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Professional-Organizer

Interview with Betty A. Sproule, co-author of The Stuff Cure

I am interviewing Betty A. Sproule, co-author of The Stuff Cure: How we lost 8,000 pounds of stuff for fun, profit, virtue, and a better world.

What a catchy title, Betty, who should read your book?

Our book is for anyone who feels that they have more stuff in their home and garage than they really need.  When stuff becomes a burden, rather than a joy, it’s time to slim down.  Often people need to unstuff when they are planning to move, a child leaves home, or when they need to downsize. Sometimes people need to move stuff along so they can clear enough space to park their car in the garage.

What about the fun, profit, virtue, and a better world?  How can getting rid of stuff help in all those areas?

We know that buying stuff can be fun.  We believe that getting rid of stuff can also be fun, if you have the right approach.  You can sell your unneeded stuff for cash or you can take a deduction on your taxes. Donating to worthwhile agencies, such as Goodwill, St Vincent DePaul, and Hope, does a lot of good for our community.  Reusing and recycling help us to be better stewards of our environmental resources.

When you talk about getting rid of stuff, how do you know what to keep?

We have three criteria to define a keeper. When it’s

    • Currently functional,
    • Really valuable, or
    • Outrageously sentimental

If something doesn’t qualify under one of these three headings, then it’s a candidate for unstuffing.

Once you decide to get rid of something, how do you make it work? 

We use the principles of gift, shift, and thrift to find our stuff a better home.  We discuss the seven morphs of leading an unstuffed life: Refraining, Restraining, Returning, Reusing, Renting, Recycling, and Rendering into trash. We include a discussion of our Stuff Cure Method and the 7 rules of the game. We share a proven recipe for success in getting rid of excess stuff without regret or guilt. We give a lot of specific suggestions for how to responsibly move your stuff along before resorting to just throwing it in the trash.

When do you need a professional organizer in your unstuffing process?

We recommend using a professional organizer to help you achieve your goals even faster.  If you get rid of some of the stuff that you don’t need, it helps you to get more value from the time with your professional organizer and you’ll be more pleased with the result.

Mike and Betty Sproule, co-authors of “The Stuff Cure”

If you’d like to read the book, you can order it on Amazon, in either paperback or Kindle form.

Read more about The Stuff Cure on the website: http://www.stuffcure.com/

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Isabella Guajardo, also known as Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). She travels to work with clients throughout the great San Francisco Bay Area, East Bay, South Bay, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey Peninsula. She shares simple and creative ways to stay organized and stylish while reducing, recycling and re-purposing.  

Call (510) 229-7321 today to schedule a complimentary estimate for your home organizing goals. Gift certificates are available.

Keep up with Bella Organizing on Facebook and Instagram.

Categories
Professional-Organizer

How to declutter magazine collections, have fun and get things done!

You can hold onto your favorite magazine collections by simply cutting out the pictures, articles, recipes you want and recycling the rest. Imagine letting go of over 50% of those piles without getting rid of what matters most to you. Here's what I do when I get my monthly subscription of Sunset Magazine:

Are you like many… a collector of magazines? Are they piled high in your living room, office, bedroom, or bathroom? Do you keep them near out of fear of throwing away a perfectly good article? If so, this organizing tip is for you.

You can hold onto your favorite magazines and beat the clutter by following these simple steps each time a new one arrives in the mail.

Here’s what I do when I get my monthly subscription of Sunset Magazine: I cut out the articles and recipes that I want and recycle the rest immediately. It’s as simple as that! Imagine letting go of over 50% of those piles without getting rid of what matters most to you. In the process you have glanced at the entire magazine and cut out what you REALLY want to get to later when you have more time.
Tip: Before tossing the leftovers, cut off the name & address label. Always shred or cut up your personal information before sending it to the recycle bin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I grab a few file folders for my cut outs. This color blue makes me happy, so I use these instead of boring beige. There are so many colors and designs to choose from out there…use what you like!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I created my own favorite categories: “Thing to Do,” “Things to Eat & Drink,” and “Things to Read & Feel Good About.” Customize file folders to your liking and lifestyle…”Places to Visit,” “Things to Buy,” “Business Tips,” and “Reference Photos” are examples. Be careful! Only make a few folders, you don’t want to end up with a file cabinet full of magazine cut outs. Keep it SIMPLE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my set-up: labeled file folders, stapler, scissors, and magazine. I tear out pages and neatly trim, or cut out pieces of a page I want to keep. I staple together multiple pages of an article to keep them together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My three categories: “Things to Do” (left), “Things to Eat & Drink” (center), and “Things to Read & Feel Good About” (right). Out of a 58-page magazine, I am keeping 18 pages. I am cutting my magazine paper clutter down by 69%!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I bring my desktop file holder into the picture. This is where I neatly store my magazine file folders. I keep it all here and nowhere else, and can place it on my desk, the kitchen counter or out in the open anywhere else in the house without it being an eyesore. When I act on something, I remove the page and recycle it.
 
