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August 10, 2011

Famous British Caricaturists – Part Two

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: affiliate marketing, art, birthday, caricatures, cartoons, Christmas, crafts, cricket, gifts, hobbies, other, painting, recreation, sport, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 10:39 am

This list includes both British born artists and those who were born elsewhere but did most of their most important creations in the U.K. The selection is listed in chronological order by date of birth.

Max Beerbohm ( 1872 ? 1956 )

Sir Henry Maximilian “Max” Beerbohm was born in London, son of a well-to-do Lithuanian-born grain merchant. His family gave him he nick-name of Max and that is what he signed himself in his work and was known as for the rest of his life.

Beerbohm was educated at Charterhouse School and Merton College, Oxford but finished without taking a degree as he was already well recognized as a caricaturist and humourist.

He had an incapacity to draw hands and feet but was very good at heads and his dandified figures with inflated heads quickly became his trade-mark. The Times newspaper in 1913 described him as ?the greatest of English comic artists and he was variously hailed as ?the English Goya? and “the greatest portrayer of personalities in the history of art?

Henry Bateman (1887 – 1970)

Bateman was born in New South Wales, Australia of English parents who came back to England soon after he was born. He studied art at Westminster School of Art and the Goldsmith Institute.

His style matured early in life and by the age of 17 it was already established. He achieved a deal with Tatler magazine but is best well-known for his ?The Man Who??.? series of cartoons. These showed hapless people who had committed mostly upper class social faux pas. ?The Man Who lit his Cigar before the Loyal Toast? is a prime example.

Sir David Low (1891 – 1963)

Sir David Alexander Cecil Low was born in New Zealand and taught at Dunedin and Christchurch. He started his professional career in New Zealand and in fact his first effort was published whilst he was just 11 years of age.

He later moved to Australia and subsequently to England and by 1927 was working for The Evening Standard. He is best well-known for his caricatures depicting Hitler and Mussolini both before and during World War II. In fact, generations of New Zealand school children learned about the origins of the Second World War using textbooks illustrated by Low.

He was particularly hated by Hitler and after the war it was discovered that his name was in the ?Black Book? which listed those who the Nazis wished to arrest when they had occupied Britain.

Low was knighted in 1962, a year before his death. His obituary spoke of him as “the leading cartoonist of the western world”

Ronald Searle (b. 1920)

Ronald William Fordham Searle was born in Cambridge and began drawing at the prodigiously early age of five and was working professionally by the age of 15. The War interrupted his art studies and he enlisted in the Royal Engineers .

He was serving in Singapore when he was captured by the Japanese. He was a prisoner of war for the rest of the war eventually working on the notorious Siam-Burma ?Death Railway?. He created, in secret, many drawings depicting conditions in the camps which survived detection by being hidden under the mattresses of dying prisoners.

He returned to England at the end of the war and produced a prodigious volume of work in the 1950?s and 60?s. However he is best known as the creator of ?St Trinians School?.

Gerald Scarfe (b. 1936)

Gerald Anthony Scarfe was born in London and as a child was severely asthmatic. During his early bed-ridden years he busied himself by drawing. He began his working life in advertising but by the early 60?s his caricatures were appearing in ?Private Eye? and this led to a job with the ?Daily Mail?.

But it was his work with the British rock group Pink Floyd for which he is best known especially the illustration for the cover of their 1979 album ?The Wall?.

Searle also provided the caricatures for the opening and closing sequences of the well-liked BBC comedy ?Yes Minister? and in 1998 he drew caricatures of Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecombe, Joyce Grenfell, Les Dawson and Peter Cook which featured on a set of five British postage stamps commemorating British comedians.

If you want one of our unique, hand-painted, custom cartoons or caricatures from photos supplied by you please click on one of these links History Of Rugby. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Custom Cartoons.

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July 1, 2011

Ideas For Baby Showers

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: baby shower, bedding, beds, birthday, family, gifts, handicrafts, hobbies, knitting, other, party, recreation, shower, tradition, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 12:39 pm

Baby showers are well-liked events, particularly in America. A baby shower is usually given or hosted by a friend of the expectant mother, mostly before the birth but occasionally after it as well. The point of the baby shower is to collect presents for the child and its parents, which is why family of the mother find it awkward to organize the baby shower themselves – it seems too much like begging.

If you can get a friend to organize a baby shower for you or if someone offers to do it, the invitations ought to be sent out a month or two before the birth day, so that the mother is not in too much uneasiness and is not likely to have the baby during the party.

It is nice to have handmade baby shower invitations. There are two ways that you can do this: either design the invitation card yourself and have it printed out or choose a template at the printers. Both approaches give acceptable results.

If you have the invitations printed to a standard size, you can purchase cheap envelopes at a budget stationery office, but if you go for some weird size, ask the printer to provide the envelopes too.

Standard details like the date, the time, the venue, your name and the baby’s name can all be printed but you will have to write or type the recipient’s name in personally. Add your phone number too so that people can ask questions if they have any. If you would like the party (and the presents) to have a theme, you ought to state that on the invitation. Perhaps the card could be in the same theme too.

In fact, if you would like to go down that path, you could download a suitable image off the Internet, say, a scene from Peter Rabbit, and give that to the printer so that they can print that onto your card.

People are very busy these days, so make sure you give your friends at least a month to book you in and get a fitting present for the shower. If you would like to be fairly sure how many people are coming, enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard in with the invitation, so that they can let you know easily.

If you are searching for items to do during the party, you could get the guests to suggest names for your baby and guess the sex or weight of it too. You could use a cross on a chain as a pendant to see if it the movement predicts a boy or girl and how many people get the same movement. You could also discuss themes for the child’s nursery when it is born, one for if it is a boy and one for if it is a boy.

Owen Jones, the writer of that article, writes on a number of subjects, but is now concerned with the satin baby blankets. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Woollen Blankets.

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June 20, 2011

Making Beautiful Traditional Quilts

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: baby shower, bedding, birthday, family, gifts, handicrafts, hobbies, knitting, other, party, quilts, recreation, shower, tradition, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 4:34 pm

One of the fantastic things about sewing quilts is the tradition behind quilt making and the usefulness of the final product. It is really nice to have a hobby that can improve your life by either being functional or by being saleable.

One of the other good things about quilt making is that it is so flexible. If there is more than one way to skin a cat, there are thousands of ways of sewing a quilt.

Patch work quilts are one of the most gorgeous and traditional quilts to use to keep you warm at night. They are also one of the cheapest ways of making a quilt, but they are not the easiest of quilts to begin with. Matching all the squares in a patch work quilt is not quite as easy as it seems. The easiest way to begin is to buy two big squares of fabric that you like.

However, there is a great tradition in Europe and America of sewing patch work quilts. The craft of doing this has even become a social gathering in the United States. If you would like to get started sewing patch work quilts, you could join a group if you live in America or you could join an Internet group that specializes in making quilts. Do a search on line and you will find what you are searching for.

There is such a lot of choice if you would like to make a quilt. For example, you could create the top of the quilt either totally smooth or totally fluffy or totally smooth or a mixture of all or some of them. Then you can have the underside as a extraordinary cloth as well or you could simply use a sheet or preferably something a bit more rugged.

If you are thoroughly intimidated by the idea of making a full-size quilt, you could try making a quilt for a baby. Okay, you might not have a baby and you may certainly not be planning having one, but you could make one for the practice and hold onto it to give to a special person in your life who is having a baby or only sell it through a local shop or even eBay.

Once you are confident about constructing and selling quilts for babies’ cots or toddlers’ beds, you could upgrade them a bit and offer to embroider your name and the baby’s name on the quilt. Later still, you could accept orders for custom quilts, manufactured to the requirements of the orderer.

Constructing quilts, particularly babies’ quilts is a decent way of earning money from home for people who cannot leave home a lot. People such as work at home mothers and fathers, the elderly and the poor in health.

Owen Jones, the author of that piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now concerned with the chenille throw blankets. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Woollen Blankets.

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June 3, 2011

Young Girls And Their Dolls’ Prams

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: children, Christmas, dolls, family, gifts, girls, happiness, holidays, other, parenting, products, recreation, sales, toys, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 2:02 pm

Do you have a young girl in your life? Say a young daughter or a young niece? If she is between about five and ten years of age? If you are wondering what you can buy a little girl of this age as a gift, then perhaps I can help you out with a couple of tips

Does she love playing with dolls? Then I am willing to bet that she would like a doll’s pram. Young girls like to copy their mums and the mothers that they see on the street. They like to walk with their friends, pushing their dolls in their prams around the garden.

Some people say that this is a bad thing to encourage, but despite attempting to discourage parents from purchasing conventional toys for boys and, especially, girls for thirty or forty years, young girls still like to play with dolls and doll’s prams, Wendy Houses and toy tea sets..

Those young girls from the Seventies and Eighties are now in their thirties and forties, lots of them are feminists too, so the experience of playing with dolls and dolls’ prams and other customary girls’ toys does not appear to have done them any harm.

In fact, I think that it is far healthier for girls to play with dolls than it is for boys to play at being soldiers or cowboys brandishing toy guns, although even that almost certainly does not do any harm. Boys have probably been playing with toy guns, toy bows and arrows or even toy spears for thousands of years.

And I venture to say that young girls have been playing with dolls and giving them tea parties for just as long as well. When I was in infants’ school fifty years ago, our class had a Wendy House and girls and boys played in there together, although it was more for the girls – I do remember thinking that.

Traditional girls’ gifts like dolls, dolls’ prams, Wendy Houses and toy tea sets type of went out of fashion in the West in the last twenty-five years of the Twentieth Century, but they are back again now. These traditional girls’ toys can get seen in all the toys catalogues and toy shops such as Toys R Us.

They seem to be a great deal cheaper now than they used to be too, unless you want a dolls’ pram from one of the traditional pram manufacturers like Silver Cross. Silver Cross dolls’ prams are beautifully made displaying all the attention to detail and quality that they put into their full-size prams, which were ‘By Appointment to His and Her Royal Highnesses’ the kings and queens of the United Kingdom from about the mid 1930′s to the mid-1980′s. Who knows, perhaps they will become appointed again whilst the next royal baby arrives..

At the moment Silver Cross, which has outlets all more than the world and on the Net, is also giving away a classic rag doll with each buy of one of their prams.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now involved with Silver Cross Dolls Prams. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Doll Prams.

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June 2, 2011

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: charity, children, Christmas, family, fundraising, gifts, happiness, marines, military, other, parenting, poverty, recreation, toys, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 4:53 pm

The U. S. Marine Corps Reserve has a sixty odd year old program to collect toys for tots from needy families both in the United States and in other countries. The goal is to collect new unwrapped toys during October, November and December every year and then give those toys out as Christmas presents to disadvantaged children in the community in which the campaign is being conducted.

Their objective is to bring a message of hope to disadvantaged children in order to encourage them to become ‘responsible, productive, patriotic citizens’ in the words of their web site.

One of the foremost aims of Toys for Tots is to unite the communities where U.S Marine Reserve units are stationed for the three months of October, November and December every year in the gathering and distribution of new toys to children from less well-off families in order to help them experience the joys of Christmas.

One of the hopes is that the recollection of receiving these presents every year will encourage the kids to appreciate the communities where they live and take an dynamic part in those communities when they get older.

Communities where there is no unit of U.S. marine Corps Reserves can also take part in the program but they should first register for authorization. These non-Marine organizations will usually, but not always, be ex-Marines.

These groups organize fund-raising events throughout the year in order to finance the acquisition of new toys since donations of new toys do not always meet the organizations’ needs. These fund-raising events can include sports days, golfing tournaments, bicycle races, swimming tournaments et cetera.

Toys for Tots began in 1947 when Major Bill Hendricks, USCR and a group of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys for needy children in the local area.

The original concept sprang from Major Hendrick’s wife, Diane, who had made a doll for a deprived child. She gave it to her husband to give to a suitable charity. When he could not find one, she suggested that he start one himself, so he did just that.

The following year Marine Corps Reserve units across the country adopted the plan and it has been actively providing toys to disadvantaged tots ever since. Walt Disney got involved from the very beginning by designing the logo that the Marine Reserve charity still makes use of today.

Other celebrities to become involved in the early days were Nat ‘King’ Cole, Peggy Lee and Vic Damone, who recorded the Toys for Tots theme, which was written especially for the charity by Sammy Fain and Paul Webster.

Numerous celebrities have been played a part during the years. People like Bob Hope, John Wayne, Doris Day, Lorrie Morgan, Tim Allen, Kenny Rogers and Billy Ray Cyrus. First Lady Nancy Reagan acted as the national Spokesperson in 1983 and First Lady Barbara Bush served as the national Spokesperson in 1992. She wrote in her autobiography tenderly of her involvement with Toys for Tots and called it one of her favourite charities.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several subjects, but is now concerned with Silver Cross Rocking Horses. If you want to know more, please visit our web site at Rocking Horses for sale.

