A kodak moment.  A household phrase used in the time of Polaroids and disposable cameras.  It was a time where having a camera accessible with you at all times was uncommon.  Walking along a beach with your loved one, and you see the perfect sunset.  Back then, it was just something to observe, hold in your own memory, and state….”wow….a kodak moment.”

Now today, holding onto your best memories isn’t as rare as it used to be.  Children today hardly have that coveted baby album which holds faded, even black and white images of their early years.  It is all held within several bits of memory within your computer, and probably online.  The cherished moment you had with your kids is just a click away.

But, at times; these memories are now taken for granted.  With cell phones having better resolution every year, and photo development businesses fading away, printed photos are not so common anymore.  In a digital age, you can just open a folder in your phone and see everything.  So this is the perfect time to get something personalized, printed on high quality paper for your own use or as a gift.

Giftsin24 has released a brand new collection of personalized notepads called The Family Photo Collection.  These items have been developed for those who still know that a printed photos of good memories are still cherished.  With their brand new software that allows you to pull in any picture you desire, whether it is from your computer or phone, and with a few clicks, you are already on your way to producing something unique for yourself and others.

From family portraits to favorite pets, your options are limitless.  Several of these items have a few lines of personalization.  And with several colors and typefaces to choose from, you are open to making this personalized notepad very special.  Giftsin24 prides in quick production and shipping times.  So, if you are in need of a gift fast, their facility prints with the latest technology using advanced inking techniques, and within 24 hours, your product is already on its way to your doorstep.

I will be the first one to say that high fashion doesn’t make sense.  The hair, the makeup and the costumes, it’s all a reminder of how much I don’t know about the fashion world.  Most guys are clueless about the latest fashion trends.  Give us a white t-shirt, a pair of torn jeans and a bandana and you’ll have us singing – Born in the U.S.A – while we walk down the catwalk.  Fashion, what ever that might be at this given moment, is not just personal style, but a reflection of how we feel.  We are the end result of every stitch, fabric, pattern and design element that encompasses our wardrobe.  Your closet is a roller coaster of emotions, so hold on tight.

Your Notepad…Your identity

If you’ve ever had the trouble of choosing an outfit for a wedding ceremony, a birth day party or a Tuesday, then choosing a notepad is not going to be easy.  Notepads now come in a variety of customization options, which means that you are probably going to be at odds with what’s available.  Choose from a variety of ink and paper color options, upload your own artwork or a personal photograph, or simply decide on a lettering style you like.  In the end, your notepad is like the outfit you chose to wear today.  It is a reflection of how you want the world to perceive you.

Don’t Take It Personally!  

Personalization is a word we use quite often.  It implies freedom…William Wallace would be proud.  Personalization is a word used to describe the freedom that you are given to express yourself visually on a piece of stationery.  Acknowledge a family member or friend on a card by saying thank you or honor the birthday boy or girl with a fun note.  Personalization also suggests personality.  The way you personalize your next stationery item can say a lot about what you do and who you are.

Your Daily Notes’ Check List

Consider the following features before choosing your next notepad.

• Paper quality: Shuffle through the paper like you would a deck of cards.  If it feels firm to the touch then you have a winner.  Also, listen for the sound your notepad paper makes.  Ever hear the propeller of a single jet airplane roaring in the distance? Yup, that’s the sound of paper gold.

• Ink: It’s the print quality of the ink that will make a notepad stand out.  First impressions are everything.

• Personalization: The way you choose to customize your notepad is important.  Factors like your career, personal taste, and location (like your home or office) may way heavily in your decision.

Introducing Three Designer Notepad Mockups

The following notepad mockups all have different themes and design elements inspired by the four cardinal points, the ocean or geometric shapes that feature a digital Arabic look.  Each notepad has a distinctive font, one line of personalization, and feature ink colors that are appropriate to the look of each concept.

Digital Canopy List

Surfs Up List

Nautical Name List

Giftsin24 will continue to introduce new design concepts each month.  We want to know what you think.  Should we incorporate more design elements like those featured above? 

The holiday shopper, a creature with an uncontrollable urge to spend, can be seen during the holiday season roaming the aisles of your nearest department store.  It’s very easy to spot one.  Follow the sound of cash registers and you will see one at its most vulnerable, paying for an item with a swipe of a credit card.  This holiday shopper sometimes feeds on very expensive coffee, carries a smartphone and a personalized notepad.  Shopping lists are their native form of communication.  Look, there, in the mirror.

We cannot resist the demands of the holiday season as much as we want to.  Follow in the same footsteps as Ebeneezer Scrooge and pay the consequences, eventually, after a change of heart, as so the story goes.  We can’t help but to feel the pressures of the holidays.  We are, after all, spenders – holiday spenders – the worst kind.  Now, who hasn’t been captivated by the spirit of giving? There are tons of stories out there, heart breaking moments between perfect strangers, which give us some indication that it is all real.  Is there some innate force that motivates us to spend more during this time of the year? If only credit card companies were that understanding.

