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How To Properly Preserve Your Comics

In order to preserve the comics in your comic book collection and protect their future value, it is important that they are stored and protected properly. Many people overlook the proper storage techniques and are surprised years later just how poor of a condition their possibly valuable comic books are in.

There is much more to storing and preserving comics than just simply sticking them in a box in the attic. That being said, it is also very simple and inexpensive to do it correctly and ensure that the books come out in almost the same condition they went into storage.

When preparing to begin the process of storing your comics, it is important to wash your hands with soap and water before handling your comic books. This is important because the oil from your hands will cause staining that will not be visible initially, but these oils will react with the covers over time. Some people even go as far as to wear gloves when handling their comics.

Here are the things you will need to effectively store your comics:

Comic Book Boxes - these are special acid-free cardboard boxes created specifically for storing comic books. It is not a good idea to store comics in a regular cardboard box.

Acid-free Comic Board Backings - these back boards are important as they will provide support and prevent the corners/edges and spine from bending and wearing. These are acid-free, so they will not react with the comics while in storage.

Comic Book Sleeves - these clear protective sleeves are what will hold the comic book and the acid-free back board. These are made from a few different materials, but it is widely accepted that the Mylar sleeves are superior.

All of the needed supplies are readily available online or in local comic book stores.

Now that you have all of your supplies, it is time to get started.

Step 1: Slide a acid-free back board into each mylar sleeve that is the right size for the comic book that will be stored inside.

Step 2: Put each individual comic into a mylar sleeve cover side out with the acid-free back board inserted. It is important to note that most back boards are only treated on one side - the white side is the acid-free side and is the only side that should ever come into contact with your comics. The mylar sleeve should cover the book much like a clear envelope.

Step 3: Fold the flap on the Mylar sleeve back and tape shut using plain cellophane tape. It is advised to ensure that the flap is being folded to the back of the comic so that there is no chance of the tape accidentally coming into contact with the book - it would only attach itself to the backing board if it accidentally came in contact with something other than the sleeve.

Step 4: Store the comic books standing up in the comic book boxes. Never store them lying down or stacked on top of one another.

Step 5: Place the boxes where they will be least affected by sunlight, drastic temperature changes, humidity or smoke. The attic or basement are both terrible places to store comics, even when all of the above preparations are done. A bedroom closet is actually a great place to store comics.

Believe it or not, that's all there is to it - this simple process will protect your comic book collection for years to come.

About the Author

Eric Mathieu operates 1-2-3-comics.com where you will find great deals on rare, new, and hard to find comics as well as comic book preservation supplies.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

What are Zuni fetish carvings and why do thousands collect them?

First, leti i s a look at the origin of Zuni and other Native American fetish carvings. They are deeply connected to Zuni history, belief and tradition.

Zuni people believe, as they have for hundreds of years, that their forefathers arrived from out of the earth to inhabit the earthi i s surface. The legend includes a belief about the difficulties of survival in a time and place where wild creatures were dominant. Humans as the smartest are the most distant from the Creator and, therefore, the most susceptible to danger. Animals, are the most natural and, therefore, closest to the Creator, with the immediate access to the power of the Creator. In seeking protection, Zuni people came to believe that the supernatural powers once sent down thunderbolts that froze the most dangerous creatures into stone.

As rocks and stones resembling creatures were discovered on the ground, they were accepted as surrogates for, and vessels for the spirit of, the creatures. It came to be believed that the stone creature possessed healing and protective powers.

In time, i i foundi i fetish objects became supplemented and then replaced by creatures purposely carved from semi-precious and lapidary stones. Turquoise became, and continues as, a favorite because of its beauty and susceptibility to carving. Coral, antler, lapis lazuli, sugilite, shell, jet, marble, onyx, malachite, serpentine, pipestone, jasper and even wood (cedar) have been added to the menu of carving materials.

With the refinement of techniques and tools, carvings have evolved into more detailed and lifelike representations, although some carvers still prefer to produce the more abstract shapes that are truer to the original fetish concepts.

In addition, other tribal people picked up the tradition. At first, Navajos followed by carving creatures related to their pastoral lifestyle i i cows, sheep and goats. Cochiti Pueblo carvers produce more rough-hewn creatures, such as those carved by Salvador Romero. In some respects, these are closer in form to the original Zuni fetishes.

Obviously, Cochiti carvings are fetishes in name only since it is believed a carving must be blessed by Zuni priest to have the true power of a fetish. Therefore, the great majority of the carvings coming from Zuni today are not true i i fetishesi i . They are fascinating and splendidly executed carvings, but not fetishes by traditional standards.

