Mantofa Articles Directory

The picture frame, as it exists today, is derived from the doorway or entrance to temples, palaces and cathedrals. The earliest examples of frame-like decorations or borders bear a great resemblance to door frames. They were composed of two columns surmounted by a connecting entablature and this form persisted into the 15th century. Even the decorations painted by the artists around the edges of pictures before the introduction of movable frames were similar in form.

As a matter of fact, frames without pictures eventually came into existence because the desire to embellish with Moldings was so strong. Rooms in palaces were arbitrarily paneled with Moldings and their vestigial remains are to be seen today in the senselessly paneled walls of apartments in modern cities.

Movable picture frames for “easel” paintings gained quickly in popularity once they were introduced. Be sides the elaborate and intricate wood-carving, ebony, ivory, tortoise shell and mother of pearl were used for inlaid decoration. Gold, silver and every other metal have also been used for frames.

With the perfection of the technique of making large sheets of glass which were in turn used to cover and protect pictures, frame-making received a big impetus in the 17th century. In the 18th century, when cheaper mirrors were introduced, frames were in greater demand than ever.

This century also saw an invention that was to revolutionize the art of frame decoration - that of the development of molded composition ornaments. The use of this easily handled material, which did away with the need for laborious and expensive hand-carving, drove artisans to other fields. Since then, there has been no large group of wood-carvers devoted solely to frame decoration.

It is interesting to note that during the Renaissance period, when movable frames were first introduced, book decoration reached its highest form. Undoubtedly, the early carvers and framers, besides using architectural designs, took many of their ideas from early illuminated manuscripts. The frames of the Louis’ periods certainly got their inspiration from typographical decorative motifs. Before then, architects and sculptors designed much of the scroll-work, but later goldsmiths were employed for decoration. Overelaboration became the order of the day until all forms were lost beneath the gingerbread.

With the French revolution, people turned away from all evidences of bourgeois wealth and returned to a refreshing simplicity. Until 1850 all Moldings were cut from rough boards by hand, but with the invention of laborsaving machinery, frames could be put on the market for what the raw material had cost previously. This country was fortunately spared from the use of molded ornaments until the advent of the Victorian era. American frames up to that time were relatively simple and dignified, very often using only natural, stained wood and a gilded insert. The carving, when used, was restricted to the classical forms of ornamentation for specific molding shapes.

The frame-makers who constructed the monstrosities of the Victorian era were not content to put one heavily embellished gold frame around a picture of “The Stag at Bay” or something similar, but three or four. This birthday cake was then enclosed in a glass-covered, plush-lined, mahogany shadow-box. This was presumably for protection, but its need is a mystery since the interiors of that time were heavily shaded and hermetically sealed anyway.

Around 1900 there was a fashion for “Oxford”, plush and cork-decorated frames. Hours and hours were spent carving these horrors and fitting them intricately together or in decorating frames with segments of cork. They can be found only rarely today, even in the higher priced second-hand stores, euphemistically called “antique shops”. But perhaps it is too early to drag out another “antique” vogue. Mass production, to some degree at least, has forced a healthy simplification.

At the same time that heavy gilt frames were the vogue for oil paintings, a demand for polished, veneered oak and white enamel frames developed. In order to cheapen the cost of production, a fashion was instituted for bronze frames, i.e., frames finished with gold or silver paint. It did not last long, however, and simple, wide frames in black or dark brown wood of the Flemish type came into favor.

Learn How To Make Picture Frames And How To Finish Them Like A Bought One - Or Even Better!

Click here for FREE online ebook!

http://www.howtomakepictureframe.com/

Scrap booking is a hobby that relates to pasting articles, photos, magazine, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia into personalised decorative albums. Scrap booking is a growing hobby and often ’scrappers’ meet on a regular basis for weekends or evenings to share tips and ideas for scrapbook ideas.

In its earliest form scrap booking was a way to blend memorabilia and journals. Scrapbooks have been created since printed material has been available.

Older style scrapbooks tended to have photos that were mounted with photo mount corners with quotes about who was in the photos and when the picture was taken. Quite often these pages would have memorabilia attached to them to make them more attractive.

If like me you are the type of person who is always taking photos and keeps memorabilia from places you visit such as tickets or receipts then scrap booking would be a perfect hobby for you to embark on.

Scrapbooks are great to improve and express your creative side as well as being something that you can store all your photos in.

It is important to use high quality materials when doing scrap booking, as your scrapbook will probably become one of your most treasured possessions due to the time you will spend on it. The most important thing to remember is always use products that are acid free using something that is not acid free can deteriorate and colors may fade over time.

