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I just noticed a bug. When I started this blog two years ago the URL was different. Back then it didn't say swearbox.wordpress.com it said something else. I realised I'd fkd up so after a while I created the blog you now see and I migrated all my previous content to the new swearbox.wordpress.com site. It all appeared to migrate OK and after a few more small tweaks I was happy and so the old version of the blog was left alone but not scrapped – it still is live if you know the URL.
Earlier on I posted my main blog post for the day and did a bit of site maintenance and what not and I took a look at where my days visitors were coming from. I hopped off to a recent blog that I've added to my blogroll as it appears I'm now getting traffic from there so I figured my request to be added to that site's blogroll must now have been fulfilled. I looked at the comments and it's there in black and white…"Added Swearbox"…but I couldn't see my blog post of only an hour or so old listed. So I got to rooting through the blogroll and I finally found myself right at the bottom of the pile showing my last post as being 2 years ago. WTF?
Now, in between finishing my last blog post (Re: Second Guessing) and doing the above I was looking through a few of my older posts going right back to the day I started. I read through a couple as I was going to try and create a widget to highlight some of the older posts that are now buried but I feel deserve to be made available on my home page. Reading through one post dated Feb 21 2010 I spotted a spelling mistake and corrected it. It was that update that has caused my blog to appear to be untouched for 2 years – and this is on everybody's blogroll that it appears on. The issue has to be something to do with updating a post that originally appeared on my other blog URL so I'm thinking the only way to correct this is to create this post to get me back into the here and now on other people's blogrolls.
Sorry for any inconvenience…and please don't boot me off due to 2 years inactivity LOL.


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For more information, contact Anne Hudson, Director of Disability Hiring, here.
Placing adults with diverse abilities who want gainful employment is life altering. Not only for them but for the companies who hire them. Don't take our word for it, take it from these amazing companies who are just some of our great partners:

subset: commoncrawl


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A Bathing Ape Ladies 2015 Spring/Summer Lookbook
Japanese streetwear heavyweight A Bathing Ape provides a look at the brand's latest 2015 spring/summer women's lookbook. Consisting of a variety of apparel options, including branded varsity jackets, shark hoodies, a basketball jersey, camouflage jumpsuits, and patterned bottoms, the women's collection highlights BAPE's renowned all-over camouflage prints throughout the selection. BAPE branding adorns the apparel offerings as headwear and backpack accessories complete the eclectic ladies collection. Enjoy the visuals and anticipate the A Bathing Ape 2015 spring/summer ladies collection to release in the upcoming spring season at the brand's online store.


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MPS Business Preparation• Executive Strategy & Goal Setting Session
• Software Training
• Supplies Management
• Service Management
Selling MPS• Target Market Analysis
• Sales Training
• Marketing
• Compensation
Fulfilling MPS Contracts• Contract Options
• Print Assessment Training
• Program Launch/Relaunch
Sustaining Dealer Performance• Ongoing Dealer Services & Support
• Dedicated LMI MPS Specialist
• Measurement vs. Critical KPIs
If you are like most of our clients joining the gold rush for Managed Print profits, we strongly suggest you include a strong business plan in your suitcase. You know there is more to building a strong MPS business than just buying some software, attending a training event, then launching it at a sales meetings. A solid plan will help you avoid costly mistakes with a proven process that elevates your MPS program's visibility and sustainable profitability.
By partnering with LMI, your business will be able to leverage our extensive industry specific knowledge and have access to people, processes and technology to help your organization implement a sustainable MPS revenue stream. At LMI you have access to industry professionals who have run some of the biggest MPS programs in the country as a dealer, as a VAR, and as an Office Supply Retailer. People who can help you win in Managed Print.
Contact us for a no obligation conversation about combining your talents and resources with our experience to help take your business to the next level.


