Ezy Win

July 11, 2009

Tips for Creating a Super Scrapbooking Theme

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 3:34 am

Creating a scrapbook is a great way to preserve memories, and choosing a scrapbook theme is the starting step in creating something to remember a certain moment. Here are several scrapbook tips to get you started.

The scrapbook theme can be easy or complicated. It could be a special event such as a birthday, a baby shower, a wedding, Christmas, or Halloween. Your scrapbook theme may also be customized to the memory book recipient’s individual interests. Themes could involve sports, your favorite TV programs, music, the outside, or cultural influences.

What is the general purpose for your memory book?
Who is the memory book for?
Who is the memory book regarding?

The feedback to these 3 questions are all components in picking a suitable scrapbook theme. For example, the memory book you are giving your nephew as he graduates from medical school is potentially totally different than the grandparent book you send your mother. Your nephew will generally cherish a memory book with photos, poems, journals, and more masculine elaborations. The theme of the scrapbook may be medicine. You could create elaborations that looked like knifes and tweezers around various photos of your nephew during his school years.

Your mother, on the other hand, will like a great number of baby footage fancifully embellished with flowers, ribbon, and baby fingerprints. This scrapbooking theme will generally be your baby. Footage could include baby and grandma with the baby. A pleasant book about your baby’s birth could also add a pleasant touch

Don’t forget to form a title for your memory book. Though adding a title might seem to be obvious or unimportant, a title defines the whole basis of your memory book. The title straight away tells the spectator what the page is concerning. In one word or one short phrase, the title tells the viewer the scrapbook theme and purpose.

Titles can be as basic as the date of an event, the name of an individual, or a specific event. They also might be more engaging and exciting. Titles can include quotes, proverbs, fillers, or easy phrases. The best places to look for title inspiration are in greeting cards, ads, and commercials.

Continuing with scrapbooking tips, color choice is also important. Color coordination and contrast will highlight and accent your scrapbook theme. A well thought out color palette can help outline the theme of a page, attract attention to explicit items, or detract away from mistakes. Poorly chosen color schemes, on the other hand, may cause your memory book page to look gaudy or mismatched.

Background color can either be matched, coordinated, or contrasted with the colors in your photographs, mementos, or embellishments. Matching colors adds to the continuity of the color palette. Coordinated colors add depth to memory book pages. Contrasted colors focus the eye. In this fashion, color may be employed to make the effect you desire.

A neat way to see how colors appear together is to collect and compare color wheels from your neighborhood paint or hardware store. Paint wheels are usually attainable free to take in nearly any paint department.

Most scrapbooks will contain photographs. Even the most disinterested reader of your memory book will glance at the photos. Photographs really are worth a thousand words. , it’s critical to select pictures that are of top quality and clearly illustrate your scrapbook theme.

Any photograph may be employed in a memory book. Even instant footage can be employed in scrapbooking. Just be careful that the chemicals in the photograph do not spill out on the remainder of your memory book. Digital footage can easily be printed right onto lignin-free and acid -free paper.

Always keep in mind that scrapbooking is permanent. Therefore, it is maybe preferable to use copies of your sole image of Great Granny instead of risk ruining the picture forever. Simply scan the picture on your PC scanner and print the photograph on lignin free and acid free paper.

Scrapbooking is satisfying and delightful. You are creating a memory book of momentous memories that is more delightful than a regular picture album. So get some scrapbooking tips, select your scrapbook theme, get the basic scrapbooking supplies, choose some photos, and get started.

July 2, 2009

Modern Home Material with the Le Corbusier Sofa LC3

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 5:50 pm

Of all the fundamental designs that have developedygenerated out of mankind’s imagination, maybe none would be as leading as that of modernism. Organized in the early 20th century, the latest style in architecture is renowned for its uncomplicated, minimalist appearance and the denial of non-essential decorations. But while most people bear in mind modernism as an fundamental style, it has also extended into furniture. In fact, the inventors of the modernist style of architecture created furniture as well. One elegant example of such a modernist furnishing is the Le Corbusier Sofa LC3.