Still, many people who collect and hold the carvings imbue them with the status and power of fetishes in their lives. These powers are based on those the Zunis attributed to the original fetish carvings:

The eagle is a protector from the sky. The bear is the protector of the West. The mountain lion is the protector of the North. The badger is the protector of the South. The wolf is the protector of East. And the mole is the protector of the underground. Some creatures, particularly bears have healing powers as well, which may account for the popularity of bears among collectors.

Today other creatures have been added to the variety of carvings, with some carvers specializing, or concentrating on a animal form. Among the new animals being carved are beavers, horses, porpoises, fish, owls, frogs, turtles and even more exotic creatures. We have seen and owned carvings of unicorns, sharks, domestic cats, and even a duck-billed platypus.

Specializing carvers include Lynn Quam, known for his buffalos, Emery Eriacho, known for bears, Carol Martinez, who emphasizes horses, Daniel Chattin, known for maidens in shell. Among other tribal carvers of note are Salvador Romeroi i s brother, Wilson from Cochiti, and Wilsoni i s son-in-law, Julian Sanchez, a native of San Felipe. Another carver with an excellent reputation and following at San Felipe is Melvin Sandoval.

Among the most prominent and accomplished Zuni carvers are Jeffrey Tsalabutie, Gibbs Othole, Dee Edaakie, Alonzo Esalio, Abby Quam, the Quandelacy family, the Gasper family and Lena Boone and her family. The list pales when compared to the total of outstanding Zuni carvers, a list just too long to enumerate here.

There are two other features of fetish carvings worthy of mention. One is the heartline. This is an arrow-like design that runs from the mouth area of the creature to the area where a heart would be located. Most often it is inlaid, sometimes from a single contrasting stone i i usually turquoise. It may be a zig-zag or curve. It may be solid or made up of dots. It is said to encourage the healing power of the fetish carving by allowing access to the spiritual center of the creature when the carvingi i s owner exchanges breath from his or her mouth.

Another optional feature is known as the power pack or medicine bundle. It usually is manifested as an arrowhead of turquoise, shell or lapis with nuggets of turquoise and sprigs of coral, with the occasional inclusion of shell heishi, secured to the back or side of the carving with real or artificial sinew. This addendum is believed to represent a sacrifice to the fetish animal that enhances the protective and healing power of the carving.

Some people collect fetish carvings because they believe or want to believe in the power of the creatures. Others do so out of interest in a specific animal or in the work of a specific carver. Still others collect simply because they admire the artistry involved in the creation of each carving, or are fascinated by the history and tradition of this people from a distant time and place.

About the Author

William Ernest Waites is a writer with more than 25 years experience in collecting, valuing and reselling all manner of tribal art.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Getting Started With Scrapbooking

For quite some time now, Scrapbooking has been one of the fastest growing hobbies and it is easy to see why - creating scrapbooks is a creative and fun activity that allows people to express their creativity in imaginative ways, while creating a beautiful product that preserves memories and will endure for generations to come.

There are many reasons why scrapbooking is so popular among arts & crafts hobbyists. Scrapbooks are simply a great way to preserve memories. In 50 years, it will be difficult for people to know what exactly was happening in photos without someone who was there around to explain the scenarios. That picture with twelve people all trying to fit inside a two person pup tent will not make much sense to family members who were not there, and with no one alive that can set the context, the memory is essentially lost. To help these sorts of moments live on forever, putting them in a scrapbook and providing a contextual story will ensure that these memories endure.

Another great benefit to creating scrapbooks is simply organizing the photos that are stored in boxes in the attic or basement or stuck haphazardly in those old photo albums that no one looks at. Those pictures were taken for a reason, so putting them in a scrapbook helps ensure that people will actually look at and enjoy the memories they preserved. Also, getting those pictures out of boxes and photo albums, and therefore out of the basement, will help ensure that the photos actually last - attics and basements are very moist environments, and are terrible places to store photos.

So now that we know some of the reasons for creating scrapbooks, the next thing to do is to get started. Thankfully, it is very easy to do so!

One of the greatest things about creating scrapbooks is that anyone can do it no matter how talented one may think they are. With the myriad of templates and embellishments available commercially, even absolute beginners can create wonderful scrapbooks they will be proud of. It really does not take much at all to get started, and upon seeing the finished product, most people are instantly hooked on the craft of scrapbooking.

It is important when first getting started to understand some of the basics of the process of creating scrapbooks. If one is not going to be using old photographs to create a scrapbook, and will instead be taking new pictures, then an inexpensive digital camera is an excellent choice as they make it easy to download your photos into a computer and printed, or uploaded to an online photo shop to have them printed. Going digital allows for even more creativity, as the photos can be easily retouched and embellished with graphics and special effects.

Once the photos are in hand, the next step is matting. Matting is the process of applying the photos, embellishments, and any additional memorabilia to the pages. Many even double or triple mat photos for a more dramatic effect. Through the use of creative color choices it is possible to create designs that really make the photos pop off the pages.

One of the best developments in the world of scrapbooking has been the arrival of pre-made professionally designed papers and templates designed specifically for scrapbooks. These professional designs are color coordinated so even a novice can create a scrapbook that looks great and has a unified theme.

When starting out with creating scrapbooks, it is important to relax and have fun! This is not work - take it easy, use some of the great, inexpensive supplies that are out there to help, and enjoy the creative process! Just like anything else, the more one does it, the better the creations will be.

About the Author

Eric Mathieu operates a website specializing in arts crafts. For more information and supplies for scrapbooking and other arts crafts hobbies, visit 1-2-3-crafts.com.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Learn How to Succeed With The Most Difficult Task in Jewelry Photography

Managing the challenge of narrow depth of field in highly reflective surface environment

By Avi Roth

In the field of commercial photography, be it in motion or static, every category presents a challenge of its own. With jewelry photography, an object of highly reflective surface (HRS), the challenge is amplified due to its relatively small size captured mostly in close-up environment with shallow depth of field, surface complexity (specular), and limited ways of lighting due to space restriction between the lens and the object. Jewelry photography demands knowledge and experience to overcome the compounded difficulty of controlling reflections and limited depth-of-field (perceived sharpness) in close-up jewelry photography.

In addition to the problems mentioned above, the success of reproducing and obtaining a high quality digital image of jewelry will depend on the equipment used in the reproduction process. There are basically three types of camera systems one can employ:

a. Digital SLRs like Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sigma with good sensor resolution (6-14 MP)

b. Medium format cameras like Hassleblad, Rollei or Mamiya with a larger sensor digital back (11-39 MP)

c. Large format view cameras like Sinar or Toyo with live video studio solution (11-39 MP)

The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the principal challenges posed by the complexities of reflective surface reproduction, particularly in digital close-up photography. Below I will present some solution to these challenges from the lessons learned and experienced in my daily practice and from my own research as to what is the best, fastest, and simplest solution to an otherwise complex assignment of jewelry photography.

Jewelry surface (HRS)
The most difficult task of all HRS digital captures is jewelry. In essence all jewelry objects are built with reflective qualities of various degrees and can be compared to mirrors. Mirrors are objects with good specular or diffused reflection; that is, image forming qualities. Imagine pointing your lens towards a mirror at a close distance. What will you see? Exactly, yourself holding a camera and your surrounding area. Jewelry objects in essence embody three kinds of mirrors: flat, convex and concave determined at random by the jewelrys very shape. Curved mirrors magnify or shrink images therefore distort the reflected image. Most jewelry objects typify spherical mirrors structured in an interesting relationship of concave and convex surfaces.

Solutions:
Understanding the basic reflective properties of mirrors can be helpful in solving some basic problems related to jewelry photography because of their common reflective properties.

a. Jewelry reflection has no physical existence. Conceal the camera or choose a shooting angle for the jewelry to reflect a controlled surface such as a white board or soft box.

b. The location of the camera/lens matters in terms of how and what will the jewelry reflect. Use longer lenses to extend the working space between object and lens.

c. When light strikes the jewelry surface the angle of reflection equals the angle of in incidence. Place your light source indirectly to the angle of reflectance.

d. The reflection on the jewelry is half the size of the reflected image - the jewelry is always halfway between the reflected image and the reflection. Creating and placing the jewelry inside a large soft tent enables the application of various light sources to minimize and control unwanted reflections.

e. If the jewelry surface is flat and perfectly shiny, specular reflection will result. If the surface is rough, diffused or distorted reflection will result (bending) Place the jewelry in a light zone of several loosely arranged large white panels, and by modifying their position relevant to the object will enable the control of light source there by controlling unwanted reflection.

Overall Sharpness:
A narrow depth-of-field (DOF) can create spectacular effects when photographing insects, flowers, etc., but in jewelry photography if the entire image does not appear in full focus, the image becomes an unusable one. Unusable in the sense that some parts of a ring or bracelet needed to provide useful data for the purpose of presentation will be unacceptably less sharp than other parts. For example, the front part of a bracelet (focal plane of the lens) is in sharp focus; but as we move towards the back region the loss of sharpness becomes unacceptable (blurred). DOF and image sharpness changes with sensor size. Smaller digital sensors obtain maximum sharpness at wider apertures (f:8-f:11) while larger ones at (f:11-f:22). Capturing small objects like jewelry via close-up photography presents a problem since only a very narrow portion of the object relative to the focal plane will be acceptably in focus. One way to extend depth of field would be to take images using a narrow lens aperture. This solution has a serious disadvantage. Small apertures bring more light diffraction, degrading the image resolution. This is one reason why many consumer digital cameras (with very small sensors) won't let you stop down past f:8, while studio solution sensors are often stopped down to f:32 and beyond.

Solution:
The application of double exposure solution or photo stitching in jewelry photography partially solves the limitations of shallow depth-of-field. The technique known as "focus stacking" is another. Using double exposure when limited depth-of-field is available is a powerful technique to help photograph and present jewelry.

Depth-of-field determines what part of the jewelry has the sharpest focus and its amount. Unfortunately, at larger apertures depth of field limits attention to a particular focal points i.e. the top of a ring, while minimizing details at the shank. A greater depth-of-field would presents all the elements of a ring sharp at once, relatively equally. Depth-of-field is determined by the following: lens aperture (-stop), lens focal length and your distance from the focal point. In jewelry photography, of these three the aperture has the most influence and the least modifiable. Therefore to increase depth-of-field and achieve total sharpness over the entire image, move farther away from the jewelry by using a longer lens.

1. Capture two images, first focus slightly below the ring top, then a second focused lower at the center.

2. Bring both images into two separate layers in Photoshop to combine the two into one sharp image.

There are of course other solutions such as the Helicon Focus. This program is designed to manage the shallow depth-of-field problem in close-up imaging. It also aligns the images that change their size and position from shot to shot. This function is especially important with close up jewelry photography.

However, the most pragmatic answer to the depth-of-field challenge is the large format studio camera. These cameras such as Arca Swiss, Linhof, Sinar, Fuji, Calumet or Toyo have expandable bellows, tilt and swing capabilities, and are allowing the capture of high-quality images with extended depth-of-field beyond the optical limitations of the lens.

About the Author

Avi Roth is an internationally recognized jewelry photographer and the founder of Digital Jeweller: Digital Jewelry Photography Solutions.For more jewelry photography tips and info go to www.jewelryphotographyonly.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

McFarlane Toys the Pinnacle of Action Figure Collectability

To call the action figures produced by Todd McFarlane Productions Inc., just toys would be an insult to Todd McFarlane and collectors alike. The semi-posable, amazingly detailed figurines are some of the most popular, and highly sought after collectables available in the realm of toys or otherwise.

In 1994 McFarlane Productions released a six figurine set based on McFarlane's indie comic Spawn, which was at the time and still is the most popular independent comic book in history. The figures proved equally popular, standing out on shelves more so than other figures at the time due to their unparalleled detail in both sculpture and paint; further, the packaging included a comic related to each character and was more arduous than the weak plastics encasing other action figures at the time.

The features apparent on the models alongside their packagings durability made them more appealing to collect than to actually play with.

The figures appealed to Spawn readers. The young adult audience that read the comics also had the disposable income to afford the slightly higher priced figures. The minimal articulation (an often cited flaw in the McFarlane toy line) was of little consequence to those who understood the toys were tailored to collecting opposed to manhandling by the twelve and under crowd. Regardless of the how or why the toy line became so popular, it is, and it happens to be the most commercially successful toy line at this time.

In light of the original series broad acceptance, McFarlane Productions spawned (pardon the pun) numerous other themed figurine sets, including the notorious Movie Maniacs, the McFarlane's Monsters Collection and its variants, a dragon themed collection; The Beatles, KISS, and Simpsons sets, as well as the collections based on various TV shows (LOST, 24) and the X-box 360 hit video game Halo 3.

Other productions include a Military themed set; sports collections, and, of course, many additional sets based on Spawn comic books.

The McFarlane figures became the bar by which all other collectible figurines were set. After the models proved to be commercially acceptable, many other toy companies attempted to emulate the style of the McFarlane statuettes, but no other company has matched the success of McFarlane's Spawn toys or their descendants. Marvel has issued a number of collections called Marvel Legends.

The toys within each series were detailed figures based on Marvel characters, each model came with a comic, and each one was packed in hardier plastic than average action figures. While most of the toys in the various legends series reduced in value, some of the more popular characters, like Wolverine, retained and increased in value.

However, the Spawn figures, while taking into account their relatively recent releases, are only less valuable as a whole then toy collections of vintage status. Toys modeled after 80's cartoons may net hundreds of dollars for popular characters, sometimes even thousands (Optimus Prime for example).

Vintage toys based on films such as Star Wars or shows like Star Trek also net immense amounts of cash when sold, but consider the most popular of the vintage toys like Darth Vader ($2000 for a 1978) have had 30 years to escalate in value.

On the other hand, the original Spawn figurines have each grown to become ten times their original sale price in a third of the time ($10 US to $100). Further, some of the most popular McFarlane models reach prices in the thousands. Needless to say, it is a formidable feat for a company to produce action figures in the last decade and a half that rival toy versions of North American media icons in both value and collectability.

As you may have already assumed, if one is interested in collecting action figures, McFarlane Productions Inc has a lot to offer. The statuettes are admirable, collections are always original and, in general, the McFarlane toy line is peerless in any way, shape, or form. McFarlane Productions continues to be a force to reckon with in the toy industry, and will likely continue to retain the title as King of action figures for some time to come.

About the Author

Martin Brinkmann runs his own Action Figures store and writes about them in his spare time.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Is Craft Really Art?

During my 21 years of teaching art and craft in secondary colleges in Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria, I have constantly heard hot discussion on what constituted art and what was craft. Questions fly around: is painting fine art? Is craft really art? The answer often depended on what medium the debater was using when expressing their own creativity.

I made the distinction thus: art is when you generate an image, idea, concept or design using your creative skills; and craft is the medium that you choose to express your creative design with. Craft includes painting in various mediums, sculpture, ceramics, fabric, photography etc.

Those who believe that Art should simply come from a deep seated soul and simply burst forth, using whatever is at hand to create it, may have trouble with my definition.

Another regular question I get asked is Can you teach creativity? My response is yes. Of course there are people more skilled than others and some have greater natural abilities than others. But basically, creativity can be taught.

My experience with teaching is that the more structured you are, the greater the creative skills become. I no longer believe that you simply have to express yourself, whenever and however you wish. Those who are prepared to build on basic skills such as observations, drawing, colour, and tone, will more quickly come to a creative solution to a problem.

And that brings me to another point. If you have a problem to solve, you not only are more likely to be creative, but you can also expect more satisfaction from your endeavours. So how do you find a problem when all you want to do is paint a picture? Van Gogh certainly had a problem he wanted to solve. He wanted to capture the aggressive movement of light and colour in an ever changing landscape of wind and rain and dust. He did not go out simply to paint a landscape, he wanted to solve a problem.

I think this is the biggest dilemma of teaching art in schools. Teachers try to teach a skill such as ceramics or silk printing, but the results are often most unsatisfactory because students were not given a problem to solve.

Let me give you an idea of what I mean. I wanted to teach a class to use air brush to create a strong design image on a large canvas. They were not told what the medium was going to be. First of all I collected a large number of balls and had the students draw groups of balls for 4 hours (over two weeks). This was their research. I specifically made them aware of drawing the negative space (background) as well as the positive space (the actual balls).

Once the research was completed I gave them the problem to solve. They had to create a design using two colours only which emphasised the negative space. The best designs came from those students who began to treat both the positive space (the balls) and the negative space (the background) as abstract shapes. By using a light box, they got the shapes more and more simplified until a truly beautiful and creative balance of two colours was achieved. The final job was the craft, the airbrush and tape technique.

So,is craft, art? Well, I do not think so, as I see a lot of good craft with no real art awareness. But I do believe for you to be successful and produce worthwhile work you have to marry both art and craft in a sensitive and insightful end product of your Work of Art.

About the Author

Barbara Gabogrecan is a renowned author and award winning artist, having won 7 of the Australian Gift of the Year Awards, where she combined her art and craft into exceptional product. http://www.paintingandcraft.com

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3 Reasons Why Videographers Can Make More Money By Getting Their Own Domain

Many careers, as opposed to relying on the actual product or service, rely instead heavily on the character and skill of the individual. For example, a doctor with good bedside manners is likely to have more business than a short tempered one, even if he was slightly less qualified.

