Tag: Forever

What does caught up look like to you?

Years ago, I would hear people who scrapbooked with me say that they were so many years behind and I could tell it bothered them. I decided then that my more realistic goal was to be no more than a year behind. If I was scrapbooking last year’s Spring this Spring, then I could enjoy the fun new products and memories at just the right time. I did from time to time jump in and do a few pages of a current event to make sure I didn’t forget the details but I set my expectation to not stress on the staying “current with today” mentality. As the years have gone on, I will swing from 6 months back to almost 2 years but generally hover around the 1 year mark and that is success for me.

This last year brought a few life changes, a big job change and with that came less time to scrapbook, pair that with a year that seems to have been a big photo year with travel and lots of fun and I had slipped further behind than I like to be but I kept working a little at a time. Starting with 2019, I also took on a slightly different strategy to help my work move along a bit quicker. I started focusing my 15 minutes a day several days a week on picking my favorites and I would knock out one month at a time. I started as I always do with the current photos (January) and once I got caught up with the current month in 2019, I would go back to the next month that I had with my project and spent a few days picking my favorites and putting them in a sub-album. If I didn’t have time to scrapbook then I would at least get my photos prepped and ready. This has made a huge difference and I am already well on my way to having my favorites picked out already for 2019 once I get ready to do those photos too.

Remember that “caught up” can and does look different for each of us – it may be finishing one important project for you from years ago, it may be getting the next year’s album done, it may be gathering your photos and picking your favorites so that they are where you can find them and share the when you wish, it may be creating a gift for a friend.

What project do you want to get caught up with this month? I am excited to have made some great headway the last few weeks on my project and am down to one remaining week in 2017 and will be jumping on 2018 soon.

5 years ago

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.

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!

5 years ago

The Power in 15 Minutes

A few years ago, a friend of mine through Forever shared about how she was making headway with her photo projects with a new approach she was using of spending just 15 minutes a day – about 3-4 times a week. She would set a timer for 15 minutes and work with organizing, labeling, or even creating a few pages in her photo books. If she was on a roll and had extra time, she would allow herself up to 30 minutes but had a hard stop at 30. Some weeks she would only work 1-2 times a week and others she might get 5 or more but she kept it simple and short. I have given it a try too over the last couple of years and have found it is a great approach to not be overwhelmed with a project like organizing our photos or keeping up with our albums or honestly many other non-photo projects I have around the house as well.

If you are interested in giving it a try this summer too, I would encourage you to consider giving this until at least the end of the month – just over 3 weeks. It doesn’t matter how many times each week just give it about 3 weeks to see how it works for you.

Here are the simple steps to get you started:

If you have picked your photo project already, use that with this approach but if you haven’t decided or you don’t know where to start, I suggest start current and then you can work back. Since we are early in the month of June, I would start with your May photos so you have a full month of photos to work with for the first step.
The majority of my current photos are typically on my phone so I work from there first with the Forever App.
- If you are already a Forever customers (either FREE or Permanent account holder) and don’t have the App downloaded yet – You can find it in the App store on either Apple or Android Devices or check out this link: https://www.forever.com/mobile_apps
- If you are new to Forever, I would suggest that you get started with a FREE Forever Account here – https://www.forever.com/ambassador/elizabethgoodson . Using this link helps make sure you are connected to me and helps you get a $10 welcome coupon you can use when you confirm your e-mail address. There is no obligation to buy anything but this will give you a great place to try this approach out and get started. Once you have an account set up then download the app and log in and you will be ready to go too.

Now that you have the tools you need and are ready to go, be sure to set that timer – 15 minutes and then get started with these next steps. I have a Android Phone so these are my steps but if you are an Apple phone user or you are working from your computer you can find similar step by step instructions at the link I will share at the bottom.

With your phone, Find your Forever App (green and blue circle icon).
Open the App and Log in if prompted (same log in as the website).
Select Albums (at the bottom)
Select the + at the top to create an Album (unless you created your 2019 album last month, if you already created it jump to #6)
Name your Album 2019 Favorites and click Create.
Select your 2019 Favorites Album
Click the + at the top.
Choose Add From Device
Go to your May 2019 photos and click on your favorites – pick 5-25, click the check mark at the top once you are finished with your May photos.