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Explosions in the Sky Concert
The Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
Just in! Explosions in the Sky – Atlanta, GA playing at The Tabernacle September 29. We expect this to be one heck of a show!
Explosions in the Sky Atlanta Tickets
More about Explosions in the Sky:
Explosions in the Sky is a post-rock band known for their instrumental musical compositions. They are known for their awesome and magical guitar playing and touching live performances. The band's members are Mark Smith and Munaf Rayani for guitars, Michael James for guitar and bass guitar, and Chris Hrasky for drums.
The band started out in Texas in 1999 and was able to release their first album (How Strange, Innocence) in 2000. The following year, they released their second album titled 'Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever'. This is their first album under Temporary Residence Limited (NY-Based record label). In 2003, they were able to release another album titled 'The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place'. This album gained positive reviews from music critiques. Also, this album was the band's first attempt at love songs.
[ad#300×250 L-side]
In 2005, Explosions in the Sky released their 4th studio album titled 'The Rescue'. The track titles here are literally in line with the number of days they actually finished the songs. Track listings were 'Day One', 'Day Two', 'Day Three' … up to 'Day Eight'.
'All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone' is the band's 5th studio album released on February of 2007. A little trivia: The track 'It's Natural to Be Afraid' that came from this album was used in '24/7: Pacquiao-Cotto' – HBO's boxing series' last episode. Also, the track 'The Birth and Death of the Day' was used in a video titled 'At the Gates of Wembley'. This video was made by FC Barcelona soccer team with the hope of encouraging everyone to the 2011 Champions League Final.
Explosions in the Sky's latest album, released in April of 2011, was titled 'Take Care, Take Care, Take Care'. Again, this album received a lot of very good reviews from the industry's critiques.
Explosions in the Sky – Atlanta The Tabernacle Information
Where is Explosions in the Sky Live Event
The Tabernacle – Atlanta GA
When is Explosions in the Sky coming to town
September 29, 2011
AtlantaConcertEvents.com features wonderful seats, deals, along with recent news with regards to Explosions in the Sky tix and also other artists and shows in Atlanta. AtlantaConcertEvents.com is definitely the place to be pertaining to Atlanta live shows and events.
Dome FAQ at AtlantaConcertEvents.com:
Q: What are Piggyback Seat tickets?
A: They're Explosions in the Sky Atlanta seat tickets where the seats happen to be in back or in front of each other. You will only receive these types of seats if you specifically purchase them. This helps if you have a big group that doesn't want to sit in one long, straight line.
Q: Will AtlantaConcertEvents.com send me new The Tabernacle tickets should I lose mine?
A: We'll send them to you if they're still available.. plus you have to buy them all over again cuz Explosions in the Sky tickets are like cash.
Q: Will my Explosions in the Sky Atlanta tickets come on time? A: Yep! Your tickets are guaranteed to arrive in time for the concert so you never have to worry about a thing at AtlantaConcertEvents.com.
From Explosions in the Sky – The Tabernacle to AtlantaConcertEvents.com


