Written by  Marina Chernyak

Decorative candles and accents give any table top or corner an added flair that simply brightens up the room. Whether these candles are actually lit up for aromatherapy or simply placed there as decorations,
its aesthetic value cannot be discounted.

Although these candles come in a wide array of shapes, sizes and colors, they can become too monotonous and boring after some time. As time goes by, the colors fade and to some degree, the once pretty candle loses its luster. However, this does not mean these candles have to be tossed out or tucked away in a closet somewhere. By simply sprucing these up with some beaded accents, ribbons, pebbles, and even paint, these can become new, attractive conversation pieces for your home.

There are many ways one can jazz up old candles. Typical materials needed for such a project would be sewing pins, beads, raffia or other natural type of ribbons (although regular ribbons will also do wonders! The raffia or natural type of ribbons just give the candles a more rustic feel to it), and a hot glue gun. Of course, these materials will vary depending on the type of accent you decide on. You may even opt to design the candle directly, or use votive candle holders and work from there.

Here are some ideas that may inspire you to breathe new life to old candles:

1. Beaded Candles. There are several ways to bead a candle, the simplest of which is to mark your pattern on the candle base. Be sure to mark lightly so it does not destroy the natural look of the candle. On these areas you marked, push a pin through the bead and into the candle. Make sure your pins are not too long as they will protrude through the candle, especially if you opt to use thinner ones. Be sure, also, that the pin head is slightly bigger than the bead so it can hold it in place.

Another way to bead a candle would be to use string your beads on a bead wire or nylon string, long enough to go around the width of your candle. You may make this as thick or as thin as you would want. After stringing them, wrap it around the candle base and hold in place with pins.

2. Raffia and Stones. For this type of an accent, you would need a nice plain candle stand (something like a dish) wide enough to hold your candles and still have enough room for the pebbles and colored stones to be scattered around it. This works best with a set of candles of different heights. Tie the raffia around the middle of the candle. You may accent this with a contrasting ribbon to make it pop. Arrange these on the stand and scatter the stones around it.

3. Stained Glass/Mosaic Candle Holders. To get a stained glass effect, you will be using a votive candle holder, or perhaps a larger transparent heat-proof vase. You will also need Japanese paper or cellophane of different colors and clear drying glue. To create the mosaic pattern, cut out bits of the paper or cellophane then glue these around the vase. Be sure to slather on the glue neatly and not too thickly so it does not look to obvious when it dries. Place the candle inside the vase, light it up and enjoy the pretty colors it makes.

4. Handpainted Candles. This works best for think and large candles. You will need acrylic paint, brushes and your imagination for this. Imagine the candle as your canvass and just go at it. It would help if you
had a stand for your candle while working (a table top will do) because you will need to give it time to dry before handling it. The difficulty with this project is getting the design all around without smearing
the paints, but it’s doable!

1. Trace your pattern onto the pillar candle using the point of the wood skewer. Trace lightly so that the line is barely visible.
2. Place a straight pin through a bead and stick it into the candle on the line. Make sure the straight pins will fit through the hole in the bead and the head of the pin is larger than the hole to keep the bead from slipping off. Continue to add beads to complete the design.
3. Place sequin pins into the sequins and randomly place them around the beaded pillar candle for added sparkle.

Read more: How to Make Beaded Candles | eHow.com

Marina Chernyak  is the co-owner of 1001Shops LLC, an online store of fine imported products like Music Boxes, Venetian Masks and a lot more.

A fantastic video by Suzi Blu – listen to your inner muse. Let her speak, take time to play and experience the creativity you have within. This is a crazy little movie that will hopefully have you thinking about what you want to do with that happiness you have storing up inside shouting to come out and play.

