What's going on in the MooreMagnets house?!

I thought I would give you all a little update on what is going on in the MooreMagnets household! Oh, and for all of you looking for the update on the paperwork - I haven't gotten everything together to do a blog post about that, but hopefully sometime this week I will be able to give you a re-cap with pictures!

Boys! As most of you know we have 3 boys running around! Life gets pretty busy with all of them running around - especially this year! The oldest is 14 now! Hard to believe but he is a freshman in high school now! He is the kicker for the Junior Varsity football team, and he is a starter on the Varsity soccer team! Woot! Being on the varsity soccer team is quite and accomplishment for him, and he is the only freshman or sophomore on the team! Seeing them practice and play is a bit strange for me, especially since he isn't any smaller than the rest of the boys!

The middle boy has certainly sprouted this year - he is 12 now and definitely coming into his own. His father and I were incredibly shocked that he wanted to play middle school football this year - especially since he has never been very sports oriented. So, he tried out and made it!! He is one of the wide receivers on the team, so now he is really working on catching with dad and older brother.

Youngest boy is 6 now, and just as sweet as ever! Watching him develop friendships is the most wonderful thing! He wants to be in the boy scouts (trying to work out scheduling for that) and will probably play soccer in the spring!

Hubby and me are doing great! Not too many household projects going on right now other than finishing my workshop. I have taken on one project though! A dear friend of mine was recently diagnosed with adult alopecia. It really frightened me when I saw her wig sitting in her room before she had a chance to tell me what was going on. Only two short months later she has lost all of her beloved hair - all with no real known reason. Most of you who know me also know that I have enough hair for 2-3 people, so I have decided to let it grow and donate it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program. Here is a picture of where I am now!


Curious about the requirements? You can find them from the link I posted above - but here is a quick rundown - must have 8 inches in length, less than 5% gray (I hope I still meet this!), no permanant hair treatments (vegetable color is okay)...

So I have about 7 inches right now - but really I am going for 10 - Hopefully I will be there by January!

Paperwork! Organizing my stacks!

It's a rainy day today, and I am finally finished sending out my outstanding orders. As much as I would love to just take the day off and do nothing, I have a giant stack of paperwork staring back at me!

I have several files already set up, but since our new computer arrived, I have decided to rearrange my desk. Things are coming along nicely, but it is forcing me to tackle some of the paperwork projects that I have been putting off for a while.

I will be taking pictures during the day to show you part of the process, but here is the list of the supplies I have ready to go to tackle this project!

File Folders
Label Maker
Large clean surface (my living room floor)
Stacks of paperwork
Empty file box
Note pad
Pens/Pencils
Shredder

I am not sure if I will be able to reveal my final office yet, but stay tuned hopefully it will come soon!

New Product Preview - Wall Pockets, Spice Racks, Coupon Organizers ... Oh My!!

I have been asked several times about what new products are coming from Moore Magnets! So, here is your preview of items that are in production in the workshop, a brief description, and when you can expect to see pictures and listings!

Wall Pockets - I am currently working on some wall pocket organizers that will look similar to my new letter holders. These wall pockets will be larger than the letter holders and designed to hold standard file folders (a legal file folder option will be available). These will hang on the wall with screws and magnets will stick on the surface of the wall pocket. They will be beautiful, functional, and some of them will come with matching magnet boards and other office goodies! These are scheduled to be completed in 1-2 weeks.

Spice Racks/Organizers - I am also working on some spice racks and organizer racks! They will be magnet boards that include magnet tins suitable for storing spices or other itty bitty goodies! There will be large sets and small sets and some of the magnet boards will come uncovered for those cooks that get a bit messy in the kitchen. These are scheduled to be completed in 2 weeks!

Coupon and Receipt Organizers - Sorry - can't tell you more about these! You will just have to wait patiently! These are scheduled to be completed in 2-3 weeks (maybe sooner!)

We are Experiencing Technical Difficulties....

ACK! My computer crashed! It was something that my husband and I knew would happen at some point!

