Organized Memory Keeping For Time Crunched Moms

August 19th, 2010
Written by: Tanna Clark

When I had my first son I was an avid scrapbooker and loved putting together a page with all of its intricate details. Now that I am a mom of three and a small business owner I am lucky to get a picture printed out never mind the intricate scrapbook. Over the years I have learned a great way to keep track of those special memories.

Every month I upload my photos to a photo storage and sharing site like Shutterfly or Snapfish. Not only are your photos safe, secure and sharable, but while you are in the system you can also create a digital scrapbook with your photos. When you are done uploading your photos for the month simply create a few photo pages and at the end of the year you will have a memory book ready to print!

What is your favorite way to keep memories?

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Comments: 3

What’s the Deal with Blogging?

August 15th, 2010
Written by: Julie Cole

As you can see, we Mabel gals take our blogging conferences VERY seriously!

Just back from BlogHer ’10 in New York City and quite frankly am feeling like I need a bit of a holiday. So much squealing and excitement on the first night left me with a nasty case of laryngitis. I spent the rest of the conference struggling to speak. But, you can imagine the energy of a conference with 2400 women bloggers all in one place. Having the opportunity to spend time with so many online friends and supporters of Mabel’s Labels was just awesome.

As a blogger, I’ve had several non-bloggers ask me many questions – from how to get started to why I like to blog. The answers are long and wordy, but a few quick points include:

1) If you’re going to blog, blog about something you love. If you are not passionate about what you do, it’s going to, well…suck.
2) Don’t go into it for the money. While bloggers often receive products to review, free diapers and diaper cream won’t pay the mortgage. The money *may* follow if you have enough readers that advertisers will pay to be on your site – but counting on that happening is probably not the best plan.
3) Know your limits. If you’re going to talk about your kids, have a big think about privacy before you get started. It’s one thing to talk about toilet training but if your tween catches wind that you’ve been blogging about her training bra, you’ll be in the doghouse faster than you can say “Justin Bieber”.
4) Blogging creates one heck of an awesome journal. I feel like my kids will have great fun in a few years looking back at their childhood through my eyes.
5) Blogging gives you a spectacular feeling of being heard. It is powerful.

So if you’ve been thinking about starting a blog, what is stopping you? I’m hoping to see you at BlogHer in San Diego next year, because there are many lessons to be learned at BlogHer. The biggest for me this time around was that even with a shocking case of laryngitis, I still have a voice.

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Comments: 7

Sew Easy!

August 12th, 2010
Written by: Tanna Clark

Do you have clothes folded in a corner waiting to be mended but you never get around to it? Perhaps you don’t have time or maybe you just haven’t made it easy enough to get the sewing done. Get those clothes mended now by creating an easy sewing kit!

First you will need a decorative box… something that can sit out and not scream sewing supplies! Then, gather the basic necessities like scissors, needles, common colors of thread and a few patches. Keep a small plastic bag to hold extra buttons and a mint tin is great for storing loose needles.

The one thing that hinders us most when making repairs is not having all the supplies readily available. Keep your “sew easy” box out so the next time you need to mend a hole you can get it done right away. Better yet, make an extra kit for the laundry room so you can make a quick repair as you find it coming out of the laundry!

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A Back-to-School “Getting Organized” Checklist

August 11th, 2010
Written by: Caitlin Madden

The back-to-school season is one of the most exciting times of the year, but it can also be quite stressful. VolunteerSpot teamed up with Mabel’s Labels to create a downloadable “Getting Organized Checklist” to help you remember the season’s to-dos!

Just download, print and place on the refrigerator to feel more organized today.

What’s Volunteer Spot? It’s an online community that enables ANYONE to quickly mobilize and coordinate volunteers in their community through FREE online sign-up forms and volunteer scheduling. Feel free to explore their site while you’re there!

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BlogHer’10, Mabel’s Labels & Love

August 9th, 2010
Written by: Caitlin Madden

Melissa Blais outside of the conference hotel; The Hilton

@EverythingMom, @Mumby @littlemissmocha

The 3 Julie's! Cole, Kenney & Ellis

Scott Stratten a.k.a @unmarketing

Community Keynote: BlogHer Voices of the Year

This past weekend Julie Cole, Tricia Mumby, Julie Ellis, Melissa Blais and Caitlin Madden from Mabel’s Labels traveled from Hamilton, Ontario to New York City for the BlogHer’10 Conference. Our fabulous BlogHer’10 Contest judges Kathy Buckworth, Erica Ehm and Scott Stratten joined us and our Contest winners Stacey, Kim & Laura for the event.

We loved meeting old friends that have known Mabel for years and reminiscing. We loved creating relationships with new friends while making plans for the future. Hugs were given out liberally and the overwhelming feeling of love for Mabel’s Labels was incredible.

Thank you all for welcoming Mabel’s Labels with open arms, open hearts and open minds at BlogHer’10. We are lucky to be apart of such an incredible community.

We have some BlogHer’10 swag leftover and would love to send it out to you to enjoy. Drop Caitlin a line at Caitlin (at) mabel (dot) ca and we will hook you up with some Mabel goodies!

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  • ABOUT THE BLOG

    The Mabelhood is the sum of all blogs, combining posts from Mabel Labels' bloggers Julie Cole, Caitlin Madden and a cast of guest bloggers. The Mabelhood documents the daily dramas of a group of people raising families and a label making business, plus everything else in-between.

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