A Passion for Scrapbooking, Decorating and Shopping

Organized surroundings...

The past couple weeks I have dedicated time to organize and pare-down what surrounds me in everyday life. 

I started by participating in a neighborhood yard sale and managed to rid ourselves of a few items that we no longer use. 

Ideally, it would have been nice to have sold everything but I think we are all in a state of mind where buying less means more to us than ever before.  The magazines I displayed for free went very quickly (I do not like to throw away magazines, if at all possible).

I finally found success with Craigslist after a few attempts by alleged shady buyers trying to take advantage of a newbie like me.  This is definitely a venue you must proceed with caution.  Gladly, a number of furniture items found new homes and I can now walk into our storage room without stepping over anything.

There's a collection of books I discovered when I regained access to our storage closet, so I've listed them for sale on Amazon.  It's another great venue to purge reading material and make a few dollars to re-invest in new reading material.  ;-)

The USPS has come in handy with the number of packages I've sent my sister lately with items her family will put to good use.  If you send at least one of your packages via Priority Mail, the mail carrier will pick-up everything from your doorstep for free, including parcel post.  So I always make sure I have a lightweight package to send via Priority Mail to combine with parcel post packages.  It saves time from standing in line at the Post Office.

While I was away with my girlfriends scrapbooking last weekend, I included time to file-off almost every photo on the hard drive of my laptop, although I have a back-up external hard drive.  I stayed up until 3:00am to accomplish this task, and boy, do I feel good about it.  I had 3 years-worth of photos on my hard drive.

The tools I included in my gear for the crop were a label maker and my entire collection of patterned paper.  Every sheet of paper was separated and alphabetized by manufacturer into Cropper Hopper paper pouches.  It took me an hour to sort through everything and label the dividers. 

The good news is I managed to make a set of 20 holiday cards and a layout while I organized what I could at my fingertips.  Regardless of what I was doing, I accomplished a bit of crafting as well as organizing. 

On my iPhone, I added the Flickr application where I can now upload photos from my phone as a back-up with the push of a button. 

Organizing and maximizing my time is an ongoing ordeal in our household.  There are days I feel wonderful about achieving a flawless day without chaos and there are days I do not know if I'm coming or going.  And I hope to have more flawless days as I continually try to gain control over the chaos.   

A shortcut...

Shortcuts are the best timesaver.  To find the quickest most efficient way to complete a task is what I constantly seek. 

Last fall, I began to see ads in various scrapbooking and papercrafting magazines for the new Sizzix Big Shot Express.  And it is now making it's way to various retailers.  This machine could make a girl's heart go thump thump on Valentine's Day, including this girl right here behind the keyboard.

Call me lazy but the less steps it takes to accomplish a task like this allows for more time to focus on the craft itself, right?!  No more hand-cranking.  Your die will be cut within 2 seconds.  How lovely.

My father always said "time is money" and in this case, it will take money to save some time.  So let's hope for tax refunds and give cheers to tools that simplify die-cutting. 

The clock is ticking...

I heard on the news today that it is one of the busiest days for the mail industry.  And it is the deadline for most retailers who offer shipping to receive packages by Christmas.  For some of us, this news can be alarming as it just occured that we are running out of time.

The good news is that many retailers are offering free shipping today.  So it was a good reason for me to place an order with Pottery Barn this morning for a last minute gift for a family member.  And Target came to my rescue today too with their offering of free shipping.

Nordstrom is my next stop for online shopping today. I'd like to get my mom some snow boots and who better than Nordstrom who has the selection of shoes that can make any shoe-obssessed-gal proud.

If you have last minute shopping to do, today is the day to do it.  Gift cards always come to our rescue for last minute gifts as they are readily available just about anywhere you go.  E-gift cards are even better.  And in the past, I have relied on Amazon.com for e-gift cards as they have a vast selection of items to please any gift recipient.

You also have the option to do some electronic gift-giving.  And what I mean by that is you can buy stock (I realize the economy is not good right now but there are bargains to be had), even a portion of a share from Sharebuilder.com.  It is a fabulous way to build up your stock portfolio.  Just open an account for your loved one, print the statement with the initial investment, wrap it up and place it under the tree.

