How Very Exciting

As compared to regular sized business cards
They had me at mini-cards!

For a couple of reasons, I have been putting off having business cards made for months. Mainly, I was uncertain of the resolution quality of the pear graphic in my logo. And by making a business card, I guess...that means I am in business! Yikes and Hurray!

In discovering custom mini-cards from MOO.com via a great bloggers' resource, Meylah.com, I knew I had found the place and application to move forward. The mini-cards were the perfect solution for my not so high quality jpeg logo, plus the size makes them so unique!

Creating business cards, mini-cards or postcards at Moo.com is incredibly simple:

Choose Your Product:



Select to upload your own image or choose from existing fun templates:


Continue to follow prompts that allow you to add text to the reverse side, crop and center your image and finalize the layout before ordering. The paper quality is outstanding and my graphic ended up looking top notch in this size.

Once I placed my order, the mini-cards arrived within 8 days. As you can see by the clever packaging by the folks at MOO.com, they know their audience! "How exciting", was exactly what I said while opening my package. And yes, they do have a new best friend!

If you would like to become friends too, simply add the coupon code: PAP2ZN to receive 10% off your order.

I hope you like my new business cards! Yay!

Date Stamp

My family is close to a big milestone, our oldest is graduating from high school! As a surprise for his graduation, I am putting together a mini-video of sequential images with music. It has been an awesome project, where I have learned many things about my photo organization. I would love to share a bit of advice on an issue that has consumed most of my time while working on this project. "What year was this"?

The photos posted above are just a few examples of images where I am unsure of the place, time or context.

I always thought I was doing a great job of keeping things in order. But it appears that an unbelievable amount of photos missed being categorized, leaving me to ponder, call relatives, or ask my husband to check his running journals (he records all events in annual running journals). All of that takes time and really dilutes your enthusiasm for the project at hand.

If you are not using a formal set up for digital photo storage such as Lightbox, iphoto or Photoshop, try to rename the photos you upload adding at least the year the photo was taken. Taking time to add this date stamp to your images will then allow you to further compile into monthly, quarterly or annual folders. Also, while renaming, you have the opportunity to edit images, removing duplicates, bad photos, etc.

Does anyone else have suggestions on organizing digital photo files without using a software program?

Piles of Pears

Artist and Mom, Pat Brookes
Did you know that my mom, Pat, is an artist who continues to evolve in her craft by the day? She and my dad live nearby on Whidbey Island, about an hour plus a ferry ride away. I speak to them regularly and just today my mom was ecstatic over her latest art endeavor: pear cards! For the past few months she has been successfully exploring texture, shape and design with her unique pear paintings. The originals have become so popular, she had the best selling reproduced 4 x 6 art cards sold in an assorted package of 6 for $16.00. Visit her Etsy page or website: PatBrookes.com to purchase or view more.

Now the bargain shopper in me can see these note cards framed individually with a wide matte border and sleek, simple frame. Grouped in a kitchen or dining room, they would make a strong impact with flair. I have always liked pears. I appreciate their beautiful shape, varying shades of color and simply satisfying sweet taste. Now captured in my moms' art work, I can appreciate them as her inspiration too.