Category: Scrapbooking

Dreaming of a Fall Ladies Getaway Retreat

As I set the schedule for this year’s Photo Workshop, there was a gap in the schedule for October due to the a conflict in the schedule at our usual venue.  I have been brainstorming for months what I wanted to do to fill that gap and a few weeks ago the perfect fit has come together.  I will be offering what I hope to be an repeat event but for this year we will just focus on the best “Fall Ladies Getaway” we can imagine this year!

Here are the critical details so you can make your plans, mark your calendar and decide if you want to join us.

 

Who is invited:

Ladies who love saving, organizing, and sharing your family’s photos – whether it is in printed or digital format

When:

(Noon) Friday, October 11, 2019 – (Noon) Sunday, October 13, 2019

Where:

G’s Quilt & Craft Retreat in Hillsborough, NC

 

This will be a weekend retreat filled with fun, photos and fellowship.  We will staying at a beautiful house that is set up with crafters in mind with large table space and comfy chairs too.  We will be able to escape but not have to drive too far either.  We are limited to 10 guests so there will be a very limited number of participants.  Don’t wait to sign up!

This retreat will be unique in that your retreat registration will include everything all rolled into one fee – 2 nights of lodging, 6 meals, 5′ table workspace, break out sessions and surprises.   We will have multiple break out sessions that will that appeal to both digital and traditional participants.  Full Weekend Retreat Registration is: $250.  Reserve your spot with a non-refundable deposit of $50 today and final payment due by September 13th.

To sign up, please fill out this registration form and I will be in contact for your deposit and/or registration fee: https://forms.gle/EGJbiRDvKdprBQU98

What happens in Vegas…

…sometimes just can’t stay in Vegas!

I have returned from my forth Forever LIVE – our annual convention where we as Forever Ambassadors along with Club Members, customers and home office staff gather each year for a time of connection, training and celebration along with a lot of fun and laughter too.

I look forward to this trip each year and especially look forward to reconnecting with the friends that I have made through Forever.

I am also very thankful my sister has joined me each year and is the best travel buddy I could ask for, she has become friends with so many of these special people too and has her own friends she reconnects with each each year too.  She is my constant cheerleader and ready to let me bound ideas off of her anytime.

With so many fun things shared and done while we were in Las Vegas, I thought it might be fun to include my top 10 list with you of things that I was excited to hear or do at Forever LIVE.

 

Elizabeth’s Top 10 List from Forever LIVE

10.  Glen Meakem’s New Book – The Gift of Forever was shared as a pre-release for those attending LIVE.  Glen is our CEO and founder and he along with his son have written the story of how he started Forever.  They signed copied during the weekend as well.  I have just started reading it and am excited to finish and share it with others.  The full release will be coming later this fall.

 

9.   Updates with Design & Print: Oh how I was so excited for a New Name – we now have a clearer name for our online Print application where you Design and Print, books, Wall Decor, Calendars, and more.  There will also be a few other new products coming this fall.  Watch for new the size for Wall Decor on Design and Print of 8×8 like we can already do with Artisan, there will be a new premium thicker paper for cards that is non-coated and an option to add gold foil inserts into your envelopes.

 

8.   Audio is HERE – We now have all 4 options, Photos, Documents, Video and Audio capabilities in our Storage accounts. I am excited to have this full memory keeping option for so many friends, family and customers who have those special audio tapes of weddings, sermons, solos, even voice mails.  The sound of someone’s voice can be so very special to us and is such a special part of our memory keeping solutions.

 

7.  Our Referral Program has gotten better with a 60 day coupon for referral coupons.  The greatest compliment you can give me is to refer a friend. I love that Forever’s Home Office helps me reward my customers, friends and family who help me share Forever with their friends and family.  Now we have the opportunity to use those referral coupons a bit longer.

