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Jade is one of the most-loved collectibles. Its origins are ancient, its properties both medicinal and decorative. Though revered around the world, jade is most commonly associated with China, where it has been known for 8,000 years. The early Chinese called it yu and saw it as a living stone, radiating with an inner glow.

Often ground, mixed with wine and fed to the emperors, jade was believed to increase imperial longevity. Symbolically, a court gentleman, on reaching 80, was allowed to carry a jade pigeon on a pole. Concubines received jade scepters from their emperors. Mandarin hats had carved small finials on their tops and a jade plume holder in the back. Chinese women decorated their hair with jade. Han dynasty princes and princesses were sometimes buried in suits of jade, a notable feat accomplished by stitching together bits of jade with threads of silver or gold.

Around the turn of the 20th century, we start to see large, fancy and colorful carvings made for Western consumption. Table-top and decorative items produced between 1880 and 1900 were often embellished with silver or gold, even enamel. In the second half of the 20th century, traditional styles began to give way to an elaborate new standard.

There are two kinds of jade: hard and soft. Ancient jade and hard jade are often referred to as jadeite. Though found in a variety of colors, the most valuable is green. The most valuable green is a near emerald green called Imperial Jade or gem-jade. Other colors, such as yellow jade, have their place in the pantheon of Chinese carvings too. Soft jade is called nephrite. Its coloration ranges from slightly off-white to yellowish white or greenish white. The latter is often referred to as celadon jade.

When you see the word jade modified by an adjective such as serpentine jade, mountain jade, new jade, watch out. These names are often given to pseudo jades. The quality of your collection depends on knowing how to differentiate the real jades from the imposters. (You will find an entire chapter on fake jades in my book, Collecting Asian Art.)

Since jade is an ancient stone, it is useless to try to quantify it by date. Other criteria must be used, and one way is to know the forms that were popular during the different periods. New, machine- made copies of older designs differ from the originals in subtle ways. The most prominent is that new carvings rarely have the same aesthetic relationship to the stone as older ones.

To value a jade carving, you must first determine whether it is modern or pre-World War II. If the jade you are viewing has a high sheen, you will do well to err on the side of caution.

The next step is to figure out if the raw material is actually jade or a fake jade. Real jade tends to feel little bit colder than pseudo jade, so give it the touch test. Next, use a jewelers loupe to look for inclusions. There should not be any. Nowadays, carvers work around black spots and trapped crystalline formations, using holes and other tricks to hide impurities.

Finally, determine if the stone has been dyed. Again, get out your loupe. If you see that the color is located only in the fissures, you can safely say the stone has been artificially colored. If you do this and are still not sure, there are tests you can be done at home or in a lab.

To begin your comparison of jade carvings, look at the catalog for our upcoming International and Fine Arts Auction, or any of our past sales. We regularly vet and feature collections of fine jade carvings.

Debby Jones is a freelance writer who is known for writing his reviews & thoughts on diverse topics & industry. His current article features his tips on how you can Collect Jade as Asia Art material

It would really be fascinating if you receive a card and one that is personalized at that. Personally, it makes me feel special because that person took all the effort of making one card that represents at the moment of the creation his feelings, his thoughts and his motives. I would love to receive personalized cards as much as I love giving them. Now, if you want to make your own greeting card, you have to know that it is just easy to do even grade-schoolers can do basically just the card they want.

Just to show some fascination over greeting card making, it is obstinate to think that personal cards should look amateurish and lacking in style. It does not have to look that way if you know what you want in the first place. But first you have to start with what sort of materials you need. You can buy card paper or the ones that are blank cards. You could also buy some card board and cut some to any card dimension you want. However, with this you will need a steady hand for you to be able to cut the card straight.

After the paper, you will need now the decoration materials like glue or paste for attaching some decorations, pen markers which have variety of colors and if you are good at water paint or pastel then this may do also and some black pens. With these materials, you can now start decorating your blank card paper. You can start by planning what design you want to put into the card. You can’t just doodle without knowing how exactly you want to make it. It also depends on what occasion you are making the card for because if you are making a birthday card, it would have designs different from sorry cards right?

You can also make use of whim stickers that will serve as your primary design. There are wide varieties of whim stickers you can choose from and it could also depend on what kind of greeting card you are making. If you think you are not artistic enough, you do not have to be concerned about it because all you need is style. No fancy painting, you just need to follow what you feel and what you think would be the best design for your greeting card.

It does not matter whether you have what it takes to make a breathtaking card. What matters is how you input your feelings, thoughts and ideas into the card. You don’t need to be concerned too much about how artistic your card should be because that is not your goal for making a personalized card. You are making it because you want to make the person you are giving it to feel special and there is no other easy way to do it than just give it your best. Incorporate yourself into the card. This is what makes the card personalized because of the kind of touch you give into it.

