Students Of Success

Bamboo qualifies itself as a high-quality down-to-earth remedy. It has very much of utilizable applications. The most known use of bamboo is its applicaiton in the subject of down-to-earth cures. People in western society have started to value the value of earthy remedies. Bamboo may also be utilized to create a bamboo water fountain.

Bamboo can be employed in various home improvement projects. Apparel can be made from bamboo too. Illustrations of other items that are constructed from bamboo are bamboo screens, bamboo curtain rods, and bamboo toilet seats.

Bamboo has achieved exceptional popularity in oriental cultures for its use in home decor. Bamboo is utilized in decorating gardens and patios also.. Bamboo has its applications in fabrication of different kind of sports tools. Sports tools like surf boards and skate boards are produced from bamboo.

Trendy kitchenware is manufactured through the use of bamboo as well. Given the anti-microbial nature of bamboo, it is used in producing socks and sports clothes. Clothes prepared from bamboo innately act as thermal resistors. Bamboo constructed clothing has special odor-resistance too. Bamboo blinds are ideal home decoration items because they make your rooms appear greater. They contribute your interiors a calm down-to-earth tone. Bamboo water fountain (i.e. a shishi odoshi fountain) is the most idealized ornamentation for home or office. Whether you hold an accounting office as an nj accountant or you are an entrepreneur, you would benefit from getting a bamboo water fountain in your place.

Web banners normally fall into two categories. The first kind is the well-known advertising banner, usually utilized as a means to advertise a website, as a click on the banner takes one to the advertised website. The second form of banner is discovered at the very top of a regular site - the site header location. This section commonly acquaints an individual to the site with a main title, perhaps a secondary strapline, and some graphical images to help theme the site. Both kinds of web banner play primary roles in both delivering people to a website, and helping make a site “sticky” - by informing them plainly with what the website is about, and tempting the individual to read the website further, applying persuasive imagery / strapline text.

How to make banners in the first place? There are plenty of web services which can help you with this project. Also many give you banner hosting as well. Simply enter some words such as web banners into Google and you will discover a number of online services.

What sort of information to put in your banner? If you’re selling products, it’s a great tip to place the payment providers your website utilizes for processing payments, because it presents to the visitor a visible hint that your website is an e-commerce store while letting the individual know how items can be purchased on your site. Put in some pictures of the products you are vending too, as this is yet another visible hint as to what kind of products you vend. The strapline phrase is primary as well. Ensure the strap line clearly and briefly states what the site is about in just four or five words.

And as apparent as all this sounds, an error numerous sites make is to assume the visitor will know such information before-hand. We should not assume that every visitant what your site is about in advance, so one must hold the website visitant’s hand in those vital first couple of seconds they visit your website.

At the traditional Loy Krathong festival held in Thailand, little lotus shaped boats called Krathongs are launched across the river, usually beautifully decorated and with lighted candles sitting in the middle. At the same time sky lanterns are launched into the sky, so you have this symbolic act of release in the territory of both water and air. They seem to mirror one another. Beautiful. The river and the sky are dotted with little buds of light. The lights on water reflect back into the water and light up the night whilst the Wish Lanterns make the sky luminous and reflect again back onto the rippling surface of the water. Light symbolises hope and life. Another tradition at the Loy Krathong festivals are beauty contests. A strange idea you might think. In some areas of Thailand, this is called the Noppamas Queen contest to honour - you’ve guessed it- Queen Noppamas! This aforementioned queen was a legendary figure in the Sukhothai period, said to be the chief royal consort of a Sukhothai King. The beautiful Krathong is attributed to this woman, but this should not be taken as solid fact. She must have been very beautiful in order that a beauty contest was named after her. Unfortunately I can’t attach any photographic evidence here. You’ll have to use your imagination

Imagine you want to erect a fire pit of your own and you do not need help from specialists or you want to minimize costs on building one. Everyone has got a basic idea when it comes to building and you have got some of the basic requirements in your mind. Definitely erecting a fire pit on your own will save you a lot of costs and you have the advantage of erecting exactly what you have in mind. The DIY fire pit kits are available at every hardware store, all you need are the basic requirements needed to help you erect one. Some places may not have these kits all in one but you have to select one by one and if you are in doubt you have to seek advice from the hardware stores man.

All you need is adequate cement, bricks or stones brick force and steel rods to enhance tension or making the pit strong and stable. Once you have acquired all these you now have to select the best suitable area for erecting your fire pit. It’s quite an experience you will enjoy when building one on your own and it gives you a remembrance for tomorrow.

Creating carousel music boxes, ballerina music boxes, wooden keepsake boxes, musical jewelry boxes, and other types of music boxes is a relaxing and creative activity. Here a few general directions for those who are ready to begin or are in the process of creating their own music box.

Antiquing

When antiquing the flat surface of a music box, use an old paintbrush or a clean rag. Brush in the same direction and cover as much of the music box as desired. Make sure the surface thoroughly dries and do not go back over areas one the drying process begins.

If antiquing a textured surface, an old paintbrush works well. Be sure that the antiquing gel covers all the surface and work on small sections at a time; allow to dry.

Dry Brushing

Dry brushing causes a carousel music box, ballerina music box, and other types of music boxes to look as if they have more depth. A stiff, round paintbrush, flat brush, or stenciling brush works well. Leave a little bit of paint on the brush and then lightly brush the music box in the same direction.

With dry brushing, it is essential to make sure there is no water in the brush. If using different colors, wipe the brush on a paper towel and do not wash it.

Painting

When it comes to painting a wooden keepsake box, musical jewelry box, or any music box, sanding, sealing, and making sure the wood is dust and lint free assists in wood preparation.

A flat paintbrush or sponge brush can be used to apply a nice smooth coat of acrylic paint. This should be allowed to dry before a second coat of paint is added. For a very smooth surface, three coats of acrylic paint should be used. Steel wool can also be used to sand between the coats if necessary.

Preparing Music Boxes

Chipboard boxes come in a variety of sizes and shape sand are not expensive. Since they are not sturdy, strengthening is needed. This can be done by placing a bead of hot glue around the inside bottom of the box; make sure the glue hardens.

Next, apply a layer of tacky glue to the insides of the box using a paintbrush. Allow to dry.

Staining

Wood stains come in a wide variety of colors. Always follow the manufacturers directions. Stains, of course, will stain differently. The wood grain will determine how much stain will be absorbed. Leave the stain on for 1-2 minutes and then wipe for light stain or leave on for 5-10 minutes for a dark look.

Creating wooden keepsake boxes, carousel music boxes, ballerina music boxes, musical jewelry boxes, and other types of musical boxes is a fun and relaxing hobby. Antiquing, dry brushing, painting, chipboard boxes, and staining are just a few of the many things that can be done to create a music box to last a lifetime.

Copyright 2006 Monique Hawkins

Established in May of 2005, http://www.My-Music-Box.com is a music box gift store specializing in products such as inlaid ballerina music boxes for ballerina rooms décor, whimsical carousel music boxes, and musical jewelry boxes. The company provides interesting information for music lovers of all ages. Owner Monique Hawkins is also the author of the blog “What You Never Knew About Music” http://whatyouneverknewaboutmusic.blogspot.com , and owner of the eBay store “Monique’s Music Box” at: http://stores.ebay.com/Moniques-Music-Box Monique can be contacted at (540) 858-2885.

My daughter had some incredible elementary school teachers. Each of them took photos of her throughout the year. With those photos I was able to create a school days scrapbook for her.

My other daughter did not have these photos as a base and so we started from scratch. I had saved all of her school photos grades K-12th. We created a cover page for each grade using one of her school photos.

Some grades we had photos of her teachers, other grades we did not. For the grades where we did not have photos of the teachers we either hand wrote or typed the teachers name and added the name to the scrapbook page. Even where we did have a photo of the teacher, we also added the name of the teacher.

As we went through our own personal photos, we found photos of school friends through out the years and added those to the appropriate school year.

When my daughter was in high school, she collected wallet sized photos from many of her friends. We were able to create many pages of her friend’s photos. One suggestion is to write the name of the person with the photo. Over time, we do tend to forget the names of those we attended school with. Have you as an adult, been to a 10 or 20 year high school reunion and recognized a face, but couldn’t put a name to it? So, add the names of the friends as you build the pages.

If you live in the same town as the school buildings, go and take a few photos of the school to add to the scrapbook.

We have moved many times over the years. Take photos of the houses associated with the various school years.

With small plastic sheet protectors, you can add items like report cards. We also have saved all awards both girls have received. All of these make wonderful additions to a school days scrapbook.

We have found many scrapbook kits, scrapbook stickers and scrapbook paper with a school days theme. These can be fun to add to your scrapbook.

Did you child write notes to the tooth fairy? I saved these to give to my kids when they were older. Consider adding these, again in a sheet protector to the school days scrapbook.

Your imagination is the only limitation to building a school days scrapbook that your child will cherish for years to come.

For many people, photos are at the heart of their scrapbooks — and for a very good reason. We all treasure photgraphs of friends and loved ones, and many of us carry some with us wherever we go in a wallet or locket or keep photos on our desk at work. And if disaster were to strike and you had to evacuate your house, many people say they would save their photo albums before any other possessions!

So most scrapbooks will contain photographs. Even the most disinterested reader of
your scrapbook will look at them. A picture really is worth a thousand words.
Therefore, it is important to choose photographs that are of good quality and clearly
illustrate your scrapbook theme.

Any photograph can be used in a scrapbook. Even instant photographs can be used
in scrapbooking. Just be careful that the chemicals within the photograph do not
spill out on the rest of your scrapbook. Digital pictures can easily be printed right
onto lignin-free and acid -free paper.

Always bear in mind that scrapbooking is permanent. For this reason, it is probably
better to use copies of your only picture of Great Aunt Betsy rather than risk ruining
the original photograph forever. So just scan the picture on your computer scanner
and print the image on lignin free and acid free paper.

Everybody loves looking at photos of family, friends and special places. That’s why
they have such a special place in any scrapbook. It can be a lot of fun to use photos
in imaginative layouts and for abstract effects — don’t feel confined just to
mounting your photos as you would in a traditional photo album.

You can find inspiration for new scrapbooking ideas from magazines and visits to
art museums. Just keep your eyes open and let your imagination run free!

Nigel Patterson is a writer on arts and crafts and the publisher of Create Your Own Scrapbooks.

Visit his website for new and imaginative scrapbooking tips and ideas — so you can
maintain your most treasured mementos and present them artistically for you, your
family and your friends to enjoy.

The Settlers of Catan has been the flagship for German Style Designer Games for many reasons, some of the main ones being its elegant simplicity and its depth of strategy. Your choice of strategies will influence your initial setup and overall game play. The separation of strategies that are outlined in this series is a bit artificial, but it is useful to understand the concepts behind them. In practice, players will use a combination of these strategies during gameplay. This article, the fifth in this series, will discuss four more commonly used Settlers of Catan Strategies.

The Card Builder Strategy

This strategy is similar to the Ore/Grain Strategy, as it involves getting Ore/Grain hexes and building two cities fast. Then, cranking out development cards. This player will get an inordinate number of Knight cards, allowing them to keep the robber off their hexes and get other resources by stealing from other players. Often, victory point cards will come up. At some point in the game, try for a third settlement or city. The largest army is practically guaranteed. Note that this strategy may not work very well in higher victory point games, or those Seafarers scenarios where extra victory points are awarded for getting to islands.

The Balance Strategy

This strategy strives for a balance in all five resources. Settlements can be built relatively quickly, and the player is less likely to be boxed in. Also, this strategy leads people to become more self-sufficient, and less likely to require trading. A 3:1 port could be very useful here.

This strategy is what a lot of players strive for in the initial setup. This is a powerful way to begin the game if you can do it, as it is easy to be flexible and change to another strategy later on.

The Common Resource Strategy

Every game usually has a very common resource, that no one in particular wants. This is usually wool, as it is often the odd man out. The Wood-Brick players and Ore-Grain players (the two most popular strategies) will only be trying for wool if it is convenient. A friend of mine sometimes likes to go after wool hexes, and calls it the “Sheep-O-Matic” strategy. Since both Ore-Grain and Wood-Brick strategies need wool, he can often trade somewhat easily. He goes for a wool port (the Sheep-O-Matic) to get cards he can’t trade for. He does best by combining this strategy with the Card Builder strategy. This would probably work well in Seafarers, where everyone needs wool for sails. This strategy doesn’t necessarily require wool, just any common resource that no one seems to want. You really need the port though, or you can kiss the game goodbye. This is similar to the Cartel strategy, which is discussed in Part 4 of this series.

The Straight Numerical Advantage Strategy

This strategy really tries to maximize production, without concentrating on any particular resource. Just get as much of anything. You may need to trade a lot, because you could end up with a strange mix. This works better in games with more people (more people to trade with). A 3:1 port is probably essential, if you have a varied mix of resources.

I put this in because some people use it, but this is not really a strategy. A good strategy is a plan to let you get the particular combination of resources you need to get certain victory points, which this does not do. This could be good in the initial setup as a short-term plan, before you figure out what other strategy you will need to win.

For more information about the game, please visit the author’s Settlers of Catan fansite. This series is based upon the Settlers of Catan Strategy and Tactics Guide, which is located at http://settlersofcatan.blogspot.com

Dan Kozarchuk is a self admitted board game junkie who has an obsession with designer board games, particularly the Settlers of Catan.

No time to scrapbook? Here are 9 ways you can make more time for scrapbooking.

1. Record your “why.” Make a list of all the reasons you love to scrapbook. What does it do for you
personally; for your family; for generations to come?. Ask your family and friends, “why are you glad
that I scrapbook?” The answers may surprise you. Scrapbook these answers and hang the finished piece
in your scrap space. Seeing the motivation hanging before you will make scrapbooking seem less self-indulgent.

2. Book it. Write in time for scrapbooking on your calendar or on your weekly to-do list. When you
schedule specific scrapbooking time, you may be more committed to keeping that time for yourself.

3. Let go. Remember that each page you scrapbook is a reflection of you at this moment, and sometimes
that means the layouts have to be simple and quick. It’s important to be able to let go of a layout without
holding yourself to a certain standard each time. Don’t taint the joy of scrapbooking by making it
one more thing you have to do.

4. Get inspired. If you feel like you aren’t getting enough accomplished or you’re feeling
burned out, find inspiration in fresh design books or a new magazine subscription. Or slam out some quick
pages with a page kit.

5. Fresh products. Subscribe to a monthly auto-ship kit. When you invest in your scrapbooking habit at
regular intervals, fresh ideas and inspiration — appropriate for the season, come right to your doorstep.

Encourage a few friends to
join and- viola - instant club! And you won’t spend so much time wandering the aisles of your local
crapbooking store (Unless of course you want to) because all of the supplies already coordinate.

6. Organize. Make your supplies and tools easy to get to and to find. Get the organizational system you
need to make the best use of your time. Tidy and organize your area as soon as you are finished with a
layout or project so it doesn’t become daunting to go there the next time.

7. Scrapbook with your family. Scrapbooking itself can create some magical family moments. Even young
children can get started with their own creations. I love to watch my children record their memories and
create cards for friends.

8. Start (or join) a scrapbook club. Get a few friends together to scrapbook at a regular time each week
or month. When we have someone that is waiting to meet us there, we are more inclined to hold the commitment.

9. Make it your business. Become a scrapbooking instructor or consultant. When you move from the spending
side of our favorite hobby to the earning side, you may be surprised how much family support you’ll get.
When scrapbooking is your hobby *and* your job, all of your creations become “demo pages,” too —
and that is multi-tasking at its finest.

Copyright 2005 by Susie Cortright
About the author:
Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape.com and Momscape’s
Scrapbooking Playground - sites devoted to celebrating life with children. Learn more about her scrapbooking club or about starting your own scrapbooking business on Susie’s team: http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/business.htm

What is Hardanger embroidery?

Hardanger embroidery, also known as Hardangersøm
embroidery from Hardanger), originates from the Hardanger
region of Norway. It is a cutwork embroidery, traditionally
worked in white thread on white evenweave linen fabric.
Many people come to Hardanger embroidery from a
background of cross stitch. Hardanger, like most cross
stitch, is a counted embroidery. Hardanger offers new
challenges to cross stitchers as it has a much wider range
of stitches, and a very different look. While cross stitch is
pictorial, Hardanger is not: its designs are based around
pattern, texture and areas of openwork.

Historical Hardangersøm

The history of Hardanger is unclear, but it is likely that it was
originally created as a “homemade” version of the
needlelaces that were popular in the 1600s and 1700s in
Europe.

Early Hardangersøm was often worked in horizontal bands
in pieces such as aprons and ecclesiastical linen. It had
cutwork in simple shapes such as diamonds and triangles.
These were edged with satin stitch (klosters). They also
used cable stitch, often as a pulled thread stitch. There was
additional satin stitch to decorate, and eyelets (though not in
the centre of kloster block clusters). Along the edges of the
band was usually a section of needleweaving (a long drawn
thread section with hemstitched edges with threads woven
back together in patterns). The entire design usually had
four-sided stitch worked as a pulled thread stitch along the
tops and bottoms of these bands. Examples of work such
as this can be seen at Vesterheim Norwegian American
museum in Decorah, Iowa, and in a Norwegian book
entitled “Hardangersaum” by Gudrun Stuland, (Oslo:
Fabritius & Sonners Forlag, 1960).

Within the parameters described above, there was a large
amount of room for creativity in design. The designs are
hugely varied, and very beautiful. The filling stitches used in
the cutwork needleweaving were very simple - often just
plain woven bars, sometimes with knotted picots, or
diagonal twisted bars.

What has changed in contemporary Hardanger?

The buttonhole edge so common in contemporary
Hardanger did not develop until much later, and it is one of
the main things that has changed hardanger designing.
According to information collected by Lucy Lyons Willis, early
Hardangersøm stitchers never used a stitch like this
because it would have used up too much precious thread.
The buttonhole edge has meant that now Hardanger pieces
can be pretty much any shape you care to have! This is a
large difference from the original bands.

Colour of both thread and fabric is also a major difference
between old and contemporary Hardanger. Historical
Hardanger embroidery was traditionally a whitework
embroidery - using white thread on white fabric.
Contemporary designs sometimes use fabric which is
coloured or thread which is coloured. Often they incorporate
metallic threads, overdyed threads, and beading. The
palette of colours is limited only by one’s imagination and
the threads and fabric available. Contemporary Hardanger
sometimes is worked in combination with other techniques
such as cross stitch.

Contemporary Hardanger embroidery is often less intricate
than older pieces, but is used for a much wider range of
applications. Ornaments, cushions, tablecloths,
bookmarks, framed pieces, needlebooks and doilies are all
common applications for contemporary Hardanger.

Learning Hardanger embroidery

The best way to start learning Hardanger embroidery is by
enrolling in a class at a local shop, community college, or
embroiderers’ guild, or by using a step-by-step instruction
book such as “Hardanger Basics and Beyond” by Janice
Love, or “Elegant Hardanger Embroidery” by Yvette Stanton.
There are also basic instructions to be found at some
Hardanger focussed websites.

Hardanger is a great way to move further into embroidery,
such as from an introduction of cross stitch, which is where
many people first encounter the wonderful world of
embroidery. With its elegant cutwork designs, Hardanger is
a beautiful style of embroidery for stitchers to explore. Why
not try it today?

Yvette Stanton

http://www.hardanger.how.to

Author of “Elegant Hardanger Embroidery” and
“Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature”

Yvette Stanton is passionate about historical styles of
embroidery, particularly whitework. She enjoys doing
embroidery, learning about embroidery, teaching
embroidery and writing about embroidery. Hardanger has
always been a particular favourite. To learn more about
Yvette’s books, designs, classes, products and her
embroidery tips, sign up for her newsletter “NeedleNews” at
her website.