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Whether you’re a serious professional artist or just an amateur, entering art contests can be a rewarding and fun way to earn money, notoriety and attention for your work. While there are many well-known annual art contests that are entered by thousands of professionals and students, you’ll be glad to know that there are many more small art contests with much less competition that can be found with a minimal amount of effort. Thanks to the Internet, you can research art contests from your home computer and make your chances of winning much higher by picking the perfect competition for your work.

When looking for an art contest to enter the first rule is a simple one: never get too disappointed if your art doesn’t win the top prize. Like many competitions, the real key to winning art contests is sticking to it and entering many of them. If the first contest you enter doesn’t name you the winner, don’t let that make you stop entering. It doesn’t necessarily mean that your artwork is no good; perhaps the judges had different tastes, or perhaps the subject of the contest didn’t fit your work. If you don’t win, remain confident of your work and look for another art contest that might be a better fit.

Thanks to the innovation of search engines, the Internet is probably as far as you need to go to find the perfect art contest to enter. There was a time when finding little-known art contests meant spending a weekend at the library, but no longer! Simply type in “art contests” in your favorite search engine and you’ll get dozens of web page results to explore and compare. With this many results, in fact, it’s a good practice to look at entry requirements closely and not enter every single contest. There are plenty of art contests out there that simply aren’t worth the time and effort of entry, and you need to define these.

There are a few legitimate art contests that charge a fee for entry, but you should be able to find plenty that are completely free. If you are new to art contests, it’s probably smart to save your money and start by entering free contests only. These are usually put on by small websites or publications, but it’s a great way to get attention for your artwork, perhaps some limited prizes, and above all some extra confidence that your work is worth continuing. Small art contests, even though they don’t offer amazing cash or prizes, are a terrific way to start out.

If you really enjoy your work, entering art contests could be a great way for you to get more involved in the world of art, whether you are a professional or an amateur. Whether you are a painter, a cartoonist, a sculptor, or any other kind of artist, there is bound to be an art contest out there that is perfect for you. With a little bit of research and some dedication, you could get a bunch of much-deserved attention for your work by entering the right art contest today.

At Art Contest Blogger, you can search and share lots of great online art contests, painting contests, drawing contests and cartooning contests. You can visit us at http://www.artcontestblogger.com

When you own scrapbook albums of the most important things to remember is to protect your scrapbook pages. Protecting your scrapbook pages correctly will make certain they just as good in years to come. It is false economy to buy a cheap scrapbook album so always buy the best one you can afford.

There are many things you can do to help preserve you pages and this article will explain which the best ways are.

1 – Remember to only use acid free paper and card. Do not assume that all paper found in craft shops is acid free. You may also find that a pastel piece of paper made by one company is acid free and a brighter colour is not. Always check the packaging to make sure the paper or card is acid free. If in doubt ask someone in the craft shop for assistance.

2 – Certain liquids can destroy you scrapbook projects. You will need to take care when using harsh substances when creating you scrapbook page layouts and never eat or drink around your project.

3 – Sunlight will diminish paper, photos and your album quality so take care by making sure the storage for your scrapbook is in a dry place away from sunlight.

4 – Try to avoid getting fingerprints on your photos. Over time the fingerprints will become more visible and really alter the look of your photos. Handle your photos with care touching the outer edges only.

5 – Store your scrapbook upright. Laying a scrapbook flat will cause the pages to become flat and will render your embellishment to flat and lifeless.

6 – Be extra cautious when purchasing ready made embellishments second hand or from auction websites. You can never be absolutely sure what materials have been used as they may not be acid free or may include harmful glues and adhesives.

7 – Wash your hands! This may seem obvious but it is easy to forget when you are busy thinking about your new scrapbook ideas to stop and wash your hands. On more than one occasion I have totally ruined a scrapbook page when I have forgotten to wash my hands after using ink.

If you want your scrapbook album to last a long time it is worth looking after it. After all, what can be more frustrating than spending huge amounts of time creating a fantastic scrapbook album only to find that in a year the pages have become worn and tatty.

By looking after your scrapbook you will know that your scrapbook ideas will be preserved for years to come. A scrapbook album is something to be cared for and to be cherished so it looks a good as the day it was made.

Vicki Churchill writes for a site that specializes in scrapbook ideas providing you with excellent tips and ideas for creating stunning scrapbook page layouts. Vicki also specializes in card making

http://www.vickisscrapbookideas.com

http://www.vickiscardmakingideas.com

When is graduation month for your students?

Growing up in Scotland, I always thought of July as being graduation month. But then UK people use “graduation” to refer only to being awarded a University Degree. Then I discovered High School graduation was a big thing in the United States and that happens around the end of May each year.

Thankfully, with the advent of the internet and online shopping you can buy graduation scrapbooking supplies all year round. And it’s just as well, for did you know graduations do not only take place in the spring?

Here in the UK, the government policy is to have fifty percent of school kids going to university, so we have graduation ceremonies all year round – it’s the only way you fit so many in!

While searching the internet recently, I discovered that in the southern hemisphere you have winter graduations in July! Now that’s confusing! Being a northern hemisphere girl, the idea of July being winter and Christmas being summer, well I’m confused enough as it is! (It would be interesting to hear where you are reading this and when graduation is in your country.)

So, whenever your students are graduating, what graduation scrapbooking products do you need? At some point after the event you may be looking for graduation scrapbook supplies. What is available, and do you need special scrapbooking products?

No, you don’t have to splash out on special graduation papers. For most layouts, the graduation scrapbook theme will be defined by the photographs you include.

Having said that, if you go to the beach for a barbecue to celebrate your graduation, without the cap, gown and scroll or diploma, it may not be quite so obvious that it’s a graduation celebration. If that’s your case, you may want to either use graduation papers for the background or add graduation embellishments to your layout to re-enforce the theme.