The holiday shopper is a resourceful brute.  It is also this season that ignites something inside of them.  Their actions, some would say, are quite grim.  Yes, grim.  They speed walk, yell, shove and hair pull their way through battle only to claim victory on a desired object.  Not in the name of their country or faith do they result in desperate tactics, but through something else that is undefined.  Is this the same spirit of giving I mentioned before? Or is it something explainable?

The term holiday rush is a phrase we are all familiar with.  But what does it mean? Any shopper, no matter who they are or where they come from, wants the best at a low price.  We call them deals, items that are priced at a significantly low amount on a given day like Black Friday.  Of course, the holiday shopper expects this every time and fortunately for them many of the department stores cater to their demands weeks before Christmas.  These are called sales.

This post is a study of the holiday shopper in its natural habitat.  Look at them, strutting around, holding bags of discounted items in their hands.  Be wary of them for they will defend what they have ransacked and sieged at all cost.  Is this image a representation of the true holiday spirit? This is one perspective I will admit, the ugly side of capitalism that keeps us bound to this spending tradition, but then again that’s the whole point.  Do we really need to spend that much? Is a personalized card enough to say, I appreciate you.

College freshmen everywhere, rejoice during this time off from the highs and lows of academia.  You deserve a chance to squalor away some time and dedicate it to something trivial and mundane.  We understand the obstacles you must face every day within the confines of the classroom.  It is not easy being in your shoes.  We remember what it was like in school, (passing notes in class) texting in class about how tough it is.  We feel your pain and we have one recommendation for you.  Take advantage of this winter break and stay ahead of the competition with a personalized notepad.  How? We will get to this piece of trivia soon enough.

Well, it is probably safe to say that your fellow classmates are filling their heads with endless amounts of information that has no beneficial result – i.e. – watching reruns of the Jersey Shore.  Admit it not too long ago you were still watching Sponge Bob Square Pants in your pajamas, eating a bowl of cereal at two o’clock in the afternoon.

But now that you have started college, you have matured and no longer watch such nonsense when you have already seen an abridged version on YouTube.  With this new found freedom take the initiative and this opportunity to become a better student.   You are on your way.  Organizing the following semester before it starts is crucial to your academic success.  Keep to every study session and scholarly jamboree with a meticulous eye.  Turn in big assignments on time.  Write every research paper with confidence.  You are one personalized notepad away from acing this semester.

It’s never too late to get back in shape after suffering a setback like the one on Thanksgiving Day.  It was a minor setback, granted, but a defining one.  No one said you had to polish off what was left of the twenty pound turkey all by yourself.  It was a moment of weakness on your part, one that you are regretting to this day.  The good news is after such a defeat – today – you are motivated and inspired to get back in shape.

Let’s be realistic here, turkey is actually a healthy treat, but putting gravy on every inch on your plate was your downfall.  You have tried every expensive work out video there is and nothing seemed to work.  Even chugging down an organic drink or two at the super market was disappointing.  This is not an infomercial, although it’s beginning to sound like one, no, this is your wake up call, people! You have yet to explore the most obvious solution – a personalized tablet.  Yes, a personalized tablet.  Studies show that losing weight is as much physical as it is mental.  Record your progress.  Write down your workout for the day, the minutes you have completed, the miles you ran, and most importantly your thoughts.

We like you just the way you are, but if you are looking for a better alternative to become a healthier you, a personalized tablet will assist you at every step.

We have survived Thanksgiving Day.  What a relief! Let’s be thankful for this reason alone.  Search for Thanksgiving disasters on the net and you will quickly know what I mean.  For all of you who deep fried a turkey this year, for all of you who took to the gridiron, for all of you who sat through Thanksgiving dinner listening to your in-laws complain about the most random things, for all of you who polished off more than your share of food yesterday – we salute you.  It is your time to shine.  You have fulfilled your duty and today you will be remembered.

You deserve every toy or trinket on your must-have-list.  Buy what you must not because it is Black Friday, but because you have earned your place at the end of the finish line.  I had to throw in another sports analogy in.  I couldn’t resist.  Yes, this sprint we call Thanksgiving was no picnic.  Write your shopping list on a personalized tablet and take your victory lap between the aisles of the nearest department store.  For those of you who are stuck in the office today we feel your pain.  Cyber Monday is a new day and the start of a new race.

This post is directed to all those people who just can’t get it together.  Those people who prefer an unruly type of life, a life that accepts disorder and carelessness as priorities.  You frumpy, shabby and impetuous scoundrel, I know your pain.  Your battle is a battle between chaos and harmony.  Your sloppy desk and messy closet are constant reminders of who you don’t want to be – a lost soul stuck in disorganization, eating cold slices of pizza from off the floor.  Cheer up! There is still hope for you.

It is now time.  You are ready to cross over and see the world as the well-oiled machine it is.  You must change your behavior, quit cold turkey, abandon ship, and put another nail in the coffin.  Add just about every other cliche you can think of known to inspire a sudden halt to your topsy-turvy existence and now it’s a party.  Stop using your furniture as a clothes hanger.  Stop treating your desk as a junk drawer and please stop using your car as a storage locker.