 

6.  Beautiful Bellagio Fountain – Oh it was so very HOT the day we went downtown to see the strip but what a fun experience to see the fountain at the Bellagio hotel.  We arrived just a few minutes before the next song was to begin so we found our spot and it was worth the wait.  Here is a short video of our view of the fountain. This has been saved in my Forever account with my other trip photos and videos.

 

5.  The company is Thriving & Growing – It is good to hear the update from Glen how we are on target with his goal to grow this year by 30% is sales over last year and we are on target to have over 42 Million photos uploaded this year in safe and secure storage accounts.  We are meeting a need and reach new people each and every day.

 

4.  Photo PRINTS are HERE – My excitement is climbing as we continue down this list.  I have been waiting – not so patiently to have the ability to print from our Forever accounts again and now we can do it and it is even better than ever.  We have the high archival quality we know with all of our products and we no longer have to download and export and re-upload to another vendor to order.  I can print my photos for traditional scrapbooking or frames right from my Forever Account.

 

3.  Stepping out of my Comfort Zone as a Mainstage Speaker – What an honor to be one of the ambassadors chosen to help lead this year as a speaker.  Although I speak in front of groups fairly often with work this was a bit different and an opportunity to embrace my word of the year “GROW”.  I worked with an amazing fellow ambassador and through preparation and practice what was a bit nerve wracking at first became a experience that built confidence for us both as we stood before a room full of friends who were eager to hear what we had to share.

 

2. p2p 10th Anniversary Birthday Bash Party in Texas – Travel is always fun and when you can pair that with work with your photos it is extra fun for me.  I am excited to be joining a lot of great friends in Texas in the Spring for a weekend of digital scrapbooking fun.  I am looking forward to working on my own projects and learning new tips and ideas too.

And to top off the whole list, my #1 item is

  1. Forever LIVE 2020 next year will be in Orlando, FL – I had a hunch that we were headed to Disney and have to say I am a bit excited.  I have always been a Disney fan and even though I didn’t get to Disney World until my mid 30s I am excited to be headed back for this convention there on the property.  I am hoping I can twist my family’s arms and have them join me for some fun on one end or the other too for some family time at the parks.  I know that I will have a blast at Forever LIVE like we always do but I am also excited about the location and the bonus time we get to have there too.  If you are interested in joining us for Forever LIVE in Orlando you can join as a customer, Club member or Ambassador.

Well that may not have been the Las Vegas lists you were expecting but those were the Top 10 things that excited me about our trip last week.  Have you been traveling this summer?  Where have you been?  What have you enjoyed seeing and doing?

Summer Sale…Coming to a Close

Our Summer Sale will becoming to a close the end of July.  You have a chance to pick from nearly 50 items remaining for just a few more days.  There are pictures posted on my Elizabeth’s CM Customer Group on Facebook or you can see some of the remaining items listed on the Summer Sale Page.  Please either fill out the form on the website or e-mail with your order no later than July 31st and I will be in touch for payment and pick up options.

 

Thank you for your help in clearing my shelves and Lightening my Load as we make room for new products this fall.  I will be placing a order of New CM products later this week if you wish to add any of those items to your order as well and pick up at our workshop August 10th.

 

Have you signed up for our August Photo Workshop?  Don’t miss the fun, sign up for all day, just the morning, just the afternoon or plan to pop in and shop!  The registration link can be found on the Events page!

Finding my Rhythm & Workflow

When I am able to spend some consistent time working with my own photos, I find a rhythm – a routine, a flow to the way I work.  I would love to share a bit of my process with you all.  There is not one correct way to do any of this but I find it helpful to hear how others organize their process and get their projects done and hope you will find this helpful too.

I am finding the best progress when I spend my time focusing on my favorite photos first and working one month at a time.  I have been using the 15 Minutes a Day approach I share about in The Power in 15 Minutes for months now to have my photos organized into a Favorites album in Forever.