When your timer goes off you will want to stop where you are and pick up at that point the next day. Typically I can get about a month of photos done at a time but some months when I take more photos like going on a trip or at Christmas, it may take me a few days of 15 minutes to get through those. I typically work through the most recent month (i.e. May) and then go back and do April, March, Feb, Jan. Once I get to the beginning of the year I am working on, I go back to the current photos and catch up the current month too.

This is how I stay current on picking my favorites and making sure I have them all in one place so I can find them when I want to share them or am ready to create a photo book or project.

Give just this part a try for the next few days and see how it works for you. If you get your 2019 photos caught up, you can always go on to do your 2018 Favorites too. Once you have picked your favorites for the year, you can decide if you want to delete the extras or same them in a separate Album for Extras. Either way, getting then off your phone can help free us space and clear out the clutter.

If you are looking for instructions for iPhones or your working in your account on the computer, you can find step by step instructions here: Forever Fit – 15 Minutes a Day . You can take a peak at the other cards that are here but for now we are only doing Cards 1 & 2 with the info about Uploading Photos and Setting up Albums.

I would love to hear how you are doing so feel free to comment on this posts and share when you complete your 15 Minutes for the Day.

Do you know someone who might enjoy learning about this too? Please share my blog www.seeingagreaterpurpose.com or my FB Page with them so they can follow along too.

I also would love to have you join us for on of our in person monthly Photo Workshops this summer. Check out the dates and information on the Events Tab too.

5 years ago

Welcome to our 2019 Lighten the Load Summer Challenge!

This is going to be a fun and focused time to help you Lighten YOUR Load with your photos, photo projects, project supplies or even that undone project guilt. It doesn’t matter if your photos are printed, on your phone, in a box, still on the camera or on the computer, this is the right place for you. I truly believe when we focus on a few specific tasks and break down our goals into small manageable pieces we see better results. My plan is to help you with those specific tasks that will help you make progress, real progress toward a completed project! Are you ready to get started with Step #1 this week?

Step #1: Setting a Summer Lighten the Load Goal

What area are you most interested in tackling this summer? Are you overwhelmed and not sure where to start? See if this list sparks an idea for you:

Are you wanting to get your photos off of your phone and camera and backed up so you can do something with them later when you have more time? Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Create a system to clear my 2018 & 2019 photos from my phone, organize them and back them up.
Is there a project you want to complete – maybe it is finish a 2018 photo book or a vacation you went on this past year, maybe it is dust off that child’s album and finish it before they graduate, get married, etc? Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Gather my 2018 photos and complete my Family Photo Album for 2018.
Are you interested in getting your scrapbooking supplies finally organized so you find that perfect paper pack or sticker? Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Gather all of my scrapbooking supplies in one place, remove items I no longer need, pull the items I need for my next project and take inventory of any supplies I am missing.
Are you interested in getting that box of family photos and/or videos converted to digital so you can finally get rid of the old prints or film that you no longer can enjoy. Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Pull out that old box of media (or collect the pieces into one place), get a media conversion box and pack it up to send off for conversion this summer.
Are you wanting to complete a gift or invitation for a baby shower, wedding, birthday, etc? Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Pick the project (album, canvas, wall art, cards, calendar, etc.), determine the number of photos needed, gather and complete your project.
Maybe your goal is different than these, you know what you have nagging at you or that has popped on your list.

I will touch on tips and ideas that will help you with many of these but you will want to have a personal goal in mind. Whatever you choose I encourage you to PICK ONE! Write it down for yourself and then comment below or e-mail me directly so I know what you are working on – make this your summer Lighten the Load Goal. If you finish that one, you can move to the next but let’s start with ONE and get it DONE.

Have you picked your goal? You want to do that before you go any further. You can let me know you goal here:

Now that you have checked off Step #1 – Set your Goal, here is a brief overview of what you can expect to see in upcoming posts.

I will be sharing updates each of our 13 weeks with a focus for the week, tips to help guide you and other updates. The biggest thing to remember is that you don’t need to do all the things that I may share. Pick one or two areas you want to work on each week and just do those, you can always come back later to these posts and pick up other ideas. As we get things up and going each month there will be more posts at the beginning of the month with generally one post a week later in the month. Take it at the pace that works for you. I want to make sure you have all the info you need when you are ready for it.