All of Suzi’s videos are fantastic, especially for creative inspiration. She’s real and honest and just plain wonderful!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Paul_Caparas

Buy soap making kits:

# Determine the current base URL
if(!isset($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'])) {
$psps_base_url = $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];
if (isset($HTTP_SERVER_VARS['QUERY_STRING'])) { $psps_base_url .= $HTTP_SERVER_VARS['QUERY_STRING']; }
} else {
$psps_base_url = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
}

$psps_parameters = '';

foreach ($_REQUEST as $key => $value) {
if (strpos($key,”psps_”) > -1 ) {
$psps_parameters .= ‘&’.$key.’=’.urlencode($value);
$psps_base_url = str_replace(‘&’.$key.’=’.urlencode($value), “”, $psps_base_url);
$psps_base_url = str_replace($key.’=’.urlencode($value), “”, $psps_base_url);
}
}

$psps_parameters .= “&psps_show_search=true”;
$psps_parameters .= “&psps_show_navigation=true”;
$psps_parameters .= “&psps_show_products=true”;

$psps_url = “?psps_base_url=”.urlencode($psps_base_url);

$psps_url=”http://shops.popshops.com/shops/php/2dx59bmlkglbm6mlyj3om6y64$psps_url$psps_parameters”;

# Include the shop
if (function_exists(‘curl_init’)) {
$shop=curl_init();
curl_setopt($shop,CURLOPT_URL,$psps_url);
curl_exec($shop);
curl_close($shop);
} else {
readfile($psps_url);
}
?>

Art licensing is an opportunity for an artist to allow a manufacturer to use their art without reassigning all rights of the art. There are a number of directions an artist can license their are as well as many variations in what a licensing agreement might include. Art might be licensed for a flat fee or a royalty and the time period can vary greatly.

Licensing your art is a great way to profit from your art from many different companies at the same time, giving you, the artist, a greater potential to make money with a single piece of art.

There are a number of resources for those wanting to get into the art licensing industry. Check out the resources below to learn more about licensing your art and learning how to make it work for you.

Art Licensing Info

An extensive collection of ebooks, teleseminars and invaluable information regarding the art licensing industry and how to make it a success business for you and your art.

• Get the eBook “How to Get Started in Art Licensing”
• Ask Calls
• Listen & Learn about Art Licensing – Beginner Basics Teleseminar
• Art Licensing Mindset Series – 24 weeks of Information and Inspiration
• Art Licensing Trade Show Tactics Teleseminar
• Art Licensing Teleseminars – Listen & Learn how to license your art
• Get the eBook “How to Maximize Your Time and Investment in Art Licensing Trade Shows”
• Get the eBook “How to Find, Interact and Work with Manufacturer’s Who License Art”
• Artists! Learn to build your Art Licensing Business
• Artists! Learn to create repeat patterns in Photoshop

All Art Licensing also offers a wide variety of online classes to help you on your way to becoming a successful art licensor

More good reading about art licensing:

• Kate Harper’s blog focusing on art for greeting cards
• Joan Beiriger shares insight as well as info from around the industry about the business of art licensing

There are a number of reasons why you might want to create a repeating pattern. From the graphic elements and background textures of your own website or blog to designing art licensing fabric, scrapbooking, giftwrap and more. Photoshop has some fantastic tools to help you create seamless patterns (aka tiling textures).

Learning to use the built in tools will really make the process so much easier. Here are some resources to help you learn how to make your own repeating patterns using Photoshop.

Step by step guides to creating patterns for artists by Tara Reed:

• Learn to create repeat patterns in Photoshop
• Learn to create Half-drop Patterns in Photoshop

Online information and tutorials to create patterns in Photoshop

• Photoshop tutorial – creating seamless tiles
• How to make a repeat pattern using Photoshop
• Generate a pattern in Pattern Maker (CS3 – CS4 and CS5 also available)
• Peachit reference guide: Creating patterns (CS3)
• Mastering repeat patterns in Photoshop
• Complex repeat patterns in Photoshop
• Symmetry and Pattern design resources at Artlandia
• Photoshop tip: Easy to create stripes and plaids
• The remarkable world of patterns in Photoshop
• Make a custom repeating pattern in Photoshop part 1 (YouTube video)

Why you need to know how to make repeat patterns for art licensing:

Books about pattern design:

Pattern Factory – book review by Joan Beiriger

No matter what your preferred medium is, you probably have a nice collection of paint brushes already and a wishlist for some of those harder to find brushes. Your brushes may be synthetic or natural, camel hair or boar bristle, they each have their own benefits and applications. The one thing they all have in common is that if you take proper care of them, they can last for years. When you look at the cost of new brushes it only makes sense to spend the few extra minutes to treat your brushes with some extra care.

Clean your brushes well
When the medium you have been using with a brush is oil based or solvent based, the brush needs to be cleaned with a solvent too. You probably buy thinners where you buy your paints and for most of us, those small containers of thinner will clean your brushes just fine. After cleaning with thinner or mineral spirits it is best to wash them out with soap and water and then rinse, rinse, rinse until no residue shows in a glass of clear water. Water based paints and acrylics make for easier clean up, but again rinse them until the water stays clear, and then shake them dry, straightening the bristles if that last shake left them bent as often happens with longer and softer bristles.

The final step is what a lot of us skip: roll or wrap the bristles in a few layers of newspaper, folding the outer tip over just past the tip of the brush. This ensures that the brush can air dry overnight without fraying or losing its shape. The brush will stay neat and clean until you unwrap it to use next time.

To economize on brushes it is best to buy in bulk, maybe not alone but in a group such as a club. Even if your circle of creative friends is online you can agree to pool your resources and save by buying a dozen paint brushes at a time. Depending on the size and bristle type you can sometimes save enough for one more brush!

Hopefully articles here have encouraged you to learn to paint. Now we want to put the idea into your head of combining pleasures with painting and camping. Sooner or later you will want to try doing landscapes in the great outdoors as opposed to trying to pull them off of photographic images.

Here is a quick checklist of the few items I think you might need to bring camping and painting:

• small table to hold your paint and brushes
• your easel
• comfy chair that will allow you to sit up straight
• umbrella to give you shade
• bracket to mount an umbrella on your chair or a pole to lash it to

Most of the items can be improvised from the existing camp equipment, but the one thing most people are not used to bringing is an umbrella. It seems to me that a golf umbrella might be the way to go here.

You just can’t sit in the direct sun for very long and be comfortable painting. The glare in your eyes and on your canvas work against you too. Some of your best locations won’t have you near natural shade. If you paint a beach scene what are the chances of you getting a Palm tree to sit under?

The point here is just to get out in the great outdoors and create something that you can’t capture with the camera alone. Find something you can capture that has a little of your imagination in it. At the same time you and your family can be enjoying the great outdoors together and camping.

When my wife and I got married 18 months ago we were so excited that we did everything together…well, okay, not everything. I mean I had my boys night and she had her girls night. But being the nerdy newlyweds we are, we actually mapped out our weekly schedule. It included a night for each of us to hang out with our friends, a date night, a parents night, a tv night, a movie night and a do nothing night. We both work, so like most husbands and wives our days are full and a lot of times we work late. After the first couple months of our marriage our schedule of quality together time dissolved like ice on a fire.

So a few weeks ago over Saturday morning pancakes, which were homemade and yummy by the way, my wife and I started talking about things we still wanted to learn and do. Like I always wanted to go skydiving and my wife always wanted to learn how to paint. I grabbed a yellow pad and we started a list. By the time breakfast was over and the last pancake was eaten our list almost filled the page. There was salsa dancing, french cooking, kayaking, wine tasting, learning Italian and so much more. So together we decided that each month we’re going to learn something new as a couple. It’s our commitment to pushing each other to do things outside our comfort zones, to making new friends and to spending quality time together that is not sitting on the couch watching other people doing interesting things. In fact we were both so excited that we went online and we’ll be learning how to paint like Leonardo da Vinci before next month rolls around! After all, the couple that paints together stays together!

And speaking of painting, my wife wants her first painting project to be replicating an artful rendition of her in her wedding dress and me in my tuxedo standing in front of the lighthouse where we got married in Montauk. A big goal for a first time painter, but that’s my wife, the over-achiever. I’m sure it will look amazing and can’t wait to see it hanging above our mantle.

Art is everywhere and not all art that is sold hanging or painted on a canvas. There is an entire facet of selling or licensing art revolving around fabric. The quilting industry, fabrics for clothing and home decor as well as fabrics for crafting look for art to print on the fabric.

If you are looking to design art suitable for fabrics, Joan Beiriger has shared an article with fantastic information about Licensing Designs to the Quilt & Craft Fabric Industries. Find out the key points to creating art for fabric, who uses these designs, what types of designs they are looking for and where to find more about manufacturers.

Tara Reed also offers a great course to learn how to make repeat patterns that you can purchase directly online.

Artlandia has a tutorial on Half-Drop and brick patterns and more information on types of patterns and even more information and visuals for type of patterns can be found at Trueup.net

If you are a true do-it-yourselfer like I am, you probably believe that you can do just about anything you put your mind to. You might even think that you can do it just as well, or even better than the professionals. That’s the way I am, and I have to admit that this attitude has gotten me into some trouble over the years. When I moved into my first apartment I couldn’t afford any decorations, so I tried to make them all myself. Some of my projects were pretty cool and some were pretty awful. Over the years I’ve discovered what works for me and what doesn’t. One thing I’ve learned is to approach each new do-it-yourself art project in a more methodical way. Methodical art? Does that even make sense? Well I think it does. It’s not sanitized, it’s just organized. Here’s what I’m talking about. It’s my four step approach to successful do-it-yourself art.

Step 1: Research and Learn
Before diving into a new art project, you should do some research to learn how it’s done. Sometimes there are two or three simple tricks that can mean the difference between success and failure. If you’re planning a faux painting project, buy a detailed book that you can study carefully before you begin. If you’d like to paint your own oil paintings, order a DVD painting program, or follow a step-by-step painting guide on the internet. Learning to paint is a great joy, but it’s not as easy as you might think.

Step 2: Experiment and Learn
Don’t jump right into a real project that you care about. Allow yourself to make mistakes and enjoy the learning process. Start with some experimental pieces and work your way up to the real thing. If you start out expecting great results, it can be very discouraging when you fail. Take it slow and learn as you go.

Step 3: Start Small and Learn
Michelangelo didn’t start out by painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (over 10,000 square feet), and you shouldn’t start out with an overwhelming large project either. Start with something fairly small and learn as you go. The big projects will come with time.

Step 4: Just Do It (and Learn)
So far we’ve taken things slowly and learned along the way, but there comes a time when you just need to go for it. You can’t research, experiment and start small forever. When you feel fairly comfortable with what you’re doing, it’s time to Just Do It! Plan out a real project using the knowledge and skills you’ve gained during the first three steps. This is it. It’s GO Time! And remember; don’t expect your first project to be perfect. It takes time, patience, practice and more practice to become a great artist. Stick with it and keep learning.

Example Project

I recently decorated my bedroom with some awesome wall decals. The stickers I put up are beautiful artistic floral pattern wall decals with many delicate thin branches, leaves and flowers. The tiny sections were very intimidating and they threatened to turn my project into a horrid nightmare. I followed my 4 step plan to success, and the wall decals look fantastic.

Step 1: I read articles and watched videos on how to apply wall decals. I also carefully read the instructions several times.

Step 2 and 3: I took some of the small pieces and experimented with them. How well do they stick to my walls? Can they be repositioned? What happens if they get twisted? I created many small controlled disasters and learned how to recover from each.

Step 4: This is the biggie! These wall decals were intimidating and complicated. I was afraid, but the confidence I had gained during steps 1 through 3 helped me to bite the bullet and tackle the monster. Everything went smoothly and the project was a success.

What I’ve described here is not rocket science, and it’s mostly just common sense. When you try something new, don’t forget to spend some time and effort on each step of the process. If you take your time and learn as you go, your DIY art projects will turn out great.

Go ahead and express yourself …. All over the place!