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According to US National Retail Federation, in 2012 alone people were willing to spend on average $126.03 on Valentine's Day for their significant other.
In 2013, the spend went up to $130.97, so the total spend related to Valentine's Day in the US was estimated at 18.6 billion dollars. In 2012 it was 17.6 billion dollars.
Just like Christmas, Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated by pretty much everyone nowadays. Actually, it isn't just an american tradition anymore, countries all over the world are celebrating Valentine's Day, and businesses are looking to leverage this.
As always, email marketing is probably one of your best bets to capitalize on people's willingness to spend money on Valentine's Day.
Add some creative advertising and some engaging social media content to the mix and you got yourself a winning strategy.
Opportunity: checked.
Strategy: this article will help you out with that.
What To Do to Win Valentine's Day
Your Valentine's Day to do list should look something like this:
- add more subscribers to your email lists
- segment your list
- schedule when you are going to send the emails
- write great subject lines
- design amazing emails
Valentine's Day is all about love and that means you shouldn't have a "one night stand" with your email list. . (tweet this)
Treat this holiday right, and it can bring you HUGE benefits on long term.
Also, don't make this holiday about you: make it about your customers and about your audience.
Help them experience a day they'll never want to forget.
How to grow your email list very fast
I know, Valentine's day is almost here. Getting more email leads & subscribers in such a short time is not an easy task.
Don't freak out though, everything is not lost. We've got a few tips that can earn you some serious Valentine's business.
Create a valentine's Day Business Venture
Partner up with other companies, find companies that are not selling products or services suitable for Valentine's Day. However, they might have bigger email lists than you do.
By partnering up with them you'll get to increase the sales of your products and they'll get a partnership commission out of a holiday which otherwise would bring them no extra sales.
Closing a partnership might take time so get it done right now.
ADD BUcketloads of subscribers by using behavioral targeting
If you are not using PadiAct, maybe this is the best opportunity for you to try it out.
You can start by defining a campaign and target people exclusively for the Valentine's Day lists.
Here are a few tips to get loads of email subscribers from Day 1:
- identify the most successful products of last year's Valentine's Day and ask people to subscribe while visiting similar products
- target visitors after spending at least 2 minutes viewing the products (they are still in the researching phase)
- offer them the best reason to subscribe, so they can't refuse you: let people know about the Valentine's Day exclusive emails with tips, gifts and promotions.
Segment and clean your lists
On the romantic 14th of February and the days before it, the subscribers are going to receive loads of emails with Valentine's offers. For them, it will be a tipping point and people will probably "abuse" the Report as spam or Unsubscribe buttons.
That's why, you need to be one step ahead.
The week of 14th of February should be a week when open rates, click rates and purchases are at their best.
Here are a few segments that you should look into:
- gender: craft emails respecting the fact men & women have different needs
- activity: the closer you get to the last emails of your Valentine's Day campaign, the more you should refrain yourself from sending emails to inactive subscribers
- interest: use different call to actions in emails to identify user interest. Based on the links they've clicked, add subscribers in different buckets
- age: a 40 year couple will probably have a different idea on how to spend that day compared to an 18 year one
A great way to keep your lists clean, is to allow people to opt-out of the Valentine's Day emails, but to stay subscribed toyour other lists. A visible copy like the following one with the appropriate link should do the job:
I already found a gift and no longer want to receive Valentine's Day emails.
Drip your emails
We already told you that love is in the air, a "one night stand" is very a bad idea.
Don't plan a single email for Valentine's Day. Avoid the "hit and run" approach.
Build a campaign that reminds people about the big day, a campaign with ideas on how to surprise their partners, makes it easy for them to find a gift and then follow up to make sure everything went well.
Is it your first Valentine's Day email campaign?
Feel free to use the following Valentine's Day Marketing Calendar:
20th-22ND January – announce Valentine's Day
Send an email to all your subscribers reminding them that Valentine's Day is coming. Tell them to hop on the exclusive Valentine's day email list.
Give a few hints of presents or things they can do for their special one.
Add up to 3 call to actions in the email, each one of them describing a different user intention.
Future campaigns should be sent to visitors based on what link they clicked.
January 27th – 30th – content aware campaign
Based on expressed intention through the links they've clicked in the previous email, send them suggestions of gifts.
Make sure to add a story to each gift idea.
People would rather relate to stories than to product descriptions, so you'll make their choice easier.
February 3RD – 5th – launch THE OFFER
The period when most people do the purchases. The more they delay, the harder it will be to find and have the perfect gift delivered on time.
Be creative about your incentive. Go beyond the classic discounts.
Discounts are always welcomed, but extravagant wrapping of purchased products can make a strong impression, especially on Valentine's Day.
10th of February – continue with the promotion
Only send to people that opened at least one email in the last 3 months.
From this moment on, you are playing the safe card and you are keepings unsubscribes and spam reports as low as possible. This email should speak of urgency. It's the last chance of buying a gift, if it's not too late already.
13th of February – the day before
It's probably too late to sell anything and deliver it on time. To the subscribers that did not purchase anything for their loved ones, offer them some tips on how to save the day. To the ones that did purchase, give them tips on how to surprise without actually giving them a gift.
This one email might be the one that actually helps you WIN your email list. If you provide them with great ideas on how to save the day, your subscribers will remember you and they will recommend you to all their friends.
15th of February – the day after
Encourage subscribers to write back their stories. Maybe even through in a prize or some gift cards.
Get as many testimonials & stories as possible.
Create content around your customers' stories (it can be an article, a video or an infographic), and post it on Pinterest, Facebook and, what the heck, release it even on Google+.
Make it a Valentine's Day that everyone remembers, and promote it heavily so that your competition will be jealous because they've decided to have a "one night stand" instead of actually providing help to their audience
Subject lines your email list will not ignore
One of your biggest challenges will be to get as many subscribers to open your emails. Here is what Experian found in a study they've conducted last year:
As you see, subject lines are crucial, so here's a list that can get you started on writing great emails:
- Hurry, Cupid's Counting Down! Send a Special Greeting Card
- 3 Days Until Valentine's Day. Find The Perfect Gift Today Or It Could Be Your Last.
- Order now to avoid heartbreak this Valentine's
- For love or money?
- Get gifts as extraordinary as your Valentine
- Valentine's Day gifts for your Rebecca
- You'll ❤ Key Pieces for the Season
- We've got a crush (or two). How about you?
- Ten Ways to Say "I Love You"
- Wine, Chocolates & $0 Shipping
- Will You Be Our Valentine? Sweepstakes, News, & More To Show Our LUV
- Last Chance to Get the Look You Love Before V-Day
By sending up to 6 emails 'till the big day, you'll have a chance to test a few sets of subject lines to find the best one for you.
Design amazing emails
Once you have subscribers open your emails, the copy and the design are going to be decisive in having people become customers as well.
Check out the following designs that were shared heavily on the web. Click on the images to get the full newsletter:
How will you approach valentine's day in 2014?
What are your plans for 2014's Valentine's Day?
What worked for you the last year and what do you plan to do better in 2014?
Did we miss something? We would love to hear your opinion on this article.