Created in 1928, the Le Corbusier Sofa LC3 is a modernist reaction to the conventional club chair. It was conceptualized by the famous Swiss-French furniture designer Le Corbusier, who was also well-known for his architectural works manufactured in the modernist style. Le Corbusier presumed in the concept that furniture is an extent of the human body, and that it must give way for unchallenged movement and ergonomic freedom for its user.

The Le Corbusier Sofa LC3 is truly part of a collection of furniture created by Le Corbusier, which contains theLC1 Sling Chair, the LC2 Sofa, and the LC4 Chaise Lounge. According to its closest counterpart, the LC2, the LC3 accentuated cushions that were retained in place but not confined to the frame. The logic behind this was to produce the feeling of comfort from the upholstered surface while favoring with the modernist mantra of excellent minimalism and unordinary industrial look. The LC3 also shares some attributes of the sling chair, along the reverse artestry of the structures of the sofa by having the fringes outside instead of the inside. This extrinsic frame also has the additional benefit of harboring thick pillows, which can fill the abundant space inside the frame and supply an irregular sumptuousness that is extraordinary even for other massive sofas and chairs. Nevertheless, despite its comparisons the Le Corbusier LC3 also had its unique style, including more generous cushion and the alternative of either down-wrapped foam or Dacron-wrapped cushions.

Though the LC3 and the rest of its brethren were entirely credited to Le Corbusier, its fame as a home furnishing was heavily moved by that of Heidi Weber, a German museum owner and companion of Le Corbusier. In 1959, Mrs. Weber, under the knowledge of Le Corbusier, put the Le Corbusier Sofa LC3 and the rest of the selection into production. And it is in the middle of the production process that Weber abandoned the spring mechanism of the sofas and layered the external frame with a chrome layer. The cushions were also fixed to make it more formal and fitted, an appearance which still abides to this day.

June 28, 2009

A Modern Day Chair Just Right for a King: The Barcelona Chair

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 4:54 am

One of the confined furniture illustrations for the German Pavilion, the Barcelona Chair was Germany’s official entry to the Ibero-American Expo of 1929 held in the city of Barcelona, Spain. The design of the chair was crafted by the popular Bahaus designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in association with his longtime partner Liliy Reich, who was also a designer and an architect. A highly popular design during its time, the chair is admired as one of the most known icons of the modernism movement.

According to its designers, the Barcelona Chair was persuaded by the campaign and folding chairs of the classical period. The chair has also exhibited inspiration from the works of the popular sculptor George Kolbe. Because of its switch of regal design into a modern setting, the chair and its designers instantaneously garnered adulation of critics during the Ibero-American Expo, calling the chair “a design worthy of kings”. Also, the chair was generated with the Bahaus idea in mind, including the concept of giving well-designed furnishings and residences for the common man. However, given the chair’s overwhelming price of $6,281 at that time, it seemed contrary to this sentiment.

The frame of the Barcelona Chair was initially designed to be bolted together but was later fixed during the 1950s to incorporate stainless steel, granting the frame to be composed using an absolute piece of metal. This gave the chair a shiny appearance as well as the additional bonus of being corrosion-resistant due to the stainless steel’s properties. The chair’s upholstery was also originally made of ivory colored pigskin, but was later reacquired by bovine leather.

The Barcelona Chair was originally built in definite stock within the United States and among European countries during 1930s and late 1950s. Then in 1953, six years after the death of Lilly Reich, Miers van der Rohe concede his rights and his name on the design.

The Barcelona Chair’s practical design and accordant elements were absorbed by Mies van der Rohe in Spain. Germany and the United States of America during the 1930s, but it has long since terminated. This led to the explosion of Barcelona Chair designs being manufactured worldwide to keep up with the bid of collectors and modernist aficionados alike.

