Anyway, in this techno world that we live in, it’s become more and more easy to take pictures and store them.  I’ve found myself taking more and more pictures and simply storing them on my computer.  There’s really no constraint other than hard drive size, so away I snap.

More recently, I’ve begun storing pictures in photo albums.  There’s just something special (how quaint), about viewing pictures in an album.  Recently we took a horseback riding trip, and I wanted a great place to store the pictures.  The Rustic River Leather Photo Album hits the spot perfectly.

I got the Dark Brown Version (pictured is the Saddle Brown), and oddly enough, I found a spot for it on the mantel, and it looks great.  The leather is very rustic.  It’ll show marks and dings, but that’s part of the style.  However, I’m still pretty careful with it.  The album holds 100 4×6 pictures and is hand sewn.

The inside of the album is similar to a regular photo album.  It’s the outer construction that makes all the difference.  It takes a few tries to get the leather wrap knot correct.

So in our high-paced, ever changing world, it feels great to do something a little old fashioned.

I decided to try simplify and go for something new by trying a money clip.  I purchased the Dark Brown version on the money clip below and have liked it over my old wallet quite a bit because the money clip is more compact.

I do have to work a little bit to get some of the cards out, but as I really only use a couple of cards regularly, it isn’t that much of an issue.  Some day, I imagine, we’ll use our phones for credit transactions, identification, or perhaps our fingerprints, but until then, the good ol’ fashioned money clip works just great for me.

The Rustic Leather Money Clip can be purchased at Rustic Country Leather with free shipping (last time I checked).

A few notes about the shield:

• Go for just the screen protector because the phone’s back and sides are fine on their own
• Make sure to really clean off any dust before applying the shield
• Let your phone sit while turned off for at least 12 hours for the solution to dry
• Fill out the warranty information and email them a copy of your purchase receipt to qualify for the lifetime warranty

I now feel that the phone is more safe when it’s outside of its case.  The Invisibleshield really does prevent scratches.  It’s pretty amazing.  It’s also different from the other brands of screen protectors.  You get what you pay for.

A while back, I started using portfolio pads, and they were great except for the paper flipped vertically and it was hard to look up notes when you used both sides.

Now I’m exploring a whole new frontier in notetaking…an actual notebook!  And if you’re going to get a notebook, get one with style!

We got the Leather Composition Notebook by Rustic River Leather, and it’s great.

The notebook is actually a leather cover that is refillable.  The refills can be picked up for a couple bucks or less and are standard-sized.

Below is a picture of the composition notebook refill.  You can pick them up at Wal-mart, Amazon, or just about any office/stationary supply store:

What’s great about this is that it can be used over and over again (won’t fill up).

Video demo:

The leather is very thick and rustic. Hope to get a lot of use out of this one and hopefully save all those scraps of paper from suffering untimely loses!

Who’d have thunk a  Leather Notebook could be so cool!

The Sansa View Case kit contains an armband for running/jogging, a hard-shell protective case for travel, and a leather-like sleeve for every day use protection.

The fit is tight on the View, but it holds it well in the armband and the harder outer case is good for travel or for storing earbuds.  The view case allows for easy access to the navigation wheel and is a lightweight option for carrying the view.  The Sansa View Case is a good multi-case for the View.

It was getting out of hand! We were either going to stop getting movies (which might not be a bad idea) or figure somewhere to store all of our discs.

Then, we found the Bellagio-Italia CD / DVD Storage Binders by HandStands, and we fell in love. They’re not perfect mind you, but the storage albums have solved our big problem of a mess of DVD jewel cases.

At last count, we have 10 of them, and are needing more because I’d like to store software discs in them too.

Our shelves look soooooooo much better having swapped out all of our DVD cases and placing the DVDs into the binder.

We’ve organized the storage albums by genre: kids movies, adventure movies, etc.

HandStands is the manufacturer and Bellagio Italia is the Brand. The storage albums we have are the Black Pebble and the Brown. They have a burgundy as well, but the Black and the Brown are the favorites at our house. I’ll link to where you can get them below.

Top 10 reasons why the HandStands CD/DVD Binder is better than a plastic DVD storage case:

1. Cleans up shelf space – Think of how much space 48 DVD plastic cases would take up!
2. Lets you recycle the plastic DVD cases
3. Looks great on the shelf
4. Impresses the neighbors when you reach to pull out a DVD
5. Creates organization from the chaos of tons of DVD cases
6. Makes it easy to take movies with you on a trip
7. Gets rid of the frustration of trying to remove a DVD from a tight plastic case which can bend the disc
8. Makes a labeling system easy & ability to categorize your discs
9. Expands to hold more DVDs
10. Finally gives you a space to store home movies and picture discs

Important Specs about the Bellagio-Italia CD / DVD Storage Binders

The binder is “3-ring” and holds 48 discs.  Extra pages can be ordered if you want to store more discs in a single album.  We’ve categorized our DVD binders into Kid Movies, Animated Movies, Adventure Movies, etc.

There’s a little bracket on the spine that lets you write what the binder holds.

You can customize what it says to identify a certain genre or group of movies.

Video Demo from LLG

The albums help protect the DVDs even better than the DVD cases (in our case) because our DVD cases tended to get tossed on the floor and stepped on by the kids.  The storage binders are sturdy, and stand up just fine on their own.

A Sampling of What other reviewers have said about the HandStands Storage Albums

What should you watch out for when using the DVD Storage Albums

The album storage pages have a little lip that you can pull over the DVD’s to keep them securely in place.

Guess what it’s for? To keep the DVD’s from falling out if the album gets turned upside down. Guess who has accidentally turned one upside down…you guessed it…me, and I didn’t have the little lip from the covers pulled over the DVDs. Not all the DVDs fell out, but it wasn’t fun. So be sure to have the lips pulled over the discs.

What you should pay for the Bellagio Italia Albums

The price varies for the albums, but I wouldn’t pay anymore than $20 per individual album. We’ve seen frequent sales, so check on the price. If it’s below $20, you’re good to go.

If you want to save more money, you can buy them in 6 pack.

I’ll put the links below where you can get them on Amazon.com

Why the Six Pack (and we’re not talking drinks or abs)?

I’d recommend getting the pack of six of albums to start off with because most people (like us) have enough DVDs in different categories to merit a separate storage area for each. Having lots of these albums makes it easier to pull out the kids binder and go through the movies in the binder when they want to watch something rather than sort through all the mess of having everything jumbled together.

You’ll also save by ordering in bulk rather than one by one.

Where to Get the DVD Storage Albums

You can get the Bellagio Italia albums at multiple places.

I personally like the brown and the black albums, but hey, if you’re in to Burgundy, more power to you.

Click the pictures or titles below to view the product reviews on Amazon for each pack of 6 albums.

	View the Bellagio Italia CD/DVD Storage Binders (6 Pack Black) on Amazon.com
	View the Bellagio Italia CD/DVD Storage Binders (6 Pack Burgundy) on Amazon.com
	View the Bellagio Italia Brown Cd/ Dvd Storage Binder (Pack Of 6) on Amazon.com

If you want to buy them individually, you can view them here: The Bellagio-Italia CD / DVD Binders on LLGco.com

Most notebook stands don’t have a protective measure designed to keep the laptop from falling to the side, front or back.  This stand does.  The stand has no fans to keep your laptop cool, but in our tests, because the laptop is elevated fairly high, and because of the curvature of the stand, the stand helps keep the laptop cool.

An external keyboard is a must with this stand.  Because the stand has a USB hub, a computer mouse, keyboard, and other low-power accessories can be connected to the hub and thus to the notebook.

A great device deserves a great protective yet stylish case. The iPod Touch Leather Case by LLG helps to enhance the look of the Apple iPod Touch.

LLG iPod Touch Leather Case at www.llgco.com

Problem with Silicon iPod Cases – Too Soft

Silicon cases tend to pick up lots of dust and lint especially if you put your iPod in your pocket.

If you ever do try putting a silicon case covering your iPod Touch in your pocket, good luck getting it out. The cases are kind of tacky (not just in looks) they stick a little bit to everything.

Although they do provide a little bit of protection for the iPod there are better covers for iPod Touch out there.

