my visitors - where they came from, how long have they been in my blog, etc. Such very useful data! What about you? Do you use GA, sitemeter or any other tool that gives insights into your website traffic? How do you like it?