James Brown writes about Quilling Magic deals, Crocheting Made Easy deals and Designing Wind Chimes deals

You’re probably familiar with traditional scrapbooking done with paper and printed photos. But there are a growing number of people who are using their computers to create unique scrapbooking pages. If you’re looking for a way to artfully preserve your photos in a digital format, digital scrapbooking may be right for you.

In contrast to traditional scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking doesn’t require very many supplies. All you need to get started is digital imaging software that supports layers (such as Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro) as well as digital copies of your photos and digital scrapbooking templates.

If you’d like to print out your own digitally created scrapbook pages, you will also need access to a high quality photo printer and photo paper.

While a traditional scrapbooker will collect piles of paper and dozens of types of embellishments, you can easily download free embellishments to your computer from different digital scrapbooking supply websites. Because there aren’t any supply costs, digital scrapbooking can be a much cheaper alternative to traditional scrapbooking.

Look for templates that will help you easily format your photos and coordinate your embellishments. These templates normally include background layers, fonts and embellishment choices. There are also paid templates and embellishment sites that offer better quality enhancements. You can build a large library of embellishments for a very low price.

Select the photos you want to use in your layout and then edit them if you need to. You can use your digital imaging software to crop your photos, reduce red eye and adjust the color levels. Place the photos inside of the pre-made templates and then add your journaling and other decorations.

There are no limits to the creativity that you can use with digital scrapbooking. The pages are easy to edit, so you can tweak and adjust your pages based on what looks best. If you get the hang of creating your own embellishments you can even offer them as downloads for other people to use.

As far as storage goes, you have a few different options. You can keep all of your digital scrapbooking pages on your computer. You can share them online in their digital format and even burn them to a CD to share with your friends and family. If you’d prefer to have hard copies of your pages, you can print them off on your computer or send them out to be printed. Several online photo processing sites specialize in helping digital scrapbookers achieve the looks they want in printed form.

Many scrapbookers use a standard size of 12 X 12 inches, which is obviously larger than the standard printer. You can have your pages specially printed at that size, or simply create layouts on an 8 1/2 X 11 inch template.

In addition to creating complete pages in a digital format, you can also combine your digitally created pages with traditional scrapbooking elements. This form of scrapbooking, called hybrid scrapbooking, allows you to use the pages you create on your computer and then add dimension with velum, flowers and other three dimensional elements.

No matter how you choose to use digital scrapbooking you can make use of this fun technique. It’s easy to get started and relatively cheap. Whether you want to make entirely digital pages or use a hybrid scrapbooking technique, this is something that you owe it to yourself to try.

Jamie Jefferson writes for Momscape.com and Susies-Coupons.com where you can get the latest coupons for discount online photo prints, including any coupon codes for discount online photo gifts.

I have often found after observing my nieces and nephews, that as young babies they respond more to creative activities such as painting, drawing, play-doe art, working with clay and pottery. As soon as they reach infant school age, they have much more fun with being creative and producing artistic works to be put on display. Studies have shown that young children who take part in more creative subjects such as music, art or drama, are more likely to do well in mathematics and science.

Pottery parties are now a popular concept for many parents to hold for their child’s birthday. Furthermore this has been a popular theme for many women seeking a more relaxed evening celebrating their hen night. Children tend to respond better when keeping their attention and focus on something creative, fun and messy! However, this type of art has been around for many years, as a form of creating small figurines and statues/statuettes.

Pottery classes are something which sees more young people taking part and some senior members joining for social interractions. This is an ancient art form stemming from the Gravettian period (modern day Czech Republic) of 29,000 to 25,000 BCE. The first ceramic figurine was found representing a nude image of a woman, called Venus of Dolni Vestonice which was significant to the beliefs of that period. Earliest known vessels made from ceramic material were not thought to have been created by the Jomon people of Japan, in 10,000 BCE.

Other vessels were also excavated in China dating back to 10,000 BCE, with others following in Africa and South America (these were thought to have been created independently). The potter’s wheel was invented during the Mesopotamia between 6,000 and 4,000 BCE. This changed the way pottery was being produced and was able to meet to the needs of consumers. Pottery became widely used in many regions such as India, the Mediterranean and much of Europe.

It soon became a perfect form of art, especially amongst the rich and wealthy seeking unique artefacts. These also became a necessary part of everyday usage, such as using dinner bowls, soup bowls, flower vases and much more. Their artistic appeal, meaning and historical value made it something more than just a production of household items. Some potted vessels were elaborately designed and glazed over, depicting images and stories of that period.

For many archaeologists and historians saw ancient ceramic vessels as a way of interpreting the past and gaining insight into the world at that time. Glazing was used purely to keep the pot protected and impermeable to liquid substances. The clay used would absorb the water and damage the material of the pot. Some of the older pots were not glazed over, therefore, they were not able to retain some of the designed on the vessel. This is why many of the vessels have imprinted designs as opposed to painted designs which have lasted throughout the years.

