Finding just the right holiday gift for family and friends can be stressful , especially if left until the last minute.  

 Here are a few ideas for Holiday presents your whole family will love and 10 reasons why you should start now! 

Home Movie Transfer is one of our most popular services. Time and the elements take a toll on your priceless old movies. They need to be transferred digitally to Gold Archival DVD so that you and your loved ones can enjoy them for generations to come! Home Movie DVDs can include music, titles, chapter markers and menus .

Another popular gift is our Photo Video Keepsakes.   We  take your favorite photos and slides and produce a one-of-a-kind family movie  , complete with titles and your favorite music.

One of our most popular services year-round is Video to DVD transfer  . We’ll digitally transfer all of your VHS, 8mm and Mini DV tapes onto a convenient and long-lasting Gold Archival disc – complete with menu and scene selection  .

We’ve compiled a Top Ten List with the advantages of starting now to put together  your one-of-a-kind  Holiday Gifts!

1. The best gifts take thought. forget the coffee mug  with the tag still on it to someone else. Come  to us loaded with photos, tapes and movies and, most of all, brimming with ideas! If you start thinking now there’s no telling what your creative mind will come up with  to make a unique Holiday present .

2. Some of your material might be kept  across the nation. Where’s that one photo you always loved? Maybe across the states  . Where are those old movies? In Aunt Edna’s attic ? Now is the time to start gathering the cherished  memories that you need to make your project the very best!

3. Last minute = Stress. Especially with creative, unique gifts. Contact  us now and give yourself the time to genuinely do it right. You and your family are worth it!

4. Price Savings. Call us today to see what kind of early bird specials we can offer you!

5. Forgot someone on your list ? No problem! The earlier your project is complete the sooner a last minute “oops, I forgot about…” is only a DVD copy away!

6. It’s  fun! You’ll have a ball, all summer and fall, creating your masterpiece and avoiding the mall.

7. Someone else might think of it . Don’t get “scooped.” DVD  gifts are great ideas that need to be acted upon now!

8. Because setting your mind on the Holidays now, will keep you stress free when the time is closer .

9. Room to be creative. We see it all the time. One great creative turn leads to another. You need time to revise and realize even better ideas.

10. Did we mention the price break? Be an early bird and take advantage of our specials !

Home Video Studio – Portland specializes in video editing, video to DVD transfer, DVD and CD duplication, photo/video montages, Super 8mm, 8mm & 16mm home movie transfers, 35mm slide transfers, video tape repair and much more. Whether you need one DVD copy tonight, 20 copies tomorrow, or even 200 copies next week, we can serve your needs. 

Next, collect data from your immediate family .The elders in the family do not live indefinitely regardless of age or health and it is important to record everything that they can remember.

Whenever conceivable, conduct a one-on-one interview.  Let your relatives know that you are coming , as well as the type of information you are seeking .  With permission, use recording equipment.  Take accurate and clear notes .  Prepare for your interview by making a checklist of questions to remind you to ask the three key  questions:  who, when and where . These questions will increase your genealogy know how and family tree research .

However, be prepared to follow the lead from the person being interviewed .  There will be surprises along the way ; beflexible with your interview style and be open to the discourse and the stories that may follow . If one can’t interview a relative personally , write a note that is personal in tone .  If the letter  goes unanswered, a phone call may be necessary .  Writing may be difficult for an elderly person who might be interested in sharing information.  If this is the reason , a phone call will be helpful.

It is important to recognize that not everyone will be as interested or excited about family history and genealogy .
Use photos as a tool .  Often photos refresh the memory, and unlock fragments of family data long forgotten.  

Reassure people that you will be careful with the material loaned to you .  Respect the information they loan to you.  Often relatives are reluctant to lend a family treasure , so be prepared to photograph memorbilia whenever they cannot be taken from the home .

Offer to share your research .  Keep your word .  After entering compiling data on  a family history sheet and pedigree chart , send  the information to the person who has shared with you   the information .

Be  certain to ask if there is a family bible and where it might be .  Family bibles can contain information about   marriages, births and deaths carefully written on pages inside .

Ask if others in the family has researched the family tree . If so, ask how you can obtain a copy

Family heirlooms often contains clues :

• places and names are printed on the backside of old photos .

• Written messages on the inside of a book commemorating a birthday or a vacation .

• Family scrapbooks that contain newspaper obituaries and articles , concert programs , graduations and plays .

• Monogrammed silver.

There are an endless variety of family artifacts :

• Certificates and other family records – birth baptism, confirmation , marriage ,  death and burial , wills, divorce and lawsuits . 

• Adoption papers

• Diaries

• Memorial Cards

• Report cards  

• Obituaries from old newspapers

Develop a method to organize the material . Organizing what you have collected is difficult if you don’t have a method .  You will want to create a filing system using both electronic and traditional techniques.  Use binders or folders with the surname as the label, putting items relating to that surname together. Later when you have time , go though each folder or binder carefuly, extracting pertinent information.

Make sure to cross reference your paper files to your electronic files .

Don’t forget to backup your family tree research in another location .  Many invaluable family collections have been destroyed by fire or water , as well as simply by the apathy of others who did not know they were handling did not know the value of the irreplacable family artifacts . 

The Football player…

The most typical error I see in inexpert photos – and in more pro work than you might imagine is what I consider the “Linebacker” pose.

Consider a professional football player. (The U.S. kind, not what we in the U.S. call soccer.) Size is a large factor of their job. The more massive they are, the better. When they pose for photos, they try to face the camera straight on – with their shoulders looking as wide as they can. They want their hips and thighs to look huge as well.

The more of the frame they can fill, the better – looking intimidating is the objective.

Now imagine almost everyone else in the world…few of them are trying to appear intimidating in their photos.

Take Off The Excess Size…

To assist our model’s desire to shed that “linebacker” look, simply have them turn their shoulders so they’re about 45 degrees to the lens. This appears natural, and is a slimming pose. If they’re visible in the photo, their hips, legs and feet should be adjusted too.

Rule of thumb…Shoulders, hips, legs and feet should never be straight on to the camera.

Avoid The “Sumo Wrestler” Pose Too!

While linebackers want to appear broad – they don’t necessarily want to appear fat! The only photo subject I can think of that actively WANTS to look fat is a Sumo wrestler.

Throughout the known universe, and particularly in the U.S. we almost ALL feel that we look too fat! (With valid reason.) It has become almost an obsession. How often have you heard the saying “the camera adds 10 pounds?” To assist our models to visually lose some pounds, consider what makes us appear visually heavy! It’s the shadows!

We visually define shape by highlights and shadow. If we minimize shadows, people will appear slimmer. Have your models posing in dark clothing and the shadows disolve – and so does the weight.

Start employing these two photography poses ideas and you’ll see instant improvement in your photography.

Anyone will be able to come across a wide selection of materials for you to make your unique invitations located at craft stores and even virtually any retail store place. Several of these supplies are going to involve numerous kinds associated with cardstock with a good wide range of colors and thickness and additionally just about any fashion accessories you will want to construct which will fit. Most of these extras might incorporate all the thankyou cards, 3d stickers, cute rubberized embossers, assorted envelopes, as well as party favors.

The primary action when you make your very own party invitations will be to decide on the exact theme connected with the actual invitations. You might want to pick some topic and also design which not necessarily only looks great with their eye however, is actually furthermore something anyone might quickly construct from residence. Anyone can come across a large assortment to do with rubberized stamps to go with your topic and hues. For young girls a person may work with pinks or pastel colours. Although regarding a boy you could prefer to implement darker tones and / or blue. You will acquire inspiration through whatever the actual boy enjoys and include that in to the actual invites anywhere you will be able to. Various good examples would likely be Mickey Mouse or Strawberry Shortcake designed invites.

