Fantasy Portraits as Unique Gifts

By Johanna C. Pieterman

Buying a special present for that special person can be a real problem. Perhaps you already have all the material things you both need. You may also want something really unique, which is a difficult thing to achieve. Engraving and embroidery are very nice touches and will be greatly appreciated, but they can't add uniqueness to a present that is ultimately a standard catalog item.

If you really want to demonstrate you have put a lot of thought and effort into pleasing the one you love it is much better to have something utterly unique created for them. There are many ways of achieving this and you could literally commission an entire yacht or holiday home if you wanted. Another alternative would be a portrait. Portraits can capture the essence of a person and their character at a given point in their life and create a priceless heirloom for future generations. Again you may already have done this and many of your friends may likewise have portraits of themselves and family members hanging in their homes. The question is how do you capture your loved one's personality yet end up with something really special and unique? This is the task of a fantasy portrait artist.

Everyone has fantasies of living in other times or under other circumstances where the rules that constrain us do not apply. We might have a favourite celebrity, historical figure or fictional character we would like to meet. Ancestry is a very popular theme for fantasy portraits, bringing together family members from different centuries. You can follow the path of someone's life through significant events, including graduating from college, marrying, fighting in wars or building a home. Their achievements at different points in their life can be depicted. However, you might want to show your loved one with something they particularly love - wolves for example, wild horses or snow leopards. They could have a passion in life, like ornithology, fast cars or gun collecting. The list really is endless and is entirely down to your own imagination and that of the portrait artist you choose.

You will want to surf the world-wide web to find an artist whose work you like and which you think will appeal to your loved one. A wide range of media can be used for your fantasy portrait, ranging from graphite, through colored pencils, to watercolors, acrylics and oils. Even digital art can be used and can accomplish amazing results not possible with other media. It is essential that you understand what your fantasy portrait artist needs from you and that you build a good relationship with them. A special relationship and bond can form that can last a lifetime and result in many more unique works of art and family heirlooms. Recipients in turn are often quite emotional as not only does such a gift prove you really care, but it can open up a window to their psyche in a way they have not before experienced.

You need to take some time out to imagine how your loved one would most love to be depicted. It helps to have a piece of paper and write these things down. Your portrait artist will take this 'mind map' and take you through the creative process step-by-step. There may be sittings, or the artist could work from photographs - but these need to be of very good quality. For the best possible result and to avoid any misunderstandings, they will continue to involve you at the work at each stage, getting you to approve and sign off on changes as they are requested and made. It is important to realize that, with some media (colored pencil for instance) there are limits to the changes that can be made once elements are incorporated. With others, changes are possible, but can be time consuming and thus expensive. Communication and close cooperation are vital. It is also vital to consider how long it will take to create the piece, where the subject will want to hang it and what kind of frame will best suit it. There is no point in getting a huge portrait that they have nowhere to hang and a small portrait could well fit in a special place more easily.

I hope this article has given you the opportunity to give someone you love a truly unique and special present and that you will build a lasting creative relationship with the artist of your choice.

About the Author:

Johanna Pieterman has produced fine fantasy portraiture for 25 years. Visit her fantasy portraits web portfolio to see how a fantasy portrait could be that special once in a lifetime gift for that special occasion.

What You Should Know About Wearing White Pants For Men

By Neene Baker

For those who are not fashionably inclined or just have that anything-goes fashion sense, wearing white garments is not so common. White is a color mostly associated with religious undertakings like weddings and baptism. In addition, it is the color basic to medical professionals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others. These are probably the main reasons why most men and women would think twice to wear white. Or maybe, it is just a color so difficult to carry, especially when we talk of bottoms or pants.

Wearing white pants in formal gatherings is not an issue. But donning it on casual events or where you would feel like wearing it, is a different case. To ease that challenging task, here are some practical tips. White pants for men can be too contrasting with the dark denims and colored slacks which are what most consider as fashionable today. But if you can learn to pair it appropriately, you will be delighted to look at yourself in the mirror and have that confidence a model has while on the catwalk.

To introduce a basic contrast in your outfit, use soft and bright colored top with your white pants. You can achieve a sleek and attractive look with a polo or rugby shirt in pastel colors like sky blue or light pink. For the final touch, you can wear canvas shoes or loafers, with no socks.

Fashion experts suggest donning white pants during warm months. Teaming this bottom with bright solid or printed top, and strappy sandals made of suede is simply chic. For the crisp summer evening, men can sport on white chinos with bright polo shirt. One can also use lightweight sports coat for a trendier look.

Crucial to wearing white pants is introducing contrast to the outfit. Aside from the balance that colored tops contribute, one can wear accessories that match the get up and the occasion. But as with any use of accessories, one should take care not to overdo it, to achieve pleasing and stylish look. Using belts, hats or shoes can enhance an ordinary attire The rule of thumb is to use accessories to achieve a good impression and not to do it just for the sake of accessorizing.

Another important thing to consider when wearing white pants is the underwear. One should do away with dark colored undies. The color closest to one's skin tone is ideal. Wearing mens white pants can be a fashionable statement, but only if you do it right.

About the Author:

Neene is a mother and content publisher. Visit her latest website to find out more about choosing and wearing white pants for men of all ages.. Check here for free reprint license: What You Should Know About Wearing White Pants For Men.

Passion for Unseen Worlds

By Nikki Smith

My parents always encouraged me to be whatever I wanted to be, so when I expressed my desire for a microscope when I was eight years old, they encouraged my 'inner child scientist.It was that Christmas that I received a microscope and spent hours in tiny, fascinating worlds accompanied by visions of winning a Nobel Peace Prize for a scientific discovery of some new form of life, cure for a disease or something that would benefit all of humanity.

I looked at everything I could get my hands on under that little microscope. That winter was quite unusual. I was amazed and fell in love with the assortment and exquisiteness of the snowflakes. Shown as a magnificent gift of majestic creation, every snowflake was a work of art, each one is unique in its fragile daintiness.

It was the invention of glass lenses, or a combination of lenses with the use of a light microscope that enables to magnify these little worlds and make them visible to the human eye. According to the scriptures of Seneca, Pliny the Elder, and the Roman philosophers that magnifiers, burning glasses (it burned the item below it as it is exposed against the sunlight) and magnifying glasses were already used during 100 A.D. Formed like a lentil seed, these parts of magnifying glasses were termed as lenses.

The original microscope was made up of a small pipe with a lens attached to an end and a plate on the other end. The lens amplifies ten times the size of the object that is placed on the plate. They used to call it flea glasses as well because of their curiosity on examining fleas and other insects with it.

In 1590, Zaccharias Janssen and his son Hans discovered that objects can seem bigger as a result of their testing on various lenses in a tube. In the years that succeeded, the device continues to upgrade as more scientists pitch in what they've learned and applied.In 1609, Galileo made his contribution by improving the principles of the lenses with a focusing device. Nevertheless, Anton Van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist, is known to have introduced microscopy. He used a magnifying glass to conduct thread counts on fabric when he took a job as a novice in the dry goods store. He became skillful with the lenses and curved ones that can amplify objects up to 270 diameters.He began to build microscopes and eventually made biological discoveries that made him famous. He is the first to record microscopic observations of bacteria, yeast plants, organisms in water and blood flow in capillaries.What a moment that must have been. Small additions were added until Charles A. Spencer, an American scientist of the 19th century discovered how to produce the finest optics that can magnify up to 1250 diameters using natural light and 5000 diameters using blue light.

Microscopes vary in shapes and sizes. You can buy one for your child to shift his interest on finding out specimens unseen by the naked eye. Other fields that use this as well are in the manufacturing and engineering sectors, scientific studies and medical field. Without a doubt and despite the size, it will still be intriguing to look through the lens.

About the Author:

Are you needing microscopes to help you out with the Education? If yes, feel free to visit Safe Home Products and choose from different microscopes and additional gadgets that will best suit your requirements.

How DKNY Became Successful

By Alexandra Wong

The brand DKNY is renowned worldwide in the fashion and fragrance industries, however not many people know the story behind Donna Karan. The brand's leader started from humble beginnings but all the while knew what she wanted to achieve from life.

Her father was a tailor and was able to teach her about making clothes from an early age. Her passion for making clothes was evident early on and she could be found selling clothes at age 14. After she graduated from design college she became an assistant designer for Anne Klein where she had previously been an intern. She quickly worked her way up and became the head designer when Anne Klein herself sadly passed away.

Before long Donna Karan decided to set up on her own and created the Donna Karan brand, her first collections showing shortly after. The label quickly grew as a prestigious collection thanks to its flagship stores in London and New York before expanding into other market sectors of the fashion industry with its DKNY range.

The DKNY clothing range is world renowned for providing the same luxury and quality that goes into Donna Karan selections but for younger generations who can't afford the price tag. DKNY quickly expanded into other sectors including the designer watch market.

While there have been set backs the brand's success in the competitive designer watch market is obvious to everyone. Thanks to Donna's unique vision of where style and fashion should be heading she has been able to create an affordable range of designer watches that are worn by millions throughout the world.

Donna Karan is now into her 50s but the DKNY brand still retains its youthful and fresh outreach. The product ranges available from DKNY have taken a great deal of the youth market and are famous throughout the world for being young, class and on trend year after year. While there are many DKNY flagship stores in major cities, their aggressive expansion of authorised retailers ensures that everyone has access to their high quality product range.

About the Author:

Find out more about high qualityDKNY Watches and other high end designer watches such as Diesel Watches.

Floor Mats For Car: Durable And Also Lovable Product For The Car

By Alvred Altherstan

There are some people who are underestimating the significance of floor mats for car and they are really poor people. Those people believe that this kind of mat is only a mat without significant benefits besides adding aesthetic touch to the interior decor in their car. In fact, this opinion is not really correct. Other than to increase more aesthetically look, this mat is useful to protect the flooring of your vehicle from dirt as well as natural wear-and-tear. If you wish to know more about car floor carpet and ways to have the right one, you are reading the proper article.

There are several companies which supply their exceptional products in distinctive colors as well as material. With the wide variety of options, you can easily find the most appropriate products that make your automobile more appealing. Nevertheless, the basic thing you ought to notice is that you will buy this based on the make along with the style of your car. So, have that information with you just before searching for the right mat.

Here are a few excellent considerations take into consideration when you are going to find floor mats for car. First, you need to choose the certain material that suits your car. Moreover, you should also consider climate conditions in your living space too in considering the material for your car mat. If you are living in a cold and wet weather area, you can have vinyl floor mats. At the same time, in case you are in drier area and also have luxurious look, you can try to decide on mats that are made from tufted nylon or even high-quality berber.

The following thing you should think about is the color. You have to choose mat which includes appropriate color with the interior or your vehicle. You will find several mats that are produced from nylon and berber that provides number of shades. It will be ideal option since you can simply find a product together with suitable shade for your automobile. Besides, you will also find several distributors of floor mats that offer items with customize colors. Absolutely, it would cost you more cash.

Next, you can try to see an auto supply shop. There, you can find more options of floor mats for car that could be ideal to be placed in your car. Remember to have detail of make and also model of your vehicle. It will likely be very useful to discover certain mat that will match your car well.

The last consideration is finding the best option online. You will end up surprised with lots of attractive products that you can find in some trustworthy online stores. Nonetheless, you should keep in mind that purchasing a product online needs you to add shipping cost and some taxes. So, you can find your mats online in a bit costly price than buying in shops near your local. By considering those things, you will be able to get the most effective mat for your vehicle.

About the Author:

Getting wonderful and attractive floor mats is quite easy. Just get one of some most suitable products that are available in a number of stores as well as suppliers just like floor mats for SUV and many other choices. They are relatively cost-effective so you can still spend less cash while protecting your car floor beautifully.

Are There Really Any Advantages of Solar Energy That Are Affordable for You

By Richie Vee

There are many advantages of solar energy. The biggest of them is the fact that solar energy, if harnessed properly, can solve all our energy problems. It is an abundant source of energy which can be used in a scalable form. So you need not reach a critical level of power production to make solar energy feasible or useful. The total sunlight that falls on earth can actually satisfy 35000 times the total energy presently used on this planet. Just imagine the true potential of this energy source.

Solar energy is a renewable source of energy. What this means is that it can be renewed easily without a lot of human intervention. Now, sunlight is something that we'll get as long as this planet exists. Since it will never end, we do not have to worry about losing or exhausting it.

Solar energy is also a sustainable form of energy. While tapping into this energy we will never have to put our future generations in jeopardy. We can come up with ways to harness this energy and still leave a healthy and lively planet for our children and grandchildren to live and enjoy.

We all know that America is one of the top producers of greenhouse gases in the world, but do you know that nearly half of the fuel needs of this nation are supplied through imports. It is expected that this number will rise to 66% in the coming decades. Moving to solar energy helps reduce this dependency on fossil fuels. Besides, it helps keep you power bills low. Also, having a solar powered house is a great asset when it comes time to sell the property. With so many people looking to get a greener home, solar equipment in your house does add to its value.

You can insulate yourself from the electric power bills by using solar energy. With sun powering your ecofriendly house, you need not worry about hikes in power bills anymore. Regardless of what the local utility company charges, your costs will not change since you are relying on sun for your power. Every house that moves off the grid onto the solar power nets the nation energy savings since there is a lesser need to import fuel. By opting for solar energy you are also reducing your carbon footprint in the world. Given that the average American has an 18 ton/year carbon footprint; this is a lot of pollution for us to bring down.

It is interesting that one a regular sunny day, 1 square meter area can trap as much a 1kWh of power/hour. During a sunny day, you can probably capture 6 kWh of total energy from this same surface area. The average home needs about 30 kWh a day This means that a 5 square meter area can actually generate enough power to run your house.

Electric energy is one of the most widely used forms of energy on this planet. This is because most of what we do today is powered by electricity. Fortunately, solar energy can be transformed into electric energy easily. Presently, the majority of electric power is produced is by burning coal. If we switch to solar, we can save on all of that greenhouse gas pollution. Interestingly, solar units function at their best just when the need for electric power is also at its peak - middays; so solar units are great to satisfy peak time power demands in most nations.

If you really want to tap into all these benefits, this is the right time to do so. Government is urging people to adopt such new technologies. There are a lot of incentives, rebates and other attractive options government is offering to people moving to solar energy.

About the Author:

Want to find out more solar power ideas then visit Richie Vee's site and see how you solar power kits can help you.

Guideline To Find The Proper Vibration Testing Equipment

By Bardrick Gorvenal

It is difficult to decide which equipment you should purchase since the alternatives of them have their own benefits and drawbacks that can also affect the cost of the machine. You might be accustomed to the word full turnkey vibration test system or individual components. Lots of people will choose to obtain a complete unit so they really do not have to assemble it on their own.

Trying to find the vibration units that will be simple to use and fulfill your demands will require a serious check. You might want to find a vendor that is capable of giving the proper system that will help you to use and do your action by using vibration unit because each vibration testing unit is usually adjusted for the user and the requirement. You must know the fact that ratings from the equipment cannot be used to be a dependable standard since the ratings and the capability of your equipment.

Right after searching for the correct product to meet your needs, you want to get the product which will encourage you to do the job easier. As an illustration, turnkey vibration testing unit has been featured with test data management. You may even call companies to evaluate the proper unit under your condition and circumstances. This service is usually provided by a lot of companies.

You can request your vendor to help you set up the appropriate system for your needs. You are able to cooperate with certain vendors to help you get the appropriate product. They may enable you to get the appropriate amplifier. This is actually the products that can supply the power for your vibration testing unit. You need to make sure that the amplifier will give you the most proper powers.

You need to observe your equipment specially the vibration components and also the amplifier. You can even examine it from your control room even to run and correct the malfunction of the products and also the element. Fixtures are essential to keep the product connect on the table. Fixtures will help the coupling on the mechanical in the test item featuring its shaker.

In picking a shaker, you should find the proper product type, application and size. Getting versatile electromagnetic unit and also hydraulic version has longer stroke displacement. This issue will enable you to save more money as you do not need to do the substitution in short time.

Software is the last factor that should be considered within this section. Finding incorrect software forces you to have stressful actions. It will likely be hard to find and check the move as well as the vibration level. By having the perfect software, it will be easy to locate menu-driven program easily, intuitive layout and the interface to control and navigate the test program.

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Do you want to know more information about vibration shock testing? If you need more info, click here to help you get the right info you are looking for.

Be Trained Of Cake Decorating Designs For Accomplishing Your Own Masterpiece

By Emily Diaz

With the abundance of cake decorating designs available these days, the time when all you had to do was put icing on the cake are obviously gone for good. There has been a veritable revolution in cake decorating in recent years. There are even shows about this on TV, and all this has made people more and more interested in getting on with this pastime.

If you can't just see yourself settling for one design rather than another, do take a look at a good cake decorating book to see just what's available out there. There are many intricate designs you can try your hands at and the steps to finishing a complex cake like that can be usually easy to follow as well.

One of the best places to find cake decorating designs is online. You can even get some premade designs that you can use and no one is going to assume that you didn't make it from scratch. There are some effortless ways for beginners to add pizzazz to their cakes, too.

One trendy type of cake making these days is the new interest in making birthday cakes for children. If you are interested in this sort of cake, you should make sure that you are not getting in over your head when it comes to the difficulty of your design. So read up on this kind of cake before you take the plunge.

If you are interested in moving on to making more complicated cakes, see if you can locate people in the circle of your acquaintances - like friends or even family members - who have more experience with making cakes. They may very likely want to aid you to advance your own skills. Start making a cake of your own, but if you need to add that pizzazz to it, ask some friend to assist you to complete the project. In other words, you may actually make a cake beyond your skill level if you have someone there to help you along.

In any case, cake decorating designs usually require you to do some preliminary homework. Once you have learned the basics, you can start making cakes that provide you with a bit of challenge to get them decorated in a more complex way.

About the Author:

To get all your questions answered about Cake Decorating Ideas, visit How To Decorate Cakes and claim your free special Report. See more articles at Cake Decorating Techniques.