I use Forever’s Artisan software for most of my photo projects these days since most of my photos are digital already.  It is a HUGE timesaver when I get to photos I have already worked through and picked my favorites.  I have recently wrapped up my 2017 Page Prints and started my 2018 Page prints so I will walk you through my flow on 2018 since that will be most easily able to be adapted to a complete book project or page print project. I personally love page prints for my annual albums because they give me the most flexibility in my albums and allow me to still use my Creative Memories style albums and insert traditional pages if I wish or if I happen to have printed photos or memorabilia that I want to include, I can do that easily too.

I start a NEW project for each year in Artisan and work through my pages in chronological order.  I always choose a 12×12 Hardbound Book project (even though I typically am going to print as page prints).  This allows me to have the features for viewing a 2 page spread which is my favorite way to work.  I like to choose a Pre-designed template to get me started.  I love Forever Design Maps as a good base to work with.  By choosing a Pre-designed kit rather than blank, I have at least some pages ready to pop my photos in and finish off quickly.  I can always switch around the pages or even pick other pre-designed pages I have from other kits or p2p Blueprints I have received with my membership each month.

I use the View Tab at the top of Artisan to choose the option to View 2 Separate Trimmed Pages (Yellow Highlighted area will give you this option) and I turn off the Print Guides to have the best working space.  My screen look like this when I am getting started.

A bonus tip if your page doesn’t look like this on the Elements Panel (left side), hover over the area between the Elements panel and the Welcome tab about where the magenta arrow is and there will be a small area.  Use your mouse and left click and drag this Elements Panel wider to see more detail like I have shown.  Play with this and find the way you like it best.

Once I have my project set up, I add just one month or one event photos at a time.  I find it is easier to work with 10-25 photos at a time rather than hundreds. I will my photos from my Forever Account > my 2018 Favorites Album.  I add the photos first and fill in the photo spots first, add more or remove any that aren’t needed and then I go and add paper and embellishments if the template needs any.  Remember to SAVE often so you don’t loose any work along the way.

Before I go to the next page, I add a title and journal at least a short caption or quick story that relates to the photos on the 2 pages. My final step is to go through and add shadows to photos and embellishments and text.  I typically add a Heavy Shadow to all photo boxes, titles and main elements of paper or embellishments and a light shadow to journalling and other lesser significant embellishments or top layers of paper.

Once I have 5-10 pages complete, I upload those completed pages to Forever Print to order with the next special and I save the JPGs so I can share the completed page either on social media or through my Forever account.

A few other tips that may be helpful as you are working through this process:

  • I like having lots of templates and blueprints available to pick from so when I use all of the templates in the base kit I have picked I have plenty to choose from.
  • You can change the template by going to the Home Ribbon and choosing Template (to change) or Add Page (to insert a new page).  You do have to switch back to the single page view to Add a new page but if you are changing you can do that from the 2 page view.
  • Whether you are changing a template or adding new page, you will be asked if you want to choose your template from an Art Kit or from your Computer.  Your Art Kit options are those kits that have been purchased through the Forever store.  Your p2p Blueprints will be found by using the Templates on your Computer.
  • One trick I often use is to go ahead and put photos in the template I have in front of me even if I don’t like it.  When I go to pick another template the preview will show me the new template with my photos already in it.  My photos may not be in the exact right spot but it gives me a good idea if it would be a good fit.  I can shuffle the photos as needed.

Do you want to see more?  I am happy to set up a time to do a 30 minute screen sharing conference call and show you how this looks when I do it and let you ask questions as I do.  Message me or comment below if you would like to join me for the next screen sharing conference call or if you would like to see this demo at my monthly workshop, July 13th.  Be sure you sign up if you are interested in joining us for the July workshop to hold your spot: July Workshop Sign up

Summer Sale – Facebook LIVE Style

 

I don’t want you to miss out on all the goodies I have available for Sale but the online list doesn’t seem to be the best way to share this so I am changing up a few things and will be sharing my remaining items Monday night on my Creative Memories FB Group.  Are you a member of this group?  If not, please be sure to join before Monday night so you don’t miss out – https://www.facebook.com/groups/Elizabeth.CMGroup/

I will have inventory that I have in stock available for a Buy 2, Get 1 XX% Off Sale on all items.  Your % Off will be 50% when you pick up your order at my house in Apex – from my drop box at my door or 40% for all other orders picked up at my workshop or with meeting between us.  If you would rather me ship the order I will be happy to ship for the additional charge.