So - do you have an external harddrive? Do you back up your computer on it?

If so, that is great - However, you need to take the next step and actually go on to the external harddrive and make sure that your back up files are really there!

Hopefully I will have some new things to show you soon, but it will take me a few days to get back on track and figure out how to use some of this new software!

Have a great day!

Don't forget about the End of Summer Sale in my Artfire shop! Click the sale tab on the right for more details!

Organizing Tip! Organizing Digital Photos

One of the hardest things for me to keep organized these days are my digital photos! I am guessing that is because they really don't take up any physical space. However, as an online seller of my craft photos are an essential part of my business. In my former life in the business world I maintained a database of thousands (maybe millions) of electronic papers and pictures and the system that we used was a dating system. It didn't take me long to figure out that we needed to use a coding system of year-month-day-document number - Today's first document would have looked like this: 2009-09-09-00001

However, that system didn't help me in business since the day that I took the photo was irrelevant. I currently use a system that uses the size of the magnet board, framed or unframed, fabric description, number - so my files end up looking something like this: 12x12Bluedots01 or 18x23Framedpinkgreendots01. For the items that I make that are not magnet boards my files look something like: pencilholderpurplegreenflower01 or mailholderorangewhitescrolls01

This naming system is generally how I keep all of my photos that have been edited, but I don't re-name the original pictures that are downloaded from my camera - I probably should, but since time is short - I don't.

Another thing that I do is I keep a file that is labeled - Show pictures - These are pictures that are my best photos of my work, and the file that I open when I need to find a picture to print for craft shows, juried sites, website design, flyers etc... Every picture in this file is a copy of the original.

There are other ways of organizing your photos, such as, coming up with a numbered category system where you have a number for each main category, perhaps a number for a subcategory, and a photo number. However, if you use a system like this you will need to make sure that you keep a list handy of all of your category and subcategory codes. Personally I prefer a system where I don't ever need a reference sheet and I can quickly look at the name of the file and determine what the photo is.

So, what is the first step to creating your own system? I would suggest that you first make a list of all of the different types of photos down, and then decide how many categories that you have and how many subcategories you have. After that you should be able to come up with some sort of system!

Labor Day is for Laboring?

So It seems that every Labor Day my husband and I work on some big un-done project. So, I guess in my house - Labor Day is for laboring!

This Labor Day weekend my husband and I tackled some un-done projects on my workshop! Originally, I was just going to start painting - a project that is well over-due and desperately needed!! So I woke up bright and early - got on the painting clothes - and went outside to start my weekend project! I apparently inspired my husband to come help me, as he shortly joined me and then left to pick up breakfast. After he returned he decided to start boxing in the eaves on my workshop! Yay! This is certainly a task that I wasn't sure how to complete, and one that I have desperately wanted to have done for a long time!

You see, we have bees and wasps! UGH! Lots of them! Certainly if they were honey bees I would have had our local bee association come and remove the hives, but the bees that we are inundated with are wasps and carpenter bees - NOT FUN!!! Now carpenter bees are great pollonators, but they cause total distruction to any wooden structures by boring tunnels into the wood for their nests! They are also said to be "unlikely to sting", but since I am apparently seen as a threat to their nest (since they build them inside my workshop), they like to dive bomb me and I have been stung by them before. Wasps are my other enemy - I cannot even tell you how many nests I have sprayed inside my workshop, and I have been stung by them also - NOT FUN!!

Here are pictures of the two gigantic wasp nests that we removed from my workshop over the weekend!

The eaves on the workshop are not completed yet as you can see by the pictures, but I am VERY happy that there is much less of a chance that the bees can invade at this point!

Up until this point we have been working on wiring my workshop! The wires have been run to all of the outlets - some of them installed, and some of them not installed! But I do have some workable outlets!

So, the home of MooreMagnets is coming right along, but for now it is back to work! I have custom orders to finish!!!

Friday Yummy!

