Impress Your Someone Special With A Photo Gift

Give Your Valentine A Gift With A Personal Touch

Finding the perfect Valentines Day gift for your someone special can be really tough. The pressure is on, and expectations can run high. What’s the best way to show that you really care? Classic options like flowers and chocolates are always welcome, but the best gifts are more memorable. If you don’t have the budget for a grand gesture such as a piece of fine jewelry or a romantic getaway to the Caribbean, you should think about putting together a homemade gift. When you make a gift for someone, you demonstrate that you care enough to give of yourself – your time, your effort, and your talents.

For a great handmade Valentines Day gift with a personal touch, consider making a photo gift of some kind. You can make a scrapbook full of photos and mementos, or you can scan old photos to digital and make a video slideshow. Scanning your photos to digital is a great first step because digital photos can be quickly sorted and organized. For example, if you have a large collection of old unorganized photos, you can have them scanned to digital and then sort them into various categories such as events and parties, location, vacations, or sort by year. This approach allows you to make a photo timeline, which you can print or share online. Scanning old photos also allows you to touch up and resize photos to be re-printed and included in a scrap book or photo album. Your more recent photos may already be on your computer or digital camera. By mixing and matching recent photos with older memories, you can create a gift that will be sure to have a winning reaction from your Valentine.

Everyone loves to reminisce, and Valentines Day is a great time to look back and appreciate the good times you and your someone special have shared together. But what if you and your sweetheart are in a new relationship, without years of history to call on? A photo gift can still be a great idea – you just need a different approach. For example, you can choose a photo of you and your Valentine, and get a high-quality print made. Then, you can have the photo custom framed, and even personalized with engraving. This type of gift shows that you put some thought and care into Valentines Day, and is sure to make anyone a happy Valentine.

Professional Organizers Say Scanning Documents And Photos

To Digital Is Key To Beating Clutter

For 2012, Resolve To Go Paperless

Many people start the year with New Year’s resolutions – a chance to start anew. Each year, “getting organized” is listed among the top 5 resolutions made by Americans, as they strive to sort through the clutter and the mess that clog up both their workspaces, cars, homes, and even their wallets or purses. Resolving to get organized is such a popular choice largely because being disorganized is a sure recipe for stress. If you want to beat anxiety and make your life run more smoothly, maintaining a clean and organized environment is a must. And to emphasize this important fact, January is designated as National Get Organized Month. Get Organized Month (also called GO Month) is a national event sponsored by the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and dedicated to raising awareness about the benefits of getting organized. Although unknown to many, there is a large and thriving professional organizing industry in the United States. If you’re up to your eyeballs in papers, junk, or clutter, you might consider hiring a professional organizer to help solve your problems.

The National Association of Professional Organizers comprises about 4,200 professional organizers who make their livings by helping individuals and businesses create order and efficiency where there has been only chaos. Professional organizers design customized systems and processes for their clients, using specific organizing principles. An organizer also works with his or her client, teaching valuable organizing skills to ensure that the client will keep everything running smoothly in the long run. It may seem like anyone with a knack for managing time or coordinating details could be a professional organizer, but there’s some specialized knowledge and skill involved. The pros study organizational theory, small-business concepts, and methods for establishing working relationships with their clients.

One secret that the pros like to pass along might sound obvious, but its effect can be dramatic: get rid of paper. Whether it’s bank statements, bills, receipts, or even old photographs, paper takes up space, easily gets jumbled together, and quickly becomes clutter. Scan all of your important documents and photos to digital, and you won’t have to deal with the stacks of paper, the file cabinets, the boxes full of old photos, or the closets full of old photo albums. There are professional services that can handle digitizing documents in bulk, and can even create text-searchable files from ordinary printed papers. The IRS now accepts digitized receipts and other financial documents, so don’t worry about being audited. Moving forward, you can sign up to receive most bills and bank statements online, and do Mother Nature a favor while keeping your desk free from clutter. And when it comes to all those photo albums, scanning your photos to digital has never been easier. A professional photo scanning service like ScanDigital can make the process totally painless, and your precious pictures will be preserved and organized on your computer, where they can easily be flipped through and shared. Take it from the pros, and lose the paper!

