As many of you who keep up with world affairs will know that the west is running short of some natural occurring resources the human race relies on; in particular:  potable water, oil and natural gas.  It goes without saying that the UK being a small and well populated country is being hit as much as any, we are beginning to suffer extended droughts and our North Sea oil and gas has all but run out.

With this in mind, a few months ago I gave myself an environmental survey and found that I could cut my heating bill considerably by not using so many rooms during the winter months.  But more important my gas cooker/oven was by far the largest consumer of power over the year and as the fuel suppliers had increased their charges by as much as 30% or more, I decided that I had to do something about that.

A new, more energy efficient cooker/oven was called for but at a cost of about $550
for one user it was just not on.  My next option was to fall back on using a Microwave Oven; at only $70 to buy it was clean, fast and economical to use. 

Using a Microwave meant a new way of cooking; I find it the ideal alternative cooker for the small family or single person; you could cook by most methods except frying, not a problem.  With a few modern accessories like a crisper, browning plate, microwave steamer and pressure cooker I was covered for most eventualities.  A recipe book came my way almost by accident, its called - 1000 Microwave Recipe Cookbook ed' by Carol Bowan originally published by Hamlyn also by Reed International Books Ltd (ISBN 1 85152 523 8).  So now after switching off my gas cooker/oven four months ago my fuel bills are down by as much as 25%.

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With Christmas and 2007 coming up I have been busy making my own cards and calendars.  With so many cheep or free programs available to do these you can save, introduce a personal touch yet still produce a professional job.

Stock up with Bright White card 160gsm, in most cases you need to feed this into your printer in single sheets.

Cards:  I prefer to use a single fold layout, if you choose to use a two fold ie quarters layout a thinner stock should be used, about 90gsm. 

Calendars:  Choose between Landscape or Portrate, Year to a Page or if you choose Month to a Page remember to use a thinner stock.  My preference is to use a Year to a Page layout with a photograph imported into the calendar and a quotation printed on the reverse.  As a final embelishment I laminate the finished print.

The software should have its own library of designs including - clipart, photographs, vers and fonts.  It should also be capable of  importing and manipulating or editing these in several ways to suit your needs.

Images:

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