Any time you are choosing whatever wording for you to utilize on invites you’ll prepare yourself, be positive to include all of the important information and facts such as the particular day, time period, and site. You will too want to make sure you include the name for the host, reply date as well as the actual cellphone number and the e-mail. Furthermore; incorporated should really be the record for shops where our guest of honor may have submitted a gift registery along with a chart for the store having specific guidelines. That very last component may be specially true whenever you will likely to be inviting a lot of out-of-town family and friends or it may be the actual location is not around the region or even well known.

In the event you’re not really feeling like creating an individual invitation designed for each invitee, it is possible to always have a unique feel by simply designing them then print the invites possibly at your home or perhaps from your community print facility. In any event it is possible to contribute a unique finishing feel with utilizing some sort of wax seal that have your initials on there that will fasten each envelope. Regardless of whether you construct the invites all by yourself or have them printed in your area, you are going to always need make use of the absolute greatest good quality resources your spending budget can permit. You will not just desire to be able to get the invitees to this function but additionally supply these people with a keepsake that they could hold dear for many years ahead.

One can buy a film scanner at a reasonable price. Now there’s total convenience of transferring negatives into digital format
without outlay too much; on your own.

It is fairly unproblematic to go through preserving photographs with the use of a film scanner. To ensure a good high quality photo a decent quality film scanner must be purchased 

Those with a lot of 35mm negatives can purchase a 35mm scanner that is designed specifically for slides and negatives. With these types of scanners, you can process many negatives into digital format at a time and that’s convenience at the tip of your fingers.

Another great wonderful benefit about having a film scanner is that you have mastery over how you want your photo to look. After scanning your slides and negatives you can then save the images into the format you consider the best for your use .

People love to touch up their photos . Adobe Photoshop is among the most popular products used. One of the advantages of having a film scanner for your slides and negatives is that you will now have more control over the photo finish. Utilising   software can improve photo images by removing blemishes, red eye, cropping, and resizing as needed desired . Even very old pictures can be adjusted .

You can preserve digital photos in many ways that one cannot with traditional photographic preservation methods. The scanned negatives can reduce your storage immensely  . Now you can do without the negatives.

Your cherished memories deserve to be kept and preserved and investing in a film scanner is the best way to do so. Amateur and professional photographers, will benefit from the use of a film scanner simply because they now have the ability to print old photos and send them electronically .

Having digital copies of photographs will save photographers a lot of time from scanning photos individually time and again. Scanning old films and negatives is a clever } way to stash the negatives away so they don’t get ruined . With film scanners, negatives are stored in digital format to create backup files for precious special memories.

Film photography requires working in a dark room to get the desired output for photos . Converting photos into digital format will allow you to move away from this traditional way of protecting pictures from light exposure. Damage to your personal artwork is now easily avoided. Plus, you can now work with as much light as you want within your work area.

Negative scanners are a truly helpful tool for photography aficionados. You can save your money and your photographs

When you need help with your scrapbooking, Cricut is a name you can depend on to give you quality tools and accessories to assist you to make excellent scrapbooking. By way of example, it is possible to take your themes and ideas and make them a reality in ways you would not have had the opportunity to complete before.

With the Cricut cuts besides other tools, you could be as creative as you want. If you do not feel that you’re a very creative or artistic person, you can use these tools to make things you never might have been able to think of before. If you are creative, you’ll be able to take that creativity even further with the tools that Cricut can offer you.

You can use these tools to your advantage to generate much of the best scrapbooks around. Your ideas can quickly become a real possibility so it will be easier than ever before to have all those photos and mementos organized into scrapbooks that you can treasure forever.

When scouting for these tools, create a list of the ones you prefer and need quite possibly the most. Then go down in order starting with the ones you require the most and going down to the ones you’d love to possess as you can afford it. You’ll be able to purchase these one or two at a time until your collection is complete and you have all of the great Cricut Tools you desire as part of your scrapbook collections.