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I've come to accept a hard fact. I don't know Romance, and I need to learn how to write it. I say this because in my new shiny I have a subplot that's a romance, and I've been trying to figure out how to do it properly. Turns out I need to do some serious research (i.e. read articles and buy more how-to books).
I have one book on the way, another book "Intimate Behaviour: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy" just arrived on my doorstep, and I'm flipping through some of my favorite fiction with decent b-plot love stories. Hopefully I won't write something awful.
1st Book News (The Ugly Truth bit):
So remember that novel I was editing? I still am. But I realized something this week that makes me want to scream. I have a chapter in the novel I hate. I haven't been able to pinpoint why until recently, but I despise this one chapter in particular. What I realized was I need to tear it out and write something new. I was able to think of an alternative to what I'd done. Yep. I got all the way to the last stage and FINALLY thought of a way to fix my book so I can like it infinitely better. *sigh* At least it's only one chapter. Still, I really don't want to do it. I just want to be finished with that book already.
What I'm reading:
Still reading the monster book. Hoping to finish it this weekend.
"Libriomancer" by Jim C. Hines
"Honor's Knight" by Rachel Bach
Up next:
I'm going to read "The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery" by Marjorie Spiegel. It's about 115 pages and should be a very quick (if difficult) read. But I'm expecting it to be extremely helpful with my werewolf book.
My friends recommended I read "Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Theif" by Dorthy Gilman. That might be the next fun read. It's tempting me considerably.
Word Count on the WIP: 18,930


