Alternative to PhotoShop

Photoshop is a very powerful tool.  A very expensive, powerful tool.  There are alternatives.  You just have to look for them.

Here is one that works like a dream AND it is Free!
http://fotoflexer.com

This handy online software has the ability to do the following:

• Effects
• Fonts
• Shapes
• Doodling
• Distortions
• Retouch
• Layers
• Advanced options, including cropping and cutting 

I especially love the Smart Cutout and the Smart Scissors features.  Great for layering projects.

The only thing that I can't find on this software is the ability to compress images.  I'll have to play around with it some more, and if it doesn't compress then I'll be looking for something that does.  I'll share when I find it! Conversely, if you know some great freeware for image editing please share!

Free Organization Tools for moms

More free stuff!  Circle of Moms has a great post on Free pint outs that will help you organize information.   One great idea is organizing school papers from your kids for ages K-12.  Check out the article for more creative ideas on organization:
10 Free Organizing Printable for Moms

FREE Web Icons

I really like this one!  I was searching for pre made icons for a website that I'm working on.  With a limited budget I'm looking at free of charge royalty free images and found a great blog called instantShift.  They have the following article: 75 Free Useful Icon Sets for Web Designers and Developers.    Some of the links are dead now, but there are still a ton of great free icons you can use for your website.
Here is a sample of one of the free icon sets from icojoy:

I noticed that there are also a lot of content rich articles that web developers will find useful.   Check out instantShift.  I definitely recommend it!

Fictional Diary

Humm.  The (Secret) Fictitious Diary of Jasmine Quince.  May be interesting.
Looks like it just started. Will have to see if it goes anywhere...

No Pain No Gain. Literally

I was just reading some Mom blogs and the subject of Tubal Litigation came up.  There are a lot of women who are scared of the procedure.  I'm one of them.  I do NOT want a medical procedure where I'm cut open.  I am also happy with my large family.  So I opted for a new procedure.  Essure is relatively pain free (slight discomfort at the time of the procedure), you don't have to be put under, basically the doctor  inserts little coils into the woman's Fallopian tubes.  These little coils create scar tissue which blocks the tubes.  If you want to find out more about this procedure, check out this website: http://essure.com

Color Blindness a Thing of the Past?

My hubby is color blind.  A friend of mine sent me an article today discussing research into color blindness.  Apparently scientist Jay Neitz from the University of Washington is experimenting with squirrel monkeys and enabled them to see color.  Specifically they were able to respond to red signals that they were not able to respond to before.  Of course this involved injecting their eyes with a virus.  That doesn't sound so pleasant and who knows what the side effects are.  But the over ramifications of a cure to colorblindness and possibly even total blindness I think is pretty amazing.  If you want to read more about the study you can check it out here: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/colortherapy/