One of the biggest challenges we all face today was unthinkable 30 years ago. In 1977, who would have imagined that today ordinary people like you and me would be concerned with backing up the data on our own computer system?

Yet - here we are in 2007 and everyone reading this newsletter is either backing up their data, wondering about backing up their data, or wishing they had just backed up their data.

If you're not already making backups on a regular basis, then it's because either you're not sure how or because you forget to do it. Here's the solution to both those situations... 

www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com/Reminder

Microsoft's "Vista" Released... Let The Questions Begin! You can now buy Microsoft's "Vista" operating system in some stores and we're starting to see questions like this... "Will _______ (embroidery software) work with Vista?" There is a two-fold answer to this question. First the direct answer is "probably". Vista has been designed to run programs created for XP. The second direct answer is "why?" I am never in a hurry to switch to a new operating system. They always seem to require more RAM and more powerful computers than the previous operating system, and Vista is no exception to that rule. My current laptop computer is running XP-Professional, (the top-end of XP operating systems) very reliably on 2-gb of RAM. The highest version of Vista (Ultimate) will require a minimum of 1-GB of RAM, so it will probably run okay on the 2-GB I have, but many people will have to upgrade their RAM. I've always found that whatever the "minimum" RAM is that Microsoft specifies is just that "minimum". Meaning you will get the minimum performance and be able to open the minimum number of programs at one time. To get real-world performance, you'll have to double the minimum. It will also requires a 40-gb hard drive with 15-gb free space. You may need to put a new hard drive in to use the new system. If you're buying a new computer and Vista is the only choice then go with it. Otherwise, bide your time and let them come out with the first couple bug fixes and wait for the price of the RAM you'll need fall. -- Larry
New Designs Released This Week At ArtisticThreadWorks... Be My Valentine Valentine Boo-Bears Sweet Girls PLUS: The Wednesday Sampler Set... Irish Time PLUS+PLUS: This months Member Bonus Set... Fancy Decorations Here's a picture of ONE of this weeks new sets... See ALL the new sets here!
Southern Stars UnRavelers - Marietta, GA. The second meeting for the Southern Stars UnRavelers group will be on Feb 13th at 1pm. If you have a project you want to share or any embroidery questions please feel free to share and ask. I will be bringing some information for you, so please be there if you can. Contact Jean for more info.     There are now two different UnRavelers logos digitized by Holly. One of the basic logos is shown here. The other one has no spool but a larger stick-person in the logo.   If you are the Head-Thread of one of the UnRavelers groups, please send an email to Holly@ArtisticThreadWorks.com with your group name and she will add the name of your group to the logo and send the design back to you for distribution to your group.   Note:  Holly will create your group logo as quickly as she can but please consider that she has designs for the site to stay on top of too. She'll get your group logo back to you as quickly as possible.
Membership: It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore! We have many members tell us that our forums are the first place they go when they get on line in the morning and the last place they check before they sign off for the evening. Why? It's the fun they're having talking about embroidery with the friends they've made from around the world on ArtisticThreadWorks. There are nearly 180,000 posts in the ATW forums after less than 3 years online. This is THE place to look when you have questions about embroidery or just want to read what others are doing. But don't just check into the forum when you get up in the morning... read it at night too, because... Join Artistic ThreadWorks Here! Membership... It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore!
Anniversary Special At Nita's Place... Membership With Bonus! There are TWO specials available this month at Nita's Place..." SPECIAL #1...Sign Up for Monthly Membership & Get 1 Month Free AND Get one of these Premium Design SETS as a bonus... 1) Fringey Little Appliques-- $25.00 Value 2) Needleworkers in Redwork-- $35.00 Value-includes all sizes 3) Sophisticated Fringe With Flair-- $35.00 Value (this is a 5x7 set only.) Use This 'SPECIAL SIGNUP LINK' To Get The Bonus Designs And Extra Month! SPECIAL #2...Sign Up for Quarterly Membership & Get 1 Month Free AND Get one of these Premium Design SETS as a bonus... 1) Flamingo Island--$50.00 Value-This is a 5x7 set 2) Quilting Scenes II-- $55.00 Value-This set includes some very large designs, and many smaller designs. 3) Florals, Wings and Pearls-- $40.00 Value-Includes some large Designs in the set. Use This 'SPECIAL SIGNUP LINK' To Get The Bonus Designs And Extra Month! You can see all of the sets by clicking any of the set names above, but in case you haven't seen Nita's designs before, here's a picture of one of them...
Anniversary Sale At Nita's Place Part II... 60% Off In The Store! If you're a member of www.nitasplace.com she's doing a special sale for her 1st Anniversary. There are 96 items in her store marked down 60% off regular price! Some are individual designs and some are sets. The 60% off makes some really GREAT prices on designs you may have been drooling over for years! For example, the 5x7 version of "Morning Mist" shown here normally sells for $15 but is just $6 during her Anniversary Sale... Browse through all 5 Pages of sale items (99 of them) to see everything. I'll give you a link to those items included in the sale in a second, but first I just want to be sure you know you have to be a member there to get the discount! Okay... ? Here's the stuff included in the sale... http://www.nitasplace.com/public/517.cfm If you're not already a member there - there's a "Buy-One-Get-One" special on membership too. Here's the info on the membership Anniversary Special... http://www.nitasplace.com/public/514.cfm
Bobbin-Buzz Designs Help yourself to this weeks free design set "Boo-Boo Bears". These are for everyone that is subscriber to Bobbin-Buzz, our free weekly newsletter! Download Boo-Boo Bears Here! Have fun!
Today's Prize Drawing! 3frogette@bellsouth.net has just won a 3 month membership at www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com! She can claim the prize by calling Larry at 847-608-8875 before noon Monday 1/22/07. There are over 10,000 designs included in the members Design Library. Others interested in membership will find the details about it at... http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/join