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Quantifying and Controlling Catastrophic Risks/
This is a book about societal and environmental risks and how to quantify their likelihood of occurrence for the good of the public.
Quantifying and Controlling Catastrophic Risks - by B. John GarrickContributions by: Christie R.F., Hornberger G.M., Kilger M., Stetkar J.W.
Key Features
Tools for calculating and controlling risk.
Systematic method for ranking societal threats.
Includes both natural and industrial catastrophes.
Case studies drawn from the author's own experience.
The book builds on the theme that the benefit of quantitative risk assessment is to increase the confidence in making the right decisions with respect to managing risk. The emphasis is on human initiated and natural risks that are rare, but have the potential for catastrophic consequences in terms of human fatalities and environmental damage. The thrust of the methodology presented is for quantifying risks that are not only rare with catastrophic potential, but risks about which there is very limited supporting evidence. Thus, the uncertainty sciences and inferential reasoning are cornerstones of the methodology. The methodology presented is applied to four case studies having to do with the hurricane risk in New Orleans, Louisiana, the risk of a high energy asteroid impacting the 48 contiguous states of the U.S., a terrorist attack of a specific region of the national grid, and the risk of an abrupt climate change in the north Atlantic coastal states. The book ends with a proposal for a suggested path forward for increasing the public's knowledge about such risks as a critical step towards influencing stronger leadership in managing catastrophic risks to society.
Read Appendix A
For a review of the subject book, "Quantifying and Controlling Catastrophic Risks" see Risk Analysis, Vol. 30, No. 10, 2010, page 1623.
Other Selected References
Jaynes, E.T., Probability Theory: The Logic of Science, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2003.
Lewis, H.W., Technological Risk, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1990.
Bernstein, P.L., Against the Gods, The Remarkable Story of Risk, Wiley, New York, 1996.
Fullwood, R.F., Probabilistic Safety Assessment in the Chemical and Nuclear Industries, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 2000, 1968.
Haimes, Y.Y., Risk Modeling, Assessment, and Management, Wiley, New York, 1998.
Abkowitz, M. D., Operational Risk Management: A Case Study Approach to Effective Planning and Response, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008.
Green, A.E., Editor, High Risk Safety Technology, John Wiley & Sons, 1982.
Molak, V., Editor, Fundamentals of Risk Analysis and Risk Management, CRC Lewis Publishers, 1997.
McCormick, N.J., Reliability and Risk Analysis: Methods and Nuclear Power Applications, Academic Press, 1981.
Blockley, D., Editor, Engineering Safety, McGraw-Hill International, UK, 1992.
ISBN: 978-0-12-374601-6, Elsevier Inc., Amsterdam, 2008.
Available at Amazon


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Firmware update v1.3 includes six HD amp models based on channels from three classic American combos (the "Vibrato" channel of a Fender® Deluxe Reverb®, the "Vibrato" channel of a Fender® Twin Reverb® and the "Bright" channel of a Fender® Bassman®), two British half stacks (the "Normal" channel of a Park 75 and the "Normal" channel of a Marshall® JTM-45 MkII) and a high-gain Line 6 original.
Five additional, fully adjustable amp parameters don each new HD amp model (and will be added to the HD amp models you already have). Further customise essential aspects of tube amp feel and behavior with Sag, Hum, Bias, Bias Excursion and Master Volume.
Meet the new HD amp models:
Blackface 'Lux VIB
The "Vibrato" channel rounds out the HD model based on the classic combo that's considered by many to be the ultimate studio amp: Fender® Deluxe Reverb®.
Blackface Double VIB
Fender® Twin Reverb® is an all-time classic of biting twang and shimmering clean tones. This model is based on a Fender® Twin Reverb® "Vibrato" channel, which is a separate preamp circuit with clipping characteristics that are different than the "Normal" channel due to an additional 12AX7 tube stage.
Tweed B-Man BRT
Based on a Fender® Bassman®, the amp that started it all – instant rock and roll tone. This model is based on the amp's "Bright" channel, which provides a different voicing from the "Normal" channel by utilizing the second half of the first preamp tube. (The "Normal" channel uses the first half only). High frequencies are increased due to the addition of a bright cap across the volume knob.
Brit J-45 NRM
This model is based on a Marshall® JTM-45 MkII, which marked the beginning of the distinctively bright and crunchy sound that Marshall amps are known for. The "Normal" channel is adept at big, bold clean tones.
Brit P-75 NRM
Based on the "Normal" channel of a Park 75, a Jim Marshall-designed amp that enjoys cult status for its powerful Plexi-style tones. The "Normal" channel delivers a slightly darker tone than the "Bright" channel, a model of which already appears in POD HD.
Line 6 Elektrik
A face-melting, soul-weeping Line 6 original with high-gain capacity, interactive presence and mid-range controls. Careful, this might hurt a little…