For someone that insists that you not get them anything for Christmas, you can consider making a donation to your favorite or their favorite charity on their behalf.

I hope you are finding these suggestions somewhat helpful.  The marathon continues with a no-bake recipe and shopping for gifts where you'd least expect it.  There's more to come, including photos which have been absent from this site for some time now.

Photo triage...

I am a BIG BIG fan of the Library of Memories system that Stacy Julian has introduced to us scrapbookers, either through Big Picture or her books (The Big Picture and Photo Freedom). 

Earlier this year, I organized various photos using the Library of Memories photo triage method.  Tonight, I decided I want to begin working on a special album about my guy and me.  It took me 2 seconds to gather the photos for this project simply by referring to the little box that houses this triage of photos and looking under the tab labeled 'US'. 

Some time ago I knew I wanted to work on an 'US' album, so that is when I began sorting photos into the triage of photos box.  It's such a timesaver.  I don't have to spend hours flipping through albums and photo images on CDs. 

While on the subject of Big Picture, A Life Well Crafted year-long project with Jason & Kolette Hall begins in January and I just learned that you can sign-up month-to-month.  I've just signed up for January and am ready for more creative inspiration from Kolette.  I plan to begin working on projects from her recent class, The Art of Giving Well, over the Thanksgiving holiday.  She included some very creative gift ideas and I've managed to find all the supplies needed for the projects.

And I am up-to-speed on printing assignments from Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class.  That's a big step for me.  I usually do not keep up with the week-to-week assignments but do print each handout with the intention of working on them when I am able to do so.  My goal is to work on these assignments over the Christmas holiday.

I've got some BIG plans over the holidays.

Presentations...

It's all about the presentation when it comes to giving gifts.  The perfect gift wrap, gift bag, gift box or anything we can do to achieve a festive look.  For efficiency, I typically choose gift bags.  They are recyclable in most cases and easy to handle.

And for the queries I received on the plastic storage containers for the gift bags in the armoire I posted yesterday, I wish I had resources to share with you instantly.  I could not find any online but can tell you that I purchased sets of gift bags in those plastic containers at Costco in years past.  Perhaps they will have them again this holiday season. 

There are times though where I feel like selecting chic gift wrap and coordinating ribbon in an attempt to make the gift look stylish.  It's similar to selecting patterned paper for your layout, right!?

For stylish gift wrap and anything else that pertains to gifting, I favor the Container Store.  Their selection suits my style and when I'm in the mood to coordinate gift packaging under our tree, I turn to their Gift Wrap Style Maker.

Truthfully, I spend more time being inspired by their ideas than actually executing them.  I cannot recall a Christmas where our tree and everything underneath it coordinated beautifully. 

I do make an honest attempt at gift wrapping packages with pretty bows.  My favorite type of ribbon is wired ribbon.  Without the wire, I am lost.  I like the ability to shape the bow and when it gets crushed en route to your parents house, you can easily perk it up a bit with a bend here and a bend there.

For the most spectacular presentations in gift wrap, Carolyne Roehm's book, Presentations: A Passion for Gift Wrapping, is a great inspiration.  Her website is another resource for classic-style gift wrap and ribbon.

When gifting baked goods, as we try to do each year, we turn to tins as they typically keep things fresh a bit longer than anything else we've tried.  With plain tins, you can go in many different directions with themes and the season.   Adding a bow in a particular color, like green & red for Christmas or brown for Thanksgiving, is what sets the tone.

And dearest Rachel made a great suggestion to include a set of alpha stamps in the gift armoire.  It's a classy way to personalize your gifts.

With the Giving Well class I am currently taking at Big Picture, Kolette kindly shared graphic images of gift tags which I've printed onto Bazzill Bling cardstock to include on the gifts we give.

It may sound a bit premature to be discussing holiday gift wrap, but it can't hurt to prepare early.  My past experience with last minute shopping means I spend more money than I intended.   My solution this year is to take inventory on what we have and make a list of what we need based on the gift-giving list we created.