If it’s a recipe I make and love, I move it to my recipe binder in the kitchen. If it’s a Thing to Do and I do it, I yell out “I’m so adventurous (or) creative!” and recycle the page, making room for new adventures and creations. If I successfully read it, the information is absorbed and bye-bye the paper goes. If I want to share something I absolutely love from the magazine, I mail it to a friend and in an enclosed note briefly write about my experience. It’s been too long since we’ve mailed REAL letters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you use a desktop file holder, you can instead use the hanging files themselves as folders, and insert a labeled tab. I personally like to place file folders within a hanging folder for ease of removing and taking with me for the day, such as when I need to go shopping for ingredients, or want to take it to a friends when recruiting partners for an adventure. 
IMPORTANT NOTE: If your magazine files get fatter and fatter and you’re not having fun or achieving things in life, it’s because you’re not acting on them! It’s time to put your magazine collections to use! They are building up clutter…so dive in, take action, have some fun & get things done!


 

 

 

 

 

Isabella having fun in Death Valley, CA. 2011 – The Racetrack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More ways to prevent magazine collection  & paper pile-up, have fun, and get things done:

  • Use shredded magazine leftovers as shipping material.
  • Use magazines to create fun collages with the kids or a vision board for yourself.
  • Download this Stop Junk Mail Kit created by the Bay Area Recycling Outreach Coalition for numbers to call and websites to visit to be removed from Catalogs you no longer want to receive, Direct Marketing lists, Credit Card offer lists, Sweepstakes, Shopping Flyers, Junk Faxes, and more.
  • Read  more Paperwork Organizing Tips

 

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READ MORE BELLA ORGANIZING TIPS, IDEAS & TRAVELS HERE.

Isabella Guajardo, also known as Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Living in Oakland and Monterey, she travels in her truck to work with clients throughout the SF Bay Area, East Bay, South Bay, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey Peninsula. She shares simple and creative ways to stay organized and stylish while reducing, recycling and re-purposing. Join Bella Organizing on Facebook. Gift certificates are available.

Call (510) 229-7321 to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation.

Categories
Professional-Organizer

MEarth Organic Garden & Kitchen, Carmel Valley CA – Volunteer Appreciation Dinner 2013

MEarth Habitat

It’s time to turn to fresh, healthy, delicious organic food! I  volunteer at the MEarth Organic Garden & Kitchen in Carmel Valley, California. Tuesday mornings I excitedly wake up, put on my gardening gear, hop in the truck and drive 20 minutes from our house in Monterey to Carmel Valley to be at MEarth by 8am, home of one of the most amazing volunteer-run gardens I’ve had the pleasure of getting dirty in.

MEarth is an environmental education nonprofit in Carmel Valley, California and is growing the next generation of environmental leaders through education, collaboration, partnerships and community action. They are located on property adjacent to Carmel Middle School, and so students here and from K-12 schools and colleges around Monterey County participate in MEarth programs.

Take a look at this map to get an idea of Monterey County’s spread:

 

 

 

Sustainability practices and principles are the foundation of MEarth’s programming and curriculum. They teach students that all of their actions – from the clothes they wear, the food they eat, the cars they drive, and the homes they live in – have a direct impact, not only on their own lives, but also on our planet’s health. MEarth provides innovative hands-on instruction to students of all ages. 

Most programs are run at the Hilton Bialek Habitat (the garden) and in their state-of-the-art “Green Building” and kitchen, shown below:

MEarth state-of-the-art “Green Building” and kitchen, where classroom learning, community workshops, and cooking takes place.
LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design award

 

On Wednesday, May 15, MEarth staff held an appreciation dinner for the many volunteers who work in the garden, kitchen, and with the kids…parents, teachers, local landscape designers, and community volunteers…like me! If you like what you see, I’ve included links to many of the recipes kindly provided by MEarth staff.
Beautiful dinner table setting 
The MEarth staff harvested, cooked, and served volunteers an AMAZING thank you dinner.