Your local scrapbook store will have a selection of graduation embellishments you can add to regular scrapbook papers that will do the trick. You can also shop online at various websites such as Jo-Ann, Scrapbook or at the ScrapGirls store.

The folks at HOTP have two series for those under pressure: “Almost Done” and “Busy Scrapper’s Solutions”, as well as a large selection of paper books. Have a look and see if one of their styles will work for your graduation photos.

Even although there isn’t a graduation theme in their papers, HOTP have cute graduation Brad Buddies that will enhance your theme.

Die Cuts with a View has a “Scrapbook Kit In A Stack” available in 8″x8″ – which almost counts as a mini album. (“Scrapbook Kit In A Stack” 12″X12″ is also available.) The stack includes 24 coordinating patterned papers, 24 sheets of cardstock, 505 stickers and 32 vellum quotes – so you’ll have enough left over to mark your next child’s graduation, too!

Are you in a hurry with no time to wait for the mail man?

Then check out digital scrapbook products you can buy and download immediately. Remember you can print the digital files if doing a paper layout.

So no matter what time of the year you require graduation scrapbook supplies you will be able to get them. Enjoy scrapbooking your graduate. Do share some of the results with us at ScrapbookingGems.

Scrapbook layout expert Genie Balfour writes on a wide variety of scrapbooking topics. Find elegant page designs and graduation scrapbook tips at http://www.scrapbookinggems.com/

Are you planning a graduation scrapbook for your favorite student? So how are you going to go about scrapbooking your graduate? Maybe an album of the high spots of school life up to graduation? Or some well crafted scrapbooking pages of graduation day to include in a family album? Some combination of each?

(Uh-oh, I’ve just re-read that – I may have used the wrong phrase in connection with teenagers who are always paranoid about ’spots’ appearing at the wrong time – remember it well! You may want to substitute ‘high points’ or some such other phrase! lol)

Even if graduation is just days away, it’s still possible to make a themed graduation scrapbook for your student. However, at this stage in the game you’ll be looking for some quick-make graduation scrapbooking ideas rather than recording the whole school career.

But let’s step back a second. The rush is on only if you want to present the scrapbook as a graduation gift. If not there is not quite the same hurry. And don’t forget, for many student there will be graduations at several levels as they progress. The most popularly celebrated are high school graduation, and of course, university, but many junior schools now hold graduation ceremonies. So your scrapbooking opportunities are multiplying…

However, if you are already drowning in all the preparations for marking this significant day in your child’s life then make it easy on yourself (and everyone else around you) by deciding that scrapbooking this job can wait just a little longer. After all, it’s waited all this time! You will be more satisfied with the result if you do it when things are less stressful, you’ll probably do a better job of it; and you’ll be less stressed for having one less thing to do before the big day.

That said there are some options if you’ve set your heart on giving this particular gift, and if you have to move fast to get it ready to present to your graduate, here’s one of our graduation scrapbook ideas which could be a life-saver for you…

The “Graduate’s Scrapbook of Memories” is a beautiful hardbound journal (spiral option available) looking just like a real scrapbook but without all the work and investment that’s normally needed to achieve it. – Particularly useful to the infrequent scrapbooker as well as the time-poor experienced scrapper. You just have to add your own photographs and stories or journaling.

If you want to scrapbook your graduate with this lovely book, go ahead and get started today. Order the album, then look out your photos and jot down your reminiscences, ready to get started as soon as it arrives. Then in no time at all, you’ll have your graduation scrapbook ready.

Genie Balfour is the founder of the paper and digital scrapbooking resource ScrapbookingGems.com. To learn how Genie designs elegant scrapbook page layouts, go to http://www.scrapbookinggems.com and check out her free scrapbook sketches and layouts series.

Sewing can be viewed as a hobby, although it was not a hobby a few hundred years ago when many people had to make their own clothing and other fabric items such as seat covers, curtains, and sheets. They needed to make their own items because in many places, there were no Sears department stores or Overstock dot com to order things from. Even if there was clothing shop or general store or catalog that they could order clothes and such items through, many people could not afford to do so.

Anyway, many people think of sewing as a class that they need to take in order to pass home economics or as something that their mother or grandmother knows how to do. The art of sewing and design is a great skill that you may want to learn for many reasons. Let us discuss just a few of those reasons.

Sewing Not a Necessity, But Still Very Useful

In this day and age, sewing is not necessarily a necessity for most of us. If you have a nine to five job, it will be more convenient to shop for and purchase clothing. Many people even enjoy shopping for clothing very much.

However, if we put a tear in a blouse or pants of ours, sewing or patching it up should remedy it. If you would need to take in clothing and do not want to hire seamstress to do it, it would be a good thing to have the ability to sew under your belt.

So, even though sewing is not a skill that many value these days, it can very well get us out of some sticky situations.

Sewing and Clothing Design

If you love fashion and designer items, you may have an interest of entering the fashion world and designing your own clothing line or something like it. If you do not know how to sew, how are you going to achieve this goal? True, not all elements of design and fashion require you to know how to sew, but if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Knowing how to sew and operate a sewing machine and the related equipment would be a great asset to have if you plan on entering the fashion world.

Pass Your Skills On To Your Children

It is always something nice and very rewarding to pass on knowledge to a child, especially if you have children of your own. One of your children may want to learn how to sew, and this would make a great activity that you could do with your child.

Teaching is rewarding, and sewing is a very useful skill.

So, sewing is very useful for sticky situations, for entering into the fashion world, and to pass unto your children. Sewing is a great skill to have, and something that you can definitely have fun with.

If you would like to get started in sewing, you can visit Jays site Second Hand Sewing dot com to find great brand name used sewing machines. You can visit Jays site at http://secondhandsewing.com.