5 Ways to Care for Your Fine Art Brushes

Fine art brushes are investment. But the reason committed artists opt for such brushes is the extra attention to detail that often makes it easier to turn ideas into beautiful works of art with increased precision. Even so, higher quality brushes are only going to be worth the investment if you make an effort to take care of them. Here are five things you can do to keep your fine art brushes in good shape.

1. Clean Your Brushes After Each Use

Resist the urge to simply toss your brushes aside after your artistic moments or when you take a prolonged break. Even if you’re painting with oil-based paint that take longer to dry, putting off the cleaning process can accelerate wear and tear on your brushes. Also, leaving your paint linger can make the cleaning process difficult.

2. Do More Than Just Leave Brushes in Water

Fine art brushes aren’t going to last long if they’re just tossed into water when not in use. Take the time to thoroughly work soap or shampoo into the bristles or fibers. Rinse your brushes until there’s no longer any trace of detergent, soap, or shampoo.

3. Clean Further Down to the Handle

The toughest part of an art brush to clean is the part where the bristles meet the handle, called the ferrule. Still, it shouldn’t be ignored. Leaving paint residue in this area will cause your bristles to gradually spread. Inspect your brush after you rinse it after cleaning it to make sure there’s no remaining paint by the handle.

4. Don’t Place Your Brushes Vertically in Water/Solvent

The pressure that’s put on the end of the brush when it’s placed in water or solvent can cause the bristles to spread or become permanently misshapen. Water can also cause wooden brushes handles to warp or swell. If you let your brushes sit long enough, bristles may dislodge from the handles.

5. Store Your Cleaned Brushes Bristle Side Up

After your brushes are nice and clean, place them vertically with the head side up. Make sure the brushes aren’t leaning against one another. Some artists prefer to store their brushes in canvas sleeves where they can be carefully separated. Horizontal storage in drawers is fine as well, as long brushes aren’t touching.

Stiffer-hair brushes tend to show signs of wear faster, especially if you use them on coarse surfaces. Higher quality brushes are less likely to be wear out too soon if you use them for specific purposes, such as painting broader and uneven lines. With proper care, however, most fine art brushes can allow you to create your own personal masterpieces for many years.

Throwing an Unforgettable Birthday Party

Whether you’re throwing a birthday party for a friend, family member, significant other, or a child, there are some key elements that make a party great. Excellent food, decorations, and activities will make for a setting that allows people to relax and really have a great time. Of course, the specifics of the birthday party will vary depending on the interests and personality of the person whose birthday it is. However, there are a few basics that can really make or break the usual party. Here are few items to look for when you’re planning a party that they’ll never forget.

First of all, no party will be great unless it offers a lot of great food. Choose a type and style of food that suits both the person whose birthday it is and the rest of the guests. Make sure that the food will be fairly easy to set up and eat, so people aren’t forced to sit down in any one place for too long. Try to ensure that there are options for everyone, including guests that you know have dietary restrictions or allergies.

Of course, the most important food at a birthday party is the birthday cake, so choose it carefully. For a really special treat, look for a customized cake from a local bakery that speaks to the individuality of the birthday boy or girl. For example, look for custom cakes Chicago IL from a well-liked and respected bakery like Jarosch Bakery. A great cake can take a birthday party from ho-hum to out-of-this-world.

For decorations, choose a theme that appeals to the person whose birthday it is and have fun with it. You don’t need to spend a fortune on decorations. Look online for printables and other recommendations, and use props that you find at second-hand stores or around the house. For example, if your theme is old Hollywood, roll out a red carpet, rent a popcorn machine, and hang up printed black-and-white photos of celebrities.

Finally, plan some activities for your guests. Even if your guests are all adults, they will want to have fun. Get a pinata for guaranteed laughs, or play cards or charades if you’re feeling more subdued. Encourage dancing and play fun music for your guests.

The perfect birthday party doesn’t have to cost a fortune. A little work will make for a great time.

Turn OFF that Location Services Settings for your Photos

You have probably seen that VIDEO about how scary it is to take our photos using our cellphones. And just like you, I am scared to death too. Imagine how easy it is for criminals to look for us just by looking at our photos that we have uploaded in our social media accounts. Some of my photos are posted publicly, because I need to and I want to, though I am not a celebrity or a famous person, I have my own reasons that is why I cannot simply upload it privately.

Here let me show you how I turned off my Location Services setting for my photos in my smart phone. Some people might think this is stupid (my HOW TO turn it off) but believe me, there are people who doesn’t know how to do it simply because they don’t care much about their cell phones, they just use it for making calls, for texting, for taking photos but they don’t check every thing in their phones, they don’t even know what is the IMEI number of their smart phones and doesn’t even care where they can find it.

First, you need to go to your iPhone’s Settings, it looks like this:

Then look for the PRIVACY. When you are in the privacy settings, tap that Location Services:

You can choose to TURN IT ALL OFF just by touching that circle beside the ON. But please, don’t because you need the location services when you use the Google Maps, and it might come handy when your iPhone gets stolen.
You just have to turn the Location Services for your Camera and other Photo editing apps in here:

This might sound or look ridiculous for those tech savvy people out there, but for those who don’t know what to do, this might be of great help to you.