Making one’s own potted vessels became more popular during the Renaissance period in Europe and has since then continued to stay a strong choice of hobby for young people. These have proven to keep young people’s attention and focus, helping them to develop better coordination and help them to use their imagination.

Anna Stenning has been a big fan of pottery since as a young child, having displayed many of her work at school.

Personal die cut machines have become very popular tools among scrapbookers and paper crafters. However, if you are in the market for one, it may be difficult to sift through the different available models to find the machine best suited for your needs. There are a few features that you will want to consider prior to making an investment in one.

1. Computer-Based vs. Cartridge-Based

There are some models of personal die cut machines that, when connected to your computer, can make die cuts of the fonts and graphics that are available on your PC. The Xyron Wishblade and Pazzles Creative Cutter are examples.

On the other hand, there are other die cutters that need no computer to operate, but rather make cutouts based upon the fonts and graphics that are available on cartridges. The Cricut Expression, Personal Electronic Cutter, and the new Slice by Making Memories, are examples.

Of the two types of machines, the cartridge-based systems are the most popular among scrapbook enthusiasts. Although the cartridges can be expensive, the initial upfront costs are, for the most part, significantly less than the computer-based models. In addition, they are generally considered easier to learn. Also, because no computer is required, cartridge-based die cutters are more portable and can be taken to crops and other scrapbook meets.

2. Die Cut Sizes

The size of die cuts that you can create vary significantly among the different machines. The portable two pound Slice, for example, can make cuts from one inch to four inches in size. Hardcore crafters, on the other hand, may prefer the Cricut Expression, which can make cuts ranging from just a quarter of an inch all the way up to almost two feet in size. Before investing in a personal die cut machine, make sure it will produce cutouts in the range that you need.

3. Portability

It is important to take the size of the machine into consideration prior to making a purchase. If you have an area in your home specifically set up for your scrapbooking projects, this may not be an issue. However, if you have your supplies stored in a closet and use your kitchen table to work on your projects, then a smaller model may be your best bet. Also, if you like to socialize while you work on your scrapbooks, and attend crops or meets, or even just lug your supplies over to your neighbors on a regular basis, then you may want to trade the features of a larger model for the portability of a smaller unit.

As you can see, there are a lot of different options when it comes to personal die cut machines. Even if cost is not a consideration, the most expensive model may not be the best one for your needs. Before shopping for a machine, it is a good idea to sit down and think about what features are most important to you, and make your purchase based upon your needs.

This article was written by Dawn Hall. If you are in the market for a die cut machine, she recommends comparison shopping for a Cricut at DiscountDiecutCartridges.com.

Individuals starting out in the craft of altering used books may also have a prior interest in collage or other types of paper arts. There are several techniques and ideas that these individuals may follow or they may choose to simply experiment with several types of material in used books and figure it out on their own.

There are very simple ideas that individuals need to follow if they are planning to alter used books, with the basic idea being locating a couple of used books that no longer have any value and are in dire need of being recycled. Most of the individuals working in this new craft prefer used books that are known as stitched books, but still any used book or blank journal will work. The material that has been used on the pages within the used book that you choose to alter is also important. This is because some pages might be made out of glossy paper that will not work with all techniques that you attempt to use or they will not work correctly.

The next step is to determine several techniques and ideas that you would consider might be interesting when completed in your altered used books. One technique to create an interesting display is to use a variety of paint samples and to tear several pages within the used book, which will create a type of layered look. Remember, when tearing these pages to do so at a variety of different levels, because this will make a much better effect. On the majority of the pages that have been torn use a wide variety of colors, which can be colored from paints, crayons, markers, chalks, or pastels colors as well. Some individuals have been known to create designs when ever they are painting such as stripes, circles, and so on.

Some individuals will create pockets within the pages of these used books by using double stick tape and securing them with eyelets, which will help the pages protect the heavy objects that they may use. Another great way to design altered used books is to reveal quotes within the pages from the words of the author by coloring over all the other words with what ever material you might decide to use. One other way is to create a frame on the page prior to the page within the used book to create a type of window or picture frame.

In several altered used books I have personally noticed that several individuals and artists have left a variety of pages blank, while other pages have been colored. When gluing objects onto these pages the individuals need to careful to ensure that the glue does not show through on the back side of the pages, because this tends to look quite tacky. Another thing to watch out for when gluing is to make sure that the glue does not cause the pages to wrinkle up, which several do cause. Some glues, over time, may weaken or even turn yellow or begin to peel or are simply just not strong enough to hold the objects over time. It is always a safe bet to experiment several types of glue that you may have on hand with a variety of material as well.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about used books, autographed books, and Vedic books. When shopping for books, we recommend only the best bookstores for altered used books, autographed books, and Vedic books.