Take a look at a few of the cricut tools available:

    * Cricut Gypsy

    * Cricut Deep Cut Blades

    * Cricut vinyl

    * Cricut Stamp Refill

    * Cricut cartridge

    * Cricut Jukebox

    * Cricut cutter

    * Cricut Cartridge Storage Box

    * Cricut Color Fashion

    * Cricut Cutting Mats

    * Cricut Spatula Tool

Now that you know more about choosing Cricut Tools for scrapbooking, it is possible to apply this to your own scrapbooking. You may realize that it makes your scrapbooking easier as well as that it offers you more designs and much more ways to use your creativity for exceptional scrapbooking.

How do you choose the right on? Consider these 3 things before you head to the store or hit that “buy” button.

How Will You Use the Machine?

How are you going to use the machine you purchase? If you’ll be using it infrequently, then a manual machine will likely be just fine. However, if you’ll use it just about every day, then you’ll want to go with a more flexible electronic model instead.

How Much are You Willing to Pay?

Another factor is how much money you are willing to spend on your die cuts. If you have a limited budget, then a manual model is probably the better choice for you since they are so much more inexpensive. If you have a bit more to spend or are wiliing to save up, then one of the fabulous electronic models will be the better choice.

Will You Need to Take the Machine With You?

You should also note whether you will need to travel with your die cutting machine. Teachers, for example, might need to use it both at home and at school. Perhaps you love going to scrapbooking meetings and want something to travel with. Otherwise, an electronic model that has a permanent spot might be a good idea.

Consider that some people opt to have two different machines. A high tech electronic one for home in a permanent crafting room, and a portable version to take with them when necessary. If you have the money, this is truly the best of both worlds!

Make sure you pay attention to these three things when buying a die cut machine , and you’ll be much more likely to choose the right one.

So, this is what I came up with.  I placed a wastebasket in front of my desk and swept everything into it with my hand – whoosh!

No, seriously, I sorted my stuff and tossed out expired coupons, junk mail, etc.  Then I filed paid bills in a file drawer, using folders labeled with the creditors’ names.  What to do with the rest, though?  I needed a way to keep important things like new bills, concert tickets, good coupons and the like in front of me so they wouldn’t get buried in the future.

I saw a package someone gave me as a gift recently, and a light bulb went off in my head – “Put up your Fingers!”  Inspired, I put a Finger on the wall over my desk for each item I needed to keep handy; one for tickets, one for new bills, another for the Yankees’ schedule, one for mail I need to answer, another for my stamp booklet, etc.  I ordered them in rows according to the size of the items I slipped under each Finger.  What joy!  At last, my desk was truly organized!

Then I thought, “The Finger could help me all around the house!”  I put a clear one on a kitchen cabinet to hold recipes when I cook – no more getting greasy fingerprints on the recipe, or dropping it in the sauce!  I stuck a few on the refrigerator to hold the menu for the pizza place and the kids’ latest artwork from school.  On the inside of a cabinet door I used Fingers to hold packets of dip mix, etc. to keep them from getting lost and squashed among the cans.

I was on an organizational roll!  Next, I put The Finger on the back of the medicine cabinet door in each bathroom to hold a first aid leaflet for quick reference.  Here’s another idea for your medicine cabinet:  keep the boxes all those tubes of ointments and liniments come in, and store the tubes in their boxes.  It’s much easier to stack the boxes on the shelf than to try to keep the tubes from sliding around and falling out.

Moving on to the cellar and the garage, I stuck The Finger on the wall over the workbenches to hold copies of the first aid brochure, and made sure there was a well-stocked first aid kit nearby.   I put another Finger on the wall next to the circuit breaker box, and slipped a copy of the list of breakers and the circuits they control under it.

