Creating a calendar can help you focus on the “Details” of life.   When you sit down to fill in your calendar, don’t just schedule haircuts and doctor’s appointments… take time to plan some happy memories.

As a way to stay organized, I started making a Calendar every Christmas season. I start with all the fun family activities we want to do for the Season like going to the Nutcracker, visiting Santa, going to the “Back in Time Nativity.” I also add fun at-home activities like making gingerbread houses, watching the Grinch, or making Christmas cards scheduled as well.

Before I added everything to our seasonal calendar, my husband and I would talk about things we wanted to do, but before you know the season gets crazy and we ran out of time.  Now, the calendar gives everyone something to look forward to and we found that we are able to get a lot more done because everyone knows what to expect.

Another fun idea, is to take some time to embellish your calendar and put it up on the refrigerator, at the end of the season the calendar can go into your scrapbook.  In years to come it will be fun to look back and remember all the fun you had together.

Why not create an event calendar for every month of the year?  Make a list of fun family activities.  Visit websites like http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/ or your local newspaper events calendar.  Also think of activities such as going snowshoeing, making homemade Valentine’s gifts, or meeting grandma for lunch.  Just don’t forget your camera.

I love Heidi Swapp’s calendar http://www.dotsndetails.com/shopping.html?product=2394 because it gives you a great template to start and the pages are 12” x 12”.  You can keep your calendar as a stand alone scrapbook or take out the pages and put them in a scrapbook that covers a full year.  Make sure you are taking pictures at all the fun activities you have scheduled.

You can also keep your calendar like a journal.  When my twin daughters were born 14 weeks early I didn’t have time or energy for much.  But I kept a calendar and recorded their daily weights, surgeries, and milestones like “Lily is off the ventilator today.”  I also kept track of wonderful moments like “Dad and Emma snuggled together for the first time.  Heaven for both!”  I am so glad that I wrote those things down.  I have two beautiful 5 year olds now, and I love to look back on that calendar and see how far we’ve come… and how much we have to be grateful for.

Keeping a beautiful calendar for an engagement and wedding is not only useful but will be a wonderful keepsake for years to come.

A calendar is also a great way to keep track of the milestones of your baby’s first year.  Making Memories has darling calendar kits for a baby girl http://www.dotsndetails.com/shopping.html?product=15848
or a baby boy http://www.dotsndetails.com/shopping.html?product=15847.

Next time a friend is getting married or having a baby, give the gift of a calendar and it will become a precious keepsake for them.   And don’t forget to create your own calendar, because in the end, a happy life is all in the details.

Byline: Calli Taylor is the content manager for Dots ‘n Details.  Dots ‘n Details is a scrapbooking club that offers special member pricing on all the latest scrapbooking products. DnD was designed to simplify your scrapbooking experience by making it easier, more enjoyable and best of all more affordable to do what you love.

This article was originally published by Karooch at Scraps of Mind:  http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2008/02/26/calendar-keeping-can-help-you-focus-on-the-details/#more-656

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dots and Details Launches Scrapbooking Club

 

to Meet the Needs of Busy Moms

 

 

PRICELESS MEMORIES OR MEMORIES PRICED LESS?

 

 

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah – February 5, 2008 – Candesa, a leading interactive services firm in Utah, has teamed up with Dots and Details LLC to launch a new scrapbooking website. Dots ‘n Details is an online scrapbooking club that offers special member pricing on its entire selection of top-brand scrapbooking supplies.

 

 

Dots ‘n Details was founded on the principle of simplicity. “We believe that our customers will be more successful if they have more time to create memories and less time spent dealing with hassles. So, we designed our scrapbooking site to be not only aesthetically pleasing but easy to use as well,” said Dots and Details spokeswoman Calli Ison. “By offering special pricing discounts to our members, scrapbookers no longer have to wait for sales, clip coupons or surf various scrapbooking websites to try and find the best deal on the products they want. Simply put, we offer the best possible prices on every product we carry – everyday.”

 

 

In building Dots ‘n Details we knew we needed to stand out so we selected Candesa to help us create a unique online presence. Candesa’s background and expertise enabled us to launch an online scrapbooking store that would inspire our customers to create their own beautiful paper-crafting projects. In addition to creating a pleasing customer experience, we also wanted to create our own dream site, an online scrapbooking store where you could buy the best quality products, but save money doing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costco was actually an inspiration for Dots ‘n Details. Costco always has great quality products, great customer service, and great prices, said Taylor. “We have applied the same principles in an online format to create a scrapbooking club.” Why go anywhere else?

 

 

As part of its launch campaign, Dots ‘n Details is giving away a free Crop In Style XXL Organizer during the month of February. Known as the “mother of all totes”, the XXL holds it all. Designed for the avid scrapbook enthusiast. All you have to do is enter for a chance to win: http://www.dotsndetails.com/contest.html

 

 

“Utah is an industry hub and we have had the privilege to work with several local manufacturers and retailers. So, we were excited to be part of this exciting new venture, said Andrew Taylor, Candesa VP of Account Services.” The industry is growing up and we believe that this is a great opportunity to not only apply 10 years of experience in web-design and development, but to be part of the growth and maturation of the online scrapbooking industry in general.”

 

About Candesa

 

Candesa (www.candesa.com), a leading interactive services firm, delivers expertise in branding and web design, strategic planning, web development, e-business and rich media marketing. Clients include NBA, NBC Sports, Novell, LANDesk Software, Hitachi Data Systems, and Symantec. Candesa is headquartered in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

 

 

About Dots ‘n Details

 

Dots ‘n Details, (http://www.dotsndetails.com) one of the fastest growing scrapbooking clubs on the Internet, offers special member pricing on its entire selection of scrapbooking supplies from the most recognizable brands. The site was designed to simplify the scrapbooking experience by making it easier, more enjoyable and best of all more affordable for our members to do what they love. Dots ‘n Details’ operating philosophy is simple. Keep costs down and pass the savings on to our members.