Christmas is coming....

DUH! is it just me, or does it seem to come more quickly each year? ARGH!

I am ALMOST done with the shopping -- if I could figure out what to do or get for DH, that would help. Isn't that pathetic? I am supposedly the person who knows him best, and I am freaking STUMPED! His folks are getting him an amazing telescope he has been wanting for some time -- granted, it is also a graduation gift, but it still pretty much leaves me in the dust!

And, I'm printing my calendars for the grandparents, making those nifty tile thingies and doing magnets for the rest of the family. My side of the family went on a cruise over Thanksgiving week, in lieu of exchanging gifts this year. But since we took over 300 photos among the twelve of us, I want to do some scrapbook & photo-oriented things of course! I think I will wiggle around the "gift embargo" by doing them after the New Year. (That's my story & I'm sticking to it! LOL!)

---

Quasi-unrelated Side Note -- put The Wiggles on for DD -- and they are singing some VERY religious Christmas carols. I really like them, but I am still surprised, nonetheless. Must be all the hubbub about the "Holiday Shrub" and the like. If there are any Wiggles fans (or unwilling hostages who simply know about them) out there who might be able to explain this curious, yet welcome phenomenon, I'd appreciate it!!

Well, back to work! Later!

If it's in The Post, it must be true...

(sorry, couldn't resist a little dig! that's for you, boo!)
But politics and common sense aside, I had to tell y'all (what is the singular form for y'all) about this article, "Make a Digital Scrapbook" in today's Washington Post, (the Source section for y'all locals)

---

Long and involved sidebar -- if you are looking for fonts, there are MANY sites with free fonts, don't bother with computerscrapbook.com as mentioned in the article. (CSB has some other very nice digital scrapbooking items, though -- usually at least 6 freebies are available at any time and I really like their e-cuts.)

Here is where I would recommend you go INSTEAD for good FREE fonts for scrapbooking:

• One Scrappy Site -- although it hasn't been updated in a while, this is an EXCELLENT collection of free fonts suitable for scrapbooking -- sorted both theme and by name.
• Simply the Best -- free fonts sorted by category
• 1001 fonts -- free fonts sorted by category or other attribute of your choice (like newest!), you can even filter out the Mac or PC fonts if you like.
  (*NOTE -- don't confuse this site with 1001freefonts -- which will take you to a loop of popups, links and no content at all -- ARGH!)
• Free Scrapbook Fonts -- about 60 fonts from various sources -- very cute and appropriate for scrapbooking! Scroll to the bottom for the "download all" option!
  

Some font creators' sites:

• Blambot -- the place for comic book or similar handwritten fonts. Plenty of paid & free fonts.
• FontDiner -- if it's retro-chic, it's here. Lots of free fonts, lots of great paid stuff, too.
• Font Boutique -- a few freebies to try, plus more you'll want to buy!
• Fontgarden -- free handwriting fonts -- the quotes used in the font examples are great -- you can even download a text file of all the quotes!
• Harold's Fonts -- this is the link to his free font site -- paid ones are here
• Larabie Fonts -- almost 400 free fonts, distributed thru myfonts.com
• Scrappin' Fun -- LOTS of free handwriting fonts --some are really cute, a mixed bag
• TwoPeas -- a nice little collection of their free fonts
• Typadelic -- awesome fonts, a few free ones are available. I so want Persimmon!

Some more sites for serious FontFreaks only...

• SearchFreeFonts -- HUGE archive of fonts -- good articles, too.
• MyFonts -- my personal favorite site for paid fonts. You can bookmark your favorites.
  
• Abstract Fonts -- 10,000+ fonts -- a little tough to navigate & look out for pop ups
• Cool Text -- sorted by category -- view ALL FONTS if you have the time & the bandwidth
• DaFont -- over 6000, sorted by category
• HighFonts -- over 3000 free fonts -- search by keyword (marginally useful)

Font away, my friends!!

To Digital Scrapbook Kit Designers, a teensy little request...

In case anyone out there is listening (reading?), a nice little thing you very talented and often also incredibly generous folks could do for us, your customers is this:
When you include previews or graphical readme files in your kits or other downloads, please use and exclamation point (!) as the first character in the file name. As in !preview.jpg or !kitname.jpg. -- that way, when we sort the files alphabetically, they are always at the top of the list. Pretty nifty, huh?
I rename those files myself, but if that became an industry standard, that would be pretty nice, no?
And while I'm making Christmas wishes (hee, hee, greedy aren't I?), including your name (or at the very least your initials) in the file name of each and every file would also be helpful -- and it would make it easier for us to give proper and complete credit when we post our creations made with your creations in the galleries "around town".

Can't live without 'em Scrapbook Tools

I've compiled my list of "must-have" tools for digital scrapbookers. I didn't include any of the Graphics Editors (PhotoShop and the like) or filters & plug-ins.
Also, I listed the free programs/tools first -- most of the paid ones have a trial available -- check the publisher's site for details.
Hope this helps y'all out!

BROWSERS & ADD-ONS
Firefox
FREE
http://www.mozilla.com/
Awesome web browser

Flash Got
FREE
http://addons.mozilla.org/
“Grabs” links from Firefox & passes them to an external download manager

FlashGet
FREE
http://www.amazesoft.com/
external download manager

Free Download Manager
FREE
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/
external download manager

FILE COMPRESSION UTILITIES

ZIP Reader by PKWARE
FREE
http://www.pkware.com/home_and_small_office/downloads
File Compression Utility – the FREE version of PKUnzip

WinRar
$29
http://www.rarlab.com
File Compression Utility, handles .ZIP and .RAR file formats

Winzip
$30
http://www.winzip.com
File Compression Utility – a 45 day trial version is available

FILE NAMING UTILITIES
ReNamer
FREE
http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~den4b/Projects/
file renaming tool

Downloader Pro
$30
http://www.breezesys.com/
camera to PC auto rename, download, etc

FILE UTILITIES -- OTHER

Double Killer
FREE
http://www.bigbangenterprises.de/en/doublekiller/
finds duplicate files, even with different names

FONT TOOLS

AKFontViewer
FREE
http://www.aksoft.net/progs/akfontviewer/
Font Browser & print utility

The Font Thing
FREE
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~scef/tft.html
Browse fonts, Load (and unload) any number of fonts for temporary use

COLOR UTILITIES

ColorMania
FREE
http://www.blacksunsoftware.com/
Color selection utility

PHOTO MANAGERS

Hello
FREE
http://www.hello.com
Image browser, organizer

Irfanview
FREE
http://www.irfanview.com
for quick photo viewing/batch renaming and batch rotating - lossless

Picasa
FREE
http://www.picasa.com
Like an instant messenger with photos

ACDSee FotoSlate
$50
http://www.acdsystems.com
for printing layouts and photos in layouts how you want them

Qimage
$35/$50
http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage
Batch printing and processing

Thumbsplus
$50/$90
http://www.cerious.com
Image database, thumbnail viewer

a thought from Mo

(not Mo Jackson, but an IRL girlfriend of mine)

Smart people learn from their own mistakes.
Stupid people don’t learn from their own mistakes.
Gifted people are those who learn from other people’s mistakes.
Be gifted.

Country Music Song of the Day

"Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" by Joe Nichols
The full lyrics are here.
You gotta love country songs!