It you are stuck for ideas there are so many books, websites and magazines that will give you great ideas for scrap book pages, however I do think it is important for you to try and create something personal and unique as this will reflect your crafting capabilities and your own personality.

Scrap books can also be given as gifts, sometimes just looking through a pile of photos can be rather boring but choosing the best ones and presenting them on a beautiful page filled with memories will bring a smile to any ones face.

If you are new to scrap booking then you could always purchase a kit to get you started scrapbook kits will contain the basic supplies to create a few pages. The items you will receive will all correspond in colour so you know that it will work together. Although the more professional scrapper would probably not use a kit they are perfect for beginners and will give you great ideas where to start and what colours go with what.

Once you have created your first scrapbook page and have seen how wonderful it looks im sure you will be as hooked on this hobby as I was. Then you can be more creative and try the 100s of techniques there is. It is also a great way to make new friends so keep your eyes out for local scrap book clubs that you could join to share tips and ideas.

Vicki Churchill writes for a site that specializes in card making ideas http://www.vickiscardmakingideas.com providing you with excellent tips and ideas for rubber stamping,scrapbooking and many other tricks and techniques.Plus where to find the best products for your crafts supplies.

Using embossing powders for your card making ideas is just one of the versatile techniques commonly used by crafters. Embossing powders are a wonderful addition to and card makers or scrap bookers craft box.

Embossing powders come in a huge variety of colours and textures and can easily be used by beginners and professional for card making ideas

Using embossing powders for your projects can create many different effects but you will need to purchase a few basic materials.

The main item you will need to be able to use your embossing powders is a heat gun, these can be found at most craft stores or stamp companies. Some heat guns are better than others, when you are purchasing a heat gun it is worth asking for recommendations from other experts that have used them for their card making ideas.

You will need to have an ink pad, ink pads come in many different colors I find it best to use the same colour ink pad as the embossing powder you are going to use, this will eliminate the ink showing through. You can always use a clear ink pad however if you are a beginner I would start with a color so you can see where you have stamped.

Stamps - a stamp is essential when using embossing powders as this is the foundation of the design, rubber stamps can be found at craft shops and there are simply millions that can be bought over the internet.

Of course you will need embossing powder, again these come in a huge variety of colours, try to math the colour with the theme of the stamp where possible.

To begin embossing it is advisable to wipe the area where you are going to stamp with an anti static bag, I also find a light dusting of bathroom talc works just as well.

Once the area is prepared it is time to ink your stamp. Choose your colour of ink preferably clear but if you are new to card making ideas then a matching color to your embossing powder will be fine. Always take your ink pad to the stamp rather than pressing the stamp into the ink pad, this will give the stamp an even coating.

Once you have inked your stamp you can then press it firmly onto your project, hold your hand flat over the stamp to ensure the entire image is printed, press firmly using the palm of your hand, lift the stamp carefully away from the project and make sure you are happy with the result.

Carefully undo the lid of the embossing powder and generously sprinkle over the stamped image, if you are using a tidy try all the excess embossing powder can be easily tipped back into the pot, I find a folded piece of paper works just as well.

Gently tap the back of the project or card making ideas to allow any excess embossing powder to come off if you can see any odd bits of embossing powder still in places it should not be use a small paint brush to gently remove it.

Use your heat gun to heat the image until it turns shiny, hold your heat gun approximately 6 inches from the paper sweeping backwards and forwards until you see the embossing powder melting. Do not over heat the image as you can cause the paper and embossing powder to burn.

Once you are happy that all the embossing powder had melted you are done. Step back and admire your finished project.

Vicki Churchill writes for a site that specializes in card making ideas
http://www.vickiscardmakingideas.com
providing you with excellent tips and ideas for embossing powders and many other tricks and techniques.

Only one form of American needlework is wholly American, without root or kin in the Old World; that is our pieced patchwork. Oh, patches are nothing new.

Ancient Egyptians sewed fabric to fabric, and in medieval Europe women applied cloth to cloth. Patches are as old as poverty. In rags and patches the first workers came to America. Patches belonged to workers, to the poor, low-class subjects of the ruling classes. Patchwork was always a task, not an art.

Poverty came across the ocean with the immigrants. Here on the farthest rim of the known world, it became direst need. The smallest scrap of cloth was precious to a woman who could have no more cloth until the trees were cut and burned, the land spaded and sown to flax or to grass for sheep, then next year the wool sheared, washed, combed, carded and spun, or the flax pulled and carefully rippled, retted, dried, beetled, scutched, heckled, spun, and at last the loom made, the warp threaded, the shuttles wound and the cloth woven.

