Friday, June 5, 2009

Where There's A Will.....

I remarked the other day on twitter (twitter.com/tryshz) that now that I have a brand new computer - I am finding out which of my trusted and true programs are not compatible
with Vista. This time it was hardware - my beloved scanner, that I have been using since 1999 (!) is not compatible with Vista. According to the Epson website and Vista - they do not have a driver for it to make it compatible - and don't plan to. Bummer!

I disconnected it and put it in the other room.....until...I remembered my trusty old laptop (from 2004) - was out in my studio - and it has Windows XP on it! YAY! Took that scanner out to the studio, re-arranged the furniture a bit to find a horizontal space to set the scanner - and fired it up - viola! Back in business!!

On the same kind of note - as some of you may know, I have been trying for weeks (or is it months?) to make a new canopy top for our gazebo on our back deck. Last year a strong storm took out the old one (made of really awful fabric - ripped when you looked at it wrong). So, here I've been, with my 13 yards of lightweight fabric called ripstop - hopefully, it'll live up to that, trying to re-create that top. And Wednesday.....it was done!!! The moment of truth - for if it didn't fit - I was done. That fabric is wonderful, but so slick it keeps sliding off the table! Took it outside - put it on.....and all six section pockets FIT the ends of the six spines of the top - it's not the prettiest thing I've ever done....but it WORKS! Even better - ever since, we have had rainstorm after rainstorm - winds - just awful weather.....and that top survived it all!! Cost me about $100 to make it, but worth every penny - and now, we can enjoy our gazebo again!!

As long as we're off topic (can you tell I haven't had any time to make jewelry this week?) - I have been doing more web work - for which I do get paid....and for a new project, I was looking for a free flash slideshow program. I must have looked at twenty of them - and I truly dislike the ones that 'say' they are free, then tell you all your images will have a watermark, and banner ads all over the place. Guaranteed I would never buy that one!
I did find a cool one, though - it is called the Photo Flash Maker - Free Version, and it's pretty customizable - I fooled with it a little, more to be done - but I was pleased at what I came up with in just a few minutes - it's very easy to use! Check out the results on my site that I have yet to develop! trishStyle.com - would appreciate any feedback! And, it you'd like to snag it for yourself, here's their website: Photo Flash Maker-Free Version

Now....this weekend I AM taking some time to play in the studio - have some more wire ideas - can't wait to share them.....til then....



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