Scrapbooking: Produce Original Gifts Easily!

By: Dana Goldberg

Scrapbooking, like homemade card making, is becoming an increasingly popular pastime. Many people have turned their hobby into a business as well as providing fantastic gifts for the family and friends. If you are thinking of taking up scrapbooking either as a hobby or a potential business then you should first learn the basics. Basic scrapbooking kits are available that are inexpensive and contain all the necessary, albeit slightly basic, equipment you will initially require.

Scrapbooking kits will usually include a number of designs for you try out as well as the equipment you need to do them. In some cases, this equipment can be specialized and may only be used once but in other cases you may be able to use it again and again for future scrapbooking projects. However, as you progress and gain more confidence as wall as ability it is usual to progress into creating your own unique designs and ideas.

If you are creating scrapbooks to hand out as gifts on birthdays or other events then personalizing them is absolutely essential. Many people use scrapbooking to create a sort of diary of a particular day and in the case of a birthday you could scrapbook the events that occurred on the day the recipient was born. Alternatively, for anniversaries or weddings you could put together a scrapbook that looks at the couple’s lives together. 

Whatever theme or personal touch you choose for a scrapbook you should easily be able to produce original gifts that your family members of your loved ones will cherish. As you get better and you have more experience you will undoubtedly introduce new techniques to your creation and you may develop your own style. There are online classes as well as instructional books that will help you with your chosen hobby.
Article Source: http://www.superarchives.com/

Add comment March 12th, 2006

History of Candle Making

By CoffeeMan

Who invented the candle?
Candles were invented independently in many countries. The Egyptians and Cretans made candles from beeswax, about 3000 BC. In the fourth century BC there were clay candle holders in Egypt. Qui Shi Huang (259 - 210 BC) was the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC). His mausoleum was rediscovered in the 1990s 22 miles east of Xi’an in China and contained candles made from whale fat. In early China and Japan tapers were made with wax from insects and seeds, wrapped in paper. Wax from boiling cinnamon was used for temple candles in India. There is a fish called the “smelt” or candlefish, found from Oregon to Alaska. During the first century AD native Americans used oil from this fish. They put it on a forked stick then lit it. Excavations at Pompeii discovered several candelabra.

The Latin word “candere” means to flicker. Yak butter was used for candles in Tibet. In Europe the earliest surviving candle was discovered near Avignon in France, from the first century AD. In 848 King Alfred used a candle-clock which burned for 4 hours. There were lines around the side to show the passing of each hour. Later, there were 24-hour candles. The Sung dynasty in China (960 - 1279) also used candle-clocks. By the 18th century, the Chinese put weights into the sides. As the candle melted, the weights fell off and made a noise as they fell into a bowl. A form of candle-clock was used in coal-mining until the twentieth century. The novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand contains a scene in chapter VII, where there is a painting showing “the twenty men who invented the candle”. This can only be fanciful.

The Middle Ages
During the middle ages, the popularity of candles is shown by their use in Candlemas and on Saint Lucy festivities. Tallow, fat from cows or sheep, became the standard material used in candles in Europe. The Tallow Chandlers Company of London was formed in about 1300 in London, and in 1456 was granted a coat of arms. By 1415 tallow candles were used in street lighting. The trade of the chandler is also recorded by the more picturesque name of “smeremongere”, since they oversaw the manufacture of sauces, vinegar, soap and cheese. The unpleasant smell of tallow candles is due to the glycerine in it. For churches and royal events, candles from beeswax were used, as the smell was usually less unpleasant. Dating from about 1330, the Wax Chandlers Company acquired its charter in 1484. The first candle mould comes from 15th century Paris. The smell of the manufacturing process was so unpleasant that it was banned by ordnance in several cities. The first American colonists discovered that bayberries could be used to make candles, but the yield was very poor. 15 lbs of boiled bayberries would provide only 1 lb of wax.

 
New types of oil
Spermaceti is oil that comes from the sperm whale. From about 1750 it was used to provide very expensive candles. By 1800 a much cheaper alternative was discovered. Brassica campestris is derived from rape seed. It yields colza oil. This was the best candle yet, producing clear smokeless flames. The French chemists Michel-Eugene Chevreul (1786 - 1899) and Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac (1788 - 1850) patented stearin, in 1811. Like tallow, this was derived from animals, but had no glycerine content. Joseph Sampson had the second patent ever granted in the United States. It was for a new method of candle-making in 1790. In 1806 William Colgate (1783 - 1857) (later famous for his “Soap and Perfumery Works”) established a tallow factory in New York. By 1847 he had switched to making soap. There seems to be an ethical component of many nineteenth-century soap and candle manufacturers, as Colgate became involved with Bible Societies. James Wilson of Price’s Candles were also concerned about promoting Christianity, and abolishing slavery. Following the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, there were celebration dances across Europe. It is sometimes said that more candles were burned in 1815 than in any year before or since. In 1834 Joseph Morgan began to industrialise the production of candles. He invented a machine to manufacture 1,500 per hour, from a mould.
Paraffin and palm oil

Paraffin is a waxy hydrocarbon, without any smell. A chemist called Laurent distilled it from schist in 1830, and another chemist Dumas, obtained it from coal-tar in 1835. Not until 1850 did it become commercially viable, when James Young filed a patent to produce it from coal. This was a major blow to the candle industry. From this point, candles became more of a decorative item. In 1829 William Wilson of Price’s Candles invested in 1,000 acres of coconut plantation in Sri Lanka. His aim was to make candles from coconut oil. Later he tried palm oil from palm trees, but an accidental discovery swept all this aside. His brother George Wilson distilled the first petroleum oil in Burma in 1854. By 1922 Lever Brothers had bought Prices Candles and in 1922 a joint-owned company called “Candles Ltd” was created. The three owners are today better known as Shell Oil Company, BP and Burmah Oil. By 1991, the last remaining owner of “Candles Ltd” was Shell, who sold off the candle-making part of business.

The oldest candle manufacturers still in existence are Rathbornes Candles, founded in Dublin in 1488.

Article Source: http://www.superarchives.com

Add comment March 12th, 2006

Ceramic Mural Tile: Take A Closer Look

by Carlo Morelli
From its beginnings in 13th century Morocco, ceramic mural tile has been a staple in American design and décor. Although ceramic tile making was a craft known to the Egyptian, Chinese, and Babylonian ancients, the methods of its creation that we employ today stem directly from those early Moroccan artisans of ceramic mural tile.

Although ceramic mural tile goes through phases of popularity, its appeal reached an apex during the Arts & Crafts movement, which endured until the 1920s. Because of the current resurgence of interest in the Arts & Crafts period, ceramic mural tile has once again experienced a surge in status among designers, decorators, and, of course, ceramic mural tile artisans.

Learning the craft of making ceramic mural tile takes more than an inherent artistic talent. It also entails becoming educated about such things as different clays, paints, firing techniques, kilns and other firing equipment, and a host of minute details only someone truly committed to the task would undergo. Most serious ceramic tile artisans spend a lifetime not only fine-tuning their craft, but constantly searching for means and methods of improving their techniques and learning about the latest and best processes necessary for creating quality ceramic mural tile for their patrons.

An awareness of the length of time and the commitment necessary to learn the techniques of creating high-quality ceramic mural tile makes it easier to understand the sometimes eyebrow-raising prices these artisans require. Most of them with reputations for superior work ask for - and get - sixty dollars or more per hour to create custom ceramic mural tile offerings for customers with specialized requests.

So the next time you see a gorgeous, hand painted ceramic mural tile example, keep some things in mind. When one considers the history of the craft, the hours and hours spent learning and perfecting it, and then the actual creation of ceramic mural tile, the price suddenly comes into perspective. You may even come to think of that painstakingly rendered ceramic mural tile you have hanging in your home for just what it is - almost priceless!
About the Author
Carlo Morelli writes for onlinetips.org, where you can read tips on how to seal tile grout and ceramic tile removal

Add comment March 12th, 2006

Selling Your Woodworking Art

Selling Your Woodworking Art
By Jerry Mifflin

Our challenge as craftsmen and intarsia artists is to discover our markets. You need to know your market, who is your customer? Are you selling a product to local or global customers.

If you’re selling to local customers say out of a storefront, you must know if you are in the right market and selling at the right price for this local customer. If you’re not showing the right product to the right customer base, chances are there will not be any sales, are at least very few.

It only makes sense that If your selling a product that is not of use to the customer and its not something that they see they want or need, you had better find either different markets or a different product to sell from your store.

I use to have a shop that sold simple crafts like little animal yard and driveway signs. I sold lots of country style decorative items for the interiors of their homes. These items sold well because I was living in a rural area where my customers had big yards and long driveways. These people loved the country style of decorating. They loved the crafts I was making for them. I had other craftsmen producing items for me to sell for them. I was producing and selling to my market base.

If I was trying to sell the country style signs or plaques where I am living now, in the city, I would not do so well. For my customer base is not the same. Their yards are different, their driveway is short and their interior decorating may not be the same kind of “country style.” So for this new customer base you have to change your product line.

Does your product fit into the decorating scheme of most of your customers, if not very few are going to buy. You must be certain that your craft fits with your prospects or your business will fail. You must take the time to study this. Find the proper market place.

Crafts people are used in having friends and loved ones telling them how cool and how beautiful there craft is, this is encouraging. The problem is that it’s not realistic. You need to get input and about your product from a source that will give you a helpful honest response about your product.

When your customers come into your shop and say how much they like what you’re doing but walk out without buying anything you have to ask yourself, what’s wrong?

Are you in the right market for the craft you sell?

If your craft fits your customer, how is your price? The price you sell your product for may need to be adjusted up or down.

For the price setting you need to look at your competition. At what price are they selling a comparable product. Ask yourself can I make a profit selling my product at that price. Can I sell my product and get a higher price? What can I do to make my product worth more money?

I now sell art, “intarsia woodworking art” that is higher priced, which means for the customer to let go of the money, she will have to really love your product.

Crafts, can be a tough market. I am a cabinetmaker, caught up in the world of art. I love to add artistic designs to cabinet doors to make them stand out from what other people build. The cabinets add atmosphere to a room by giving the room character and there by adding value.

I have managed to sell a lot of my work over the years. My prices are usually from about $200 to $15,000 depending on the work involved. As I said before, some time ago I had a craft shop in a small town. I built every wood craft I could think of to build and it was fun, but not really much money.

The money only comes after you learn the business end of the craft market. As a cabinetmaker I have learned the hard way that you must get paid for the hours that you work, even when you love the work. 

How much should I charge for my work?

It’s basically the same for most businesses, how much do you want to pay yourself per hour. Just add to that a percentage for overhead plus a percentage for profit and add material cost. That gives you a charging rate for all of your products. You must add the profit, that gives you the money to grow, like buying more tools. My charging rate depends on if it’s commercial or residential, $45-$85 per hour depending on how custom the work is. In my old “craft shop” my charging rate, at that time, was $35 hour, the price fit the product and the overhead.

If you can sell your craft as “ART” it will increase the amount you can charge for your product. Perceived value! Do you have awards! Do you have newspaper and magazine articles about you! Do you have references? Have you developed a recognizable name for your market? If not, you need to work towards these things. All of this adds to the perceived value of your craft.

Intarsia woodworking is my craft, my art. It’s the work I look forward to doing. Find the craft you love to make, find the correct customer base, set a reasonable price for your work and your on your way to a successful satisfying life.

Jerry Mifflin creates many works of Intarsia Art and gives away patterns of his work for other crafters to use. Articles and information on how to build intarsia are on his website, http://www.intarsia.us/ , specializing in that woodworking art and business. For patterns and a how to do intarsia art e-book go to http://www.freeintarsiapatterns.com/ to get yours.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jerry_Mifflin

Add comment March 12th, 2006

Tips For Wedding Scrapbooking

Tips For Wedding Scrapbooking by Dana Goldberg

Your wedding is meant to be one of the most memorable days of your life and wedding scrapbooking is a unique way of capturing those memories. The beauty of wedding scrapbooking is that there is such a wide choice of embellishments and other items that you can use to enhance your scrapbooking project. However, it is also worth considering all of the other bits and pieces that can be used from the big day itself. A wedding invitation, preserved flower from the bride’s bouquet and groom’s buttonhole are just some of the ideas that you can include in your wedding scrapbooking album. Instead of having a keepsake box with these items all mixed up and probably getting damaged they make a wonderful addition to the scrapbooking album and will be preserved for years to come.

Digital cameras are so popular now and this makes a wedding scrapbooking project easier, and harder! If you send out a request for all wedding guests to send you their photographs you may well be inundated with pictures to sift through for your wedding scrapbooking album but at least you will have plenty of choice. The solution for most wedding scrapbooking pages is to keep them as clutter-free as possible. The idea is to have only the key elements in the journaling to enable viewers to simply enjoy the atmosphere of the wedding scrapbooking pictures. A picture of the newlyweds need only have a few words with their names, date, and location of wedding stated on the main wedding scrapbooking page. It is easy to be overenthusiastic and purchase every wedding scrapbooking related embellishment that is available but this will only create a confusion of unnecessary items and detract from the beauty of the moment and possibly ruin your wedding scrapbooking album.

The reception is going to be the major source of pictures for the wedding scrapbooking pages and you need to be careful exactly how people are portrayed. It is worth having a lot of pictures from early on to choose from. Other aspects that can be included in the wedding scrapbooking project are a copy of the father of the bride’s speech, the cover design from the couple’s first dance song or anything else that you fancy.

The beauty of modern wedding scrapbooking is that you can alter pictures if necessary using computer software. Obviously you can crop pictures to suit but you can also change the background if it was a particularly grey day outside or remove red-eye from indoor shots to ensure that your wedding scrapbooking photographs are enhanced to their best possible extent.

Dana Goldberg is the owner of Scrapbooking Tips. Learn scrapbook making online and get many free scrapbooking ideas and scrapbooking tips with. A free informational site which presents tips layout examples, and topic articles.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

Add comment March 12th, 2006

Get Some Help Finding Good Easter Craft Ideas

Get Some Help Finding Good Easter Craft Ideas by Gray Rollins

Coming up with Easter craft ideas on your own is too hard. That is why you can start searching online for these kinds of ideas. The internet is the perfect place to find as many Easter crafts as you will have time to make.

Some of the best Easter craft ideas use eggs. There are so many ways to decorate eggs for Easter and with a little imagination you can make all kinds of creatures and fun characters.

Here are some great ideas that you can use this Easter to make your holiday more fun for the entire family:

Mouse egg
This little guy is one of the cutest of all egg creatures that you can make for fun with your kids. You can turn any egg into a mouse in just a few minutes. All you need is some pipe cleaners and paper.

Simply dye your egg any color you want and let it dry. Once that is done you can make a little pipe cleaner stand with legs for the egg to stand in. This makes the lower body of the mouse.

Then add a long pipe cleaner tail, a puff ball nose and some cute little paper ears and voila! A mouse egg is born.

Easter wreath
These are gorgeous and fun. You can make new ones each year new or you can simply keep them from year to year. Keeping the wreaths from year to year is fun because kids love to see their past art projects. It is thoroughly thrilling to them. http://www.youreaster.com/easterwreath/

Just get some paper plates and cut out the center. Then paste the two leftover rings together. It does not even matter which way you paste them.

Then make some paper flowers or bunnies or some cute little pipe cleaner flowers and stick them on.

If you can get some of the artificial grass that is used in Easter baskets it makes a great base for the wreath. If you attach this grass to the entire wreath it makes for the perfect background to the flowers and bunnies.

Making Easter crafts is a blast and you will find that you are having as much fun as the kids! If you are looking for the perfect way to make this Easter holiday special then you have found it with Easter crafts.

Gray Rollins is a featured writer YourEaster.com. For more Easter craft ideas and Easter gift baskets, visit our site.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

Add comment March 12th, 2006

Why Buy Handmade Soap

Why Buy Handmade Soap by Jeffrey Dorrian

More and more people are choosing to purchase handmade soap. In the beginning, people turned toward these products because they were crafty, unique and smelled good. What they did not realize is that handmade soap is also very good for your skin.

Handmade soap is made with natural ingredients that actually help to replenish the skin and add moisture where other conventional soaps, such as some commercial brands, may have stripped. The harsh ingredients found in many commercial brands can actually dry out the skin, which takes away it’s natural moisture and may lead to damage. Handmade soap, on the other hand, contains natural ingredients that are healthy for the skin and are less likely to cause irritation. In fact, many users have found that handmade soap is especially beneficial to individuals with otherwise sensitive skin.

Because each bar of handmade soap is carefully crafted, the quality of each bar is never compromised. Unlike machine made brands, handmade soap is made with pride and craftsmanship. It takes a creative mind to produce the various combinations, scents and shapes of handmade soap. Easily found at craft fairs, specialty stores and online, handmade soap is more than a cleansing product - it is an art and the people who create each bar are artists in their own right.

During the winter months especially, many people suffer from dry and cracked skin. It’s uncomfortable, embarrassing and can make even the simplest motion of bending a finger a painful occurrence. While not designed to specifically cure chapped skin, handmade soap does help to add moisture and rejuvenate the natural texture of the surface. When skin becomes chapped, it is because the moisture is stripped away during cold weather, elevated heat temperatures inside the home and lack of moisture in the air. Many people buy handmade soap because it helps to prevent dry, itchy skin. One of the main ingredients, which is known as aloe, is derived from the inner part of an aloe leaf and is commonly used to treat burns, rashes and insect bites. Aloe actually helps to heal wounds, which is why it is so beneficial to individuals with dry or irritated skin.

People buy handmade soap for a variety of reasons. Many for it’s beauty and for a nice bathroom decor. Some purchase it as a focal point, but never actually use it because they don’t want to disturb it’s appearance. Others purchase handmade soap for it’s many benefits to the skin and for the fact that it’s natural ingredients lend a hand to those with allergies to commercial brands. Whatever the reason, handmade soap is very popular and often finds its way into the home of anyone who wants to treat their skin to the luxurious treatment that it deserves.

Jeffrey Dorrian is the soap guy. Really, that is his website www.thesoapguy.com. He has been making premium olive oil soap for the past five years. “Handmade soap is a true inexpensive luxury anyone can enjoy.” wholesale soap

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

Add comment March 12th, 2006