Library Of Congress Selects Films For Preservation

National Film Registry To Include “Bambi,” “Silence Of The Lambs,” “Forrest Gump”

In 1988, the National Film Preservation Act established a group called the United States National Film Preservation Board. Each December, the Board helps the Librarian of Congress choose 25 films to be included in the National Film Registry, a film digitization and preservation project conducted by the Library of Congress. So far, the National Film Registry contains 575 films that have been deemed significant “culturally, historically, or aesthetically.”

“These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams.” Billington finalized this year’s selections to the registry after meeting with library film curators and members of the National Film Preservation Board to discuss the top contenders. Nominations come from the public, and this year saw 2,228 films nominated. Of these, Billington himself reviewed several hundred.

The chosen few will receive top preservation efforts from the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation, which works to safeguard our film heritage. Film digitization is an important part of preservation, both because it protects the films against damage to physical media, and because it allows for practically infinite distribution of the films. Billington said that one of long-term goals of the project is to make all films in the registry available online. “Maximizing public access is one of the core concerns of the Library of Congress, because it’s the closest thing we have to a national patrimony of the creative arts,” he said.

This year’s selections included some relatively recent films such as Academy Award winners “Forrest Gump” (1994) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). The oldest film to be included in this year’s batch was Charlie Chaplin’s first full-length feature, “The Kid” (1921). Also selected were “Norma Rae” (1979, starring Sally Field), George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” (1959), and the Disney classic “Bambi” (1942).

For more information, and to see a complete list of this year’s selected films, go to 2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates.

Let me start out by saying that this method isn’t for everyone.

And remember, kids taste buds are not like adults. They eat things we would never find palatable. (Sour gummy worms anyone?)

So, read over this lunch organizing method, wince a bit, and then try it out on your kids. You have nothing to lose and lots and lots of time to gain.

School Lunches Made Easy

1. Determine what type of sandwich you child likes. We alternate weekly between peanut butter, ham & cheese & cream cheese on a bagel.
2. On Sunday night, assemble all the sandwiches you need for the week. Yes, I said the week.
3. Wrap each sandwich individually in foil.
4. If you have more than one child, write their name on the foil covered sandwich with a sharpie.
5. Put them into a cubbie in the freezer. Yes, I said the freezer.
6. Each morning, your child grabs a sandwich and packs it into his lunchbox.
7. Do the same with dessert. Bake a batch of cookies/brownies on Sunday, package them up, put in a cubbie in the freezer, each morning your child grabs one.
8. Make the other elements of their lunches just as easy for them to grab. water bottle, banana, juice box, whatever.
9. Each morning they pack their complete lunch while you look on from your perch at the table with a steaming cup of coffee in hand. Smile lovingly down upon them. They are learning life skills.
10. Result – you spend a few minutes on Sunday night creating the elements of their lunch, they spend a few minutes each morning assembling the elements into their lunch boxes.

Done. Now, I know you’re thinking I’m crazy. This won’t work. The sandwich will still be frozen. They won’t like it.

I’m not crazy. It will work. The sandwich will thaw out in time. They will eat it.

Remember, even though you or I would cringe when faced with a previously frozen sandwich, your child won’t. Give it a shot. Anyway, which is better for them – frozen processed food from the school cafeteria, or a sandwich made with wholesome ingredients from home? It may not be perfection in a lunch, but do they really care?

Try it for a week. Don’t tell them, just give it a shot. See what happens. All you have to loose is your lunch rush in the morning.

P.S. – One last tidbit – my husband makes & packs all the lunches on Sunday night.

This and more radical like minded ideas are described in my book “30 Days To An Organized Home”. It’s available as an actual hold in your hand, a eBook or on any Kindle-like device reader you have. Click here to buy it now!

Be organized…..Evelyn

To read more of Evelyn’s organizing tips visit: http://www.bestorganizingtips.blogspot.com

1. Clean Out Your Inbox Daily

The best way to avoid email overwhelm is to clean out your inbox daily.  The only emails that should be in your inbox are those emails that are pending action.