This is a really easy and quick appetizer that I have fallen in love with! I can't take the credit for the recipe, but my friend Becky taught me this one. I really don't care for plain tomatoes like my husband, so this is a way for me to enjoy the fresh tomatoes and basil from our garden with very little preparation.

Ingredients:

1 ripe tomato sliced
1 package fresh mozzarella sliced
fresh basil
balsamic vinegar

Just slice the tomatoes and mozzarella top them with one or two pieces of fresh basil and sprinkle balsamic vinegar over the top - Done!

An Update on Me and My Websites!

Good Morning! For the last several days I have been busy as a bee adding items to my store! As much as I love Etsy, ?? is really becoming a place where I can offer my customers some great features such as coupons and discounts, as well as the ability to make purchases with out creating a user account while still checking out with a secure connection. I will continue to keep my Etsy store stocked, but all coupons and discounts that are offered will only be available through my ?? store.

I have also reached 100 fans on Facebook, and have secured my Facebook vanity url. Coupons and discounts will be announced via Facebook and on my blog - so either fan me on Facebook, or sign up for my RSS feed on the blog.

A Newsletter - I have had many requests over the years to create a newsletter so that people can keep up with me and be informed of new products, fabrics, where I am going to be, and special promotions. At this time I still do not have plans to start a newsletter. I have tried several times, and the time that it takes as well as the expense have always held me back. My blog and Facebook fan page will be alternatives for a newsletter. I will be sending a monthly email to all of my fans on Facebook, so if you don't want to hear from me everyday you can hide my Facebook posts and you will still receive the monthly email.

As always, if you have any questions please email me at april@MooreMagnets.com

Please know that I want to provide each and every one of my customers the level of personal service that all of my customers have come to expect! By making these changes and additions I will be able to continue offering that service to everyone!

Now for all of the URL's!


Etsy: http://MooreMagnets.etsy.com
Blog: http://MooreMagnets.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/MagnetBoards
Email: april@MooreMagnets.com

New Accessories for your Magnet Boards!

Here are some new accessories for your Magnet Boards!

Pen/Pencil Holders:

I have been making pen/pencil holders for a long time, and I have friends and family that are still using the pen/pencil holders that they got from me 4-5 years ago! But, these are my "new generation" pen/pencil holders! These are customized with a fabric button so they can match your magnet board or just go with your decor. They will hold any pen/pencil up to 3/8" diameter, and when the pen runs out - just get another and pop it in the holder!


Letter Holders:

These are my newest creation! I am pleased to present to you these magnetic letter holders, although they can be used for a lot more than letters! Use them to keep coupons, mail, notes, invoices, your daily todo lists, and more! These can be customized to match most of the magnet boards in my store!

Organizing Tip Tuesday!

If your house is anything like mine, you ALWAYS need more organization! So, I hope that you can pick up one tip from my blog that will help you get just a little more organized!

Closets! Between me, my husband, and 3 boys there is always a closet in the house that needs to be organized, and most of the time it is due to clothes and shoes that don't fit or that no one wears any more. So, years ago I decided that each closet needed two bins in them no matter how the rest of the closet was organized. One bin is for dirty clothes, and the other bin is for clothes that don't fit, or that no one can or wants to wear anymore.

The donation bins are treated very much like the laundry bins - but they are not mingled with the laundry bins. So, every few weeks they are checked, and sorted by color, and washed. Once they are washed I sort the clothes by things that will be handed down, and things that need to be donated, and things that are just too worn out to be donated. The hand-me-downs are transferred to the next wearers closet, the worn out things are usually sent to the garage or workshop, and the donations are transferred to bags or boxes and taken to the donation center.

I don't wait until I have a truck load of stuff to go to the donation center - I found the closest one to a store that I frequent, and stop and drop of just one bag or just one box at a time. My boys know the difference in the bins - they were cued by color when they were younger - and they use them sometimes. Actually the teenagers are starting to use them more and more as they are much more motivated by style right now!

Hope that helps! Good luck on your organizing quest!