This one is for Amy and her mom, who are trying to decide between these 2 pics of Gray:) Bear with us, this is the best way we have to share pics with each other in almost real time.

Today's post is all about those useful little utilities programs that you'd never know existed if someone hadn't told you about them! And once you have them, you don't know how the heck you ever lived and breathed and computed without them.

Extract Now will unzip multiple files at once, and not miss 10% of them like Winzip (my experience)...I used to unzip each file one by one and create new folders to put the items in, etc...Extract Now does it all for me in seconds. (does this sound like an infomercial?!)
http://www.extractnow.com

Thumbview: About

ThumbView enables image thumbnails and tooltips in MS-Windows Explorer for filetypes that are not natively supported. It includes .psd (Photoshop files), and that is great when I'm scrolling through ACDSee looking for just the right picture! Now if only someone would invent a usable .GSD thumb viewer (hey Jeff!) for my CraftRobo files...the thumbviewer built into RoboMaster leaves a bit to be desired...
http://www.seriema.net/thumbview/index.php?page=about

ACDSee is an awesome free photo manager, and is even more awesome if you upgrade to the paid version: ACDSee 7, the most powerful photo manager around is now even faster - way faster! No other photo software saves you so much time. Enjoy the freedom to find, organize and edit your photos faster, easier and with better results than ever before. Instantly share your pictures online or on your cell phone. Create quality prints or Flash and PDF slideshows.
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multimedia_and_Graphics/Graphics_Cataloging_Tools/ACDSee.html

Jeff tipped me off to this one: Launchy...way cool! Launchy is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!
http://www.launchy.net

Picasa: * Locate and organize all the photos on your computer.
* Edit and add effects to your photos with a few simple clicks.
* Share your photos with others through email, prints, and on the web: it’s fast, easy and free.
and it will even create for you cute little collages of your photos (see Janet Petersma's blog...she LOVES this program!) * Locate and organize all the photos on your computer.
http://picasa.google.com & http://ofcatsandcardstock.blogspot.com/

Ok, here's a challenge: tell me what I'm missing, and show me the ones you use every day and cannot live without!

Happy weekend:)

Here's Michael and Christopher from the photo shoot today. To keep Michael in focus, Amy hung onto the rocking horse and distracted him from being mad by being silly. Of all our pics, this was the only one of M that turned out. I'm happy with it! Christopher wouldn't smile, but looks very handsome anyway, and after all, eyes look bigger when a person isn't smiling. A professional told me that:)

My friend Amy and I met up after preschool today for lunch (with 5 kids!) and a photo shoot at her house. Her son Gray is first, then Charley. I'll post one of Christopher and Michael later; it'll only let me upload so many to one post I think...

I just finished this one for a challenge: http://scrapgirls.com.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=16557
All items from Scrap Girls:
ASO Alluring Autumn (background, GIVE THANKS, ribbon)
BHA Stylize (mesh, TOGETHER, we are family, ferns small blue flower, brass corners)
font: AFL font nonmetric BT
STI_SS_LYO_RingCard_Special
BHA Blossoms & Blooms Fall (lrg cream and lrg orange) & Summer (lrg blue)
BHA Tints & Tatters (yellow flower)
Journaling: The Chester families used to have dinner (the noon meal) together once a month after church, as well as on major holidays and Grandma & Grandpa’s birthdays. For one birthday they had waffles, and the other, oyster soup and chili. Note the children folding their hands “to look pretty” --Grandma Cynthia’s idea. The kids would also tilt their heads and often stick out their tongues too, Carol remembers. I’m guessing that wasn’t the desired result...

By popular request, here's a blog about my new "baby"...a brand new 5ish pound laptop, delivered early by Santa himself;) If you've been reading since the first few days of this blog, you've undoubtedly noticed I quit bitching about my laptop. Well that'd be b/c Santa heard me, and sent it early, realizing I'd probably tear my hair out before December 25. Good 'ol Santa.

It's a beaut, and terrifically set up for the mega memory capabilities I need for digi scrapping and holding a BUNCH of heritage photos right on it so I can go ask relatives wherever they are about who's who, etc. Jeff explains the laptop as being "all business on the outside, all scrappin' on the inside", lol! 1 Gig memory, 160 Gig hard drive, hi res 15.4 inch screen (1680 x 1050).

Jeff's comment upon us getting it all set up and running: "Now I am jealous of your laptop."
(My previous laptop was an 6-year-old "overworked mule of a laptop" previously owned by Jeff, shed when he upgraded...now I am the one who has upgraded and left him in the Dark Ages).

Here's what I came up with for the autumn iris pictures I showed a couple weeks ago.
Journaling: When I purchased iris a couple years ago I purposely ordered two rebloomers in hopes that every once in awhile, the first hard frost would come late enough for me to see them again in the fall. Last year they sent up blooms in the fall but it froze before they opened. This year we enjoyed beautiful iris for a couple of weeks in the spring AND the fall.
What a rare treat! Oct/Nov 2007
Supplies:
TKA_AutumnGold FallWords special
TCS_Earthen Vessel paper 04 (recolored periwinkle)
CFR_LPO Spring Color paper special (plaid)
TCS_Naturescapes raffia
BHA_Stylize alpha and alpha mini
MRE_Sparkle Curls
BHA_RetroAllGirl alpha
(all from www.scrapgirls.com)
This was in response to a challenge to use the gold words background paper, which I blended with another newsletter freebie paper from last spring (to blend spring with fall, get it?:)

TFL!
Cheri