Safety Tips : How to make your Queen Size bed safe for your Baby

Now that my Baby Chicay can crawl on her own I made sure that she is safe. She sleeps beside me; I am not the typical mother who put their babies inside their cribs during the night. And because I have a Queen Size bed which is too high from the ground, I need to improvise. I used to put pillows all around us so that she will not fall, head first God forbid, but I still worry that she might so I thought of another way to keep her safe.

The bf suggested putting the bed-top on the floor, so we decided to divide the bed into two, which is easier because the Queen Size bed has almost the same width. And now, I do not have to worry anymore because I know that my baby is safer than before. I still put some pillows though just in case she falls off from our bed.

Chicay’s Cabinets with Post-Its!

I am not an OC kind of Mom. Our room is sometimes cluttered because of my children’s toys and stuffs and I am alright with that. I clean the room or ask my baby’s yaya to tidy the room up.

I am the one who put my daughter’s clothes inside her cabinets so her yaya and my mom doesn’t know where to get her pajama, or her panties or her t-shirts and because my baby daughter’s cabinet has 5 drawers they have to open everything before they can found what they need. So I took the liberty of using my colorful Post-Its and put it in every drawer in my daughter’s cabinet. I meticulously write the things that can be found in each drawer so that the next time they need to change Chicay’s cloth diapers they don’t have to open every drawer just to find the right one which has the cloth diapers in it.
These post-its has been sitting up for so long already in my old boxes because I don’t feel like using it but now, I have found the right uses for it than using it as a scratch paper.

Develop a Decorative Teen Room on a Budget

Most teens, especially girls, love to stock up on trendy decorative pieces, but may not understand how expensive they all are! If you’d like to make your teen’s room to look fabulous but still stay within a budget, it’s possible to be frugal and teach her how to be sensible about what she selects. Go on a shopping trip with her and visit décor stores that offer trendy pieces that are within both of your price ranges. Then you can watch your teen’s eyes light up when you both discover elements such as cheap corner sofas that she can now incorporate into her space at a reasonable price.

Reasonable Ideas – Start out by setting up a plan of what she’d like to add to her room and ask her how she plans on revamping the space. If she wants a chandelier in her room that’s great, but is she aware of how much they cost? Have her save up and decide if a chandelier is really what she desires to place in her room. Once she starts putting away money to get a sparkly chandelier she may change her mind and decide to use the money for several elements as opposed to just one.

What Does She Need – What she needs and what she wants are two different matters. Of course there are always more elements to add to a beautiful space, but if she takes the time to write down what she really wants as opposed to absolutely everything she’d like to have, she may discover just how much she’s asking for. Hopefully this will help her understand how much stylish décor costs and she’ll come to the realization that it is important to decide on just a few pieces as opposed to many that add up quickly in price.

Room Vision – If she seems sporadic in her decision making or on the other hand knows exactly what she wants, either way it’s still okay to guide her through the decision process. Her plan may undoubtedly include a brand new set of bedroom furniture, but going for the cheap corner sofa is a better idea because it will still look nice with a trendy room with modern elements that suit her taste. Then she can add to it with a few patterned pillows of her choosing and a throw that’s bright and colorful!

Sierra always looks forward to decorating and showcases this on her blog Ocean Dreams. However, decorating on a budget is always on her mind and she recognizes that this is a great goal to have during any decorating process.

Building Stairs

If you have searched for an article online on how to build stairs you will notice that there isn’t a lot of complete information out there. There are a lot of videos and tutorials out there that will teach you a few different aspects of building stairs but not too many have everything you need all in one place. If you haven’t done it before and you consider yourself to be handy it is a project that you can probably complete. You will first need to design it and then you will need to make the plans and then you need to follow your plans. You will need to calculate everything. You need to calculate the distance between the balusters and the height of everything. There are sites that sell stair parts and a lot of times you can get good information from them on building your staircase.

Valentine’s Day Card Ideas

I haven’t received any Valentine’s Day card for this year and it didn’t surprise me. Why? Because I don’t usually receive cards for Valentine’s Day, I used to give a lot of cards during Valentine’s Day when I was in high school but nobody gives me a card. Some Valentine’s Day cards are hand-made, some are bought from stores and some are uniquely created by me.

Here are some nice ideas for a unique Valentine’s Day cards you can make at home at give next year to your loved-ones and family.
• Heart-formed cards made from red cardboards – this is easy to make, personalized and cheap, you only need cardboards (cartolina) and you can create a lot from one sheet.
• Cards made from bond papers pasted with cut-out hearts and designs from old cards – you only need bond papers, a paste and old Valentine’s Day cards that you have received, you can cut out the design and letters then paste it unto the bond paper and you have created a new Valentine’s Day card.
• Valentine’s Day card made from Cross-stitch – I used to give this kind of card to my parents, yes it is easy and more personalized, there are many ways to create different letters using the thread and cross-stitch cloth.

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