And more importantly, I will try to take advantage of great deals on December 26th and stock-up for 2009.

Hodge Podge Thursday night...

When I mentioned Ziploc bags for packing outfits for travel, I inadvertently referred to the wrong size.  It's the large big bag I used vs. extra large.  These bags do come in handy for all sorts of things.  I've begun storing holiday decorations in them vs. boxes.  At least ones that are not fragile.

I'm also continuing my effort to purge and discovered classy stencils and accessories I purchased several years ago from Jan Dressler yet never opened the package.  So I've added them to the Virtual Garage Sale hoping someone can make good use of them. 

And yesterday I added a copper mail organizer from Southern Living at Home.  I am sorry to potentially see it go as I really do like it.  I actually need something a bit smaller. 

Lastly, I visited our local fabric store recently only to find they are out of black gimp.  I need black gimp to re-do my bulletin board where the ribbon is falling off because I did not hot-glue it down to the board.  Gimp works much better.

It then dawned on me to look on eBay.  What do you know, I got a fabulous deal on 10 yards of black gimp.  It's a happy day in the world of bulletin boards and crafting as this board is going to receive some TLC soon.

May your Friday be a delightful one.

Time Savers: Travel Gear...

Just before a trip, my mind is scattered between preparing for the trip while dealing with the ongoing daily life of work and home.  If I could afford the time, ideally having one day before & after a trip would make traveling more manageable in the organizational sense.

One day before the trip, I could spend packing and getting our house in order (who likes to come home from a trip with a dirty home).

And the day after the trip could be spent unwinding, unpacking and tending to laundry. 

Ah, the luxury of time.  In most instances, I do not have that luxury.  Instead, I make a list of what to pack.  Sometimes it involves running all over the house seeking items to pack in our suitcase. 

To help offset some of the chaos, I keep a hanging organizer / toiletry bag packed at all times.  Between Target & Drugstore.com, I manage to keep that bag filled with Q-tips, cotton balls, shampoo & conditioner, face cloths, eye make-up remover, hair brush, pony tails, deodorant (Ban roll-on is my absolute favorite), dental floss picks and all the necessities for everyday hygiene.  And let me add that Drugstore.com is a huge time saver.  I've ordered Viva paper towels from them too.

Cosmetics are essential to my travel gear.  After returning from a trip, it can take me days to unpack.  And it's frustrating when I go to apply make-up in the morning only to find a good portion of it is still packed.  It's a distraction because I have to go get the suitcase, pull out my cosmetics bag  and make my way back to the vanity to continue applying my make-up.  And what I mean by distraction is that I would stop along the way and do 5 other things en route to the suitcase before returning to the vanity.  I am infamous for this....dawdling and losing focus of the task at hand.

Just recently, I decided that an expandable hanging travel bag dedicated to cosmetics for travel-only is a must.  It too will remain packed at all times.  I already have small containers of make-up from the Bare Esscentuals kits I've purchased in the past as well as extra mascara on-hand.  I had to purchase an additional blush make-up brush and Prime Time bases.  To me, it's well worth the extra expense just to save a little time and frustration.

With the necessary electrical chargers needed for our equipment permanently tucked into a ziploc bag and ready to travel at a moment's notice, packing our clothing is the only task to deal with prior to a trip. 

Also, I learned from Jessica some time ago where pre-planning outfits and tucking them into plastic bags is an efficient way of packing for a trip.  I tried it using extra large size Ziploc bags and had a wonderful trip without the time-consuming task of selecting what to wear.

Now we're on our way to being a well-traveled traveler.

Time Savers: Email...

For me, email outranks voicemail messages in our household.  In fact, checking for voicemail messages at home is no longer a daily routine for us.  Not often do we receive a message at home.  Only on our respective cell phones and email. 

My father lives nearby yet we communicate via instant message or by email.  And the same goes for many of our family members.  Please don't get the impression that we never connect voices by phone.  We do.  It just seems like email has become a part of our everyday life.

Notifications about prescription refills, bills, reminders to have your car serviced, etc. can be a nuisance yet they are helpful to me to keep the flow of everyday life progressing. 

