STAYING ON TRACK IN 2015

Planners, Planners, Planners

It all started when I saw a YouTube video on something called a mind dump. The idea is to clear your head by writing everything down in a notebook, which will free your mind to come up with new ideas. David Allen advocates this system in his "Getting Things Done" book. 

Soon I realized I needed a planner to keep track of all of my appointments, and to-do lists. Hmmm, how about planning for success in my fundraising business? I'm sure you can imagine how this snowballed, and I found myself needing several different notebook/planners.

 

I am sure that I will tweak this system as the year goes on, but I'm excited to have a system in place. In the video below you can see how I am using my current system. If I make big changes I will update you all as I go along.

The printables I used can be found on:

 The CEO of Me blog

PDX blog planner 

I also used the Seaside paper packet for the Blog/Close to My Heart planner.  

The Levenger disc bound system, and the Frixion pens can all be found on Amazon.

Your planner(s) will likely look very different from mine if you are raising children, work outside the home, etc. Let me know if you have a system to stay organized this year, and what it is.

 

THE VALENTINE'S TREE

A New Family Tradition

Some people may call it lazy, I prefer to think of it as an unplanned, new family tradition.  Yes, our Christmas tree is still up. Let's just say that January has flown by so far. My grandchildren were due for a visit, and I suddenly had a brilliant idea.

I pulled out all the stamps, paper, stickers, ribbon, etc, that were remotely Valentine's Day themed, and set up an extra work area in my craft room. Since my grandchildren are six and seven years old, they were all in. I love this age, they are so willing to agree to things, like The Valentine's Tree, even if they have never heard of it before.

They made some really cute decorations, and some that were . . . umm . . . interesting. My grandson added hearts to a drawing of Portal, his favorite video game to date. I guess if you add hearts to something it is automatically sweet, and befitting of The Valentine's Tree. They also had a little trouble making things that were ornament sized.

Adorable, right? You know what this means? I am obligated to leave the tree up year round. 

There were several discussions about future holidays. Easter will be easy, and Halloween is the most highly anticipated. My grandson explained that our 4th of July tree will need "George Washington, and some dead Red Coats." We may need to negotiate a little before July.

JANUARY IS FULL OF SPECIAL DEALS!

Four Special Offers this Month

There is a special Studio J collection to help you preserve all of those Christmas photos. Studio J is a fun, digital scrapbook program that is quick, easy, and economical to use. From January 1st until the end of February, this special express collection will be available using the festive Yuletide Carol paper collection. You can find more about this special HERE on my website. 

During the month of January, all Gatherings that reach $350 or higher will be eligible to receive up to 50% more Hostess Rewards! This means an additional $30, giving you the opportunity to earn up to $230 or more in select free products. This offer is only available during January and can be used for on-line gatherings also.

 

 There are two Year>>Noted kits available in January. You can see all of the products in each kit in this great video that Close to My Heart has put together.

Visit my Close to my Heart  WEBSITE ,place an order of $50 or more, and either of these kits can be yours for $5 or $10. 

Of course there is an adorable Stamp of the Month, available for just $5 with any $50 purchase.

 Once you have a qualifying order in your shopping cart on my WEBSITE these special offers will pop up, and you simply add them to your cart.

As always, your orders are greatly appreciated, as they help me donate funds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you would like to know more about the LLS follow this LINK to their website. 

I hope everyone has had a  fantastic start to their new year. If you have any questions, or comments, please leave them in the comments below.