Today, the Barcelona Chair is generally constructed in two distinct types of steel: chrome and stainless. The chairs are almost completely done by hand, with secured machining reservations on several parts of the body.

June 21, 2009

The Secret to Having a Great Science Fair Experience

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 9:15 am

Science fair is a dreaded term by almost all middle school and high school students . To them, it coexists with stress and boredom. For months they spend hours gluing data and observations to a foam board. The most exiting part of it for most is picking out the art supplies that will be used on their poster board. However, what these students don’t realize is that all you need to do to make science fair more bearable is try. If you approach it with a negative aspect, it’s going to be a bad experience. If you try to make it a positive thing, you might even enjoy yourself.
The most important part of making science fair a good experience is make sure to pick a topic that interests you. The wide range of choices you can pick from will shock you. If you’re a big baseball fan, you can pick an experiment about the velocity or speed of balls hit depending on the material of the bat. An experiment like this will make you look foreword to your experiment, because you have to play baseball in it! Most people enjoy knowing more about the things they are interested in, so what’s better than becoming an expert using science?
Another thing you have to do is actually do the work. If you procrastinate and have someone else do it, the little amount of work you actually do will be miserable. On the contrary if you put yourself into the project and do work, it will prompt you to keep working. If you actually do it, you will most likely find yourself genuinely interested in what you’re doing. Once you’ve started with the experiment, it’s all easy work from there. The hardest part is knowing what you’re experimenting on and making sure everything is right. Just do the work and it will be rewarding in the end.
Lastly, science fair will aid you in future interaction in the real world. It teaches you a surplus of valuable skills and experiences that you can’t learn anywhere else. It teaches time management, how to organize yourself, how to use logical reasoning, and public speaking. Doing science fair is a great way to boost self esteem and confidence around other people. You have to deliver a speech and be able to discuss your own experiment to very smart and practiced professionals. Regardless of whether you place or not, just being able to talk on the same level as these people will build you up tremendously.
Participating in science fair doesn’t have to be a terrible and painful experience. If you start it off with a positive attitude, it can even be kind of fun. Whether you are into science or not, you can benefit from participating in this event. You can learn a lot about one of your favorite subjects and have a good time while doing it. You also gain a lot of life skills from science fair. You get practice in being able to compose yourself under pressure. When you graduate into the real world beyond school, you wont be able to believe how many things you can do with ease that other people cannot because of science fair.

June 19, 2009

Have You Seen the New Pandora Bracelet

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 8:51 pm

One of the newest trends in costume jewelry today is the Pandora bracelet. This innovative jewelry is made to help you display your ingenuity and your particular persona. Each Pandora bracelet is unique because the clients make their bracelets from a selection of inserts or beads that are connected together in any arrangement. You start by deciding on a chain that will fit your wrist. You will also need to choose two clasps to secure the Pandora bracelet after it is completed. The beads are next. Each bead is screwed into place, one at a time. There are hundreds of beads to pick from and the possibilities are never-ending. In between the beads are spacers that fill in the area between the beads. These are great gifts for special occasions, like when someone gets their personal trainer certification.

The spacers are used to add a bit of texture and range to the Pandora bracelet. Some choose to go without the spacers, but I find them helpful in creating a particularly professional looking piece of jewelry in the end. Just like the beads, the spacers for the Pandora bracelet come in a big number of types and designs. Each Pandora bracelet is ordered into three sections. Professionals who designed the concept of the Pandora bracelet suggest that you start with at least three beads. This will provide you with one bead for each section. You can make the rest of your design right then and there or you can collect beads and spacers over time. For instance, if someone is interested in boxer dog training, they could add beads about that.