Problem with Hard Shell iPod Cases – Too Hard

Hard-shelled cases tend to obscure the beauty of the Touch. I’ve tested some of the jumbo hard-shell, can’t-send-a-bullet-through-it types of cases, and although impressive that they’re so tough, they don’t impress in terms of function. They’re hard to use and hard to open. Good luck ever getting the iPod Touch out of the case.

The not-so-tough cases that are still hard shell are kinda-cool, but they really don’t protect the iPod if it gets dropped. Don’t ever drop your iPod, but if you do, the thin shell cases don’t provide much protection. You’d be better off with the silicon case in this…um…case.

Related to this on are cases that have a “protective” screen that covers the iPod are usually hard to remove and can leave a residue on the device. My iPod Touch is such a cool device, I don’t want to devalue it by placing some sticker over the front of it.

Leather iPod Cases = Just Right

The LLG iPod Case really does a great job of protecting the Apple iPod while keeping it classy. The leather case fits the iPod Touch 2nd and 3rd Generation. It will also very snugly fit the first generation iPod Touch.

There is room on the side for access to the volume controls. You can store small cards in the wallet slots. Very big cards may have trouble fitting, but average to smaller cards should fit just fine.

You don’t have to take the iPod Touch out of the case to charge it or to access the headphone jack. Those connections areas are left open at the bottom of the case. You can also access that top button on the iPod Touch that turns the screen off.

A small magnetic clip helps secure the case when the iPod is not in use.

Free Shipping on the Case

You can get free, 2-day shipping on the case if you’re an Amazon Prime member since LLGco.com is tied into the Amazon.com fulfillment system. Just be sure to select the option at checkout if you’re a Prime Member.

People love it

People I’ve shown the case to love it and ask where I got it.

LLGco.com is the manufacturer of the LLG iPod case, and you can view the case on their site here:

View the LLG iPod Touch Leather Case Official Site

A great case combination for the Sansa Fuze.

Rising quickly in popularity, the Sansa Fuze is finding its way into homes across the world, but so far, there are not that many accessories for the mp3 player as many manufacturers focus on the Apple iPod.

Fortunately, a few good accessories are out there.

The Sansa Fuze Case kit contains an armband for running/jogging, a hard-shell protective case for travel, and a leather-like sleeve for every day use protection.

We tested the Fuze in the case. It fits quite snug but still works great. The “hard-shell” case helps to protect the player if you toss it in your bag when on the go.

The sleeve works with the armband, so you can take it off the armband and still use the protective sleeve and also cuts down on space and material used.

The armband fits the device well, and because the Fuze is small, the armband and the Fuze together don’t feel like they weigh all that much on your arm. A video iPod on the other hand (or arm as the case may be) is more bulky and heavy to go jogging with compared to the Fuze (just FYI, the Sansa Fuze has an FM tuner in it so you can listen to the radio while you’re out and about).

See the case at: Sansa 3 in 1 Fuze Kit (Armband, Travel Case, & Leather-Grained Protective Glove)

One of the best places to get the Sansa Fuze case is at LLGco because they frequently run sales on the item we’ve noticed.

If you order from there, the item ships from the Amazon.com network so if you’re an Amazon prime member, you get free, 2 day shipping.

Visit the site at: Sansa 3 in 1 Fuze Kit Click Here for more info.

Holsters and sling bags have become quite popular as a means to carry your SLR camera with just the bare necessities.

As I searched for a bag, I wanted to find one that would protect my camera. There are a lot of very small bags out there that don’t offer a lot of padding and protection. I decided to go with the Tamrac 5766 Velocity 6x Compact Sling Pack.

The bag is small enough to be comfortable to wear. and easy to take with you to sporting events, on a hike, or to family events. The camera I use is the Nikon D60 which is more compact than other DSLR cameras, so check how your camera compares to the D60 in size. If the body of your camera is ridiculously big, it might not fit in the bag very well. The D60 I have had room to spare in the bag.

The bag can be slung across your chest and worn at the side of your hip or cinched up as sling/backpack.

The Tamrac bag is well designed and a great fit if you’re looking for a small bag that will hold your SLR.