Your personalized notepad is not just a bunch of paper glued together.  It is a tool, a functional doodad that can change your life.  Jot down your goals and career endeavors.  Keep track of your responsibilities.  Conquer any obstacle and let go of your burdens.  Affirm your priorities.  Reach the destiny you are meant for.  It all starts with just one page of your personalized notepad.  Ask yourself this question: How will I improve my life today?

Note takers, your time will come when you will show the world that taking pen to paper is not a lost art form. The eggheads in academia prove this every day. Students still take to writing on their personalized tablet with enthusiasm. This practice, one that has yet to find a predecessor, is very common in our classrooms today. Some choose to take notes on their laptop. Others will option for the most current digital trend, a computer tablet. Though we may be barraged every year by the newest and fancy electronic doodad, we cannot overlook the benefits of writing information down.

The benefits are simple and straightforward. Personalized tablets are economical. This is why many people in academia, students and career professionals alike, are still using them devotedly. Another measured advantage of using a tablet in a classroom setting is the process that happens between the brain, the hand or pen and the paper (the object). When students write down their notes they tend to remember more of what they are copying. It’s this repetitive collaboration that will assist them in their academic achievements.

This mechanical method of writing words down goes back even farther to when our elementary school teacher made us write something down 100 times. By the end, our hand would tremble in agony, but we would remember even till this day, that we shouldn’t throw spit balls in class. Why contend with this proven technique? Technology (computers, smartphones, and digital tablets) has proven itself to be a worthy supporter, but there is just one problem. Students learn more writing their notes down than typing away on any gadget. Scholars, school boys and girls, pupils, and apprentices, don’t shy away from the ease and comfort of the tech world. You need to work on a computer for term papers and other assignments – we understand – but, remember this the next time you’re typing away on your keyboard, real learning occurs when you prep for it by writing on the pages of your personalized tablet. Write that 100 times.

We have all been there at one point.  It is a predicament we find ourselves in too often.  We have just survived the work week and now it’s time to rejoice and have fun.  It’s the start of the weekend – the house is a mess, the lawn needs mowing, the kids have just given the poodle a pink mo-hawk and your in-laws will arrive shortly.  What are you to do?

Well, there isn’t much time to dilly dally.  The first thing on your agenda is to make a list.  It’s ironic isn’t it and kind of poetic? The first thing on your list is to write a list.  You can’t just make that stuff up.  Your to do list should be clear and concise.  You must think fast and decide which tasks are the most important.  I’m afraid the poodle will just have to wait to get that pink die out of her hair.  Poor, girl!

Your mini list notepad is just the thing to get you organized.  Follow your list devotedly.  Don’t stray and always assign the right task to the right person.  This weekend is no different than the others except you have a mini list to help you during this severe moment.  Here are 7 important guidelines to help you on your way.

1.  Neat penmanship counts.

2.  Your time is valuable.  Can’t describe a task in 10 words or less? Skip it.

3.  Plan it in advance.  This guarantees that everything on your to do list will get done.

4.  Working in a team couldn’t hurt.  It always helps to have an extra pair of eyes.  Don’t miss a detail.

5.  Keep your to do list on the kitchen table, so that everyone can see it.

6.  Tasks that take less time to complete should be done first.  Extra time can be devoted to more time consuming tasks later.

7.  Always refer back to your personalized mini list notepad.  It will save you time in the long run.

Shy or outgoing, we are all faced at some point with the need to tell a story.  It’s a human instinct that inclines us to share important information with our family and friends.  Do you have something important to say? We have all felt it, that desire or aspiration to spill our guts.  Granted, we aren’t all gifted story tellers.  Some of us can make the most boring story sound like a blockbuster movie and yet others can’t even get the facts right.  It happened on a Tuesday…no, a Wednesday…actually, it happened yesterday.  Yes, we have all been at the mercy of a novice orator.  There uncertainty, plot twists comprised of random details, sounds painful.

The story teller’s job is to provide the reader or listener with relevant information.  The trick here is to keep the audience entertained long enough to reach the end of the story.

We all have something to say.  Ultimately, it’s not just the value of the content that makes you a great story teller.  Recounting a great tale of your exploits on vacation to Aruba is far more interesting than your visit to the grocery store.  What’s also important, sometimes this can be more detrimental than anything else, is how your story is presented.  For the writer, the tool of choice is a personalized tablet or notepad.

The writer works hard to become a great storyteller.  They will toil day and night to bring their readers a great literary masterpiece.  Ask any writer why they do what they do and they will be a loss for words.  It’s a passion that compels them to write or an indescribable calling that haunts the very essence of their soul.  Either way, it is their burden to write it all down.  Have you ever read a book and thought? I can do that! We knew it.  It’s the storyteller inside of you trying to come out.  Tap into the writer you have always wanted to be with a personalized tablet or notepad.