Take a peak at what you might see each month:

June is going to have a focus on Saving

Saving Money
Saving Time
Saving and Protecting our Photos

We will talk about tips for working in just a few minutes a day only a couple of times a week and seeing how that can make HUGE changes to the progress we see. We will create a rhythm and system that can carry you through the summer and through your next project. I will share some BIG savings with by Buy 2 Get 1 Sale – watch for a new group of products each week on the Summer Sale Tab.

In July, we will focus on Organizing

Organizing our Photos
Organizing our Supplies
Organizing our Memorabilia

We will continue building our new rhythm and focus on organization of our photos and scrapbooking supplies. I will offer my Annual Scrapbooking Yard Sale with a bit of a refresh to help you clear out the old items you have and make sure you have what you need for your next project.

As we wrap up in August, we will focus more on Sharing

Sharing our favorite photos
Sharing our finished projects
Sharing photo gifts and the gift of peace of mind with others

We will continuing building on our system so we can share more of our photos with those we love. We will celebrate finished projects and learn more about sharing our projects with others. With our photos are safe and those projects that are most important to us are done, we will also be able to share the peace of mind that we have after a summer of completing our Goal.

Let’s get started!

6 years ago

Lighten the Load Summer Challenge – Mark your Calendars

As we prepare the way for a fun and productive summer where we are going to Lighten the Load in more ways than we can imagine, I suggest that you start off by marking your calendar for my 3 Summer Workshops that are coming up and signing up for the ones you want to attend. Although this is not mandatory to join in the rest of the challenge, this will be a great chance to connect with other friends as we are working on this challenge together. I would love to have you join us for one or more of these monthly photo workshop events as your schedule allows.

Saturday, June 8, 2019
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Saturday, August 10, 2019

Each of these workshops will run 10am-10pm and you can choose to attend as a traditional scrapbooker or a digital attendee and you can choose to join us for all day or just part. Check out the Events link in the Menu Bar for more details and to register for these Events and others I offer the rest of the year.

You will also want to watch for weekly posts through the month of June for our Summer Sale. This is just for you to get the supplies you need at a great price while you help me Lighten MY Load of inventory to carry to summer events. Watch for more details on a Summer Sale Tab of my website starting June 1st where each week you can Buy 2 Items of the selected category of my current inventory and get the 3rd one (highest priced item) at 40-50% off.

The rest of this Summer Challenge will be able to be done on your own time table. Watch for weekly posts that will share tips and updates to guide you along the way. Check back here on Saturday, June 1st for the first official post & kick off to our Lighten the Load Summer Challenge plus the Summer Sale.

6 years ago

Lighten the Load Summer Challenge – COMING SOON

As we wrap up Spring and kick off Summer with Memorial Day as the unofficial start this past weekend, I am prompted to savor the change in seasons and the beauty of the new and exciting things that come with a change in our routines. This time of year makes me think about clearing out the old and making room for the new. That can apply to so many things in life – from Spring Cleaning my home to preparing the way to complete a project that has been lingering. It is also a time to Lighten the Load whether it be a physical load or the load I carry with unfinished projects and pick the couple of project I want to tackle. This has been on my mind a lot over the last several weeks as I have looked at my own load of projects and stuff that needs clearing out. With that thought….

….I invite you to Lighten the Load with me this Summer!!! I plan to help you Lighten the Load with our photos, photo projects, project supplies and even that undone project guilt. I will be launching this special Lighten the Load Summer challenge to inspire you and guide you to Lighten YOUR Load whether it be a small project for a few weeks or a big project that takes all summer. There will be Sales, Challenges, Tips and Inspiration along the way – and you never know when there might be a few prizes too. This will run from June-August with a celebration at the end. You can choose where to jump in and how much to tackle but I know from my own experience that when I take a project or goal and break it into smaller pieces I am always amazed at the progress over time.

You can start thinking about what is on your list of photo related projects, how many are started but not yet finished, do you have extra supplies tucked in your bag that are weighing you down. Get ready, we are going to have some fun and start to feel lighter as we move through the summer. Are you ready to hear more?