A few of the board Admins are in the throes of winter, looking for mischief to get into; one is in the doldrums of summer and thinking of ways to not think of the summer heat.  So, change is afoot at PhotoImpact International!  The first one is quite obvious; our board is all dressed up in holiday duds.  What holiday, you ask, didn't we do that already?  Yes, but go look, you will see.

• Christmas Card Contest, Marianne (justmarianne)

• Voice Greetings, Sandra (fredsan)

• Decorate A Snowman, Lois (mistie_49)

• Holiday Sig Tags, Tammy

• Holiday Avatars, AllieP

• Beginner's Workshop, Sharon (Maerlyn), Vi (Elvira), Barbara (beausnbelles)

• Gift A Day—Thank you Birgit for organizing this annual event and thank you to all who donated gifts!

• Also, each forum had door prizes!  Please take a look at the Christmas 2008 winners' page for a list of the forum winners and for a look at all the winning entries.

The new "Featured Forum" scheme will feature a different forum every month.  Create whatever you want in that forum for the month it is featured, as long as it stays with the theme of the forum.  Participants will be given a number; the lucky number drawn will receive a PI-I Certificate and the entry will be featured in the sideboxes on the main board for the entire next month.

• At the Animation Station we're busily welcoming a new mod, Edna.  She, in turn, has been busily renovating the forum and has introduced some new challenges.  There will soon be a new "learn to animate" kit made available, too!

• The Dynamic Path Forum (DPO) welcomes Beginners to the Advanced PhotoImpacters to explore, learn, create, grow and above all to have fun with path shapes!  We host a weekly challenge that changes every Sunday.  Here are the upcoming challenges for 2009.  Objects shared in the weekly challenge are posted on the DPO website, however if you wish to participate in a challenge it is not mandatory that your objects be shared—just let us know.

  The DPO website has moved to a new site within PI-I.  It's here or click on the button located on the forum.  This website houses a wealth of objects that have been generously shared since 2006 and are available for use by the PhotoImpact community.

  We are also open to your thoughts, suggestions and ideas on anything you would like to see in DPO or any new challenge ideas you may have.  Feel free to send Joanne or Tyzzye a PM anytime!

• The Filters Forum has a new mod, Barbara (beausnbelles), who brings with her a new challenge: a provided photo and a specified set of filters.  Sounds like fun, check it out!

We have a Valentine's Day card contest running from February 1 through the 14th.  You'll find an overview with rules and such in a special forum that will appear on the board—and that's where the entries will be.  Join in... and good luck!

Remember that PI-I Supporters get six months free webhosting with their subscription.  This is a great way to try out having your very own space on the 'Net.  Should you decide to keep it, VAA-sites has reasonably-priced packages for your consideration.  Part of the proceeds supports PI-I!

We love our sponsors!  These wonderful companies donated prizes for our holiday celebrations.  Some have also given us special discounts and offers; be sure to check the PI-I Sponsors Corner to find these great deals.

• Visual Arts Academy

  New classes at VAA!

  Our own Ginny Price is offering a class is called Pixel Art Magic.  You can see some of her stellar work on her website.

  Lynn DeBree-Al has two new courses this semester.  The first is a guide to PhotoShop CS 3.  The second, called Choosing a Camera, will take you from researching the choices, through purchasing, to getting started with your new camera.

• FM Tile Tools

• Corel

• Redfield Plugins

• Diard Software

• The Plugin Site

Happy PI'ing and have a Valentine's Day that's all you hope for :-)
From the PhotoImpact International Team