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May 14, 2011

Hand-Knitted Baby Blankets

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: baby, bedding, beds, birthday, family, gifts, handicrafts, hobbies, knitting, other, party, recreation, shower, tradition, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 3:28 pm

What can you give the parents of a new-born baby who have everything? Parents who have already had a baby or two will already have objects like a crib, baby’s clothes, a pram and most other items, but the one gift that is always appreciated is a personalized or handmade knitted blanket. Home knitted baby blankets are much better than shop-purchased baby blankets and can either be passed down or kept to give to the baby twenty years later as an heirloom.

Up until fifty years ago, many people, such as aunts and grandmothers knitted and it was fairly common to see hand-knitted baby blankets. This all but died out in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, but handcrafts have seen a resurgence in the new millennium. This has to be a positive sign. Coupled with this is the fact that contemporary wools, yarns and other fibres are more sturdy and safer than ever before.

That means that a hand-knitted baby blanket is a better gift than ever before. There are dozens of colours and textures which makes it easy for the knitter to match any theme that the parents may have decided on for the baby’s nursery.

A hand-knitted quilt or blanket is a very extraordinary gift which can either be passed down to the next baby or can be put away to be a present for the ‘baby’ at a later date, in the same way that a bride may put away her bridal gown for her daughter if she ever has one.

While you are deciding on a design for your baby blanket, you should make safety your prime consideration. That should include thought for the size or the blanket. The blanket has to fit the cot exactly so that there are no dangerous folds or gaps. The weave ought to also be tight enough so that small fingers and toes cannot get caught up in them.

It is not a good idea to have beads sewn into the blanket either. That is because babies soon start teething and you do not want your baby to bite off a couple of beads and choke on them. Traditionally, parents used blue colours for a boy baby and pink for a girl and although that distinction blurred for a few decades it is being respected again so you will have to find out the sex of the baby – subtly if the knitted blanket is going to be a surprise gift.

There is no parent in the world that would not treasure a hand-knitted blanket or quilt for their new baby. It is a very extraordinary present that really will be considered as an heirloom to be passed down through the family or kept as a very extraordinary twenty-first birthday present. Embroider your name in a corner so that the person you gifted it to will always remember you as well.

Owen Jones, the author of that piece, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now concerned with the Handmade Baby Blanket. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Woollen Blankets.

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May 9, 2011

Kids’ Rocking Chairs

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: chairs, children, Christmas, family, furniture, gifts, other, parenting, recreation, rocking chairs, rocking horse, toys, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 7:51 am

Comfort is very necessary to people, especially to children. I do not mean comfort as derived from a soft cushion or a warm, dry bed, I mean comfort as in security. It is the feeling that cats and children get from sitting in a box rather than playing with the gift that came in that box.

Or the comfort that some children derive from having their own special blanket, which is actually called a comforter by the majority of Americans. It is the sort of comfort that all babies and all children get from rocking

Babies almost certainly like being rocked because that was the sensation that they felt whilst mum was walking about when they were still unborn. It is what mothers instinctively do when a child indicates its discomfort by crying and it is to be seen in many disturbed adults as well.

They rock back and fore in an unconscious mimicry of the feeling of comfort and security that they experienced before they were born. Children derive comfort from any number of items. Some are commonplace others are peculiar, but two of the most well-liked toys for children are rocking horses and rocking chairs.

In fact, the desire to sit in a rocking chair or swinging chair never leaves most individuals until their dying day. We seem to get a lot of pleasure from rocking our whole lives long.

Rocking horses and rocking chairs have different functions of course. Rocking horses are for playing on and rocking chairs are for thinking and napping in. A rocking chair is a good idea for a child because it can learn to gain solace for itself by sitting in its rocking chair and feeling contentment without the help of an adult. It helps the child gain an independence, a certain form of maturity.

The only difficulty with children’s rocking chairs is that children grow up and grow out of them so quickly. If you plan to have a big family this is not a problem, but otherwise you could be left with quite a collection of children’s rocking chairs in the attic.

I say this because although you can sell one when you purchase a new one, people find this very difficult to do in practice. They simply can not bear to part with the old one.

You can purchase an over-sized child’s rocking chair so that you can get a few more years use out of it, but in that case it is worth obtaining one with a fixed cushion or sticking some Velcro to the seat and a cushion so that your child does not slide off it.

Be assured, you will never purchase an unwanted or unused gift for any child if you purchase for them a rocking horse, a rocking chair or a cardboard box.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on several topics, but is now concerned with Silver Cross Rocking Horses. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Rocking Horses for sale.

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May 7, 2011

Celebrated British Caricaturists – Part One

This list includes both British born artists and those who were born elsewhere but did the majority of their most important drawings in the U.K. The selection is listed in chronological order by date of birth.

William Hogarth (1697 ? 1764)

He was born in London and apprenticed to an engraver where he studied his trade. He became a painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist and has been accredited with pioneering sequential art or the cartoon strip.

His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures known as “contemporary moral subjects”. His most famous works are no doubt ? The Harlot?s Progress and ?The Rake?s Progress?.

Isaac Cruickshank ( 1756 – 1811)

Cruickshank was a Scottish painter and caricaturist who was born in Edinburgh. Cruikshank’s first known publications were etchings of Edinburgh “types”, from 1784.

His water colours were exhibited, but in order to make a living it was found that it was more profitable to produce prints and caricatures. He was responsible in part for creating the figure of John Bull, the nationalistic representation of a solid British yeoman.

Isaac Cruikshank was a contemporary of James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, and he was part of what has been known as “the Golden Age of British Caricature.

Thomas Rowlandson ( 1756 – 1827)

Thomas Rowlandson was an English painter and caricaturist. He was born in London and after he finished school he studied at the Royal Academy. He was considered a promising student and if he had sustained his early diligence he would have made his mark as an artist.

But he inherited ?7,000 from a French aunt and dived into the dissipations of the town (he was known to sit at the gambling-table for 36 hours at a stretch).

He soon squandered his inheritance but the comradeship and examples of James Gillray and Henry William Bunbury seem to have recommended caricature as a way of filling his stomach and purse.

He also created a collection of erotic prints and woodcuts, lots of which would these days be thought of as pornographic .

James Gillray (1757 – 1815)

James Gillray was a British caricaturist and printmaker who gained great fame for his etched political and social satires, mainly in print between 1792 and 1810.

Some of his best known caricatures were directed at the Royal Family and George III in particular. He is also accountable for probably the most famous political cartoon of all time.

It was entitled ?The Plum Pudding in Danger? . It was printed in 1805 and depicts Pitt and Napoleon carving up the plum pudding of Europe.

By 1811, madness, no doubt made worse by his excessive life-style, was overtaking him and he passed away in 1815.

George Cruickshank ( 1792 – 1878)

George Cruickshank was born in London, the son of the famous caricaturist Isaac Cruickshank and started his working career as apprentice to his father.

He later started out as a caricaturist in his own right and was even paid ?100 in return for a promise not to caricature George IV In later life he switched to book illustrating and illustrated ?Sketches by Boz? and ?Oliver Twist? for Charles Dickens.

After developing palsy he died in 1878. Punch in his obituary said ?There never was a purer, simpler, more straightforward or altogether more blameless man. His nature had something childlike in its transparency.”

If you want one of our unique, hand-made, custom cartoons or caricatures from photos supplied by you please click on one of these links History Of Rugby. If you would like to find out more, please go to our web site at Custom Cartoons.

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May 4, 2011

Crocheted Babies Blankets – The Perfect Gift For Babies

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: baby shower, bedding, birthday, chenille, family, gifts, handicrafts, hobbies, knitting, other, party, recreation, shower, tradition, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 10:18 am

Whether your friends, the parents-to-be, are going to be parents for the first time or the n-th time, it is a problem to know that what you are purchasing for the child is not going to be a duplicate. An added complication is that not all parents-to-be would like to know the sex of their new baby, so it is pretty hard to get a gift for the baby shower or Christening (or whatever) and still feel confident that it will be valued.

However, there are some gifts that are unlikely to be duplicated and without having to spend an total fortune, a crocheted baby’s blanket is one of them. If you have already acquired the skills to create a crocheted baby’s blanket, then all well and good, otherwise you have two alternatives: you can either learn and thus increase your number of skills or you can commission one.

Forty years ago and before, most women could knit and crochet and knew about yarns and threads and knitting needles. Unfortunately, the parents of the Seventies either did not learn these skills or did not pass them on in general, but knitting and crocheting are making quite a comeback now in the early Twenty-First Century. People are proud to own hand-manufactured items like crocheted baby’s blankets.

One of the benefits of using modern yarns and materials is that the dyes are likely to be less dangerous than before, but you will still have to buy them from trustworthy suppliers to be absolutely sure.

Another benefit of a handmade device like a crocheted baby’s blanket is that is likely to become a family heirloom. A handmade crocheted baby’s blanket is certain to be treasured because it was handmade and not shop-purchased. It is even better if the maker’s name and the baby’s name are embroidered on it as well.

If you are a novice to crocheting a baby’s blanket, there are a few things that you need to bear in mind with respect to the baby’s safety.

Firstly, select a tightly-knit pattern so that the baby’s fingers and toes cannot get snarled up in the blanket. Secondly, the cloth or yarn ought to be soft, colour-fast, non-toxic and machine washable. Babies’ blankets get dirty fairly often, so it certainly is a boon to have a baby’s blanket that is machine washable.

Thirdly, take the time to enquire of the parents-to-be if they have a colour scheme or theme in mind for the nursery. Fourthly, the blanket must be the correct size. If your crocheted baby’s blanket is to be used in a cot, then it must be the exact same size of the cot for safety reasons. If it is to be a general blanket, then you can make it larger so that it can be useful for longer.

Lastly, but not least crucial is to take into account that babies teethe, so do not integrate anything into your handmade crocheted baby’s blanket if there is a chance of the baby choking on it, beads are a definite no-no.

Owen Jones, the author of that article, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with the chenille throw blankets. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Woollen Blankets.

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May 3, 2011

The Baby Boomer Generation As Grandparents

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: bicycles, board games, children, Christmas, costumes, family, gifts, guns, happiness, other, parenting, recreation, toys, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 6:18 am

The children of the so-called Baby Boomer generation, those born in the twelve years or so after the Second World War, are now grandparents and one of the tasks of being a grandparent is to dote on one’s grandchildren. Baby boomers belong to the wealthiest generation that the West has ever seen and that is a good job, because all this doting is fairly costly.

Baby boomers were lucky because their parents outlived the worst war the world has ever seen and their parents knew unprecedented wealth as the world rebuilt itself after the devastation of the war. Needless to say a great deal of the wealth that baby boomers’ parents were earning was spent on their children, giving them what they had never had themselves.

This meant that a lot of baby boomers had way too much: rocking horses, dolls’ prams, toy forts, train sets, dolls’ houses, you name it. Nothing was too much for the generation of hope from the generation who had had nothing.

Now, fifty odd years later, those baby boomers are grandparents. But not only grandparents – the richest generation of grandparents that the world has ever seen and the way things are going, the wealthiest generation of grandparents that the world will see for a generation or two to come as the Western world struggles to pay off the huge amounts of debt that the banking crisis cost us.

However, money has a way of burning holes in pockets and grandparents like to dote and spoil their grand kids, so grandchildren, especially young grandchildren are being given the type of gifts by their grandparents that the grandparents enjoyed themselves: rocking horses, dolls’ prams, toy forts et cetera are seeing a come-back big time.

The generation in between missed out, in general, on these old fashioned toys, but look on Amazon or eBay and see what is most popular now – it is contemporary versions of the old stuff, traditional toys. One of the reasons why traditional toys are so popular is because they are timeless.

Yes, a computer is a great present – it is both a games machine and it can be educational, but it will be too slow to run next year’s games, whereas kids will play with a rocking horse for ten years and then it can be handed on.

However, boomer grandparents were not only brought up on traditional toys, the Fifties and Sixties also saw a tremendous boost in science – nuclear science and the journey into space enthralled most people. Yes, it was a time of uncertainty and distrust as well because or the Arms Race with the Soviet Bloc, but that was not what most people talked about.

Music and science were the issues of the day. Flower power, hippies and a modern, clean, bright way of life powered by new technology. Educational toys were well-liked gifts: Lego, Meccano and chemistry sets.

Toys of this sort are becoming popular as baby boomer grandparent presents as well. Lego sells one Lego set every seven seconds of each day of each year, day and night! This is a new trend, or at least, it is a revived trend and without doubt a step in the right direction. Baby boomers may not have been the best parents, but they are pretty good grandparents.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety topics, but is now involved with Silver Cross Rocking Horses. If you want to know more, please visit our web site at Rocking Horses for sale.

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April 30, 2011

Suitable Garments For Babies And Infants

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Christmas, clothing, fashion, gifts, girl fiends, lingerie, marriage, other, products, relationships, sex, shopping, Uncategorized, women — Owen Jones @ 10:58 am

One of the chief requirements of babies and infants besides nutrition is the necessity to be at the right temperature. Babies and infants are very susceptible to being too hot or too cold and also to strong sunlight. From this one may deduce that suitable clothing for babies and infants is of paramount importance.

It is frequently thought that babies and infants generate too much heat and so that they can also cope with cold temperatures naturally, but this is unfortunately not true. A complication is that the effects of too much heat or cold can be delayed so that the real cause of a baby’s distress is mis-diagnosed. Sometimes, this can have fatal consequences.

People are apt to think that babies produce too much heat, but this is a falsehood. The fact is that warm-blooded animals like we mammals are able to generate more heat as we get older and therefore a baby is at the coolest stage of its transition into adulthood. A baby can be a degree or two cooler than an adult at its core.

Regardless of this fact, some cultures have insisted, and some still do insist, on hardening up a young infant. Ways of doing this have been to plunge the baby into cold water or to expose it to cold winds with insufficient clothing. This hardening up serves no practical purpose and can be very injurious to the child. It is possible that some peoples in some times used this method to ‘weed out’ their children, although it was never officially explained as that.

Some good guidelines that parents can use when choosing clothing for their babies and infants are:

The nature and quantity of clothing should be sufficient to maintain the baby’s core body temperature. A degree or two above that is all right too. The clothing will also have to be regulated to adjust for the seasons and whether you are at home or out walking. Put extra clothing on to go out and take some of it off when you get back inside, just as you would do for yourself.

Avoid wrapping your baby up in layer after layer of tight warm clothing or blankets unless you have to endure extreme cold. You can upset a baby’s thermostat by keeping it too hot all the time. It is far better to aim for a continuous, uniform temperature. A baby that is tightly wrapped in blankets will have its movement constrained and maybe even its circulation impaired. This is obviously not a good idea.

Tight, restrictive, hot clothing will also retain perspiration, which could cause the skin to be held in close contact with damp material for hours on end. This could lead to skin irritation and soreness. Precisely as you would change a nappy when it is wet for the same reason.

Therefore, it is better to dress the baby in fairly loose fitting clothes appropriate for the surrounding temperature and adjust the temperature using a cardigan or jumper or blanket, loosely draped over it. The fabric is not so important, but you will have to inspect for allergies both to the material and the detergent you launder it in.

If you keep the clothing simple you will be able to add or remove it quickly as you see fit. This is important because most babies find dressing distressing. To this end, try not to use ties, fasteners and pins. Velcro is far easier. Change all clothing every day to keep germs at bay.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on quite a few topics, but is at present concerned with thinking about high cut panties. If you would like to know more or check out some fantastic offers, please go to our website at Personalised Knickers.

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April 29, 2011

Plus Size Clothing

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Christmas, clothing, fabrics, fashion, gifts, other, plus size, relationships, self help, self improvement, sex, shoes, style, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 8:22 am

The clothing industry is absolutely massive and is certainly one of the biggest industries in the world employing millions of people, especially in Asia. Imagine the number of factory workers and sales people and all the hauliers in between who are working in the textile industry. Possibly only the food industry is larger.

Despite all those people and all that money, there is not really a great deal of money to be made from selling ordinary, everyday clothing. Just look at how cheap a T-shirt can be and it has probably been made and transported from somewhere like Thailand – half a world away. A retailer has to sell a great deal of this stuff to make a living.

The big money in the clothing industry comes from unusual clothing. That is specialized garments and by ‘specialized garments’, here I am including high fashion, haute couture and designer clothing. People, particularly women, like to keep up with the latest styles and in the realm of fashion a small fold here or a slight tuck there is all it takes to demonstrate that one skirt is this year’s fashion and that that one is last year’s.

Plus size clothing is an unusual case. Plus size clothing is expensive, but it was not fashionable for a long, long time. Manufacturers seemed to believe for decades that plus size people were content to wear black or garish colours. They seemed to think that plus sizers were not interested in fashion. Often the plus size department would be dumped next to the maternity department and not in the fashion section.

Even though the state of affairs is getting better for the plus size woman, the materials and the colours used in plus size clothing still tend to be different from those used for the sizes ten and twelve.

The colours are often flashier and the styling tends to make plus size women look older especially when they are dressed in formal evening wear.

The other option is to go to specialist plus size clothing shops, but this is where they have you again. Specialized fashion translates into more expensive, so very few large women can afford to buy their clothing from these stores.

A good question to ponder upon is this: if there is a crisis of obesity in the western world in general, why does the fashion industry focus on smaller, often younger, women? Older, often heavier, women have more money that their younger counterparts too.

It is true that things are getting better on the fashion front for plus sizers and people are also attempting to lose weight, so perhaps the two sides will gradually draw nearer to one another.

In the meanwhile, larger ladies have to find a way of making the world’s manufacturers of ladies clothing comprehend that they desire fashionable plus size clothing made in precisely the same style, from exactly the same material and in exactly the same colours as the clothing that they manufacture for smaller women.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on quite a few topics, but is at present involved with thinking about crutchless knickers. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Personalised Knickers.

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April 25, 2011

Toys R Us Coupon Codes

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: babies, children, Christmas, family, gifts, happiness, holidays, marketing, other, parenting, products, recreation, sales, toys, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 10:26 am

Toys R Us is one of the largest retailers of toys in the world. It is also one of the most copied names in the world. There companies all over the place with names like ‘Carpets R Us’, ‘Taxis R Us’ et cetera, et cetera. Toys R Us also has quite an extraordinary Internet presence.

This equals that millions of people are looking for Toys R Us coupon codes, particularly at Christmas. Money-off coupons for Toys R Us can save lots of money on contemporary toys as well as traditional toys such as dolls’ prams, dolls’ houses, rocking horses, board games and dolls.

Coupon codes are a set of numbers and letters, which when entered at the checkout will reduce the cost of the thing that you are purchasing or entitle you to a bonus with that purchase. They can be entered at physical and Web checkout points of sale.in precisely the same way. There are several advantages associated with coupon codes, some of which we will talk about later in this piece.

The first and most obvious advantage of using coupons is the discounts that they provide. A Toys R Us coupon could give a fixed discount, maybe $5, a percentage discount as in 5%, or a bonus, as in a free outfit with each Barbie doll or three outfits for the price of two.

If you are shopping on the Internet, the added value may be in the manner of free delivery, although that might be only within a fixed geographical zone such as mainland United States.

Convenience can be a big consideration. If you do not know what toy to purchase for a youngster and you have a fixed amount to spend and you have a discount coupon for a fitting toy, then that can make your mind up for you.

For instance, if you were going to purchase a board game, and there is a 10% discount on Monopoly, why not buy Monopoly? It saves having to think about whether to purchase Risk, Monopoly or Cleudo, does it not?

On line shoppers frequently are sent fairly limited issue coupon codes as a loyalty bonus or to encourage them to come back and buy something again. These personalized coupon codes are often quite generous, but might be quite limited.

For example. if you purchased a Barbie on line a few months ago, Toys R Us may send you a coupon code for Barbie clothing three or four weeks before Christmas. This type of coupon is usually sent out by email.

All in all, Toys R Us coupon codes, like any other coupons, are useful, if you want the device they are discounting or can find a use for it. They are especially helpful at Christmas, when people have to purchase a number of gifts.

However, you must not let coupons from any firm persuade you to purchase and do not hold your breath waiting for a coupon off any item that is in huge demand, money-off coupons are normally reserved for lines that are not going too well or are last year’s hot seller.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with Silver Cross Dolls Prams. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Doll Prams.

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April 23, 2011

Classic Presents For Teenagers

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Christmas, clothing, computers, entertainment, family, fashion, gifts, happiness, jewellery, other, parenting, recreation, shoes, teens, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 11:47 am

Purchasing gifts for teenagers can become a problem, particularly if you do not know teenagers very well. The difficulty with teenagers is that some are more grown up than others and if you do not know the person very well, you do not know whether to tend towards the adult or the child. However, you can always purchase a ‘little bit older’ knowing that if you have not judged the mental age accurately, then they will mentally grow into the present.

There are a couple of classic gifts that teenagers feel are not too young for them, gifts that make them feel grown up. These gifts are not in any particular order.

A watch is always helpful – a small dainty watch for a girl and a big chunky thing for a boy. It does not matter whether it is wind-up, automatic or battery and it does not have to be one of the very expensive names, but it is better if it is pretty famous like a Seiko.

A chain, necklace or bracelet of precious metal will be appreciated by any teen, but especially by girls. Nine carat gold or silver is not that expensive, but it will hold its value. A St Christopher can make a decent present for someone who is religious or not.

Teenagers like clothing and shoes, but it is best to keep the clothing on the casual side. Like trainers instead of shoes or a T-shirt rather than a shirt with a collar, a hoodie rather than a jacket. A leather belt is also worth considering.

Sunglasses are mostly appreciated, but it is vital to get the style correct. Enquire of the parents of the teenager which designer label the teenager prefers.

Music is a classic present for a teenager, but there is such a choice of media to play it on these days. Maybe a gift voucher from a big high street record shop that also has an on line presence is best. That way, they can either buy a CD or download the music from the Net onto their MP3 player.

An atmospheric lamp can be a good present if the teenager spends a great deal of time in his or her room. Lava lamps and optic fibre lamps are just the ticket.

Something for the computer. Most teens have a computer, so you could buy a web cam, a wireless mouse or a wireless keyboard. Or a new computer game. If the teen has a laptop, they may appreciate a new laptop case or carrying bag. Laptops do come with a carrying bag, but they take quite a bashing and soon become frayed and scruffy.

A decent quality pen. Not many people use fountain pens these days, but they are still a decent present. It might encourage the teen to tidy up his or her handwriting otherwise a famous-name biro, but it is certainly not the same as a classic fountain pen and a bottle of ink. You could add a blotter to this little package as well as no-one appears to have one any more.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a variety topics, but is now involved with Silver Cross Rocking Horses. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Rocking Horses for sale.

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The Joys Of Toys At Christmas

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: babies, children, Christmas, education, family, gifts, happiness, holidays, other, parenting, products, recreation, toys, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 7:22 am

Everybody likes to get presents, but adults also get pleasure from giving and seeing the delight on the faces of their children while they open them. Gifts are given by nations all around the world, naturally. Nearly everybody in every country gives a birthday present and many countries give a New Year’s present, but the biggest present-giving culture is Christian and Christmas is their biggest gift-giving occasion of the year.

It is such a strong instinct for Christians to give presents at Christmas, that numerous adults will forego presents for themselves simply to get their children what they would like within the bounds of their finances. Actually, many go even further than that and put themselves under financial pressure for a number of months only so that their children will get pleasure from Christmas.

In fact, Christmas has got outrageously out of hand The idea of giving a present at Christmas was to imitate the giving of gifts by the Three Wise Men to Jesus shortly after his birth. It is the case that the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were very expensive, but the givers of the gifts were very wealthy men, even so they merely gave one gift each.

These days parents spend hundreds on dozens of gifts per child. There were five children in our family and we used to get a sack of toys each and communal toys for all of us to play together like Monopoly. My parents were not well-off and my mother did not have time to work outside the home, so my father must have worked like a dog to pay for it all.

I did not realize that then, but I have since seen my brothers struggling to pay to do the same for their children. Still, the joy of seeing your children’s joyful smiling faces as they open their gifts at Christmas appears to be worth it for most parents.

Some of the most popular toys with children might be dolls prams or train sets or bikes all of which fall into the bracket of ‘expensive’, whereas popular suggestions for good toys for children are more like to be educational, such as Scrabble, Lego and books which are a lot less expensive.

Kids’ ideas for toys for themselves tend to feed the imagination, whereas parents’ ideas for toys for kids tend to feed the brain. Kids want to feed the right hand side of their brain while their parents instinctively want to feed the left hand side.

As children grow up into teenagers, music and computers play major roles in most of their lives, again reflecting the left and right sides of the brain. now the roles are more evenly balanced. This is a topsy-turvy time for young adults. All kinds of things are happening within and without them. Will the balance stay even or will it tip one way or the other? Only time will tell.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of subjects, but is now involved with Silver Cross Dolls Prams. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Doll Prams.

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April 10, 2011

How To Create A Baby Gift Basket

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: baby gift basket, bedding, beds, birthday, family, gifts, handicrafts, hobbies, knitting, other, party, recreation, shower, tradition, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 7:34 am

Are you going to give a baby shower soon? Or have you recently been invited to one and you are not sure what to do? If so, you will be expected to give a present to the baby to help welcome him or her into the world. This is fine, but a great deal of individuals, particularly single men, wonder what it is exactly that a baby so desperately needs.

If you fall into this category or if you would like to take a scatter-gun approach to giving a present in the hope that something will be of use, then you could think about procuring the baby a baby gift basket. You see, a baby gift basket contains a lot of small items or big objects or a mixture of the two. Whatever you can come up with or afford in fact.

There are two ways of getting a baby gift basket. You can either buy one ready-made or you can buy a basket and pick-and-mix the contents yourself. So, let us suppose that you are going to avoid duplication and fill your own basket.

First the basket. A traditional wicker basket like the ones they show on toffee tins, in which a maid is carrying eggs is pretty, but also pretty costly. You could get a plastic version, but maybe the box that the gifts are in is not as important as the gifts themselves. You could make your own by lining and wrapping a suitably-sized box and finishing it with a bow.

The contents. What do babies need? Or are you going to put some items in there for the parents too? If you are going to add a couple of items for the parents too, I will leave that up to you as you know them better than I do, I should imagine.

What can you get for the baby then? Something instructive is a must; something to occupy the baby’s attention, perhaps like a mobile or a decorative abacus to string across the pram. How about music? Brahm’s Lullaby is fantastic, with or without voices, in German or in English, but get it sung by a choir or a solo, but professionally-trained singer – not Lady Gaga.

When selecting music remember that by the time the baby can understand the words, the CD will have been lost, scratched or worn out. Go for peaceful music, classical is best in this case.

Other objects that always come in useful are bibs, teething rings, baby beakers and a small plate or dish. I do not think it is a good idea to do to get shampoos and soaps, it is better to let mum purchase them or you may be blamed for allergic reactions and dandruff. However, talcum powder is a fairly safe bet, but do not buy anything strongly perfumed.

Personalized bedding is a good notion. If you buy a cot blanket, try to get one the same size as the cot for safety reasons. A lovely touch is to have the baby’s monogram or initials embroidered on it. That does not work well for clothing, because kids grow out of them, but it is great for quilts and pillow cases.

Buy the bedding and ask (or pay) someone to do the embroidery for you. The child will grow out of the cot, but the blanket can then be used as a comforter. Embroidered pillow cases have a similarly long life.

Some individuals give sweets and biscuits, but personally I am not in favour of helping someone to rot their teeth, encouraging a sweet tooth or overweight babies. A decent bottle of wine though is another matter, but you will need to take advice on whether it will be at its peak in twenty years time. Good Port is a safe bet. Spirits do not mature in a bottle.

Owen Jones, the writer of that piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with the satin baby blankets. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Woollen Blankets.

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November 14, 2010

The History Of Caricatures

A caricature is a portrait, painting or cartoon that exaggerates or distorts certain features of a person or item to generate an easily identifiable visual similarity.

Caricatures can be discourteous or complimentary and can serve a political point or be drawn solely for entertainment. Caricatures of politicians are commonly used in editorial cartoons, whereas caricatures of movie stars are often found in entertainment magazines.

The term is derived from the Italian caricare- to charge or load. So, the word “caricature” essentially says a “loaded portrait”. Strictly speaking , the term refers just to depictions of real-life people, and not to cartoon fabrications of fictional characters.

However the world-renowned animator Walt Disney claimed that his animation work could be compared with caricature, saying the hardest thing to do was find the caricature of an animal that worked best as a human-like character.

One of the earliest instances of a caricature has been uncovered in the ruins of Pompeii where a graffiti caricature of a politician had been etched on a wall.

Moving forward nearly 1500 years but staying in Italy, Leonardo da Vinci was an active proponent of the art. He actually sought out people with some kind of deformity to use as models.

The point of a caricature was to offer an impression of the original which was more striking than a portrait. Diodemmar Casem, one of the great early exponents, claimed to be able to sum up a person in ? three or four strokes of the pen?.

Caricature underwent its first successes in the closed aristocratic circles of France and Italy, where such portraits would be passed about for mutual enjoyment.

Mary Darley was one of the first professional caricaturists in England and about 1762 published the first book of caricature drawing in England – A Book of Caricaturas

However, the two greatest exponents of the art of the caricature in the 18th century were Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray. Their styles of output were in great contrast. Rowlandson was the more artistic of the two and took his inspiration from the public at large.

Gillray, on the other hand, was more interested in the political arena and used his art to lampoon political life. Being contemporaries they became big friends and used to spend a great deal of time getting drunk in the taverns of London.

In drawing a caricature the caricaturist can choose to either gently mock or cruelly wound his topic. Drawing caricatures can simply be a variety of entertainment and amusement – in which case gentle mockery is in order – or the art can be employed to make a serious social or political objective.

A caricaturist draws on (1) the natural characteristics of the subject (the big ears, long nose, etc.); (2) the acquired individuality (stoop, scars, facial lines etc.); and (3) the vanities (choice of hair style, glasses, clothes, expressions and mannerisms).

Although caricaturists like Gillray raised a great deal of debate in the 18th century by their portrayal of the Royal family and especially George III, it was nothing compared to the present day pandemonium in the Muslim world brought about by cartoons caricaturing the prophet Mohammed. So the contemporary day caricaturist continues in the satirical mode of his illustrious predecessors.

If you want one of our unique, hand-painted, custom cartoons or caricatures from photos suppled by you please click on this link Formula One. If you would like to know more, please go to web site at Custom Cartoons.

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November 10, 2010

Giles The Newspaper Cartoonist

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: affiliate marketing, art, birthday, caricatures, cartoons, Christmas, crafts, football, gifts, hobbies, other, painting, recreation, sport, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 2:03 pm

Ronald ‘Carl’ Giles was one of the most well-known British post war cartoonists whose work appeared in the British newspapers The Daily Convey and its sister paper The Sunday Express between the dates of 1943 and 1991.

He was born Ronald Giles in Islington, London in 1916. His school-friends nicknamed him ?Karlo? after the actor Boris Karloff to whom they thought he bore a resemblance. This was later shortened to Carl and it remained with him for the rest of his life.

He left school when he was 14 years old and started working as an office boy for a Wardour Street film company where he was later promoted to an animator for cartoon films. This led in 1935 to his working for the famous producer and director Alexander Korda on the first full-length British sound-tracked colour cartoon film, The Fox Hunt.

After a spell working in Ipswich, he joined Fleet Street in 1937. He worked as a cartoonist on the weekly newspaper Reynolds News where his efforts came to the attention of the editor of the Sunday Express and he was offered a job working for both the Daily Express and Sunday Express at the not petty salary of 20 guineas a week. His first cartoon for his new employers was published in the Sunday Express in October 1943.

The 20 guineas a week proved a portent of greater fortunes to come as by 1955 he was being paid no less than 8,060 GBP a week for an output of three cartoons. He was now a wealthy man.

In 1959 he was given the OBE and among his greatest admirers and fans were members of the Royal family who often received originals of his work.

His most famous character creations were The Giles Family who first appeared in August 1945. They were a family from the more affluent side of the British working class living in a suburban semi-detached house. The head of the family was Grandma a real battle axe of a person who anyone crossed at their peril. She is now immortalised as a bronze statue standing in Queen St Ipswich looking up at the office where Giles used to work.

They were used by Giles to comment on a current events in the news of the day and proved to be highly patriotic although cautious of authority. One amazing attribute of the family was that although their homes, hobbies and clothes reflected the changing values of the day, their ages remained unchanged although the cartoons ran for 46 years.

Today any middle-aged, middle class Englishman ( or woman) will have happy memories of the Giles Annual. This was a very welcome addition to the Christmas stocking and contained a selection of Gile’s output for the previous year. For numerous years this collection was chosen by Giles himself.

Carl Giles passed away in 1995 and in 2000 he was voted ‘Britain’s Favourite Cartoonist of the 20th Century’.

If you want one of our unique, hand-painted, custom cartoons or caricatures from photos suppled by you please click on one of these links History of Golf. If you want to know more, please go to website at Custom Cartoons.

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November 9, 2010

Punch Magazine

In all probability the first name that comes to mind while thinking of the history of cartoons is that of Punch.

It was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published between 1841 and 1992. It was started in July 1841 by Henry Mayhew who, with Mark Lemon, was responsible for the editing, and engraver Ebenezer Landells who took care of the illustrations.

Its original sub-title was The London Charivari, after a French satirical humour publication known as Le Charivari. Revealing their satiric and humorous goal, the two editors took the name of the anarchic glove puppet, Mr. Punch, of Punch and Judy renown as the title of the new publication.

On the other hand the name is also a play on words regarding the name of the co-editor Mark Lemon, in that “punch is nothing without lemon”. Mayhew did not stay with the publication for long. He ceased being joint editor in 1842 and became “suggestor in chief” until he left in 1845.

Punch was responsible for the word “cartoon” in the sense of a comic drawing. In fact one of its most famous cartoons, drawn by George Du Maurier, the grandfather of the novelist Dame Daphne Du Maurier , gave rise to the expression ?it is good in parts, like the curate?s egg?. The phrase derives from a cartoon entitled “True Humility”.

It pictured a nervous-looking curate taking breakfast in his bishop’s house.The bishop says, “I’m afraid you’ve got a bad egg, Mr Jones.” The curate replies, “Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!”

Yet probably its most well-known cartoon is entitled ? Dropping the Pilot? . This was a political cartoon by Sir John Tenniel, first published in March 1890. It depicts the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, as a shipping pilot, stepping off a ship watched by the German Emperor Wilhelm II. Bismarck had recently resigned as Chancellor at Wilhelm’s insistence.

After a very problematic start with much financial difficulty and lack of market success, Punch became a necessity for British middle class drawing rooms because it not only displayed a sophisticated sense of humour and but did not contain the rude material so ubiquitous in much of the alternative satirical press of the time.

The Times utilized small parts from Punch as column fillers, giving the magazine free publicity and indirectly granting a degree of respectability, However respectability was truly gained when it was learned that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were to be discovered amongst it readership.

The circulation of Punch peaked during the 1940s at 175,000 but thereafter fell into decline, until in 1992 ,after 150 years the publication was forced to close.

In 1996, the Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed became tired of the many criticisms he had to put up with from the publication Private Eye and purchased the rights to the Punch name with a view to using it to contend with his antagonist. He relaunched it later that year, but it never achieved any degree of circulation or profitability and in May 2002 it was announced that Punch would finally close for ever

If you want one of our unique, hand-painted, custom cartoons or caricatures from photos suppled by you please click on this link History of Cricket. If you would like to know more, please go to web site at Custom Cartoons.

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July 18, 2010

Moderate Retirement Gifts For Golfers

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Clubs, competition, fitness, gifts, golf, health, hobbies, joke, other, outdoors, presents, retirement, sport, Uncategorized, walking — Owen Jones @ 3:31 am

There is a common belief that golf is the normal pastime-cum-sport of big shot entrepreneurs and businessmen. It is also perceived as being an exclusive sport and not accessible by regular blue collared employees. However, this is not the reality as modernization and commercialization have brought these so called elite sports into the reach of ordinary workers.

This is because there is no need to acquire sophisticated equipment to have a game. Unlike big game fishing and polo which need a lot of resources eg a boat or a horse respectively, golfers just require a set of golf clubs, which are reasonably affordable. With this in mind, retirement gifts for golfers and aspiring golfers are easily thought of.

Making personalized retirement gifts for golfing enthusiasts is really quite an easy task since you can easily personalize golfing equipment such as golf club pouches, and caddy covers. These can be knitted (that is if you like knitting) or crafted using any other materials.

Another good idea is to think about golfing fashion by focusing on the attire worn by golfers. You may even end up starting a new trend in golfing clothing by the use of your imagination regarding the design of the clothing for your retiree.

The most usual method of getting a retirement gift for golfers is to go along to the nearest sports shop and get your retiree something sold there. It may sound a little impersonal to just get the retiree a commercially sold gift, but then this may prove really useful if the retiree is still a novice golfer. Perhaps you could get a book on golfing or a subscription to a golfing magazine.

However, you could try to find out what your retiree golfer still needs or maybe even use your imagination to think about what methods you could employ to enhance the golfing equipment the retiree may already be using.

Commercially made golfing equipment is also a safe bet, if you want to make your retiree feel professional by buying him a famous-name set of golf clubs, thereby making him feel like a pro.

You could even go to a joke shop and ask if they have any joke items for the golfer there. They probably do, since golfing is such a popular sport.

Gag gifts must be chosen quite carefully since they may raise sensitive matters for the retiree, especially novice players. Gags as gifts in relation to golfing might be taken the wrong way and put them off, if they are upset by the idea suggested by the gag or joke given to them.

As for veteran players who are already well adapted to the game and other golfers’ sense of humour, the gift of a good gag on their retirement day would be quite funny since they would already see golfing not only as a way to relieve stress, but also to actually have some fun in a competitive environment.

Retirement gifts for golfers are just a simple way to make your golfer friend enjoy life after his career is over.

If you are interested in golf or retirement gifts for golfers, just go to our website on Golfing Tips for Novices. This article, Moderate Retirement Gifts For Golfers is released under a creative commons attribution licence.

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June 21, 2010

Choosing Perfume For Yourself

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: family, friendship, gifts, gold, happiness, love, marriage, other, perfume, product reviews, romance., society, stress management, Uncategorized, weddings — Owen Jones @ 3:24 am

Most people use of one kind or another, whether its function is to mask potential body odour or just for fun. When I say ‘fun’, I mean ‘pleasure’ or to be a magnet for admirers, whether you intend to do anything about them or not. There are literally thousands of scents to pick from and they are priced from cheap to exorbitantly expensive. So, when there are so many choices, how do you know which ones are right for you?

There are a few rules of thumb that you can use as guiding principles to help you choose which scent is appropriate for you. Firstly, you will have to know a little about the basic varieties of scent on hand, before you can find out which brand of perfume will suit you the best.

So, you can start by taking a look at the ingredients on the box. From these ingredients you can determine what type of fragrance is in the bottle. The basic types of scent are: light musk, natural fragrance, loud heady scent, floral scent, warm fragrance, bright cheerful scent and a few others.

You could get a small note book and make notes when you trial perfumes in various department stores. Perhaps you will find musk too overpowering for you or perhaps you do not want to smell like a garden flower. It is all very individual and personal. No one can say that you are right or wrong.

One’s body chemistry plays a huge part in why a scent will smell lovely on your friend, but not so good on you. It is just a fact, that you cannot go by what smells good on someone else.

Scents that are manufactured from natural substances such as flowers, herbs or spices and even fruit tend to smell warm and soft. Examples of this type or fragrance are gardenia and lily of the valley. Musk, however, may be made to produce a light bouquet that lingers softly around you, but it can be strong and heady too.

You may find that you like a perfume, but that it is just too overwhelming for you. If that is the situation, you may be able to get it in Eau de Cologne or Toilet Water, which are weaker in concentration. Other than that, you could use less or dab it on the underneath of your clothing where it might not be subject to so much body heat and so will not disperse quite so quickly.

If you go about selecting the right perfume for yourself methodically, it could take quite some time to come across something that is ‘Essence De You’, but it is well worth it. What is a year, when you can wear the for forty years? This is why I suggested getting a little note pad to put in your bag before doing the rounds of the free trial counters in the department stores.

The salesgirls won’t mind, they will be pleased to show off their knowledge and be delighted that someone is taking a real interest in their merchandise. Then, once you have one, you could start all over again, if you enjoyed finding the first , but next time you will have a notebook full of suggestions.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with men’s perfume. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas

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June 4, 2010

Chocolate For The Chocoholic

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: family, friendship, gifts, gold, happiness, jewelry, love, marriage, other, product reviews, romance., society, stress management, Uncategorized, weddings — Owen Jones @ 3:21 am

I have a couple of questions for you first of all. Do you like chocolate? Or does it go deeper than that? Do you love chocolate are you what is called a chocoholic? And lastly, was that attitude fashioned by store-bought chocolate such as Mars Bars, Galaxy and Snickers?

I asked all those questions because, if you love chocolate and all you have ever tasted is store-bought chocolate, you have a real surprise waiting for you one day. A really fantastic revelation. One day you will taste gourmet chocolate and it will bowl you over. It will make you regret all those days of your life that you had not known it.

Gourmet chocolate is to a Mars Bar what fillet mignon is to a ham sandwich or what champagne is to cheap plonk. It sounds as if I am running Mars Bars down and I suppose I am in a way, but I do believe that they have their place in the hierarchy of the realm of chocolate, it is just not near the top and when you have tried gourmet chocolate, you will agree with me.

You will see the light and come to understand that perhaps you used to eat store chocolate for the sugar rush and not for the chocolate, because the store kind is, in fact, a very adulterated copy of the real thing. If you do not believe me, look at the contents list on the back of the wrapper.

Dark chocolate is created by adding fat and sugar to the cacao mixture. The U.S. Government calls this “sweet chocolate”, and demands a 15% concentration of chocolate liquor. European regulations specify a minimum of 35% cocoa solids. It does not sound very much, does it? (By the way, chocolate liquor is like lumpy gravy and if you pulverize the lumps and take away most of the fat, you get cocoa solids).

This is why European chocolate has a better name than American chocolate in general, although there are excellent gourmet chocolate manufacturers in the USA (called chocolatiers; like a chef is to haute cuisine)..

Some inexpensive chocolates are even blended with wax and most bakery chocolate products have very little, if any, real chocolate in them! They contain mostly sugar of one kind or another and “partially hydrogenated palm oil.” On the other hand, gourmet chocolate will echo the quality of the ingredients, which includes high quality cocoa beans, no preserving agents or vegetable fats (other than cocoa butter) and sugar, which is also a preserving agent, should only be used in moderation.

Some chocolate is made from only one variety of bean, just like some wine is made from one kind of gape and some whisky is single malt, but most is made from a blend of several kinds of beans again lust like the cheaper wines and whiskeys. Gourmet chocolate has a far greater percentage of cocoa butter, and will be more extensively refined.

Aficionados of gourmet chocolate are like connoisseurs of fine wines and single malt whiskies, they appreciate the object of their attention. In time, they can talk about the advantages of one bean or process over another. If you want to go down this road, you could join one of the many good gourmet chocolate clubs on the Internet

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Romantic Gifts: Ideas. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas

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May 7, 2010

Will These Wine Glasses Do?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: britain, celtic, crystal, gifts, glasses, happiness, ireland, other, politics, religion, spirituality, traditions, Uncategorized, wine — Owen Jones @ 3:59 am

The growing trend of popularity of wine has led to a boom in things to go with wine like corkscrews, stoppers, coolers, napkins, pouring baskets, decanters, candles, thermometers, bottle jackets, hydrometers and dozens of variations of each accessory from electric versions to manual ones. Needless to say, a lot of these accessories will be used until the novelty wears off and then left at the back of the cupboard.

However, there is one category of wine drinking accessory that no wine drinker should be without and that is wine glasses. They are indispensable, I am sure that everyone would agree. But the good thing about wine glasses is that they are decorative when they are not in use too. A set of six lead crystal wine glasses is a fine-looking sight. And a fine set of glasses correctly shaped for the wine you are drinking will greatly enhance your enjoyment of that wine.

This is because the profile of the glass is very influential on the drinker’s ability to savour the taste and the aroma of wine. Therefore, it is necessary to use the correct glasses for the type of wine being served.

Red wines benefit a lot from contact with air, so, aside from opening the bottle an hour before drinking it, you could decant it. The older and heavier the wine, the more air it needs. The next step is to serve the red wine in large glasses. This is not so as to be able to get as much wine in there as possible! A full, normal size bottle contains six servings no matter what glass you use, but a large glass allows you to swirl the wine around the glass, thereby increasing its contact with air.

A large tulip shaped glass is a good illustration of this kind of wine glass and any dark red wine would benefit from being drunk out of such a vessel. Try a Rioja or Bordeaux, for instance.

White wines, on the other hand, do not need to breathe for as long as red wines and are best served slightly chilled. Therefore, the wine glasses are likely to have a smaller bowl and a longer stem. The bowl is smaller, because swirling is not necessary and the stem is longer, so that the heat from your hand does not warm the wine up prematurely. Try a Chardonnay, a Sauvignon or a German wine in these glasses.

Champagne glasses are called champagne flutes because the bowl is long and narrow, which allows the bubbles to float through more of the wine than if the bowl were short. This is beneficial for the wine, the taste and its appearance. The stem is also long as with other white wines to diminish heat transference.

The last major type of glass is the sherry schooner, which is also used for port. Sherry and port are both heavy reds and so need to breathe, which is one of the reasons why they ought to be decanted. However, a schooner has hardly any stem, because the heat from your hand is required to keep the wine at the correct temperature.

Apart from the shape of the bowl and the length of the stem, the next most important factor is the quality of the glass and its design. Some people like hand-blown glass and it can be very beautiful, but it also tends to be light and delicate. I prefer to use lead crystal glasses, which are a lot heavier and can take a deeper pattern.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Waterford crystal vases. If you have an interest in Irish crystal or wedding rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

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April 22, 2010

Wedding Gift Ideas

The occasion of a wedding is a very special day for anyone. Just being asked to one can cause real excitement. It is always a pleasure to see someone walk down the aisle with the hope of true love and life long happiness. choosing a wedding present can be a lot of fun as well. There are thousands of presents that you can buy online or in retail shops.

Personalized gifts is a common trend in weddings presents. Bespoke gifts bring out your originality because you can dictate the style, design and message you want to be printed on them. Items range from photo frames, mugs and clocks, among many others.

When buying presents, always keep in mind your budget but be sure to get the look you want on the goods you buy. Here are some gift ideas that would definitely be a hit:

Tapestry – It is lovely to remember the wedding day, but how best to do this? Personalize everyday belongings by printing the couple’s picture on them. You can have it printed on pillows, blankets or bags.

Have them printed on a tapestry wall hanging and they can be kept as heirlooms. Different coloured cotton threads can make your pictures come to life just like the photo itself.

Photo Frames – Keep your best pictures in exclusive photo frames. You can add romantic messages like ‘lovers forever” or “ideal couple”. Romantic lines from songs or poems are recommended too. You can choose from the different frames obtainable like natural wood, quality resin, or metal steel.

Private messages are mostly engraved by laser or cut out of wood. The couple would love putting there favorite wedding photos in such frames to remind them of the happiness of their special day.

T-shirts – Show your own personality and thoughts by having them printed on comfortable tees. Many couples would love to demonstrate their love for each other on cute shirts. The most common of the slogans on these shirts is the letter “I” followed by a big red heart and then name of the groom or bride.

You could tell the world how you feel towards a person with such a personalized tee. If you want to be more intimate, you could even print romantic messages on lingerie or underwear.

Accessories – Women love accessories. Bracelets are ideal items for personalization. You could choose sterling silver or even 9 carat – 22 carat gold. This depends on your budget, of course. But remember, it is the thought that counts.

Common themes that are put on bracelets are the date of your wedding or your anniversary or the couple’s name. You can personalize rings and necklaces in the same way too.

Tankards – Tankards are very handy. If you are giving a gift to the groom, customizing his beer mug or wine glass would surely be appreciated. Choose a beer mug that is not embarrassing. Pewter or glass look nice and the personal message would stand out clearly.

Clocks – You could buy a wall clock or personal watches. Either way, you can be assured that the couple would find them very handy. Engraving one’s name on a metal steel sports watch is an eye catcher too. A pocket watch would be just as valued.

Looking for wedding gifts can be very enjoyable. Personalizing your gifts would add a special touch to each present. No matter the value of the gift, remember that it is always the thought that matters most.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Romantic Gifts: Ideas. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas

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April 21, 2010

Facts About Chocolate’s Origins

The Theobroma Cacao or ‘the food of the Gods’ is what we all know as the cocoa tree. It’s origins can be traced back to South America’s rain forests, particularly to Central America, although historians are still at variance over certain facts surrounding this tree.

It is suggested that the Mayans first grew the cacao tree in 300 AD, although others point to inadequate evidence that it was grown or at least harvested in around 3,000 BC. The Aztecs also used the cacao, but from about 1100 AD.

The chocolate (drink) that we all know today was called ‘xocoatl’. It was a very special beverage that was made with cacao, chilies, anise seed, vanilla, corn meal and some other spices. It is said that only royalty were allowed to drink it and then only from golden chalices, which were to be used for the purpose only once.

The cacao tree is very responsive to its environment and it most frequently grows in the shade of the rain forest canopy. If just for this reason alone, chocolate lovers should join forces with the environmentalists to save the rain forests so that the cacaos will continue to exist.

This tree is unusual because its fruits grow directly on its branches and trunk; midges cause the pollination of the flowers during the night time.

The cacao tree is very productive, but not very fruitful. It can have in the region of 10,000 blossoms, but only about 10 to 50 of those will mature into fruits or pods. This is thought to be because the cacao tree can adjust the number of blossoms that will mature according to its ability to handle the energy loss of bearing fruit or pods.

The cacao tree regulates itself in this way to preserve its health. Too many pods might deplete its energy so much that it could not survive a viral or insect attack or too many ripe pods might snap off its branches.

The cocoa beans come within the pod, the fruit of the blossom. Harvesters wait for the pod to ripen. They will then crack open the pods and take out the seeds, which are surrounded by a white pulp. This is thrown away these days, but it is thought that many years ago it was fermented into an alcoholic drink for ceremonial occasions. The beans are the source of chocolate, although there is lots to do yet..

The seeds are very bitter at this point and it is for this reason that they will go through a process of fermentation for about three to seven days. This causes the seeds to go through chemical as well as physical changes. The result of this was used for the royal treat, the ‘xocoatl’.

However, to turn it into what we recognize as chocolate, the fermented beans have to go through quite a few more processes. Processes by the name of: drying, cleaning, roasting, grading, opening, separation, grinding and liquefying.

After liquefying, you have unadulterated chocolate in the form of chocolate liquor. This is sold to chocolate producers and the good ones make high-quality chocolate from it and the bad ones adulterate it so much that it is scarcely chocolate any more.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Gourmet Chocolate Candy. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas

categories: romance,love,gifts,weddings,marriage,friendship,jewelry,gold,product reviews,family,society,happiness,stress management,other

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April 19, 2010

Economical Wedding Favours

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: dating, economy, family, favours, gifts, happiness, marriage, other, saving, self help, social issues, society, Uncategorized, wedding — Owen Jones @ 4:37 am

If you are holding a large wedding, that is one with a lot of guests, the cost of wedding favours can be quite significant, if you do not set a strict budget. One immediate method you could employ to cut the cost of your wedding favours is to give one to each couple or single, rather than one to everybody who attends. The first judgment to take is how much can you afford in total and then divide that by the number of guests in total and then divide it by the number of couples and singles.

This method will make it easier for you to decide what you are going to do: get for everybody; buy for couples and singles and save the rest for something else or give to couples and singles but buy more elaborate presents. If you still find that there is not a lot of money to go around, you will need to look for inexpensive wedding favours. I will offer you a few thoughts below to get you going.

Candles can be very effective, inexpensive wedding favours. If you buy in bulk, you can get some really lovely candles at very reasonable prices. You could get scented candles, maybe with the same smell as the bouquet the bride carried. You could also consider purchasing personalized ribbons to tie pretty bows around the candles and the ribbons could have your names and the wedding date on them.

Candy or chocolate is another kind of low-cost wedding favour. There are many ways to go down this route. You could have the wrappers of popular candy bars custom-made; you could buy quite expensive chocolate in bulk and wrap it up in a special way yourself or you could buy small boxes of gourmet chocolate.

Giving packets of flower or vegetable seeds is also an inexpensive way of giving a useful wedding favour. Again, you could give seed packets of the flowers in the bride’s bouquet. The seed packets could be wrapped or boxed with your own special logo, names and wedding date. You could present them in a pot or tray too in order to make it even easier to sow the seeds.

A pen or pen and pencil set is also a reasonably inexpensive way of giving wedding favours. These pens can also display your wedding details such as names and date.

However, I am Welsh and so my favourite wedding favours are love spoons in miniature, say four inches long. Love spoons were given in Wales by a suitor to his beloved for hundreds of years and many love spoon makers will make mini versions by hand for a small amount of money. These love spoon wedding favours can also be inscribed with the wedding details as they are typically made out of wood.

Another nice touch is to add a stamped, self addressed envelope to your wedding favour present, with a short note asking the recipient to get in touch with you soon, so that you do not let too much water go under the bridge.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Welsh love spoons, and Wales in general, please go to our website at Welsh Products Online, if you are too.

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March 14, 2010

The New Set of Happy Birthday Cards

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: birthday, computer, ecommerce, family, friends, general, gifts, holidays, internet, kids and teens, Uncategorized — Sunny Emmerwitz @ 8:06 am

Birthday cards are sweet. They bring joy to those who are or who will be celebrating their birthday. The problem, however, is the fact that if these cards are given with similar designs, looks, and themes repeatedly every year. Then these messages could be a little wearisome both on the side of the receiver and the sender.

Singing happy birthday cards are also an option, and they are becoming very popular. However, sending it through mail has certain downsides because they could get lost, mixed up in other people’s mail, or get damaged and broken which defeats the whole purpose of sending a singing birthday card.

We cannot deny that once we decided to send letters or cards through the traditional snail mail, there are many factors that might affect its solidity. It may be late, it may be broken, and we just cannot predict what might happen.

If this is commonly your problem then you do not have to worry about it anymore. Sending happy birthday cards has never been this convenient and there are a variety of designs to choose from. They do not only have great and innovative designs but the great news is that your birthday greeting will never be late again.

This new greeting card is the ecard, and it is a totally different animal from the traditional birthday card. This is because it has a lot of features and designs to choose from, with songs and personalized messages and pictures you can upload, that will surely be loved by your friend or by a loved one.

These happy birthday cards will always arrive on time. You will always be able to greet them without delays. Since the birthday ecards are sent through the email it would be especially impossible for it to arrive late.

The ecard has a wide variety to choose from. The designs vary from animated birthday cards, video cards or singing cards. It will even have a more personal touch since you get to write your own message in the happy birthday card that you choose.

So make the right choice and pick a great card. The happy birthday cards on the birthday ecard will surely make someone’s birthday complete and a memorable one. The good news is that you made it all possible by sending a birthday ecard.

It’s a great thought to send a personalized birthday ecard to your friends and family on their birthday. You can check out happy birthday cards or other gifts online.

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March 7, 2010

The Growth of California and the Forty-Niners

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: britain, celtic, gifts, gold, happiness, history, ireland, other, politics, religion, rings, spirituality, traditions, Uncategorized, wedding — Owen Jones @ 4:51 am

In January 1848, James Marshall was overseeing the building of a saw mill for his employer, when he noticed an odd rock glinting in the upturned soil.

He was not sure whether it was gold or not and did not want to get people’s hopes up. So Marshall tried to break the yellow rock with a hammer. It did not crack, but it did dent. just like gold would. The woman who was cooking meals for the saw mill construction crew, tried another test by boiling the rock in lye.

They boiled it all day, but it did not change colour. So, they passed the rock over to the mill’s owner, Mr. John Sutter, who also conducted a few tests. In the end, everyone agreed that this rock was indeed gold.

It seems that the Sierra Nevada Mountains held huge hordes of gold, but that over tens of thousands of years, erosion had loosened up gold nuggets and the mountain streams flushed them down to the bottom of the mountains. Sutter’s property was situated between two rivers and so was likely to generate great wealth.

Sutter had ideas to build an agricultural empire on his 39,000 acres of land, so he asked his employees to keep stum about the find. However, as is to be anticipated, word leaked out. In due course news of the gold strike reached the small town of San Francisco.

There, a newspaper publisher shouted down the streets: “Gold from the American River!” and within three days of the news arriving, 400 of the 600 inhabitants had set out for Sutter’s land. It was a groundswell and by the end of the year, gold prospectors had traveled to California from as far away as Mexico and Chile.

When word of the gold strike got to the east coast, President Polk confirmed the discovery. It was December 1848 and ‘The Gold Rush’ became a national and even a global event. The gold miners of 1849 and later years became known as forty-niners.

What has to be borne in mind is though, that most people, who came from Canada, Mexico and the eastern United States came by wagon train, as there were not locomotive! This meant a arduous trek of between six and nine months

Nevertheless, at least 32,000 people actually walked to California in 1849, and about 44,000 more got there in 1850. Others, such as South Americans, faced an arduous journey by sea. They suffered storms, shipwrecks, hunger and thirst, disease, and overcrowding and after all that, some still had to face mule rides through jungles and deserts! Still, in under a year, about 40,000 people arrived in San Francisco from abroad.

The new arrivals constituted a dramatic change in California’s population, because in 1848, California had had about 100,000 residents, most of whom were Native Americans, but within two years, the state populace more than doubled but the variety of ethnicity increased tens of times.

Some prospectors found gold and made a fortune in the Californian riverbeds, but most people did not become wealthy in the Gold Rush. When gold was found, the hoard was usually cleared quickly. James Marshall had little success as a miner, and he died on the breadline. John Sutter, who had once owned 39,000 acres, left California in heavy debt after miners trampled his land.

In fact, it was simpler to make money selling shovels and other provisions to the miners. Most people lost everything they had, so they stayed to work the vast expanse called California or to set up businesses. By 1856, San Francisco had a very multi-ethnic population of over 50,000 people and California had become the most exhilarating state in the country.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Celtic knot rings. If you have an interest in gold rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

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February 26, 2010

Choose Your Wedding Ring Carefully

There is a very large number of wedding rings to be had in the shops these days. In fact, you have the world of wedding rings to pick from. The high street shops in a large town have a very good selection, but the Internet lays the best jewellers and the best styles out for your inspection.

So, it is essential that you take your time when selecting one. Maybe the vast assortment of wedding rings makes that more difficult not easier. Diamond wedding rings have been the most popular since ordinary working people could afford them, before that a plain band of gold had to suffice, for people who could afford that much.

Nowadays, Western people have become more daring and they are choosing other stones like the strikingly beautiful blue sapphire. Some even choosing not to have a stone at all, going back to tradition, so to speak. However, there are plenty of examples of not so simple bands of gold too.

There is the Irish Claddagh ring with its distinctive two hands holding a crowned heart symbolizing love, friendship and loyalty; and there is the Celtic Knot with its intricately interwoven strands twisting and turning without end, standing for eternity and eternal love despite the twists and turns and difficulties of daily life.

So, selecting a wedding ring is not just a question of picking a beautiful wedding ring, you should be choosing one that says what you want it to say. You could look up on the Internet what the different metals and various stones indicate traditionally. If you cannot find a ring that says what you want, consider having one made. It is not as expensive as you might think.

Tradition is a good thing when it comes to wedding rings. After all, you want your ring to express your everlasting love and devotion for the person you are giving it to and your marriage could last fifty or sixty years, especially with people living longer these days. With a bit of luck, you will wear this ring for the rest of your life, so pick a style that seems timeless to you.

Choosing a wedding ring is not as straightforward as it looks, because you are going to be wearing your ring every day for the rest of your life, so it should be something that you will not get tired of in a couple years. You should look at and try on many rings in order to get one that feels comfortable. You will want a ring that does not look out of date in ten years time. The easiest method of doing that is to go for a traditional style, because those styles have already stood the test of time.

One last piece of advice is to ask the jeweller to attest to the total carat weight of the stones in the ring and the weight of each individual stone and the quality and weight of the metal (although it should be hallmarked) on paper, then if it gets lost or stolen you have something to show the insurance company.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the Celtic knot wedding ring. If you have an interest in gold rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

categories: rings,celtic,wedding,gifts,gold,traditions,ireland,britain,history,spirituality,religion,happiness,politics,other

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February 22, 2010

Historical Past of Coin Jewelry

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: advice, coin collecting, coin jewelry, coinage, coins, collectibles, gifts, gold, jewelry, money, necklaces, shopping, silver, tips, Uncategorized — Chris Chandler @ 1:11 pm

Since the start of time, men and women have made jewelry out of stuff discovered in the environment. Everything from minerals, vegetation, shells, and of course metals such as platinum and silver, yet one may amaze you… money in the form of coins.

Coin jewelry seriously isn’t completely new onto the scene of modern mankind, it has a history. In reality, you can find historical evidence of loose change being cut as well as drilled from medieval times. In the development of coinage, loose change in the form of coins were usually drilled or pierced as a handy thing to be donned round the neck or affixed to an item of clothing.

Nowadays, there are several approaches to the actual methods that coin jewelry is made, however the primary 2 methods are whole in addition to cut coins. In cut coin jewelry, typically the coin is altered in some manner simply by cutting, shaping, pounding, or drilling it. Whole coin jewelry essentially tries to preserve an original coin by positioning it in place with the jewelry bezels.

It can be legitimate to say that old coins can be irrevocably damaged by coin jewelry making, but the final production is usually so attractive that the worth is much more precious than an original coin in many cases. For instance, take the lowly penny. The penny is probably valued at one cent, yet could be converted into a item of artwork which is worth much more. All coin jewelry will undergo deterioration because they are worn as a result of friction, natural oils along with salt in skin, along with other kinds of degradation.

Obviously, we recommend that you utilize coins that aren’t so uncommon that the sacrifice of using them for coin jewelry significantly exceeds the aesthetic value of the piece. Nevertheless, remember that preserving coins in the form of jewelry will be a way to show off the craftsmanship and design of the coins themselves. The truth is it will give you ways to connect yourself along with the historic importance of those coins. For example, should you be a Civil War buff, then you could possibly think it is very pleasing to put on a necklace with US half dollar from 1861.

There are many ideas that you can take coins, and make use of them as jewelry adornment. They can be shaped into rings, bracelets, earrings, money clips, tie tacks & bars, cufflinks, anklets, etc!

Although it might be valid that making jewelry from coins produces scarcity of coins themselves, it’s also accurate it likewise enhances the appeal of the coins. The appreciation level is not really as elevated as when a coin piece is stuck away in a drawer somewhere.

If you might be enthusiastic about coin jewelry, go to Get Coin Jewelryy and see exactly what we have got to offer at Happy Jack’s Fun Company Jewelry.

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February 20, 2010

Choosing Scent For Someone

A person’s scent is a unique way of expressing oneself. Some people choose the perfume they wear depending on their frame of mind, some wear one perfume during the day and another in the evening, while many people choose to wear the same perfume all the time. Others have a favourite, very expensive scent that they wear only on special occasions.

Whatever someone does, the choice is a personal one. Some people use a scent like a personal brand, so that whenever you get a whiff of that particular bouquet, you instinctively think of that one person. My mother used a scent called ‘Wild Gorse’ made by the monks on Caldy Island in west Wales for this purpose. Very, very few other people had that scent, as you had to go to the island to obtain it.

It is almost hopeless to choose perfume for someone you do not know, unless you go for a famous, expensive name like Chanel No. 5. There are few women who would turn down a bottle of that, even if it was not their favourite fragrance. The more you know the person the easier it should get, in theory at least.

So, how do you know which perfumes are going to be a welcome gift? That is the $65k question. There are a number of ways that reduce the odds of you making a slip-up. You could take a sneak look on their dressing table to see what that person wears already.

If you think far enough in advance, you could bring it up in conversation with an off-hand compliment like: ‘Oh, what a lovely scent/after shave! I like that. What is it called?’. But you have to do it weeks before you need the intelligence.

Or you could choose a scent that brings a special memory to mind, like the perfume that was worn on their wedding day, anniversary, or graduation day. Perfumes like these bring back pleasant memories and make them feel good by association. If you are not a bosom buddy of the one you want to buy for, you could ask their friends’ advice.

If you want to give a present of perfume to someone that you want to remember you by, why not invite them out for a meal or a show and a meal and present the scent in the restaurant? Most scents lose their potency after four or five hours, which is why many women top up every now and again with a spray from their handbags. Very few men do this.

So, if you give the scent later on in the evening, there is less chance of it clashing with what they are already wearing, meaning that someone is more likely to dab a bit on there and then, thereby associating the fragrance in their memory with the night you took them out. Just make certain it was a first-rate night out.

If all of the above fails, then most department stores offer perfume gift boxes which include the scent , a powder and body wash. These perfume gift boxes are a decent alternative, even if the person only wears it to go to bed or around the house.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with men’s perfume. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas

categories: romance,love,gifts,weddings,marriage,friendship,perfume,gold,product reviews,family,society,happiness,stress management,other

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February 18, 2010

Designer Glass Paperweights

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: auctions, britain, crystal, gifts, glass, happiness, ireland, other, politics, religion, spirituality, traditions, Uncategorized, vases, waterford — Owen Jones @ 7:45 am

My friend has a store that sells glass artwork. My personal favourite glass artwork is paperweights and I have a lot of fun attending art auctions and buying art glass with her. We pay a lot of attention to what our friends and her clients like and dislike.

I usually give people art glass paperweights that I find at art auctions for milestone birthdays and anniversaries. My mother turned seventy last August and I found a magnificent glass paperweight for her.

The art glass paperweight that I found for my mother was made by Baccarat and I was extremely lucky that this was one of the last items auctioned. A lot of people had already left the auction when this item went on the block. My mother really liked the rose motif because the rose is her favourite flower.

I have a Dutch friend from Den Bosch who loves effigies of frogs. She has managed to decorate her abode very stylishly with her favourite frogs. I have been on the lookout for an art glass paperweight for her for years. I finally found one at an art auction last year. The glass paperweight featured a frog sitting on a lily pad surrounded by blue water. It was really pretty and my friend began using it on her desk immediately.

I also have an aunt who collects art glass paperweights. She has asked me very often to find glass paperweights for her when I am attending art auctions. Of all of the pieces I have bought for her over the years, one sticks out in my memory more than any other.

The prettiest art glass paperweight I have ever bought at an art auction has to be one that featured a blue and gold Macaw. Rick Ayotte was the artist that created it and it was even featured in a book of his work. He has created many beautiful art glass paperweights.

There is no trouble at all selling art glass paperweights made by Rick Ayotte. His work seems to draw a great deal of interest. My friend tries to win any auction she finds for art glass paperweights made by him. She won one not so long ago that looked like pink roses. They looked so fragile and sweet. I know that this art glass paperweight will sell quickly.

There have been some inquiries at the shop for art glass paperweights by Richard Marquis, although we have not found any in any of the art auctions we have been to recently.

I will keep looking out for art glass paperweights at the auctions I attend, but I will not be going way out of my way to track them down. I now buy every art glass paperweight I can find that was made by Rick Satava. My favorite has to be the coral orange jellyfish that I found at an art auction an hour from my home. It was really beautiful.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Waterford crystal vases. If you have an interest in Irish crystal or wedding rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

categories: auctions,waterford,glass,crystal,gifts,vases,traditions,ireland,britain,spirituality,religion,happiness,politics,other

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February 16, 2010

Stained Glass: A History

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: britain, celtic, crystal, gifts, glass, happiness, ireland, other, politics, religion, spirituality, traditions, Uncategorized, vases, waterford — Owen Jones @ 12:09 pm

No one actually knows when stained glass was first invented because it happened before people started recording history. However, some historians reckon that it was first used as a luxury in the homes of affluent Romans in the first century AD. Stained glass was eventually acclaimed as an art form in the fourth century as Christians started to worship candidly and to construct elaborate churches in which to celebrate their religion.

On the other hand, some historians demonstrate that there are signs in pre-Christian ruins that suggest that pagans used stained glass in their rites. Although we will probably never really know the start of stained glass, it is fairly clear that the spread of Christianity is directly related to the spread of use of stained glass.

The Gothic Era commenced in the 12th Century and stained glass windows became an essential element in the design of cathedrals. It really all started with the pioneering style of the St. Denis, France, where stained glass windows were used to convey light into the church itself and into the minds of its worshipers. Sadly, most of the stained glass in the St. Denis Cathedral was destroyed in the course of the French Revolution, but there are a few pieces left and even some complete windows on exhibit in Europe.

Gothic style stained glass was composed of strong lines, but these gradually went out of fashion as the Renaissance commenced. During the Renaissance, artisans showed greater detail and more delicate colouring in order to add to the realism. Stained glass windows became more like paintings on glass than architectural elements and some of the notable elements such as lead lines disappeared. Because of the problems in expressing the great detail essential to the Renaissance era, the old style, which was true stained glass almost died out.

In view of the fact that stained glass was used mostly by the Catholic Church, much of the work was destroyed during the reign of King Henry VIII after his split with the Pope. However, not only old stained glass windows were destroyed, but many of the glass making works were destroyed as well. However, religious strife was not the only cause of the decline of stained glass.

The fashion of the Baroque era was for more detailed murals, which meant the use of clear glass. Therefore, many of the remaining stained glass windows were allowed to fall into disrepair, and furthermore not many new stained glass windows were produced. In the late 17th century, the public mood returned to the Gothic style of architecture, which produced a renewed fascination in stained glass windows.

Artisans continued to paint directly onto the glass at first, but later tried to imitate the old leaden frames of medieval times. However, since the original techniques had not been used for such a long time, they had become forgotten and the artisans of the period were unable to recreate the exact styles prevailing in Gothic stained glass.

During the 19th century, La Farge and Tiffany created new variations of stained glass. La Farge was interested in window designs, while Tiffany went into new areas like the Tiffany lamp shade.

These days, stained glass artists are not constricted by religious styles, although much of the work they do involves refurbishment. Modern stained glass is also used as the centre pane in front doors, especially uPVC doors, by rich and poor equally in the West.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Waterford crystal vases. If you have an interest in Irish crystal or wedding rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

categories: waterford,glass,crystal,gifts,vases,traditions,ireland,britain,celtic,spirituality,religion,happiness,politics,other

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February 15, 2010

Giving A Healthy Gift Basket

These days, everyone is very aware of the benefits of eating properly and the consequences of excess. This is one of the reasons why a healthy gift basket is a fantastic idea for a present. Going ‘healthy’ does not mean that the gift basket cannot be fun, personal and beautiful. If your loved one likes nuts, then buy nuts, but unsalted ones in their shells. You see? It only takes a little lateral thinking.

Children may seem hard to please on the topic of healthy gift baskets, because children love sweets and sugar, but there are many healthy snacks, which have a little less sugar. For instance, jam-filled biscuits contain sugar, but they also contain fruit. The same goes for oatmeal raisin cookies.

Toss in a few energy bars from the health food shop made from grains, fruit, honey, raisins and nuts and you may not have cut down on the calories, but you have increased the goodness of the foodstuff. An unusual fruit from the Indian Supermarket, like a passion fruit, a star fruit or a papaya might go down well too and impart extra vitamins.

If you are looking at giving a healthy gift basket to a teenager, you may do well to keep in mind that teens are anxious about their appearance. The get spots and acne. So you could prepare a healthy gift basket which contained fresh fruit, pimple cream and skin cleanser with rose-scented bath bags for girls, and shaving kits for boys (or vice versa).

If you are giving a healthy gift basket to an elderly person, then bear in mind that many older people often put up with dietary problems and aches and pains, so the older you get, the more you appreciate healthy treats. Gourmet chocolate, fine quality drinking chocolate, bath salts and peppermints would definitely be appreciated. Single leaf tea is also an idea, say, Lapsong Suchong.

If you are thinking about giving a healthy gift basket to your parents, why not? Mum may well appreciate a variety of anti-wrinkle skin creams, cocoa butter or glycerin soap and bath salts. Many shops stock oils beneficial to mature skin. Gourmet chocolate will also be appreciated as will rarer nuts and fruits. Rose water is a good addition too.

And Dad? Well, you know him best. Is he sporty and health orientated or is he into work and relaxation? Does he take pleasure in fishing or golf? Does he like bar-b-queing? Does he enjoy expensive, single malt whisky – the non-guzzling variety? Does he like the occasional beer? If so, you could get him a few foreign beers that he has never tried before. Chocolate liqueurs are usually a firm favourite as well. Stem ginger is a popular luxury with those men who are aware of its existence.

Perhaps a few magazines on his favourite subject (no, not Penthouse) or a couple of tickets to a game. A joint basket for Mum and Dad is probably easier and then you can send them to the theatre or/and a restaurant too. A healthy one, naturally.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Valentine’s Day Gift Baskets. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts Ideas

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St. Valentine’s Day Presents For Your Girlfriend

It is a fact that a lot of men become awfully stressed out when the time comes to go looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for their girlfriends. This is more often than not because they are concerned about picking an inappropriate gift. They are concerned about giving a gift that will be misinterpreted for the current stage of the relationship.

If they have just started dating their girlfriend, they may worry that an expensive present may be inappropriate, but at the same time, do not want to risk giving a present that will make their girlfriend think that they are stingy.

This dilemma makes getting a present for your girlfriend for St. Valentine’s Day a difficult task. I will endeavor to give a few essential pointers below to help you get started selecting a fitting present for your girlfriend for St. Valentine’s Day.

The first thing you need to do when attempting to settle on a Valentine?s Day present for your girlfriend is to mull over what stage of the relationship you are currently in. This is very important because it will dictate which type of gift you can give to your girlfriend. If you and your girlfriend have been going out with each other for a long time and you are quite certain that you are both committed to each other, you can contemplate an extravagant present.

However, if you have only been going out for a short period and you are not sure where the relationship is going, you might want to consider a less expensive present. There are no two ways about it, you have to weigh up your relationship, but you must also keep in mind that she might not think the same way as you.

You may feel that everything is going well and that the two of you are strongly committed, but she may feel as though the relationship is going nowhere. If you are having difficulties working out where you both stand, talk to your girlfriend about it. She will like that anyway and it will help to assure the two of you that you feel the same way about each other.

Flowers are the old stand-by and are an ideal gift for a man to give his girlfriend on St. Valentine’s Day, whether it is a new relationship or not. It is also such an easy gift because it is so widely associated with Valentine’s Day that it is not likely to misinterpretation. A gift of a dozen red roses is considered a romantic gift but it is also familiar enough that your girlfriend is not likely to read too much into it.

However, there is a common mistake associated with roses on Valentine’s Day. For example, your girlfriend may be hurt and disappointed by a gift of yellow roses because yellow roses are usually considered to be a symbol of friendship and not romantic love, so speak to the florist.

Jewelry is an apt present to give to your girlfriend on Valentine’s Day as long as the cost and type of the present is proportionate to the current phase of your relationship. This is not so tricky, it is black and white really. Ask yourself the question: ‘Is she worth $100?’.

However, a good middle of the road, romantic gift would be a box of expensive gourmet chocolates. It shows that you care enough to have sought out such a rare present, to have spent more than a few dollars and that you think she is sophisticated enough to appreciate them. She will love them, even if she is on a diet.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Gourmet Chocolate Gifts. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts Ideas

categories: romance,love,gifts,weddings,marriage,friendship,perfume,gold,product reviews,family,society,happiness,stress management,other

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Romantic Songs

A song can tell you a lot about life, the person who wrote it, the person who sings it and the person who likes to listen to it.. Songs belong to different genres. Have you ever come across a genre which is immortal? If you did would it be about love or hatred? Of course, everybody would declare that ‘love’ is the most discussed, written and sung about by people of all races and nationalities. So, it is no surprise then to find out what makes a date worth cherishing?

Music invariably has something to do with it and music could actually style the mood of your date. Dating is such a great way of choosing your future lifetime spouse. When you are out on a date, see to it that the music is well-selected and that it generates a mood of romance.

People have composed all types of songs, but the ones they write the best are love songs. Since the day the first love song was sung, people’s hearts have been melting. Songs of finding a new love, losing love, songs of inspiration, songs of moving on, songs about romance, first loves and the gush of emotions.

With all due respect to all the artists concerned and their fans too, here are some of the most popular songs of Romance. They demonstrate the feelings of two people in love during a very romantic date:

Truly, Madly, Deeply: (Savage Garden) – this duo’s song speaks of a deep love and promises made to the other person.

I’d be your dream I’d be your wish I’d be your fantasy I’d be your hope?be your love. Be everything that you need?

This I Promise You: (N-Sync) – this group filled the airwaves with love. This song is really a promise of a lifetime’s commitment. It is often used as a wedding song.

And I will take you in my arms And hold you right where you belong Until the day my life is through This I promise you

Iris: (Goo Goo Dolls) – it gained popularity not only because of the movie in which it featured, but because the song touches the heart.

And I don’t want the world to see me Cause I don’t think that they’d understand When everything’s made to be broken – I just want you to know who I am.

Dreaming of You: (Selina) – the singer died tragically, but the song lives on. It is a light song, but it goes straight to the heart.

I’m dreaming of you tonight ‘Til tomorrow And for all of my life And there’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be.

Songs will always be a big part of courtship and that usually starts with a date. Music is the food of love and music is one of the greatest inventions of mankind. Generations always have, and generations always will, continue to keep the tradition going. Music not only induces love and romance, but it also keeps love and romance alive.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Romantic Gifts: Ideas. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas

categories: romance,love,gifts,weddings,marriage,friendship,jewelry,gold,product reviews,family,society,happiness,stress management,other

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February 8, 2010

Crystal Corporate Gifts As A Means Of Advertising

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: britain, business, celtic, corporate, crystal, gifts, glass, happiness, ireland, other, politics, religion, spirituality, traditions, Uncategorized — Owen Jones @ 5:08 pm

It can be very difficult to find beautiful and memorable corporate gifts. Many corporate gifts are just rubbish, especially the less expensive ones. However, there is a class of gift that is always treasured and can be thought of as useful too.

Have you always presented a calendar or a letter opener? Or a key ring, just like every other company does? Or a bottle of wine that is forgotten the day after it was opened? Well, there is hope yet. What about glass crystal? Everybody loves lead crystal, do they not?

Lead crystal items really are the bees’ knees of gifts, corporate gifts or not. People always need ashtrays, paper weights, and pen holders and made in lead crystal they look expensive and stylish adding to the image of your company.

Lead crystal goods come in many kinds. They make fruit bowls, vases, glasses, paper weights, pen trays, ashtrays, picture frames and carriage clocks along with a dozen other items. When selecting a lead crystal corporate gift, you might like to bear the following points in mind:

If you are presenting these corporate gifts to your staff, you may like to distinguish between your employees or give everyone the same gift. You can on grounds of sex, length of service, marital status or input to the company’s profits. There again, you may know the longest serving personnel very well and want to get them something that will suit them personally. You can do this in terms of price or style or both.

For example, office staff might like a lead crystal paperweight, pen-holder or picture frame. Blue collar workers may rather a lead crystal vase or bowl. Single people might play golf or sail and like an item etched with a golfing or sailing motif. Married people might like a picture frame or a vase. Long-serving personnel or high-earners might like a carriage clock.

Cost is obviously an important factor, but usually corporate gifts are tax-deducible and glass crystal items differ greatly in price depending on the manufacturer. For example, you can get a nice lead crystal goblet set for $15, but if you want to give Waterford lead crystal, you can expect to pay three times as much.

Are you giving these corporate gifts to clients or / and prospective clients? In this case, you will have to have them inscribed with your company’s contact information. You will also want the corporate gift to stay in the client’s office, so it should be office orientated, not home orientated. Something like a heavy paperweight shaped like a rock or a desk tidy shaped like a boat.

This is the best mode of promotion after word-of-mouth and sign-written vehicles and should be taken seriously by any business that must have clients. Giving a well-thought of gift like lead crystal is a way of enhancing your status and that of the recipient.

The only other thing to bear in mind is that corporate gifts in lead crystal are valuable and need to be handled with care, so if you are having them inscribed, which you must do, then you will need to know how long it will take to get your batch done and delivered.

categories: business,glass,crystal,gifts,corporate,traditions,ireland,britain,celtic,spirituality,religion,happiness,politics,other

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Chocolate Candy For The Connoisseur

Chocolate candy must be the most well-liked sort of candy in the world. It definitely is in Europe and America. We eat tons and tons of Mars, Cadburys, Lindt and Nestle chocolate candy every year. The sad thing is that most of the people who admit to liking chocolate have never tasted a decent bar of chocolate in their lives.

To a connoisseur, chocolate candy can come from anywhere in the world although Belgium, Switzerland and France are the countries, whose names come to mind first. Despite that, high-quality chocolate candy is also manufactured in Great Britain, Spain, the USA and some parts of Latin America.

This is not surprising as chocolate first made its debut among the Mayans of Central America in at least 300 BC and maybe even as far back as 3000 BC. In 300 AD it was a special drink exclusively for royalty and was very bitter. It was so special that it had to be drunk from a golden chalice and that chalice could be used for that purpose only one time.

In those days, many more herbs and spices were added to the royal drink called xocoatl. It was also a lot purer in terms of cacao content than practically anything you can buy on the shelves in the supermarket today as well. The closest we have to that purity is gourmet chocolate.

Gourmet chocolate will usually have been manufactured by a chocolatier, which is similar to what a chef is to cuisine. These manufacturers of chocolate candy are the best in the world, highly skilled and head-hunted by the best chocolate makers. They can demand large salaries and become world famous among the aficionados of fine chocolate candy.

Fine chocolate candy must have a high chocolate content. That sounds as if it should go without saying, doesn’t it? However, to be called chocolate in the US, candy only has to contain 15% actual chocolate and ‘bakers’ chocolate’ frequently does not contain any at all. In Europe that figure is 35%, which is why most Americans think that European chocolate candy is sumptuous.

Good chocolate candy is supposed to break cleanly with an audible ‘snap’ and ought to have a glossy surface. The chocolate candy most liable to have a high cacao content is dark chocolate, which is also often somewhat bitter, reminiscent of the actual taste of cacao before most manufacturers put sugar into the mix. Purer chocolate candy also melts on the tongue and produces a mild feeling of well-being.

Purer forms of chocolate candy have had various reputations over the centuries. It has the reputation of being a pick-me-up and had the reputation of being an aphrodisiac, in all probability for the same reason. This is due to a chemical naturally present in the bean called Theobromine. Theobromine has effects on other animals as well. For instance, it is a proscribed substance for racing horse because it has an huge effect on horses and chocolate should never be given to cats or dogs because it is poisonous to them.

Theobromine and another chemical present, phenethylamine, have been associated with the production of seratonin, which is stimulated by prescribed drugs to fend off depression.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Gourmet Chocolate Candy. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts Ideas

categories: romance,love,gifts,weddings,marriage,friendship,jewelry,gold,product reviews,family,society,happiness,stress management,other

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February 6, 2010

Taking A Romantic Cruise In Paris

If you are feeling romantic and you want to be alone with your loved one in a romantic place far from petty distractions, why not go to Paris and take a cruise? The cruise ships are beautiful and offer haute cuisine with fine wines and a wide selection of dishes. Service on board is excellent and if they know that it is a special trip for you, they will go out of their way to make it even more special.

Just by selecting the city of Paris as your venue, you will be conveying the impression of romance, because as everybody knows, Paris has the reputation of being the capital of the world of romance.

So, how do you go about booking one of these cruises? Well, clearly, first of all, you have to be in Paris. This is not a difficulty, if you live in Europe as there are flights and sleeper trains. If you are American, you will have to take the longer-term view and start saving for next year.

Once in your hotel in Paris, you can either ask reception for details or go to one of the many Tourist Information Centres, where everybody speaks English. The cruise line staff will pick you up from your hotel on the chosen day, so that you will not have the hassle of having to find your way through a strange, busy city alone.

Once on board, the pampering begins with your welcoming on board and a free drink to light the fires of romance. You will enjoy four or more hours of this, depending on which cruise you decide on, but they are all wonderfully romantic voyages aboard beautiful cruise liners.

Generally speaking, the cruise will start on the left bank of the river Seine, usually in the vicinity of the Eiffel Tower. Some of these boats are made of a kind of perspex, so that your view of the streets and monuments is unimpeded. And of course, all the sights are lit up at night and in quite a spectacular manner too. You will also be able to gaze downwards into the water itself.

As you cruise on this glass boat you will be entertained by some of the finest musicians that Paris can offer you. Solo instrumentalists; quartets; classical music; solo artiste singers or a duet. There are also cruises with more modern music as well, but I don’t find them as romantic as the more traditional stuff. However, you can take all these details into account when you book your romantic cruise in Paris.

You will not only pass by celebrated landmarks, you will also pass very close by them and even underneath them. Famous bridges; Notre Dame; the Louvre, and many more. Not only that, but you will see all these fantastic historical monuments while being pampered by the best hosts that Paris has to offer and drinking fine wines and champagne, seated at the bow of the cruiser in luxury.

Once your romantic cruise and your meal are over, you will be taken to a sumptuous show on the Champs Elysees, where you will be given a half bottle of champagne on entry. There is no need to worry about driving, so let your hair down and enjoy yourselves.

When you have had a sufficient amount of the high life, you will be transported back to your hotel, in the same manner that you were picked up. However, there are other choices too. You may want to go back to the hotel on a romantic horse and carriage, it will maintain that romantic mood.

Once you get back to your hotel, why not both get in the bath together? Light a few fragrant candles, open another bottle of wine and play some soft music. It will be an evening you will both remember for the rest of your lives, I assure you.

Owen Jones writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Valentine’s Day Gift Baskets. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts Ideas This article, Taking A Romantic Cruise In Paris is available for free reprint.

categories: romance,love,gifts,weddings,marriage,friendship,perfume,gold,product reviews,family,society,happiness,stress management,other

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January 28, 2010

Ideas For St Valentine’s Day Gifts

Without any shadow of a doubt at all, St Valentine’s Day is the most important day of the year for couples. Although many people argue that St Valentine’s Day is only a commercialized festival created for the reason of encouraging people to buy cards, flowers and presents. However, there are others who do not care how St Valentine’s Day started and are just pleased to have a day when they can plan a romantic day with the one they love.

For many people, this day involves giving a gift of some sort, whether this is a token present or an expensive gift, working out what to give your loved one for St Valentine’s Day can be a difficult decision. This piece will offer a few suggestions for presents on St Valentine’s Day.

1] One of the simplest, and most popular St Valentine’s Day presents is a card. It may not seem like a lot, but many people, women in particular, say that a card is one of the best presents they can receive on St Valentine’s Day. However, you cannot give just any old card, the best cards express your sentiments about your loved one and your liaison.

You can find cards with a pre-printed rhyme, but can also get cards which are blank inside, so that you can write your own sentiments and if you cannot find a card that looks like you want it to, you can even try creating your own card.

2] Jewelry is another terrific present for St Valentine’s Day. Simple earrings might be suitable for a new relationship, while a more expensive present would be appropriate for a relationship, which is more deeply rooted. Despite the price of the gift, the jewelry you give to your partner on St Valentine’s Day will be something she will really appreciate.

3] A weekend break is another great gift for St Valentine’s Day. This kind of present is more appropriate for couples who have been dating for a while or who are married. If you and your partner have never traveled together before, you might want to discuss the present with your partner beforehand as opposed to surprising him or her with the gift.

4] What would St Valentine’s Day be without candy? The most traditional gifts on St Valentine’s Day are flowers and candy. While these gifts are very much appreciated, most women would agree that candy is their favourite part of the duo. Flowers are beautiful and are always treasured, but chocolates, and especially gourmet chocolates are the number one.

5] Finally, there is no reason why Valentine’s Day gifts have to be any different than gifts you would give for other occasions such as a birthday or Christmas. You can give things such as clothing, DVDs, CDs, electronic gadgets or anything else that you know your partner will appreciate. As long as you are giving your companion a gift you know he or she will like, it will make a good gift for St Valentine’s Day.

Owen Jones writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with romantic men’s perfume. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts Ideas. Also published at Ideas For St Valentine’s Day Gifts.

categories: romance,love,gifts,weddings,marriage,friendship,perfume,gold,product reviews,family,society,happiness,stress management,other

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