 

Guest trickling in, snacking on hor’devoures and getting to know each other.

 

Fresh from the garden! House Salad + Roasted Beets, Roasted Carrots + Balsamic Honey Glaze,  fresh-made croutons.

 

Artichokes + Garlic Aioli
Roasted Fennel + Parmesan…wow this was GREAT. I never knew that fennel root can be soo good!

 

The main course was a choice of 2 kinds of quiche: Potato + Fennel + Spinach + Onion + Thyme (vegetarian) and Bacon + Mushroom + Spinach + Onion + Rosemary (meat lovers’). Here’s the basic recipe just customize the veggie and meat ingredients!
Dessert: Raw Strawberry Puree + Cashew Cream. Made with fresh strawberries from the garden.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies + Lemon Glaze 
Happy volunteers enjoying a wonderful dinner. – Photo by MEarth staff

 

The dinner table setting included artichoke plants, garlic bulbs, and flowers from the garden such as this soft and velvety lambs ear with carrot tops in mason jars.

 

Succulent gifts for volunteers to take home.

 

I chose this one, it’s on my coffee table beautifying the house. Let’s take a walk through the habitat, where many of the nights’ delicious menu items came from…

 

 

 

Main entrance into the garden.

 

Outdoor oven where pizza, breads, and lots of yummy goodness is baked.

 

 

Peruvian lilies…my favorite in the garden. They make great cutting flowers.

 

pom pom flowers

 

Fresh strawberries…where dessert came from!
Fresh fennel tops and roots..soo good!

 

mmm…onions!
I helped make these structures and plant the potatoes. They’re growing! Yay!

 

A well-stocked and organized garden shed.
Greenhouse

 

Solar energy

 

Where seedlings from the greenhouse “harden off” before planted in the garden.

 

The cutest caterpillar in the world!

 

Me with Cassie, the garden goddess, Carmel Valley native,  and Americorps member that runs the garden. She gets things done! To find out about volunteer opportunities at MEarth Hilton Bialek Habitat, visit their website.

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READ MORE BELLA ORGANIZING TIPS, IDEAS & TRAVELS HERE.

Isabella Guajardo, also known as Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Living in Oakland and Monterey, she travels in her truck to work with clients throughout the SF Bay Area, East Bay, South Bay, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey Peninsula. She shares simple and creative ways to stay organized and stylish while reducing, recycling and re-purposing. Join Bella Organizing on Facebook. Gift certificates are available.

Call (510) 229-7321 to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation.

Categories
Professional-Organizer

Easy Recipe for Kale Chips – A Crunchy, Delicious Snack for the Family

This spring I volunteered at the MEarth Organic Garden in Carmel Valley. I arrived this morning to find it was harvesting day. There was A LOT of kale to harvest. What else can it mean but KALE CHIP PARTY!

fresh-kale-1

A perk of volunteering is that I get to sample what is grown when there’s extra, so I brought a few bunches home. I’m going to be working in the SF Bay Area for the rest of the week so I don’t want to let these wonderful greens to go to waste.

fresh-kale-2

Recipe for one bunch of kale:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Clean and dry kale (use a dry kitchen towel or salad spinner if you have one). Cut into bite size pieces.
2) In a small bowl, mix one tablespoon olive oil with a splash of salt and a dash of your favorite seasoning to taste.

preparing-kale

 

“Massage” the olive oil, salt & seasoning into the kale with your hands. Mix it up good. Be one with the kale. Spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I use unbleached parchment paper, which is why it is brown.

baked-kale

Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the sides start to turn brown, but not too much. Don’t let it burn. Keep a close eye, the leaves are fragile in the oven and get crispy fast. When it’s still a bit soft and green, take it out of the oven. Transfer the chips with parchment paper onto a wire rack or cool surface so the hot baking sheet stops cooking it. Let sit for a few minutes, then enjoy fresh.

kale-chips

READ MORE BELLA ORGANIZING TIPS, IDEAS & TRAVELS HERE.

Isabella Guajardo, also known as Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Living in Oakland and Monterey, she travels in her truck to work with clients throughout the SF Bay Area, East Bay, South Bay, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey Peninsula. She shares simple and creative ways to stay organized and stylish while reducing, recycling and re-purposing. Join Bella Organizing on Facebook.

