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American Greetings Crafts Deluxe By Pam Gleichman Tribune Media Services American Greetings Crafts Deluxe lets you create and print 3D crafts for any occasion using art and designs from American Greetings. Some of the crafts include: 3D puzzles, labels, stickers, puppets, paper dolls, color by dot, costumes, cross stitch, gift enclosures, gift envelopes, kids� toys, package decorations, bags, baskets, boxes, scrapbooks and albums, mobiles, T-shirts, bookmarks, stencils, place settings, ornaments, greeting cards, posters and more. The software features ready-to-print designs, as well as designs that can be customized. A "brand-new" category lets you design your own creations. In addition, you can send online greetings (so long as you, and the recipient, have e-mail accounts). Other features include a photo editor, onscreen assistance, address book and mail merge, a printed index of all ready-made, assembled crafts and a spell check. You also get a free Craft Paper Pack from Invent It; it includes two iron-on transfers for T-shirts, four sheets of poster paper, eight envelopes and four note cards. Some packages also include a $20 rebate; look for boxes that mention the rebate. There is a CD with add-on graphic packs that can be purchased over the phone. When you buy the add-on packs, you�ll get an access code to unlock the graphics. Some of the packs include: birthday themes (119 projects), character corner collection (90 projects) and NFL (255 projects). American Greetings Crafts Deluxe is a great program. Our testers had trouble deciding what to do first because the program offers so much. One of our projects was T-shirt making. Children took their pictures with the Intel Create and Share Camera, and we imported the pictures into the program. Everything worked well; we thought the T-shirts looked great. Children also created a lot of neat, personalized stationery and envelopes. The program really has something for everyone. If you have very young children, you can use the program with your child. They�ll love picking the graphics, printing them out and putting the finished product together. Publisher : Mindscape, 88 Rowland Way, Novato, CA 94945, (415) 895-2000, http://www.mindscape.com . Category : Creativity. Age : 9 to adult. Installation : Easy. Use : Fairly easy. Graphics : Thousands to choose from. Written Materials : Included on the CD jacket and a 250 page user�s guide. System Requirements : Windows 95/98, 486/66 MHz or faster, 16 MB RAM, 30 MB free hard disk space, SVGA video card supporting 256 colors, 2X CD-ROM drive. Optional: 14,400 kbps modem for Internet access, 12 MB free hard disk space for Internet browser installation, sound card and speakers, printer. Tested Version : Windows 95/98. Cost : $ 29.00. Overall Rating : Four stars. American Greetings Crafts Deluxe is a great addition to the family software library. DEAR PAM : Do you know of a Web site to research animals? DEAR READER : The Electronic Zoo http://netvet.wustl.edu/e-zoo.htm has a wealth of information about animals, zoos, organizations and publications. You will find links to most of the major zoos on the Internet. WEB SITE OF THE WEEK Super Star Kids� Club http://www.superstarkidsclub.com Super Star Kids� Club is based on the award-winning books of Joy Berry. Inside the kids� portion of the site, you will find a variety of educational and fun interactive games. Each of the interactive games focuses on a specific lesson. There is also a parent/teacher resource section with information and links. RATING KEY : ***** — Outstanding; **** — Very Good; *** — Good; ** — Fair; * — Not Worth Purchasing. Pam Gleichman welcomes questions/comments from readers. Write to Pam at Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, Ill. 60611. Send e-mail to [email protected] . � 1999 Tribune Media Services, Inc. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA