Articles

Rubber Band Bracelets: Be In The Loop

by: Shannan Barrett

Those colorful loops of rubber should be quite familiar to you by now. Yes, we are talking about rubber band bracelets. They have become ubiquitous in the last couple of years. You can see them on the wrists of Tsunami aid workers, citizens campaigning for a cause, and even the on wrists of school children.

The rubber band bracelets have become the most-preferred and the most inexpensive way to show your support for a cause, or to donate to charity, or to raise awareness about an issue or a disease. You can see them used for extremely different purposes, such as to proclaim one’s religious affiliation, or as a fashion statement! The rubber band bracelet is the modern way of wearing your heart on your sleeve, er wrist!
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The “Art” of Gardening by Examining Bonsai Tools

by: Michael Caputi

Tools play an important role in gardening. Whether you use hand tools or power tools, it doesn’t matter. The dance you have between your fingers and hands directly influences your work in creating a beautiful garden. The tools used to make possible your crafting of a garden are a mere extension of your creative mind.

This couldn’t be more visible in the art of bonsai. Bonsai may indeed be one of the most unique forms of container gardening. Started as an art thousands of years ago in China, bonsai has evolved to a rapid growing international hobby. The use of bonsai tools, similar to the use of gardening tools in a garden, help shape and train a common tree into a work of art. Any tree could become a bonsai tree, it’s just a matter of controlling its physical properties to resemble a real tree, but keeping it in a small form. Because of the use of bonsai tools, many even consider it a craft. However, the reality is that the end creation is a visible living art - very much like a garden.
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Herb Gardening Indoors

by: Mary Hanna

Here are some tips for herb gardening indoors that will simulate the conditions in an outside garden. For Herb gardening indoors the growing climates need to be pretty much the same as the conditions outside.

Get your herb plants from a good garden center nursery who will have plenty of garden advice to help you with your inside garden. You will need some garden equipment like a small digging garden tool, garden gloves, organic fertilizer and some small gardening containers. You probably already have most of these garden supplies in your garden shed.
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Help! Your Heart is Missing From Your Scrapbooking Journaling - Part 1

by: Fion Lim

I’m guilty of penning some of the most boring and uninspiring scrapbooking journaling that won’t even excite my doggy. I had doled out my fair share of unembellished journaling with the usual Who, What, Where, When and Why a little far too often for my own comfort.

Doesn’t this simple, straight-forward writing style of 5 Ws I’ve adopted reminds you of the no nonsense writing of a current affairs journalist? Does it begin to sound a little like a plain, boring main entree of dory fish fillet with no sauce, no side dish and no dressing to give the dish a bit of “make-up”?
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How To Create A Halloween Costume

by: Brian Johnson

You don’t have to be a tailor or seamstress to create a Halloween costume. In fact, you don’t even have to own a needle or thread. All you need is some creativity (or a friend who’s creative), a closet with some clothes, and a nearby thrift shop.

Don’t take the lazy way out by tossing a sheet over your head and saying you’re a ghost. The key to figuring out how to create a Halloween costume is to work with what you’ve got and then fill in whatever is missing with things that you can get pretty easily.
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Add a Special Touch to Your Stamped Cards with Embellishments

by: Melanie Brown

Once you have the basic stamping techniques mastered, you will likely want to move on to something more. By adding embellishments to your handcrafted cards, you will create cards that are more than just messages of greetings, but little pieces of art as well. When you think of embellishments, you may immediately think that you need to spend a lot of money to add beautiful things to your cards. But this is not true; by using a few embellishments wisely, a strong statement can be made on your creations. Some of the easiest embellishments can make the most difference to your finished look. Common additions include eyelets, brads, buttons, charms, and fibers.
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Tips for Scrapbooking Beginners - Where to Start

by: Paula McDonald

Taking Pictures

The first thing a potential scrapbooker should know is how to take a good picture, as the vast majority of scrapbooks are centered around our photographs. Visit our photography page for specific tips on taking pictures.
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How to Grow Japanese Red Maple Trees from Seed

by: Michael McGroarty

Most Japanese Maple seeds ripen in the fall. Watch the tree and wait for the seeds to turn brown. The seeds are ready to be harvested when they are brown and can be easily removed from the tree.

The seeds are attached to a wing, it’s best to break the wing off before storing or planting the seeds. Japanese Maple seeds have a very hard outer coating as do many ornamental plants. Under natural conditions the seeds would have to be on the ground for almost two years before they would germinate. All that happens the first winter is the moisture softens the hard outer shell, and the second winter germination is beginning to take place.
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Night Photography: Photographing The Moon In The Landscape

by: David Rose

Photographers have been trying to utilize the light of the moon in their landscape photography ever since the photographic process was invented. It was not until World War II, however, that technology had improved enough to make night photography possible.

Today, despite technological advances, knowing the phase of the moon during a nighttime photography shoot is important as it will affect everything from the type of equipment that you’ll need to the actual composition of your photos.
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Hiring for Your Craft Show Business

by: Natalie Goyette

The nature of your craft show business and your budget will determine whether or not you need others to help you with any aspect of your craft show business. Needless to say, the success of your crafts at craft shows will also have a considerable effect on whether or not you will need to hire employees.

On the “free” end, you can get help from friends and family to produce your crafts and help with any business aspects. A tax benefit for “hiring” your children under 18 is that you don’t have to pay social security or medicare taxes if your business is a sole proprietorship or partnership owned solely by you and your spouse.
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