2. Delete, delete, delete

When you receive junk mail, advertisements or duplicate information… delete them.  If you have emails that have nothing to do with you, are trash or not worth your time…delete them.

3. Take Action

When you receive an email that will take 2 minutes or less to deal with, than take the necessary action immediately.  Then delete or file the email.

4. File It

If you need the email for reference in the future and this information is not available anywhere else, than file it in an email folder.  Be sure that the folders you set up are easy to understand so you can find the email later when you need it.

5. Clear Out Email Backlog

If you have 3,000 emails in your inbox, then start taking the steps to clear out the backlog.  Start with the most recent emails first and work your way back.  Each day spend 15 minutes working on this project until it is completed.

6. Create a Junk Email

Use this email address to order things online or sign into random websites.  Once this email address starts to get overloaded with spam, you can shut it down and create another junk email address.  This will help contain the junk email so it won’t take over your real email.

About Melissa:

Melissa Stacey started Feeling Organized because she truly loves organizing and planning. She says, “I also love working with people to find creative solutions to their organizing problems. I named my company Feeling Organized because the key to organization is how YOU feel. When you feel organized, you have less stress, are more productive and have more time to do the things that you love.”

Contact Melissa:

To contact Melissa for more organizing tips, visit Feeling Organized. To receive her monthly organization tips for yourself, just email Melissa@feelingorganized.com for the add! You can also find Melissa on Twitter, where she also shares great organizing tips.

I can’t believe that it is Thanksgiving!  The holidays truly snuck up on me this year and I have to say…I was feeling a bit overwhelmed because of it.  But I made my gift lists and got my calendar in order, so I am feeling much better now.  Plus the weather has finally cooled down here in Northern CA, so it actually feels like November. 

If you are hosting the Thanksgiving dinner this year, here are a few tips to help the day run smoothly: 

• Set your table the day before.  It is one less thing you have to do on Thanksgiving Day and you will be sure that you have all the necessary dishes, platters, glasses, etc.
• Prepare some of your side dishes and desserts ahead of time. 
• Make a list of the tasks that need to get done on Thanksgiving Day and cross items off as you complete them.  You can assign people to some of the tasks so that you don’t have to do it all on your own.  I highly recommend assigning some dishwashers for after the meal.

Wishing you a safe, happy and organized Thanksgiving! 

By Melissa Stacey

About Melissa:

Melissa Stacey started Feeling Organized because she truly loves organizing and planning. She says, “I also love working with people to find creative solutions to their organizing problems. I named my company Feeling Organized because the key to organization is how YOU feel. When you feel organized, you have less stress, are more productive and have more time to do the things that you love.”

Contact Melissa:

To contact Melissa for more organizing tips, visit Feeling Organized. To receive her monthly organization tips for yourself, just email Melissa@feelingorganized.com for the add! You can also find Melissa on Twitter, where she also shares great organizing tips.

With October comes the start of the holiday season.  For many people this is a time when, if you’re not careful, budgets, exercise, healthy eating & overall life-balance can all too easily get…well… out of balance.

Just the thought of the holidays can leave you feeling exhausted and drained.  Yet, this is a time that is about celebration, joy and love.   How is it that we have gotten to a place where the work and expense involved have taken the place of the excitement, anticipation and fun?  It could be that we have lost sight of what the holidays are really about. 

 This month take some time to get back in touch with what the holidays really mean.  What is important to you?  How can you make the holidays special and meaningful without over doing it in any area of your life?

Make an extra effort to take care of yourself by pacing yourself during this busy time of year.  Start early and spread the load as you go.  Decide ahead of time what you can afford to spend this holiday season and make every effort not to exceed that limit.  Be sure to eat right, exercise and get enough rest.  Be helpful and giving.  Avoid stress. Enjoy the people around you and this time that you have to spend with them celebrating.

 Check out my October organizing tips for some great ways to get organized for the holidays:  

 ~ 3 Lists & Tips You Can’t Do

Without This Holiday Season~ 

Getting a head start and spreading the load will go a long way to helping your holidays stay in balance.