In a wilderness thousands of miles from home, depending only upon themselves for their very lives, these poor immigrants learned the inescapable fact that a person is the only source of the only energy that preserves human life on this planet. With their minds and hands they made houses, they produced food, they wove cloth and built towns, and each ceased to think of himself as a bit of a class in a nation. They knew that each one was creating the neighborhood, the town, the colony.
To women who knew this, every precious scrap of cloth had a new meaning; they thought of what the small pieces, together, could make. And they began to make a pattern of them.

From this simple beginning, in the crazy quilt and the Log Cabin pattern. American women developed the whole vast treasure of American patchwork, pieced and appliqued, that we are still developing.

From scraps and bits they made the English Rose, the French Lily, the Dutch Tulip, the Irish Chain, the Indian Tree of Life, and with patches they recorded American history, all of it, from Bear’s Paw and Tomahawk to California Poppy and Hawaiian Pineapple.
They quilted - and quilt - their patchwork in webs of tiny stitches; they added touches of embroidery and bits of lace. In originality, in beauty and meaning, nothing else in the whole world’s needlework compares with American patchwork.

Yet for more than a hundred years American students of folk arts did not notice it; they were admiring the Old World’s peasant crafts. Only recently have curators of American museums seen American needlework.
Yet in 1776 its spirit of freedom was nearly two centuries old.

For more than a year British ships had blockaded Boston and British troops had occupied the hungry city. Americans had fought and died at Lexington, at Concord, on Breed’s Hill and at Charleston. The Green Mountain men had taken Ticonderoga. British armies were coming down the Hudson and a British war fleet with troopships was nearing New York harbor when at last, losing all hope of freedom with peace, the gentlemen of the Continental Congress soberly risked their lives, dipping a quill pen in an inkhorn and signing their Declaration.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un-alienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness… We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America … appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.”.

John Wigham has been a professional author and editor for 20 years and is a co-founder of http://www.patternspatch.com an online cross stitch club dedicated to counted cross stitch. Sign up for
Cross Stitch Tips & News at ppp_totw@aweber.com.

If you are interested in crafts in any way then card making is an ideal activity to begin with. There is a huge variety card making techniques and ideas that will help you with your card making ideas.

You do not need huge amounts of time and money to get into card making, it can be as simple or as complex as you desire but trust me once you have started you will be hooked.

Card making ideas are easy fun and are an excellent way of showing your creative side, they are considered gifts when being given in the form of a card and will always be well received.

When I had my first card making idea I started with a few basic tools, often you can use items from your home that are gathering dust.

The basic items I would suggest you need to start any card making ideas are the following.

Paper or card - paper and card come in a huge variety of forms from handmade paper, vellum, patterned and so many other designs. Paper and card is really the foundation for any card it can be used to mount toppers, add a layering effect it can be used in so many different ways including iris folding, a simple but very effective technique that involves folding strips of colored paper that are layered together in a spiral pattern.

Scissors - It is extremely important to have a really good quality pair of scissors, using blunt scissors really can mess up your card making ideas.

Metal ruler and craft knife - it is important to always work on a clean surface and a cutting mat is perfect for this as you can also use your craft knife with out having to worry about damaging your table or area of work. Good cutting tools are very important

Peel off stickers - peel off stickers can be used in so many ways they are a must for anyone who wants to produce good quality card making ideas. Using a peel off sticker that is the same color as your card can also give an embossed look.

Once you become a keep card maker you can always introduce additional supplies and items to your craft box.

Remember never to throw anything away that could be used, even your card scraps as these could be used to punch out small punches for embellishments

If you are making cards with your children and using an ink pad always make sure that the ink is washable it is surprising how much children would rather ink their hands and faces rather then using it for their card making ideas.

Making cards is a wonderful past time that all the family can enjoy sending and receiving home made personal cards will bring you joy and a sense of achievement.

Vicki Churchill writes for a site that specializes in card making ideas http://www.vickiscardmakingideas.com providing you with excellent tips and ideas for rubber stamping and many other tricks and techniques.

First to be considered is the place from which the kite is flown. There are certain do’s and don’ts which operate here. For example, avoid a spot where the kite might become entangled with trees or overhead wires, or where it might sail over a busy road. A good site is one where there is room to move about freely without causing annoyance to others. This applies particularly when several kites are being flown. It is exasperating if the lines get mixed up. Kite flyers, like anglers, give one another sufficient room in which to enjoy their pastime.