 

Categories
Professional-Organizer

A Visit to the Tessuti Zoo Store & Design Studio

Tessuti Zoo
Tessuti Zoo storefront

I took my first Fashion class this semester at Monterey Peninsula College. Learning to sew on a machine is something I have always wanted to do, but with my busy travel and client schedule between Monterey and the SF Bay Area (I live in both places and work here, there, and everywhere in between) I never thought it possible to just plop a solid semester class down in my schedule book for a four month period. Being a professional organizer, I should also be able to manage my time, right? So I just did it. I set aside Tuesdays as “sewing class day” and led my life and business around it. It was a treat to myself that I’m grateful  to have experienced.

During the semester the instructor Carla of Carla Renee Couture took us on field trips around the Monterey Peninsula to visit shops that exemplify sewing craft & creativity. One of these places was the bright and colorful Tessuti Zoo in Pacific Grove, Calif.

Tessuti Zoo
Tessuti Zoo inside[clear]
Just peer into the front windows and gasp at the abundance of unique gifts, clothing, jewelry, art quilts, furniture, dolls, toys, books, and home décor. It’s full of hand-made treasures that will make you happy just looking at them.

The owners name is Emily Owens, and she took our sewing class on a personal tour through her in-store studio, which includes shelves of the most delightful fabric I have ever seen.

Emily Ann
Emily Ann, owner of Tessuti Zoo in Pacific Grove, CA

 

 

 

Emily uses uniquely designed fabric to sew dolls, quilts, and re-upholster old chairs, making them beautiful once again (see the one to her lower right in the photo). Some of the fabric she sews with is made by Kaffe Fassett, a fabric and color design artist out of Big Sur (now living in London) that creates knit, needlepoint, patchwork and painted patterns of repetition and repeating motifs. See Kaffe Fassett: Dreaming in Color.

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Felts, feathers, beads and buttons adorn the one of a kind hand-made dolls at Tessuti Zoo. Functional designs by local artists can also be found there. I picked up the cutest turqoise mermaid clock that now lives in my Oakland kitchen.

Tessuti Zoo
Halloween creatures at Tessuti Zoo

 

Fun clocks at Tessuti Zoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It’s in my nature to want to see how creative people store their craft supplies, so I just had to know how she organizes hers. Emily kindly let me around and to my glee she reuses glass jars to store her beads! I LOVE repurposing food jars for just about everything, and here she uses large and small mason jars to display beads so she can find them with a glance.

Small see-through drawer organizers house different types of buttons by color and take up little space. You can find them at many home and hardware stores.

Bead storage in the Tessuti Zoo Design Studio
Tessuti Zoo
Button storage for all colors and varieties

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There are oodles of supplies required for sewing and craftwork…clasps, zippers, velcro, feathers, ribbons, tools… all of which need to have little homes of their own. Emily repurposed an old library card catalogue box and labeled accordingly.

There’s a lot of jewelry to choose from at Tessuti Zoo, all creatively displayed on organizers and display racks she made or found throughout the Monterey Bay (that’s me in the mirror.)

Craft organizing at the Tessuti Zoo studio
Craft supply storage
Displayed jewelry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This field trip was a fabulous example of how a sewing skill, passion, and creativity can evolve into just about anything you want, and for Emily Owens it is Tessuti Zoo.

Tessuti zoo inventory is one-of-a-kind and constantly changing, so Emily’s website is informational only. Visit her store in Pacific Grove, a small town adjacent to Monterey,  next time you’re in the area to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

As for me and my newfound fashion sewing skills, I don’t think I’ll be making more clothing anytime soon. But now that I know how to hem my own pants and drapes you know what I’ll be doing in my free time! I’ll be utilizing these new skills to work on projects around the house…I certainly won’t let what I learned fade away.

Knowing how to sew is a skill I respect greatly after having experienced the challenges I did this semester and sewing a final project garment from scratch. Now when I choose something to wear for the day, I stop and take a close look at the material, seams, how it was put together, and am in constant awe at how much time and talent it takes to weave fabric and sew a garment. I appreciate the clothing in my closet and other hand-sewn items I own more than ever before.

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READ MORE BELLA ORGANIZING TIPS, IDEAS & TRAVELS HERE.

Isabella Guajardo, also known as Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Living in Oakland and Monterey, she travels in her truck to work with clients throughout the SF Bay Area, East Bay, South Bay, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey Peninsula. She shares simple and creative ways to stay organized and stylish while reducing, recycling and re-purposing. Join Bella Organizing on Facebook. Gift certificates are available.

Call (510) 229-7321 to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation.