1stAngel Arts Magazine

Weekly Photo Challenge #21 “Love”

Andee — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:51:50 +0000

It is week #21 of the Weekly Photo Challenge. The subject for this week is “Love”. Please join in the fun and capture an image to add to this weeks challenge. You may also pull one from your archives if like. We still welcome your suggestions for weekly challenge topics. Stop by and add one to our suggestion list. Or send me a private message with your suggestion through the 1stAngel community center. Follow this link to add your suggestion as a post :Official Weekly Photo Challenge Topic Suggestion List. All links and galleries can be found in the community area of 1stAngel. Here is the main board for “The Weekly Photo Challenge”: Weekly Photo Challenge Board Weekly Photo Challenge #21 “Love” was suggested by “1stAngel”. The gallery to add your image may be found following this link: Weekly Photo Challenge #21 “Love” Here is the board for all post once the week is complete:Weekly Photo Challenge #21 “Love” Archive Please join in the fun and add an image when you can. We are having so much fun and getting more practice as we put forth the effort to create something new each week. Won’t you please join us this week? Thanks to all past, present and future who participate! © 2012, [...]

Oxford’s Inspiration to Magic and Mystery

Guest Author — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:17:27 +0000

When a story is well told you get a real sense of place. Through the characters’ familiarity with the setting you begin to build a picture of the town or city, and after a while you almost feel like you find your way around the fictional setting. Often the place is somewhere familiar to the creator, whether it’s their home town, somewhere they frequent, or maybe a place they visited as a child on holidays. Either way, reality is the grounding for some of the most loved works of British fiction, and Oxford has been that inspiration for the most popular works of the last century. His Dark Materials In Philip Pullman’s series, the first instalment, Northern Lights, is set in the fictional Jordan College which is based loosely on Exeter College in Oxford. The university setting gave the early chapters that real sense of class divide between the educated men and the privileged main character Lyra, and her best friend Roger who is a servant boy in the college. Through Lyra’s eyes we see the dark corners and secret children’s hiding places of the college that you just couldn’t get on a typical tour. Alice, Narnia and Hobbits J.R.R. [...]

Why Not Try Making Your Own Curtains?

Guest Author — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:05:58 +0000

Making your curtains is one of those things that may seem daunting, but with care and thought, it is something that we can all do. If you decide to make your own curtains, you will realise that you then have more design options than when choosing ready made curtains due to all the different fabrics available. In this piece we are going to look at making lined curtains. While of course there is more work and more care needed than non-lined curtains, it does give you better draught and light exclusion whilst also looking more complete. What you will need: Your choice of fabric Lining Fabric Curtain tape Needle, pins and thread Scissors (dressmaking ones preferably) Measuring tape Pencil Measuring Measure out the correct lengths and widths for your curtains and use the pins (or if the fabric will allow you to see, a pencil) to mark of the correct points to ensure matching lengths. A tip for using a type of fabric that is patterned is to choose a certain point in the design and then mark each length off from that point. It can be a starting point for all lengths. Once measured and you are happy with [...]

Taxidermy: Is It Ever An Appropriate Gift

Guest Author — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:44:02 +0000

As far as gifts go taxidermy is on the unusual side. Presenting someone with a stuffed dead animal that has been resurrected to a very static state is a tricky thing to pull off. If you’re going to do it you really need to gauge the potential reaction and the likelihood of your pal appreciating the gesture. It’s something that could go terribly wrong. So, you’re going to go for it? Ok, the type of beasties you can present fall fairly definitively into three categories, here are the highs and lows of each item in terms of their suitability as a gift. Domestic First things first, this isn’t about giving Tiddles the gift of ‘eternal life’. Having a well-loved family pet stuffed is a bad idea. Unless the desire to turn Fred, the loveable and slightly rotund Dachshund, into a foot stool has come from an owner whose judgement has not been mangled by grief then leave the pets alone. This is more about finding other peoples deceased pets and bringing them into your home. They may be inanimate and susceptible to moths, but they are also very quiet and require no attention other than a quick dusting now and [...]

What Is The Best DSLR Camera For Me To Take Underwater?

Guest Author — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:26:59 +0000

When summer holidays arrive, the best place you can spend your time off is somewhere with a lot of water. In fact, if you have an interest in diving or photography, or both, then you could make the most of your time with some underwater photography. However, before you get started you will need a waterproof DSLR camera and following are the five best choices that are worth considering. 1. Panasonic Lumix FT3 When it comes to waterproof digital SLR cameras for underwater photography, the Panasonic Lumix FT3 is definitely the ultimate choice. If you plan to snorkel, then you should definitely have this camera, and you can take it underwater up to an impressive depth of 12m. Apart from being waterproof, the FT3 is also dust and shockproof as well. You will be able to keep of the places where you take your underwater shots since this DSLR camera is equipped with GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) technology. You won’t have a problem keeping your underwater shots steady since the camera also features optical image stabilization. You can take up to 310 underwater shots before the battery runs out. 2. Sony Cyber-shot TX10 The TX10 by Sony is quite a [...]

Writing Tips – Where to Write

Guest Author — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:21:36 +0000

For many people writing is a large part of their everyday lives, even if they’re not a professional writer. Writing is a much loved hobby for many people who converge on online publishing forums or find outlet through keeping a personal or informational blog. A blog is a great way for an individual to release a little creativity, or vent some ideas. Some people use traditional art forms like painting or drawing, and other use writing. To write can really be a sounding board for the writer, in the past the focus would have been on writing for a personal journal and would quite often have only have been read by the writer themselves. These days the blog networks hosts these journals in digital form, and with the internet being truly transparent it’s natural that other individuals will stumble upon your work through the inherent human instinct to explore. Where to Write? Where to write is a consideration for every writer, whether amateur of professional. It’s not just about being productive and feeling as though progress is being made, as this isn’t always possible for a bout of “writers block” will strike from time to time. The setting for your [...]

My Canvas Is Behind Me

1stAngel — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:18:31 +0000

The canvas is behind me I just can’t bear to look To see it makes me weepy Like a chef who can no longer cook or a bird who cannot fly a dog who has no tail The lack of … Continue reading →

They are stealing your art. We need more signatures

1stAngel — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:12:16 +0000

For many people from the arts, online revenue is a large part of our businesses. A huge amount of sites are springing up using our details, and images stolen from Google and large sites, and used for phishing and fraud. eg http://h.toolshomes.com/ http://www.kitchendini.com and many, many more springing up every month and these will be affecting our economies. Not only are these sites breaking basic laws of the land but, they are also stealing our livelihoods. When an image or advert appears on one of these sites, they are adding our name to fraud and they are also stealing money from would be buyers of our work. These sites are a blot on the landscape and are dragging our names, and that of companies like PayPal, McAfee and Verisign, (whose logos they use), into disrepute. We know that you are already working hard to stop copyright thefts and we ask that you look into these companies and close them down immediately, along with any other sites like them. http://www.change.org/petitions/protect-artists-businesses-from-fraudsters © 2012, 1stAngel. All rights reserved.