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What Is Aseptic Technique and Why Is It Important in Microbiology?
Bacteria can live in virtually every habitable location on earth. They can be both beneficial and hazardous to other organisms, depending on the strain of bacteria. Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms, such as bacteria. Aseptic technique must be used in microbiology to avoid contaminating bacteria strains.
Aseptic technique is a method employed to keep microorganisms from growing in an area. It can also prevent the spread of a microorganism from one area to another.
Aseptic technique involves using only uncontaminated equipment and fluids. It involves sterilizing with a machine or passing through a flame, according to the Rice University Biology Department. Prepackaged sterile products are also available.
Examples of equipment used in aseptic technique include disposable sterile petri dishes to hold bacterial cultures, sterile culture tubes, disposable pipettes and a sterile cabinet to prevent contaminated air from coming into contact with bacteria being studied.
If aseptic procedures are not followed or a contaminant such as hair comes into contact with cultures, a bacterial mutation can occur, as can inaccurate results. The methods manual for applied microbiology at Rice University indicates that failure to use and maintain aseptic technique can make experiments a waste of time. More seriously, it can result in the transmission of bacteria to other areas and increase the risk of infections spreading, according to the National Health Service in the UK.
Photo Credits
- Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images


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MSI has updated the G Series gaming laptop line with the GT663 15.6-inch model, featuring the Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M dedicated video card.
Besides the GTX 460M with 1.5GB of GDDR5 video memory, the MSI GT633 includes a Core i7 quad-core processor, three DDR3 memory slots for a maximum of 12GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage using two 500GB hard drives, a DVD burner, and a LED backlight display with "full HD or HD" resolution.
The notebook has DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC audio technology and built-in 2.1 speaker system, a 720p/30fps web camera, two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Gigabit LAN, and HDMI and VGA outputs.
MSI's GT663 incorporates Turbo Drive Engine+ technology for "boosting system speed for enhanced processor and display performance" and Cooler Boost technology for enhanced system cooling. Both technologies can be activated with a single touch of a dedicated hotkey above the keyboard.
The laptop weighs 7.7 pounds and runs Windows 7 OS.
There's no word on pricing and availability.