You can find the current list of products I have shared so far over on the Summer Sale page – https://www.seeingagreaterpurpose.com/photo-solutions/summer-sale/ 

There will be even more items shared on Monday.

Mark your calendar – Monday, July 1, 2019 at 8pm ET.

Friendly Reminder:

Forever has amazing specials through the weekend – check the Deals Tab for the full lists.

Creative Memories is sharing NEW Products Monday.  Watch my FB Page for a sneak peak this weekend or jump on the website on Monday at noon for the remainder of the details.

Celebrating Vacations, Trips & Adventures

As I scroll through my Facebook and Instagram feed it is clear we are in the full swing of vacation season.  The last several years my family has taken our vacation the end of May.  It makes for a nice time before many places get super crowded and it helps me not to be too jealous when all of my friends start taking fun trips throughout the summer.  Honestly, I do live vicariously through all the fun photos shared and dream of trips to new fun places each time I see a new post – my list is quite long these days.

Have you been on a trip recently, maybe another type of adventure where the photos tell such a story of the memories made?  I really like taking our family photos and capturing the story of our trip in my photo albums or through canvas prints to display in my home.  With the amazing 50% off sale this week with Forever, I don’t want you to miss out on the great opportunity to jump on this special and have a simple and fun photo book or canvas to celebrate your latest vacation, trip or adventure.  Maybe the photos you want to celebrate aren’t that recent – there is no rules on how recent that latest vacation, trip or adventure may be when I share this.  No matter where you went or how long ago it might have been, have you thought about how you want to be sure to enjoy those photos beyond just social media or scrolling through them on your phone.

I know that some of you may be new to Forever and especially our online PRINT service.  We have an amazing software program called Artisan where we can create lots of fun projects (I am happy to teach you this too when we have more time) but when it comes to “Quick, Easy and DONE”, my go-to is the online PRINT Service.  Our books typically start at just $20 for a simple 8×8 or $35 for a 12×12 with options to upgrade and enhance in various ways or add pages.  With a 50% off sale, it is a great time to try this out and even try one of our upgraded options.  Also, I have a great opportunity to help you get $10 or more off your order too – on top of the 50% off sale.  That can make these books almost FREE.

Want to give it a try this week?  I am offering 2 opportunities to learn more – One in-person and One online!  Each will include a 30-45 minute step by step instructions with 30 minutes afterwards for additional questions or time to work on wrapping up your project while I am nearby to help if needed.  There is no cost to attend but I do ask for a RSVP to reserve your spot.

Celebrating Vacations, Trips & Adventures Events

Online – Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at 8pm

In-Person – Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 7pm at my home in Apex

You can sign up with the form below or e-mail me with the answers to these questions.

3. Which event do you want to attend?(required)

 

I will walk you through all of the details at either event but if you are curious about what type of photo books you can create, check out this short video I shared a couple of months ago for a previous sale. Sample Photo Books

Do you know someone else that might enjoy joining us?  Be sure to have them use the form above to get things started with signing up to attend one of the events this week.

I would recommend that you have 25-75 photos from your vacation, trip or adventure to have the best options for a photo book project and 1-10 photos if you want to try the Canvas Print option.  If you are like me, most of my trips have many more photos – if you have time, pick your favorites from the trip to have about this number.  We can always add more pages to books if you have that need – 99 pages fit in these books!

I look forward to living vicariously with you this week as we celebrate the trips & adventures we all have taken and experienced.