I realized The Finger was the solution to another perplexing tidiness problem – what to do with my scarves and chains.  Our arduous wintertime scarves are rolled up and stored in a shoebag on the back of the door to the coat closet, but the thin, light accessory scarves were a problem.   By sticking a Finger to the back of a bedroom closet door, with the adhesive material end down, it becomes a hook – you can hang a light scarf over it.  The Finger can also hold a light necklace or chain the same way.  I attached several rows of Fingers to the closet door, and – Voila! -  all my favorite scarves and chains were organized, ready to grab and go.

I had one Finger left.  When I sat down at my computer, it dawned on me that The Finger could hold papers for computer work.  I attached the last Finger to the computer desk, and put my clunky copy stand in a drawer (in case I need it to hold a book I’m using).  A thrill of satisfaction came over me.  By putting up my Fingers, my house and my life now are better organized!

One of the most treasured  gifts to give or receive at any time is a mini scrapbook or memory album. In the past this might have meant using a small, regular  scrapbook album and adding some meaningful photos. But nowadays there are even more fun  and inspiring  ways of giving the gift of memories.

There are an amazing number of mini scrapbooks you can create yourself using standard  scrapbooking papers and supplies. For example, imagine making a scrapbook out of paper lunch bags! These are quite popular and extremely  charming. You can include pullouts for additional pictures  and tags in the pockets created when making these scrapbooks.

Another fun scrapbook album is the exploding box scrapbook. It looks like a small paper box, complete with a lid. When you take the top off an adorable  little scrapbook with several layers is waiting to be explored.

Or how about a mini scrapbook  made out of envelopes? Or one made out of shipping tags? Or CDs, or CD cases? There are several different ways you can incorporate the base of a book from all of these items.

Another popular mini scrapbook is the star book that looks like a star when it is opened up. Or open it the other way and it looks like a flower. And yes, you can add pictures and journaling to these too.

The square around, triangular around and circle around books are all basically the same, except they come in the obviously different shapes. These books, when opened up, open into sections or rooms where your photos are displayed.

For the beginner, try a rubber band book or an accordion album. Both of these are very easy to create, yet once again when you add your photos  and memory journaling they become perfectly cherished  gifts.

For the most experienced crafter, how about a tunnel book? These books are 3-dimensional in nature and quite the attention getters.

There are so many fun album ideas out there including flip books, piano hinge books, library pocket books, flag books, Jacob’s ladder books, and on and on. People love the uniqueness of these gifts, and once you add your pictures  and journaling, well, you just cannot go wrong. There are many free scrapbook tutorials on the internet on making mini scrapbooks. Enjoy!

Opening a store in a Craft Mall is just the beginning, building a successful online business is a slow process that takes work and commitment.

You start by creating content for your new shop, customers coming to your shop cannot touch and feel your unique handmade crafts like they would in a brick and mortar shop, so it is extremely important that your images are crystal clear and your descriptions are detailed.  It is also very important that you tell your customers about you and your craft and maybe even add your picture so that your customers can see who you are, this makes the customer feel like they know you.  

Being in an online crafters mall can give you an advantage because there are already customers coming and shopping there, but that doesn’t mean that you can sit back and do nothing, “well actually you can” and you might even get a few orders, but if you really want  your business to succeed you will have to work at it. 

So where do you start!

You start by focusing on getting traffic to your shop. By spending just a few hours a day promoting your new shop, you will find that little by little the customers will start coming and buying.

So where do you promote!

You can start by writing a couple of small adds about your unique handmade crafts and post them in online shopping classifieds, in your local newspapers and in online craft directories. You can place ads on sites like Craigs List or Kiiji for free.  Join forums relating to your craft, start a Facebook page, open a Twitter account, post to Craft Blogs, start your own Craft Blog.  Tell everyone you can about your unique handmade crafts and your new shop.  It might take a year to build your business but in the end your hard work will pay off and you will have a steady flow of loyal customers coming and shopping in your online store.  At this point you can start expanding your business. 

There is no overnight success in any business on or off line, but with a little effort your handmade craft business can and will succeed.