Next, a word about weather conditions. It is the aim and intent of the enthusiast to fly his kite successfully under varying conditions. He regards them as a challenge to his skill. At the same time he is not so misguided as to see a challenge in a gale. He knows that because a kite is, after all, but a frail craft, there are limits to its capabilities. In this respect, common sense is a good guide.

The following are instances of different flying conditions. On a warm calm day the air seems to be still. But this is only comparatively so. Although there is little movement in a horizontal direction, there is upward activity. This is due to rising currents of air, called thermal currents. They will be found, for example, above ploughed fields, moorland and where buildings are grouped together. The familiar heat shimmer is an indication of this rising air. On the other hand, on such a day, there will be colder descending air where there is water, marsh or meadow.

Then there comes a day when the wind is blowing. There can be variation in its movement. For example, it may be a fitful wind. Again, and to the point here, it may meet an obstacle such as a hill, a cliff, or a building, in which case it is deflected upwards. The strength of the up current will depend upon the force of the wind, and the size of the obstacle it meets. Rising currents are a means whereby birds can soar, that is, fly without flapping their wings. Again, the glider pilot derives benefit from them. It follows, therefore, that, on occasions, they may prove to be helpful to the kite flyer.

We turn now from the weather to the kite. Before flying it, its size must be taken into account. Sometimes the enthusiast is tempted to build an outsize one. Though it may be the object of interest and admiration, the owner might not have realized that in flying large kites both skill and strength are needed. Someone has said that a 6-ft. kite pulls like a cart-horse. It follows then that one half this size, in a fairly strong wind and when a considerable amount of line has been released, can exert a strong pull. For this reason, the size in this book is limited to 3 ft. 6 in. This is a convenient and manageable size range for the beginner. Later on, if desired, the reader may make larger sizes by increasing the measurements given.

The next thing to do is to inspect the kite. First, check the bridle and the line, to see that they are secure and that the line runs freely on the reel. Secondly, test the bracing and bowstrings to make sure that they are taut. The method of tying these, if proper, will ensure that they can be tightened, if necessary. Thirdly, inspect the cover to ascertain whether it is secure and in good condition. This is very important in the case of a paper cover, as it can easily get damaged.

Discover The Secrets To Make A Kite That Will Fly Like An Eagle

Click here for FREE online ebook!

http://www.makeakite.net/

If you are new to card making and looking for card making ideas, rubber stamps are a perfect addition to your craft box. Rubber stamps can be used in a variety of ways so they are well worth investing in.

When you begin crafting or card making it is important that you do not rush out and buy everything you see, you will save a huge amount of money if you purchase a few items, some stamps and embossing powders until you discover some card making ideas or find what your special interest is whether it be animal stamps or flowers or what ever interests you.

Never by cheap stamps for your card making ideas, although some stamps are quite expensive they will produce a much better print and have a crisper look if they have been properly made.

Rubber stamps range in price, usually the larger or more detailed the more expensive it will be, I always consider how many times I can use a stamp for my card making ideas before I purchase one. Some of the larger stamps can also be repeatedly stamped and used for decoupage, which will create a completely different type of card.

If you do decide to use a rubber stamp for decoupage never cut into the embossed lines as this may cause the embossing powder to flake off and look unattractive.

I find the stamps that are mounted on a clear block are great for beginners as you can see exactly where you are stamping leaving less room for error.

The biggest tip I can give when using rubber stamps that you will emboss is to lightly brush the area of card you are going to stamp on with talc this will stop the embossing powder sticking to other parts of the card as well as the ink.

Always lay you stamp flat and take the inkpad to it rather than pushing the stamp into the inkpad, this will ensure the entire design on the stamp is evenly covered in the ink.

Remember once you have used the stamp it is important to clean the stamp and remove the entire ink residue. Depending on the type of in you have used for your card making ideas it may not be necessary to use expensive ink removers, I find an acid free baby wipe works just as well as some of the chemical solutions you can buy from craft shops.

Always store your inkpads level and upside down this will prevent uneven ink distribution and keep the ink on the top of the pad ready for its next use.

Rubber-stamping can be used for all your card making ideas and also for scrap booking, however it is important that you use ink that is acid free and fade resistant to keep your project looking bright and effective.

Vicki Churchill writes for a site that specializes in card making ideas http://www.vickiscardmakingideas.com providing you with excellent tips and ideas for rubber stamping and many other tricks and techniques.