The first thing I do when I check email is delete the unwanted notes aka junk email.  I take action on remaining notes such as responding, filing and deleting.

With filing of email notes, I created a number of folders:

Action items as in I need to respond to this email note but don't have time right now.  Or I need to go online and pay this bill.  All go into the Action folder.

Bills folder contains any notes with pertinent information concerning the account.

Coupons folder is where I file those notes where they advertise 20% with this code, etc.  I only save ones that I believe I may use in the near-term.  This folder is utilized mostly during the holiday season.

Crops folder contains schedules and dates regarding future crop dates with the girls.  It also includes scrapbooking events I plan to attend.

Home Decor is a collection of tips from various retailers that have been sent via email as well as ones from blog readers. 

Home Improvement came in handy when we were going through our basement remodel.  All the email conversations between ourselves and the builder went here.  Something I should begin to do is save any email confirmations from orders I've placed that have to do with the improvement of our home, like a new appliance or a new fixture.  That information is handy when it comes to sale of your home and filing taxes & capital gains.

Mac pertains to anything Mac-related.  Tidbits, AppleCare info, etc. 

Magazines where confirmations from subscription renewals that have been handled online.  It's a back-up to the log I keep in our Bills binder.

Mail accounts containing account info from sites such as Stamps.com & USPS are filed here. 

Online orders is an active folder.  Confirmations from orders I've placed online go here.  When the order arrives and there are no issues, I delete the confirmation. 

Photos that friends and family send me electronically go here until I get a chance to download them and/or upload them to Snapfish, Shutterfly and/or Flickr.  The email is then deleted. 

Rebates is a file that I do not use often.  On occasion, I file a rebate on a piece of equipment I've purchased and file the email confirmation I typically receive weeks after.  I delete the email once I've received the rebate check.

Recipes from Yahoo Groups I belong to as well as ones from friends are filed into this folder.  I only save ones that appeal to me and typically print a copy for our kitchen file.  I do not delete them from this folder because I like the convenience of their availability when I'm working on our Peapod shopping list and/or want to share the recipe with a friend.

Software holds info from purchased software I've registered and/or purchased online and includes pertinent info in the event I need to download it again.  I do enjoy purchasing software online with instant downloading, like Adobe.  It saves having to store CDs at home.

Taxes is a folder that I also attach a year to.  For example, Taxes '08.  Confirmations from charitable contributions made online as well as payment of tax bills are collected into this folder.  When we file taxes for that particular year, I print a hard copy of the confirmations as back-up documentation with a copy of our tax return.  I then delete the folder and most likely already have a new folder already started for the next tax year.

Travel contains flight and/or hotel confirmations for upcoming trips for ourselves as well as family members and friends who plan to pay us a visit.  I delete the confirmations once the trips are complete.

I create and delete folders as necessary and try very hard to keep my INBOX clean.  And on occasion, I unsubscribe from notes/newsletters I no longer read.

With .mac currently undergoing an upgrade to mobile me will help to make it convenient to manage email, schedules, photos, etc. from wherever you are.   Efficiency at it's best. 

If you have any organizational suggestions and/or tips, please feel free to share them. Consider this an information-sharing journey for all of us. 

Time Savers: Reading...

It is mind-blowing how technology has changed, even in the last 5 years.  With the internet, there are many opportunities that await us.

I believe even with modern technology, books will always be there for us though.  I am not much of a novel reader but I do enjoy "chick" books and coffee table books, particularly on home decor and fashion.  And I do enjoy browsing cookbooks.  With Amazon available at the click of a mouse, I am constantly perusing the latest & greatest and sometimes filling up my cart.

Good Reads is handy reference for feedback on books.  And that is how I discover books I've never heard of.  And I like to see what my friends are reading too.

And Amazon's Kindle is all the rage right now.  It gives you the ability to download books onto the Kindle machine and read from the screen.  A friend of mine received one as a Christmas gift and enjoys reading her favorite novels on the Kindle.