The draw of the Pandora bracelet derives from the unique concept of designing your own jewelry. The beauty of the notion lies in the fact that each piece of jewelry you produce is particular and from the heart. It’s a particularly distinct gift. For this reason they make wonderful presents that have a sentimental value. You may decide to start a pal or relation with a starter Pandora bracelet that is made of three beads that you choose. Your loved one can build on the foundation you have given her. You can invent a complete Pandora bracelet for a loved one as well. The unique gift will be appreciated. Doing something like this can make you feel better if you’re sick, for instance if you’re suffering from yeast infection symptoms.

I chose to create a complete Pandora bracelet for my mom. I picked five beads. Each of the five beads has a birthstone representing her five children. I then picked a bead with a bird design because she likes birds. I added other beads that carried related personal import for her. She cried when she studied the Pandora bracelet and she cherishes each bead. I think that she is grateful for the time I put into making the unique gift as much as she does the gift itself. The bracelet never leaves her wrist.

June 16, 2009

Finding New Layouts And Scrapbook Ideas

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 8:23 pm

You do not have to look very far when it comes to scrapbooking ideas. They are all around you and as you sort through old family scrapbook from your family you can get an idea on how to make your own scrapbook journal or album.

You can even draw inspiration from online scrapbooks. Once you form your own ideas you will be off to the races and creating your own. Now it is time to create your own.

scrapbook ideas
Scrapbooking ideas can come to you out of the blue. It may be at a soccer game where your kids are playing and suddenly inspiration hits. You snap a couple of pictures and go looking for the right scrapbooking items.

By using your pictures you can create some wonderful collages, and then you can work on developing your own unique scrapbook layouts. By grouping them together and then arranging and rearranging them, you will develop some great scrapbook layouts.

Once you have the scrapbooking paper, embellishments and the right scrapbooking items, it is time to check out different layouts. There are many examples of layouts on the web. You can go to www.scrapbook.com to see the gallery of different layout designs. The website can also give you hints and tips for creating the right scrapbook for your needs.

Now that you have the pages assembled it is time to put them into a scrapbook album and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Do not forget to grab a pen and make special notes in the album next to the pictures. The handwritten notes will be something your kids will enjoy reading once they get older.

projects scrapbooking
Sometimes scrapbook ideas come and sometimes you get stumped for ideas. If this is the case and you do not know what to do next, then take a look at some online websites to help get the creative juices flowing.

You can also take classes on how to scrapbook and the instructors can give you ideas for new layouts and designs. It is a great resource to use if you are just starting out. Good luck and have fun!

June 6, 2009

Absolute Must Haves to Start Your Very Own Memory Book

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 5:30 pm

Anyone who wants to begin custom scrapbooking will probably be a little intimidated when they start looking around the craft stores for scrapbooking supplies. Memory pages can be clean and simple, colorful or monochromatic. Whatever the personal design goal, the same products work for every need. It involves more than purchasing an empty album and some page protectors in which to slide photos. While there is a seemingly endless assortment of products to choose from, most everything one needs can be grouped into simple categories.

Cardstock and paper – Solid colored cardstock and paper are the basic building blocks for matting and embellishing photos. Paper can be found in every color of the rainbow and then some. Solid colored paper can be used as the background for the photos or it can be cut into strips and decorations, for example. Patterned paper also can be found in a wide array of colors, patterns and themes. Papers that depict some theme, such as holidays or sports, is an easy way to tie a memory page together. Patterned paper can be used as a foundation for the page or as a decorative element. Only buy paper that is lignin and acid free. Only this type of paper can be trusted to last while regular paper will turn yellow and crumble over time.

Scissors and Trimmers – Scissors are used extensively in the making of memory books. They should not be used for everyday use but should be reserved for photo pages only. This will keep them in tip top condition. Trimmers are generally needed for cutting paper and cardstock to the desired size as well as cropping photos. Some styles offer both a guillotine cutter and rotary trimmer. It may be helpful over time to purchase a trimmer that is self-sharpening or that comes with replacement blades.