Card List:

Make a list of each person or family group that you plan to send a card to.  Purchase your cards & stamps.  Write them out (yes, I know its only October but trust me!) Stamp and address the envelopes.  Once they are ready to send, place the cards in a safe place.  In your calendar mark the day you will need to mail them and make a note of where you put them (just in case!)

Gift List:

Make a list of each person that you plan to give a gift to.  Next to their name assign a dollar amount that allows you to stay within your holiday budget.  Write down any ideas you have for the gift you would like to get them and where you will purchase it from.  Each week buy one gift from your list, wrap it and keep in a safe place. 

Food List:

Decide what your holiday meals are going to be.  List all the ingredients/items you will need to buy in order to make them.   On your list, include items that fall outside of your recipes such as cookies, fruit, beverages, etc.  Highlight the items that are non-perishable.  Each time you go grocery shopping buy one or two items from this list and keep on a separate shelf in your pantry until you need them.

Stay in balance, you’ll be glad you did!  

Contact Jodie Watson:

If you have any questions, would like to schedule a free professional organizing telephone consultation, or would like Jodie Watson to speak at your next corporate function, group meeting, social event, or retreat, call at (818) 590-7800. You can also contact Jodie on Facebook and Twitter or visit her website at Supreme Organization.

 During the organizing process, one of the questions I get asked the most is, “do I need to keep this?”  We generally have such an abundance of stuff that we oftentimes don’t even know what all we have anymore.  We’ve just accumulated it and now don’t know what to do with it.  Deciding what needs to stay and what needs to go can be daunting. The question to ask yourself as you are faced with items you own and don’t know what to do with is, “why do I need this?” 

By being in touch with who you are, where you are currently at in your life and what desires and plans you have for your future, you will be able to determine whether or not a particular item is of value or use to you.  For example, if you have gone from working full time in corporate America to being a stay-at-home mom, you probably don’t need all the power suits that are still hanging in your closet.  If you think you will be going back to the corporate world, then the suits can be properly stored until that time.  However, if you plan to never set foot in corporate America again, then you can comfortably let go of them and make room for the things you need for the life you are living today! 

Check out my September organizing tips for some great ways to get organized for the coming season:

September Organizing Tips 

~ Organize Your Closet for The Coming Season~ 

You don’t have to wade through summer shorts, dresses and sandals to get to the heavy sweaters and boots you’ll need for the winter.  Switch out your clothes and pack away clothing that you won’t need for some months.

1) Set aside a day to create a system where you can have the current season’s clothing close at hand by putting away all unnecessary items. 

2) Evaluate the contents of your closet and remove summer clothes that you know you will no longer be wearing.  Wash or dry-clean, press, fold and mend before storing in sturdy boxes or bins. 

3) Off-season clothes can be stored inside your closet, if there is space; under the bed, in a different room such as a guest room or even the garage.  Be sure and mark the container with the season and a bullet point list of its contents.  

4) Pull out and try on your fall/winter clothing.  Think about your current lifestyle and select items that you love, fit well and make you feel and look great.  Mix & match to create complete outfits that you know work well together.

5) Set aside any ill-fitting, uncomfortable clothes & shoes and let go of any items you no longer need or wear.  Give these clothes away to friends and family or donate them to a charity. 

6) Leave at least one quarter of your closet free so you have room to easily retrieve and put back items and also accommodate any purchases you make throughout the coming months.

Enjoy Your Fall/Winter Season! 

Contact Jodie Watson:

If you have any questions, would like to schedule a professional organizing telephone consultation, or would like Jodie Watson to speak at your next event, call at (818) 590-7800. You can also contact Jodie on Facebook and Twitter or visit her website at Supreme Organization.

Organizing Tips from Organizing Expert, Jodie Watson

Getting organized is all about being prepared.  What’s great is that when you plan ahead and break things down tasks into manageable chunks, you not only get everything done with greater ease but you can actually enjoy what you do as you are doing it.

When things are left to the last minute you place yourself in panic/crisis mode.  The stress levels rise, tempers are short and nerves are frazzled.  Not good for you, your health or your relationships.  Getting and staying organized is a way to better health and enjoyment of your life.  When you can relax knowing that things are under control and in order, you are free to fully engage in the present moment and enjoy it to the full.

Transitioning yourself and your kids from summer break mode into back to school mode can be done in stages so you all enjoy the process and actually look forward to the time together preparing for the new school year.  Check out my organizing tips for some great ways to ease back into the school year and if you need help getting ready don’t hesitate to contact me. 

 Organizing Tips: Getting Organized For Back-to-School

Back to school is right around the corner!  Don’t be thrown off-guard by following these easy to apply tips that can help the year get off to a great start.

 1)     Shop early for supplies such as backpacks, lunchboxes, binders, notepads, etc and purchase any uniforms, clothes & shoes your kids will need a few weeks in advance. 

2)       Create a folder with your child’s name on in which to house all the school papers you will start receiving once school starts.  Keep close by in a handy desktop file box.

3)       Help your child create a binder for the upcoming school year in which to keep their school work.  Use dividers to make sections for each different subject and label with their name and grade.  

 4)     A couple weeks prior to the start of school, move your kids bedtimes back by 15mins every couple of nights until they are going to bed at their regular school bedtime.

5)     Before school starts spend a few hours getting your kids rooms in order.  Purge any clothes they’ve outgrown, toys that are broken or have missing pieces and books they no longer read. 

6)     Create an area for them to do homework and stock with paper, pens, pencils, erasers, glue sticks, calculator etc.  Place a bin or basket close by to house completed homework & artwork as the year progresses.

7)      Parking is always a nightmare on the first day of school.  Get up extra early so you aren’t rushing and can arrive with plenty of time to spare to settle your kids into their classes.

 8)   Back to school can be stressful for your kids too!  If you stay positive and calm you will help them have a great start to their school year.

Congratulations, you’re all set! 

Contact Jodie Watson:

If you have any questions, would like to schedule a professional organizing telephone consultation, or would like Jodie Watson to speak at your next corporate function, group meeting, social event, or retreat, call at (818) 590-7800. You can also contact Jodie on Facebook and Twitter or visit her website at Supreme Organization.

Hello summer!  And hello to our ScanDigital affiliates as well as those interested in learning more about our affiliate program. I’d especially like to recognize all our new affiliates that have signed up this past month. We are excited to have you as part of our team and look forward to working with you!

My name is Whitney Van Pelt, I am your new ScanDigital Affiliate contact. As you know, everyone here at ScanDigital is dedicated to making your experience as an affiliate as simple and as successful as possible so if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.  You can reach me by phone, email or find me on my Twitter account:

Phone: 310.683.0434

Email: whitney@scandigital.com

Follow me on Twitter: @whitneySD

How Does the ScanDigital Affiliate Program Work?

Our Affiliate Program is a relationship where you get paid a commission for driving sales to our website. When you refer ScanDigital to your family, friends, customers, or clients, you will earn 15% on all revenue generated! You will give them your URL and/or Coupon Code to use when they place their order and all orders are automatically tracked through our site. It’s a really easy way to offer additional services and make money at the same time. Best of all- it’s free to sign up, so there’s no risk. Learn more about our Affiliate Program here.

ScanDigital Affiliate Spotlight

In efforts to honor one special affiliate each month, another ScanDigital tradition has blossomed: (Drum roll……..) The Affiliate Spotlight!!!

The First ScanDigital Affiliate Spotlight Is: Chantale Bordonaro!!!! (applause, applause, applause…)

Chantale Bordonaro is a Certified Professional Organizer (CPO®), founder of Simplicity Source and LA’s Chapter President of the National Association of Professional Organizers. As a relocation specialist and a professional organizer Chantale follows her passion to make people’s lives simpler. She really knows her stuff!

Chantale paid us a visit last month to give ScanDigital  and our customers tips on how to best organize your photos and home movies. Please check out her tips in Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Photos and Home Movies here to help ease the frustration of such a daunting task.

Thank you Chantale, you’re the best! Thanks for being such an inspiration and a great help to us all! You have kept ScanDigital very BUSY!