I have enjoyed Audio Books/Books on Tape on occasion.  That is how we read The DaVinci Code.  Talk about riveting.  I would sit in my car when I arrived home just so I can finish the chapter or the end of the CD (there were numerous volumes).  My hubby and I shared the CDs (he'd go first) and I was always after him to hurry and finish the volume/CD as the previous volume left me begging for more.  I had to know what was going to happen next.  (By the way, did you hear Angels & Demons is currently in production?)

Now, let's talk magazines.  It's a big-time obsession of mine.  It's what draws me into the bookstores and the newsstand at various stores.  And I do subscribe to many that I keep a log of titles & expiration dates as well as when I paid the subscription (it's in our Bills binder).

With the numerous magazines that accumulate in our household each month, I typically pass some onto friends and I carry them with me when I go to a salon and doctors offices.  And very conveniently, I leave those magazines behind for others to enjoy. 

For blog-reading, I manage my favorite sites via Bloglines.  You can easily manage and stay abreast of updates to the blogs I subscribe to.  There are so many new blogs popping up every day and it certainly has made the world much smaller as a result.

I love to entertain my mind with information and trying to keep it organized is an ongoing endeavor. 

Time Savers: Food shopping...

Update:  In reference to the last paragraph of this post, let me clarify by saying my guy does most of the housework.  What I meant to say was I wish he'd agree to hire assistance with housework...hint, hint.  :)

 

Remember this, Carol?

Food is a favorite topic of mine.  It is one reason why I spend a lot of time on Mrs. L's blog reading entry after entry concerning food. 

Way back when, I used to enjoy weekly shopping trips to the grocery store.  Discovering new products and seeing how much I could save using coupons.  In the last 10 years, I have found it to be a task I dread.  Particularly when I discovered scrapbooking.  Those shopping trips would eat-up 2 hours of my hobby-time every Sunday.  I was beginning to get a little resentful. 

And when I would arrive at the grocery store, I was struggling to come up with ideas for meals.  This is a perfect example of not being prepared.  I would promise myself that I would peruse the cookbooks seeking ideas for meals but never got around to it.

Today, I can thank the internet for simplifying my life when it comes to food.  First, I can seek recipes online with the click of a button.  Then, I can go to Peapod and create my grocery list.  I try to initiate a grocery list every Monday and finalize it by Friday for an early delivery on Saturday morning. 

There is also Net Grocer, which I've used in the past.  They ship groceries to you.  And I know friends who live overseas that have used them too.  Net Grocer also comes in handy if you have elderly family members to look after.  It provides peace of mind knowing you can get groceries to them from afar.

Like I mentioned yesterday, we have our Carry-Out Menu binder for nights when we do not feel like cooking.  The internet plays another role when it comes to pizza.  We have an online account set-up with Papa John's, Dominos and Pizza Hut.  It is so convenient.  With Papa Johns you can plan ahead (I haven't checked the other pizza websites to see if they do as well) with at least 2 hours notice.  (In my attempt to be healthy, I order a thin crust pizza with black olives, no cheese & extra sauce...yum!)

 

Papa John's on Valentine's Day

One time recently I was traveling and talking to my guy on the phone.  He indicated that there was nothing to eat at home.  I happen to be in front of my laptop so I logged onto Papa Johns website and ordered a pizza to be delivered that evening.  How's that for service!

Back to grocery shopping.  I gave up on coupons long ago.  It's a great way to save money but I found it to be time consuming.  If you are a coupon user, Peapod does accept them.  And their selection of meats & fruits have been far better than what you get in the grocery store.

There is no dispute in our household for the expense of using Peapod (around 6.95-9.95 per delivery).  If I can only convince my guy that some assistance with cleaning our home would be worthwhile too.  That's a subject for another day.  :)

Time Savers: Organizing with binders...

If you couldn't tell from yesterday's post, I do enjoy organizing paperwork with binders.  When we purchased our current home, I created a binder with tabs representing each room.  Behind each tab were ideas, including tear-outs from magazines, as to the decor, color, etc. for each room.  Now I have my trusty Dream Home Journals to record my thoughts.  Even if only a small portion of the ideas materialize, I enjoy the process of writing it down.

In addition to our Bills binder, we have ones designated for Medical, Quick Reference and Carry-Out menus.