Adhesive – There are a number of various kinds of adhesive from which to choose because the types of materials used in memory pages are so varied in texture and weight. Read the manufacturer’s instructions to help select the appropriate product for the job. Some examples of the different kinds of adhesives are glue dots, double-sided tape, glue stick, photo corners and liquid glue. Make sure that the adhesive states that it is safe to use for archiving photos.

Embellishments – This is the area that can make a person afraid to even start. There seems to be no shortage of stickers, rub-ons, letters, borders, tags, felt pieces brads, buttons and ribbons, just to name a few. There isn’t a theme that cannot be found in this area.

Pens – It shouldn’t shock anyone that memory page pens come in a wide variety of colors and tip styles. Black is an essential choice since it will coordinate with anything. Pens used in making memory pages should use pigment ink and be fade proof and water proof. Recording special memories, noting dates, journaling and writing names and descriptions are done quickly and easily with these kinds of pens.

As overwhelming as it may be to begin to start a memory book project, the multitude of choices can also be extremely fun once it gets started. There is just no limit to what can be created.

You Too Can Create a Simple Memory Book

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 5:22 am

You don’t have to invest hundreds of dollars and hours of time to create your own special scrapbooking albums. Armed with the essential tools and supplies, anyone can get started scrapbooking right away. No need to feel panicked while wondering isle after isle of memory book products. Stay tuned and you’ll find out how to start preserving your favorite moments without too much muss or fuss.

First, you’ll need to choose what photos you want to work with. Instead of choosing many photos that would fill an entire book about a family vacation, it might be easier to begin with just a handful that focuses on a smaller event, such as junior’s first baseball game. Once the photos are selected, arrange them to determine what size each should be, keeping in mind the total size of the page.

Next, choose the background paper. This can be a solid or patterned paper that coordinates with the event of the page you are creating. If you would like to highlight the photos, they can be matted onto cardstock. Feel free to use as many or as few colors as you’d like. Photos can have a uniform frame all around or they can be placed at interesting angles. For added pizzazz, decorative edge scissors may be used to cut the mat. Take care that all paper and card stock is lignin and acid free.

Once, the photos are where you like them, you might consider adding a border on some or all the sides of the page. Simple strips of paper or ribbon would work as well as borders cut using decorative edge scissors. You get to decide what looks best.

Next, come up with a title or name for this page. Both the color and style of the lettering will add a lot of character to the page. Use alphabet stickers to spell out the title, die-cut letters, or ready-to-use title strips that give you plenty of options. Stickers should also be acid and lignin free.

Now, grab your special pens or markers and write about the event, note important dates, names and descriptions of places and activities. If you’re worried you might make a mistake, write on a separate piece of paper and apply it to the background paper when it looks just right. Only use pens that use pigment ink.

When used strategically, embellishments can turn a nice looking page into a work of art. Embellishments are anything decorative such as ribbons, buttons, tags, stickers, eyelets and charms. Remember that less is more so resist the urge to use them all.

Keep in mind that until you become more proficient, it’s best to lay out all the components of the page and play around with them before deciding on the final layout. Once you know how the final page will look, then it is okay to start gluing things in place.

If you get stuck for ideas, there are tons of books, magazines and websites you can look at for inspiration. Memory pages even can be created on and printed from your computer. Whatever method you choose, don’t be afraid to dive right in because every page is a unique creation.

Making Art Using Cigar Bands

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 5:19 am

Do you hang around with someone who smokes cigars? Weigh them, cigar vs. sweetheart, and the sweetheart would surely win. So you might as well make lemonade and make use of the cigar bands. In particular, the bands from Cuban cigars are desirable because they are so rare. And, as are other such advertising identifiers, they are beautiful.

What can you do with these bands? Think collage. Think decoupage. As your smoker unwraps his stogy, ask him to please remove the band carefully and save it for you. When you have a nice pile of these bands, you can begin to think about how to display them. If you are impatient and want to have results quickly, put them into a picture frame. Buy a chunk of foam board. Paint it a color that will complement the colors of the bands. Then put the collage in a frame that shows off the beauty of the bands.