Or as another example, a psychologist with the right skill and techniques to get patients to open up is sure to be successful. Similarly, as a videographer or a cameraman, you will rely heavily on your skills with the camera and your personality to make a living.

This is especially so if you work alone and specialize in events like weddings, birthdays, corporate functions or other personal affairs. The more exposure you give to your business, the more personality you have and the better your reputation, then the more probable it is that your business (i.e. you!) will be a success.

One way for you to boost your reputation and give your business more clout may be much simpler than you think. Its not expensive (like advertising) or time consuming (like some marketing activities i.e. distributing flyers). In fact, all you need is a domain, with a blog set up on it, and you'll be all set to jump start your career!

1. Reach out to the world
One of the biggest benefits you'll gain with an online presence for your skills and services is that you'll literally be in contact with the entire world. Anyone and everyone will have access to you and what you can provide - and at any moment, you may have someone contact you with a project or job offer.

By describing yourself and your services in your 'About' page, coupled with blog posts that showcase your skills (e.g. a blog post on certain camera styles used shooting a wedding or a guide to shooting footage of an award presentation) will be all you need to 'sell yourself' to your visitors. Thus, if any of them has a need for your services, they can contact you.

2. Build your reputation
One way for you to build you reputation online is through your blog posts. The more you blog or write on the various aspects of being a cameraman, the more your visitors and potential clients will trust in your abilities.

However, others ways of boosting your credibility and promoting yourself may be through posting up videos you have shot and directed or listing down testimonials from satisfied clients. This way, anyone who still has qualms about hiring you can visit your website and be rest assured of your sound reputation!

3. Earn Money providing information
There are many ways to earn money online. One of the most basic ways is to sell information for money. Someone such as yourself, an expert with the camera, may have a lot of valuable information you have gained either through study or experience. This information can be sold in a few ways.

One way would be to create a newsletter that your blog visitors can sign up for at a monthly access fee. You can then send them regular e-mails expounding on the many aspects of camerawork, editing and so on. Another technique could be to compile all your knowledge into eBooks that you can sell to the visitors to your blog.

With just the 3 benefits listed above, you can already see how your career as a cameraman or videographer can be significantly improved with a domain and blog. There are plenty more benefits you'll only begin to appreciate once you've gotten started. So as the cliche goes, perhaps it's time for some 'Lights, Camera and Action' in your career!

About the Author

Sen Ze and his 1-of-a-kind sites at http://www.SenZe.com (where else?) and http://www.SOLOBIS.com help you make money online in ways you've never known. Discover how to sell services online within days, starting with a dotcom version of your name!

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Unique Card Designs to Enthrall Everyone

When it comes to cards, there are many aspects that would captivate the recipient such as the overall card presentation or design, the message intended for the receiver, or even such trivial matters such as the color.

All of these are important factors but remember that card-giving also has its seasons eg. birthdays, anniversaries, graduation days, Christmas, Halloween, New Years, and many more. To be truly unique, you have to come up with great styles that are off-the-shelf and here are some of them:

For birthday cards/birthday announcements:

1. For younger children, try making cards that have paper folding or origami. The most famous designs are origami animals such as birds (specifically the swan) and frogs. This would give the 3D effect for the birthday card. With great artistic presentation, this would be a hard-to-forget card.

2. In the United States, there is a great way to greet people who are over the age of 80. You can actually request for a birthday greeting from the White House. Get this unique birthday card by sending the recipient's personal information; his name and home phone number. Send this information to the The White House, Attention: The Greetings Office, Washington D.C. 20502-0039. The recipient should be able to receive the card about ten days before his big day.

3. There are greeting card software programs that can be downloaded from the Internet - make good use of them. Key in the baby's information onto his picture and send it out as a birthday announcement. It is hassle-free and unique.

4. You could also send out your baby's footprint on paper with his birth details.

5. There are also photo sharing web sites which could help in sending out baby announcements for you. Just give the people who would visit your web site the correct password and they should be able to gain access without any problems.

For graduation cards:

1. Most graduation card-givers just hand out boring cards with a check inside. These are so predictable; so to be unique, send your best wishes to the new graduate by making a card that is literally made of money. Just make a funny quip about it so as not to stress the point that it's not all about the money but also you wishing the graduate a great career ahead.

2. Instead of the usual card, the giver could provide a book with the card inside and some other additional gifts. This means that the recipient should go through the entire book to be able to find your gifts (and your greeting card!).

For wedding announcements/wedding cards:

1. Being able to make homemade wedding announcements would save the couple on some more bucks. A classic photo of the couple could serve as the card with some of the usual details on the back of the photograph. The most effective color for the photograph could be black and white or sepia - this is minimal yet classy.

2. Using the same concept on the color of the photographs, this time, put these photos in front of the card. Punch holes on the top of the photograph and also on the card. Then join both by tying a ribbon, taking care not to tie too tightly else the photograph would not flip.

3. For wedding cards, still the best type of greeting the couple would like, would be to put their wedding announcement photograph on the card that you are going to give to them. Add up some frills and you are sure to make them happy.

For all other occasions, be sure to send the right card with the right decoration. Christmas cards often come with red, green, and gold glitters with photographs of bells, Christmas trees, a star, gifts, etc. For Halloween cards, the most common cards come in black and red; black and orange; or black and white (well, you can get out of this uniformity by using another color but making sure to put in the correct designs such as witches, bats, black cat, spiders, coffins, graves, etc).

These are just the most basic card-making tips that anyone can begin with, but they are highly unique and a card that the recipient would surely remember (maybe even longer than the giver!).

About the Author

Cathy Kennedy is an expert in Card Making. If you would like to know how you can turn your card making hobby into a money making business visit http://www.cardmakingbusiness.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Around The World In Three Tobaccos

Many of us live, and think, as if "nature" and "culture" were separate things, kept apart by a porous but clear boundary. In fact, it's usually hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. (Think of the ways most of us encounter nature - we visit "forest preserves" created, and bounded, by an act of local government.)

For a farther-reaching example, you could hardly do better than to examine the history of tobacco - a plant that sometimes assumes new characteristics depending on the soil where it's planted. Consider just one strain of this ubiquitous, lucrative crop: White Burley.

The second-most-popular pipe tobacco now sold, White Burley arose solely because its ancestor, Red Burley tobacco, was just as popular and widely-used during the nineteenth-century. Cincinnati farmer George Webb found that a strange, whitish, slightly weaker-tasting strain of Red Burley was growing in his tobacco patch. He began selling it at local fairs and markets as a curiosity - like a two-headed calf at a state fair - but smokers found that they enjoyed this whitish mutant version of Red Burley more than the parent crop, leading to the widespread cultivation - and eventual dominance - of White Burley.

Meanwhile, poor Red Burley went extinct because no one cultivated it anymore. You could call this "natural selection," but it's a clear result of cultural forces as well - the preference for a lighter, airier flavor of tobacco, good marketing, etc. Nature provides the raw material, culture adapts it, and the history of plant biology moves on.

The history of this uniquely valuable crop goes back farther than we can trace; it may have been growing in the Americas eight thousand years ago, and archaeologists have found evidence (from engravings on vases and other items) that people have smoked it for, at least, the past four millennia. But tobacco smoking reached the rest of the world as a result of late-medieval/early-modern exploration - and of colonialism.

Sailors on Columbus's expedition noticed it among indigenous natives of what would later become Cuba. Some of the finest tobacco has always, historically speaking, grown there, especially in the Pinar del Ra province. Explorers brought samples of tobacco all over the world. From the beginning of the modern era, then, tobacco's evolution was linked to its commercial possibilities.

For example, tobacco smoking seems so much a part of the culture of the Middle East - travel to Egypt sometime, and you'll smell the richly aromatic strain known today as "oriental" tobacco (despite the political incorrectness of that word). Surprisingly, that smell wasn't always a feature of Arab culture - it wasn't always hanging in the air at the soukh (outdoor market) and the coffeehouse.

Tobacco spread from Europe in the aftermath of Columbus's expedition/conquest, and set down roots in the Middle East very quickly - some of these cultures had already given a place to cannabis smoking in their rituals, so the concept wasn't new. This kind of tobacco, rich and almost fruity, is often used in the West in pipes and in cigarettes, but smoking it from a hookah is a special treat.

Brightleaf tobacco - also known as "Virginia tobacco" despite it originating in North Carolina - is another instance. Early in the nineteenth century, smokers already clamored for a milder-flavored tobacco than what was generally grown in the South; the demand for another strain existed.

In 1839, North Carolina farmer Abisha Slade sought to fulfill this demand by planting a gold-leaf tobacco plant in sandy soil. This, however, wasn't enough; the plants didn't seem usable, until a slave of Slade's, named Stephen, used charcoal to restart a curing fire that had gone out.