For Medical paperwork, I purchased a binder specific to this topic to help guide me with my organizing initiative.  We've had it for over a year now and it really has come in handy.  Not only do we keep appointment cards, lab reports, track our prescriptions and doctors orders in this binder but we also keep a list of our physicians, dentist and the name and telephone number of our local pharmacy in case we need to provide that info to a physician in order to phone-in a prescription.

I find it is helpful to also include the name and number of a local pharmarcy with 24 hour service in the event of a late-night emergency (this info is in our Quick Reference binder too).

There are 2 binders I maintain on our home.  One is Quick Reference.  It pertains to basic things about our home and neighborhood as well as pertinent contact numbers.  It is housed in the same-type binder as our Bills binder.

The other binder is our Home Reference material and is much larger.  It holds all the manuals/warranties to all the appliances, fixtures, etc. in our home.  Whenever an item has been serviced, I make a notation directly on the respective manual.  This is something I will leave behind for the new owners when we sell our home in the future.

Our most-utilized binder is the one for Carry-Out menus.  I do not cook very often but my guy does.  And when he doesn't feel like cooking and turns to me and asks what's for dinner, I pull out the Carry-Out menu binder.  Ours is divided by cuisine:  Pizza, Oriental, Restaurants, Fast Food and yes, Miscellaneous.

I mustn't forget my craft binders.  Most of which pertain to classes I've taken with Big Picture Scrapbooking.  I have volume after volume of binders that contain material from very inspiring classes I've taken over the last couple years.

Now this may explain why I spend so much time down the office supply aisle at Target.  I can always use a pretty binder.

Time Savers: Intro & bills

Striving for organization in our lives and household is a constant goal for me.  There are endless opportunities and a multitude of ideas which I'm sure most of us have read and/or heard our fair share of.  And it leaves us anxious to try a new method or approach. 

I often dream of having an orderly home and a day-to-day life where things run smoothly.  It hasn't happened yet but I haven't given up my attempt to achieve a decent amount of order in our lives.

There are some methods I utilize in our home and lives that work well but there is always room for improvement.  As I was making a list of organizing tasks, completed and to-be-completed, I decided to share them here.  Inspired by magazines, blogs, talk shows, books and friends, it is my pleasure to continue to spread the word.

I'll start with bills.  It is only in the last 4 years that we have been able to get a handle on our bill-paying method.  A combination of managing our bills online through our bank and maintaining a binder seem to work well.

Although our bills are managed online, there are some companies we continue to receive paper bills from.  And those paper bills are filed into our binder after we've designated the payment date & amount in our online bank account.

You can set-up payment to companies who do not electronically submit bills to your bank.  They are set-up as a payee based on the account information, payment address as well as the company name.  You are prompted by the paper bills and electronic statements you receive from these companies to then log into your bank account to initiate a payment for an amount and date specified by you.

Reminders can also be set-up monthly, quarterly and annually to initiate payments to companies with your online bank account.  This helps if you have a coupon payment book and want to be prompted to make an electronic payment prior to each due date.

As for electronic bills, most are set-up to go directly to our bank account and an email note from the bank is sent to us advising that a bill has arrived.  We log into our account, select the appropriate dollar amount as well as the date for payment to occur and submit the transaction.

In the binder, we have a list of all the companies that are set-up in our bank's e-bill system as a reference.  Tabs follow with these categories:  Mortgage/HOA, Utilities, Insurance/AAA, Taxes, Credit Cards, Magazine Subscriptions & the old reliable Miscellaneous.  Within each tab, paper bills/statements are filed and alphabetized by the company name.

We only save current bills and statements in the binder.  The new bill/statement replaces the previous one, which we then shred.

I no longer track our checkbook balance in a register booklet, as always was the practice before online banking appeared.  It is now rare that we write a check given today's convenience of debit cards.  And transactions from debit cards show up pretty quickly online.

 

Viewing bank accounts online, almost daily, is a good practice for us.  It gives us a sense of our bank account balance and awareness in the event any unauthorized transactions occur. 

This method gives "Show me the money" a whole new meaning.