Mark your Calendar – July Photo Workshop

 

Our July Workshop is just 4 weeks away so now is the perfect time to sign up and make sure you have a spot reserved for you.  We have a great time each month gathering with friends who also want to work with their photos and create meaningful albums and scrapbooks or just get them all corralled into one place.  Plan to join us for a few hours or the whole day, there is an option that will work for you no matter how much time you have available.  To see all the details and available events coming up be sure to check out: the Events Tab above.

If you have a Creative Memories order, please submit to me no later than July 1 to ensure that I include it with my next order.  If you haven’t checked out my Summer Sale, be sure to check out it out as new items are being added each week and let me know if you would like your order brought the workshop or you can pick up sooner at my house in Apex.

If you would like to add an order to my July Media Conversion Group box, bring your items with you or get them to me no later than July 12th so we an add it to this box.  Check out details about Forever’s Media Conversion Box Services and the Price List for when you add to a group box.

All in One Place or Close to It

As we continue talking about ways to Save in June, we have talked about:

  • Saving you money through our Summer Sale – Be sure to check out the Summer Sale Page for the new products added this week.  There are a few albums still available and will stay on the lists through Sunday, June 16 to give you extra time to add those to your order. 
  • Saving you time through our 15 Minutes a Day Plan – You can pop back over to the post last week and get caught up if you missed it.  Take it one day at a time and only 15 minutes.  
  • Now let’s talk about Saving and Protecting our Photos.

One of the biggest challenges I have found is that I use to have photos EVERYWHERE.  There were some on my camera, some on my computer, some that were printed and tucked away in a box or envelope from the store.  I would run across boxes of photos from my parents or even be given some from grandparents or other extended family.  The first thing I knew I needed was a home for ALL of my photos.  A way to have them all in one place was so important.  I may not have perfected this process but for the most part it helps me keep the photo clutter contained.

First, I started with printed photos and through a few Creative Memories Power Sort Boxes I created a system that would work perfectly as my home for all my printed photos until I was ready to put them in a scrapbook or had time to go through them further.  Although there isn’t much fancy about this box, I like that it is photo safe and has compartments so I can sort my photos quickly.  The tabs can be labeled with a simple regular pencil and erased when I am ready to relabel a section for another group.

Even if you don’t have a box like this, you can achieve the same thing with any container, my biggest encouragement is that you find a container that works for you and start collecting those photos that are already printed.

Second, I discovered that with our growing digital age, many of my current photos were digital and were on my camera and were starting to collect all over my computer.  Over 12 years ago, I started using a computer program called Historian to help me organize all of my photos on my computer.  It is a PC based program that you can purchase from Forever – on Sale this week for less than $60 or you can try it at any time for FREE for 30 days.  This software is amazing for organizing – you can group photos by people, albums, and other tags plus at any time sort by date.  There is an amazing photo editing tool built in if you would like to click an easy button or do your own photo editing on special images.  I appreciate that this software resides on my computer and my images are always accessible to me without internet connectivity.  You can back up your photos from Historian to CDs or external hard drives or link it with Forever’s cloud based storage for permanent back up.

For years, I used Historian exclusively with CD back ups done every few months.  About 4 years ago I discovered Forever when I was looking at options for backing up for my photos with my new computer that no longer has a CD drive.  Forever provides a permanent home for our photos and other media through their Permanent Storage Account.  You pick how much space you need and pay once and it is yours FOREVER.  You only pay more if you need more space.  Forever Storage links with my Historian software to upload any photos I want to save or back up.  Forever also has a FREE app that allows my to access my account from my photo, I can sync & upload my phone photos to my app.  With the start of using Forever, I have taken advantage of the Auto Sync feature on the app to provide me peace of mine that my phone photos are always safe.  I sync when I am on WiFi so they are backed up each time I come home and connected.  When my phone was acting up a few months back, I did not stress about getting my photos backed up because I knew there were already on my Forever Account – safe and sound.  I can organize in my account by albums or tags and share or download from the Forever website no matter where I am – as long as I have internet access I am able to get to all of my photos.  Forever also let’s you try out the storage account for free with a 2 GB FREE account.  You can use this link to give it a try and get a $10 Welcome Coupon that you can use if you want to place an order in the first 60 days: https://www.forever.com/ambassador/elizabethgoodson