This collage idea can be enhanced and beautified if you take the project to the next level and create a shadow box. You can have a shadow box custom made by a craft store or framing store, but this choice can be expensive. This project can be done more inexpensively if you use a ready-made shadow box frame. Of course, when you buy a ready-made frame, you need to fit the contents into the size of the frame rather than fitting the frame around the contents. This shouldn’t be a problem with something as small as cigarbands. As you lay out your shadow box, think of other small objects that fit in with this smoking motif. Some examples might be match books, color-coordinated ribbons, wine corks, and postcards or other pictures that illustrate in Cuba.

If you want a larger, more impressive project, try a decoupage project on a small table or coffee table. Mod Podge is a product that has been around for forty years. It makes it easy to artistically place the bands on the surface of the table, glue them down, and apply the Mod Podge. When the project is this large, you might want to add more than just cigarbands. Wine labels would make a natural partner. It’s probable that the person who enjoys the big brown smoke also enjoys a glass of fine wine. Wine labels can be artistic in the same way that cigarbands are. And if you are an adventurous wine drinker, you can easily accumulate a collection of highly varied wine labels.

As your collection of bands and labels grows, you can take the display to an even greater level: the family room wall. Yes, you can paste your bands and labels on the wall. The effect is more successful if the room has a chair rail. You want to keep the labels above the rail on a single wall so that it doesn’t become overpowering. But think of how unique your room will be when it displays the artful cigarbands and wine labels.

June 1, 2009

Tips in Starting a Collection

Filed under: Crafts — tkwriter @ 4:25 am

Having a collection is a method of de-stressing. It can take your mind off of things and help you relax. Collecting items is also not that difficult. Basically, you have to look for something that you really want. There is an endless array of things that you can collect. From postal stamps, to coins to even Pez dispensers, the kind of objects you can collect is vast.

Look For Something Your Are Interested In

First of all, you must collect something that you can really devote into. This can be something as simple as a coin. If you are having a hard time choosing something that you want to collect, try to remember things that you are simple fascinated by. Were you fascinated by badges of different kinds or perhaps postal stamps with animal designs? Most people even get fascinated by several different designs of cufflinks.

Create a List to Help You

If you still find it hard to look for something that fascinates you, simply making a list of several different things that interest you can be very helpful. You can also put all the things that you can possibly collect in this list. Once you have listed everything you can think of, simply omit anything that seems less interesting to you. You can also choose not to collect items that are simply out of reach or impossible for you to collect.

Know Your Limitations

In any kind of hobby there are limitations. Fortunately, you are the one who can decide which these limitations are; is it going to be the cost or the availability? If you find the thing you want to collect a little bit expensive, you are better off looking for something else. For instance, collecting mechanical pocket watch can be expensive. Instead, look for an alternative that you can easily buy and collect at a lower price.

Know About the Item

It is important to know anything and everything about the item you want to collect. Do a simple research about the things you want to collect. This would give you the general idea on how difficult or easy it is for you to collect these items. Once you finished your research and knew everything there is to know about the items, you can start collecting.

Be Unique and Protect Your Collection

Getting used to something that you collect can be a breeze. You will come to a point where you become familiar with the prices and other concerns about the things you collect. Once you get to this point, it is time to make your collection unique. There several factors that you can take into consideration in order to make your collection unique.

For instance, you can create a theme for your collection. Why not try collecting stamps that mostly contain animal prints or coins from a single continent? You can also make use of the age, quality and rarity of the objects as measures to make your collection unique.

Lastly, always remember to protect your collection. If you are collecting coins, women’s or men’s valet is not enough to protect your them. Dedicate a part of your house or even as simple as a cabinet for your collection. Just make sure that whatever space you give your collection, provide it with enough security.

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