Meet the kid who I bet makes a million in his lifetime!

Got up one retired morning a couple of weeks ago and we found this
 duct taped to our front door. It is a 8 inches by about 11 inches piece
of white paper. Check out all the coloring!!!!
I think this is the coolest business card I have ever received!
It is handmade, colored with crayon, NOT COPIED!
Look at the specifics in this...times..prices...details in animals...
the extras...and we don't even  have a dog! But if you live in Florida on
our street let me know and I will give you the name and address I have
covered! This goes in the top 10 of creative and hard working
ideas of kids' projects that have passed through my hands since
 I started teaching!

The Couple ... What to Do with this kind of special pic???

Here is a pic I took on a trip to Skyline Drive Virginia with our friends in the 80s or 90s. I love it! So what to do with these favorite kinds of shots when downsizing. As you go through your tubs and tubs of pics you will hit pics that sound off alarms to not give away or toss like this one for me. So scan it and have it saved and make a backup. With my ACDSee software I bought their additional online storage that you can make public or keep private. Decide what the names of each of the albums you make as  you go along. Like this one pic  didn't really fit into individual family member albums or special events...so consider having albums called My Best ....fill in the blank...Shots. For me I filled in the word "People" for this pic.
Also consider card making and make a special card for someone and use this type of pic on the front. You can also make copies and different sizes of the same pic after you scan it and put them into frames as gifts.
At any rate downsizers GET THEM OUT OF THE TUBS and use them and enjoy them or pass them on before they deteriorate! Remember the generations before us didn't have a lot of pics to pass on to us and the generation after us has so many they really are not that interested in unlabled pics from us in most cases.

Remember Casper the Friendly Ghost?

Downsizers, remember this guy? I remember
 when I was a kid going to my mother's friend's
 house who had piles higher than me of comic
 books! It was as cool seeing that many comics
 as getting a new item from Amazon is for me
 today! Oh and I remember trading comics and
 stretching out with the new ones on a
comfortable spot on the floor near everyone
 but far enough away their sounds didn't
bother me reading the comic book.
I can remember feeling like I walked right
into the world of Casper or the other comic
characters!
The colors and even the smell of comic books
was neat!
Anyway it is bye bye Casper the Friendly Ghost
when we can find him a new home! Check out
the details of this comic book at my newest store location:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290572569548

Are Best Friends Always Forever Friends?

Good question! Different answers from different people. Some are. Some aren't.

Here we are as far back as I can remember best friends! Played together. Went to school together. Me on the left and Helen on the right. With both our last names beginning with W we even got to sit together because they seated you alphabetically back then! Then came colleges and marriages and kids and miles and then no contact. Me always waiting to loose weight to contact her and her? Don't know. So I guess we downsize friends in this busy world without even knowing it. So sad.

Paper Pics Downsizer Course 101 Class 3 OK So now what?

 Ok so now what? I have a picture to keep. I have written on the label and have the label on the back of the picture.

At this point you need to make a list OF EVERYONE that you will consider giving the originals paper pics to:
Children, friends, children of friends, other relatives are examples.
Use old clean shoeboxes or tubs from Walmart or somewhere you find good prices. Label each with possible people to get your pics as you decide. And put them in a location where you don't have to move them every time or you won't get the job done.

Our family is shrinking so much! It comes down to :
A box for each child and their children.
A box for each cousin and their children.
If later you need friend boxes  you can add them.
Remember these are only the "keep" pics, not the donate or sell or give away pics.

I sell online a lot and have ordered safe keeping bags for items that sell so I  use them to put each pic in also. Fetpak online has been good for me for years.http://www.fetpak.com/

So here is my pic in its bag heading for one of my boxes that you have to make  yourself decide. Don't put off that part! That is the hardest part. A friend just emailed me and asked if I am keeping any. The answer is no. I have them all online remember. They need to move on to the next generation but not in bits and pieces. Just keep putting them in the box of your choice til the end of your pictures.

If you change your mind go ahead!!!

Comfort for Alzheimer's Study Volunteers ... Any quilters out there?

Found this in the Downsizer's Text Book: AARP Bulletin September 2010

After We Decide Which Pics to Keep, What Do we do with the photos we decide to keep?

Downsizer's  Downsize Course 101 Paper Pictures/Photos Class 2
After we decide which pics to keep, what do we do with the photos we decide to keep?

You know, we, the current group of downsizers,  are wedged between two age groups ..the older with few photos...mostly not labeled of who, when or where ( and sadly with no family members who can remember who is in the pics or where they are or when) and the younger age group who take so many pics on their digitals they don't even get them printed and just use them online and are not looking forward or even planning  to go through tubs and tubs of pieces of their lives on paper prints! In a lot of cases they simply do not have the time.

So what to do? After you make a decision to keep a photo it is important to label it. Nothing has made me sadder in the past 12 years than to see unlabeled pics at auctions from families who don't want them and just sell them to get rid of them. But who can blame them. Unlabeled and  untimed make them less valuable or valued!

Listen downsizers, these pics are our grand finales!!!! They ARE valuable! But get them ready if they are in your keep pile! Do not be lazy at this stage of life! I  found these labels when I first started selling antiques and fleas in stores and then online. They are nice because they are removable but sturdy enough to stay. Small enough to fit. Use a pen that won't run if it gets wet. Putting the year, the place, the name of the person at the time of the pic & your comments/reactions. Don't write on the pic in such a way it shows/comes through in the pic. That is important for future generations to be able to scan, copy and enjoy them.

So when the label is on the back of the photo what is the next step? Check back later to see what comes next in this blog of taking  back your life and time while downsizing paper pics/photos