Do you find yourself being the keeper of your family’s or extended family’s photos from years, maybe decades ago? Once I started being the person in the family to do scrapbooks and keep my photos organized, my family started sending any extra photos they found to me too.  Many of these are photos from years ago, of generations before me.  They are photos that I am not the only one who will treasure them but I needed a way to share them easier.  One of the other amazing things that I discovered with Forever was the power of the Media Conversion Services Forever offers.  They take such special care of my media when I send a box in.  They make sure that each item is handled with a white glove service and that they scan or digitize it like it was their own families items.  I have had photos, slides, negatives, documents, video and audio converted and get so excited when my order if finished and I start seeing the items show up in my Forever account.  This has been another great way to clear my extra clutter by gathering those items that have been taking up space and sending them off to Forever to digitize.  I can then determine if I still need the original, share it with other family members or discard it and save that space.

Where is your place for all of your photos and media?  Do you have one, are you looking for a system for your printed photos or those on your computer to keep them organized? If I can help you, fill in this simple form and I will be happy to help you with the next steps.

Which type of photos do you need help with first?

Do you have media you want to have converted or scanned?

Here are some ways to Take Action in your 15 Minutes a Day this week:

  • Find a container you already have or reach out and let’s get you a Power Sort Box to be your home for your printed photos – you Photo Box
  • Go through your house and gather those loose photos or special videos and put them in your Photo Box.
  • Identify if any of the items in your Photo Box should be scanned and converted
  • Let me know if you want to add your media conversion order with my next group box or if you want to take advantage of the amazing sales on media conversion boxes June 16 or June 18th.
  • Determine how you want to organize your digital images.  Historian and Forever Storage are my go to tools but the biggest advice I have is to pick 2 places to have your digital images since it is never a question of if our computer or technology will crash it is a question or when.  Don’t wait until it is too late!

Let’s keep working on your photo projects a little each week and see what progress you find as you lighten your load!

 

Join us next Saturday!

My Monthly Photo Workshop is a great time to gather with friends and have a little fun while knocking out that next photo project.  Time is one of the hardest things to carve out for our photo projects.  Whether you want to organize your printed photos, label your digital photos, group your older media to prep for media conversion or complete that vacation book or canvas wall art – there will be plenty of time to work on your project and learn a bit from a friend or two.  Lunch is provided to all who attend all day or the morning.

 

The schedule and sign up link can be found under the Events Tab at the top of this page.  If you are interested in joining the Photo Club you can also do so at the registration link on the Events page.  The 2018 Photo Club is a special opportunity to preregister for the remaining events of the year at a discounted rate.  You are guaranteed a seat at all the remaining events and will get the first option to join the Photo Club next year.

 

We welcome visitors to pop in and shop anytime.  If you want to come and join the fun at the next workshop, you can join us after 3pm for FREE your first time.  RSVP is still required and the FREE after 3pm offer is available as long as space permits so sign up early if you want to give the next workshop a try.

2018 Summer Survey

Photo Loving Friends – I would love for you to chime in on my 2018 Summer Survey for my Photo Solutions business.  Whether you have attended an event or purchased a product, your feedback will help me know how to better serve the people in my community.  You can use this link to jump over to the short survey today: https://goo.gl/forms/Ku1F0GKRAO2KNu9O2 . It will only take a few minutes and you can enter to win a gift certificate of your choosing for one of the products or events I offer at the end of the survey.  We will be wrapping up this survey and holding the drawing on Friday, June 29th.

 

If you would like to join our next event, check out the Events Tab at the top of the page to see the workshop schedule or click here: Photo Workshop