The sudden heat turned the leaves yellow - and gave birth to the idea of heat-curing plants with charcoal. Stephen and Slade's discovery had dramatic consequences - not only did it fulfill a demand for a softer-tasting smoke, but it gave Virginia farmers a way to turn the infertile Appalachian piedmont region into a goldmine.

The Civil War only increased the popularity of Brightleaf, since Union soldiers traveling through the area enjoyed the taste. Thus, despite its origins in North Carolina, this still-popular tobacco clearly deserves the name "Virginia."

About the Author

CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1000 different brands! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.

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How To Smoke Premium Cigars: Deciding Where To Start

For the past fifteen years or so, the market for this once-nearly-moribund luxury has been on an impressive rebound. From its height in the 1850s - when Cuba alone exported 356.6 million cigars - until the early 1990s, the cigar market had badly declined, falling victim to competition from cigarettes and then to declining American interest in smoking generally; by the 1980s, the industry's aging customer base seemed to promise ever-diminishing returns for cigar makers.

Then during the year 1992 - for reasons no one has ever completely explained - the market experienced four-percent growth, followed by a ten-percent rise in cigar imports the following year. The "cigar boom" (an industry term) had begun, and by 1996, the cigar industry was seeing 36 percent first-quarter growth, back orders of 55 million units, and the proliferation of neighborhood cigar bars, cigar-friendly restaurants, magazines, et. al.

Which brings us - most likely - to why you're reading a piece entitled "How To Smoke Cigars." You've noticed the new ubiquity of cigar smoking in the last fifteen years, its new importance as a bonding activity or relaxation ritual, and you're wondering how to get started. Specifically, you're wondering how to choose your first cigar, or your first box of cigars.

First - before you go to the cigar store or online retailer (not the nearby convenience store, for your own sake!), learn a bit of the lingo. Start by learning wrapper lingo, because the cigar's wrapper has everything to do with whether its taste is dry or sweet. The wrapper is the outer leaf of tobacco that gives the cigar its color. The color of the wrapper also indicates both the kind of tobacco used, and the cigar's flavor in general.

The general rule here is that the color of the wrapper means the opposite of what it would mean for beer taste: lighter, greenish-colored cigars tend to taste dry, while cigars wrapped in a darker, brownish or blackish leaf have a sweet tinge. The colors run from green to black, but here's a basic rundown:

Double Claro cigars, also known as "American Market Selection" (AMS) or "Candela" wrapper cigars, are green and dry-tasting; Claro wrappers are light tan and slightly less dry; Colorado Claro, medium brown; Colorado, reddish and still less dry. At Colorado Maduro, meanwhile, we're already dealing with a slightly dark, slightly sweet cigar, followed by Maduro wrappers (by now we're at the sweet-tasting end of the color spectrum), and finally the near-chocolatey-tasting and entirely black Oscuro wrappers.

There's also a whole lexicon devoted to cigar size and shape, including way too many gradations. For our purposes, though, cigars basically run a gamut from tiny cigarillos to panatelas (available in small, slim, short and long variations) to medium-sized coronas (ca. 6-7 inches long) to, at the larger end, popular Churchills (seven inches long and very thick), double coronas (slightly bigger than Churchills) and giants (nine inches long). The size has no relationship to taste; it does have implications for overall smoking experience. (Do you want a long, contemplative smoke, or a short smoke that enlivens the interstices of your day?)

As for cigar shape - well, you might not expect there to be much variation here. But specially-shaped premium cigars are a growing part of the market: Culebra (Spanish for "snake," so named because it's made of three small cigars twisted together into a snake shape), Perfecto (with two tapered ends), Torpedo (a fat straight cigar with a pointed head). For shorter, thicker cigars, the name Rothschild or (though this is a misspelling) Rothchild was used for many years, in honor of the famous German banking family, but increasingly cigar manufacturers are renaming these stubby cigars Robustos. Adding to the confusion, some manufacturers use both names, labeling 5 1/2 inch 50-ring models "Robustos" and slightly shorter, same-width cigars "Rothschild"!

What's the best cigar for a beginner? It totally depends on you - your interests, the tastes that sound most appealing, etc. One might think "sweet" cigars offer the least challenging taste experience to a cigar neophyte, but in fact many first-time smokers love the dry, complicated taste of Claros. Try smoking with an experienced friend, checking a cigar specialty magazine or website, or order a premium cigar sampler from a cigar shop or online service.

About the Author

CigarFox provides the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Cohiba, Montecristo, Gurkha, Macanudo, Rocky Patel, Romeo, Drew Estate, and many more. Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.

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