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Interest rates on new card offers rose to a one-year high this week after the Federal Reserve increased rates for the first time since 2006, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report.
Multiple issuers responded to the Federal Reserve's 0.25 percent rate increase by hiking APRs on new card offers by the same amount. As a result, the national average annual percentage rate rose to 15.05 percent. When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, issuers can pass along those rate increases without giving cardholders prior notice. The increase in the interest rate will be applied to the entire balance, not just on new purchases.
Among the 100 cards CreditCards.com tracks, 25 advertised slightly higher rates this week. American Express, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Huntington Bank, Key Bank and Comerica were among the issuers that increased rates by 0.25 percent. Capital One also increased interest rates last week, just a few days before the Federal Reserve's announcement.
Card debt expands to nearly 6-year high
The rate increases have been expected for some time. The Federal Reserve initially planned to raise interest rates in 2014. But despite the impending increases, U.S. credit card holders have continued to pack on debt.
According to Experian's Market Intelligence Brief, the total amount of debt consumers owe on their cards rose to $650 billion in the third quarter, indicating that consumers have become much more comfortable in recent years charging larger purchases and carrying bigger balances. According to Experian, cardholders haven't owed this much on their cards since late 2009.
But despite owing more overall, most consumers are keeping up with their obligations and paying their bills on time. According to Experian, late payments by 60 days or more have fallen by more than 70 percent since 2009 and currently rest near record lows.
The low number of late payments they receive seems to have emboldened card issuers, approving more cardholders with lower scores. It's also led issuers to increase credit limits by more than 100 percent since late 2009.
"The increase in limits from lenders and the steady climb in credit card debt combined with exceptional delinquency rates signals greater confidence among consumers as they are showing more assurance in managing their credit since the recession," said Experian's Kelly Kent in a blog post.
According to Kent, credit card debt is likely to increase even further in the final quarter as consumers charge more of their holiday purchases.
Card marketing is also up
Meanwhile, card issuers are trying to lure more cardholders and encourage heavier spending by blanketing cardholders' mailboxes with new offers.
According to the financial services group, Credit Suisse, issuers mailed 332 million card offers in November — 3 percent more than mailed the previous year.
A larger number of offers typically means issuers are competing more aggressively for new cardholders. "We believe that competitiveness remains high and will continue to ramp up in 2016 as the major issuers, particularly American Express, seek to add new accounts," wrote Credit Suisse's Moshe Orenbuch and Serena Hong in a Dec. 21 research note. American Express recently lost a number of long-term accounts when it failed to renew partnership agreements with wholesale retailer Costco and JetBlue airline.
According to Credit Suisse, the total number of card offers issuers mailed this year will likely be smaller than in 2014. Credit Suisse anticipates that card issuers will have mailed just 3.8 billion offers this year — down from 4 billion offers in 2014. But the financial services group expects mail volume will increase considerably in the next year to at least 4 billion card offers by the end of 2016.
"Given the ease with which issuers can increase and decrease mail volume and commentary on higher marketing expense, we believe spending will increase materially in the fourth quarter of 2015 and see the high level continuing into 2016," wrote Orenbuch and Hong.
|CreditCards.com's Weekly Rate Report
|Avg. APR
|Last week
|6 months ago
|National average
|Low interest
|Cash back
|Balance transfer
|Instant approval
|Bad credit
|Methodology: The national average credit card APR is comprised of 100 of the most popular credit cards in the country, including cards from dozens of leading U.S. issuers and representing every card category listed above. (Introductory, or teaser, rates are not included in the calculation.)
|Source: CreditCards.com
|Updated: Dec. 23, 2015
See related:Card APRs rise as Fed hikes interest rates, Will will an interest rate hike cost?


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address: Real Street Balibago AngelesOperating hours: 7pm - 4amWebsite: www.crystalpalace-ac.com
As a close friend of mine and AE member who used to manage Pick Up disco once said, "I think personally the DollHouse group did the best club makeover in Angeles History". Just as the original Crystal Palace was designed to showcase the achievements of industrialized England in the mid 19th Century this version was in many ways designed to showcase the achievements of the DollHouse Group. In my opinion they took an impressive yet somewhat dysfunctional building and remodeled it maintaining the impressive stature but at the same time adding functionality. The improvements in the current day Crystal Palace start right at the clubs entrance. Being a DollHouse Group Bar features a much improved entrance with the trademark banners on the outside and the assertive door girls all wearing colorful wigs. Personally apart from the attention grabbing factor I have never understood the colored wigs but then again they do not bother me at all and in a location such as Real Street they certainly grab customer's attention. Once inside the first thing that draws your attention is the stage full of girls which is off to the right slightly elevated and circular. This stage is cleverly placed so just about no matter where you are in the bar you can see the stage and the girls dancing there. This is a very important factor because it demonstrates that the designers realized the emphasis should be on the girls working the bar rather than on anything else. Secondly this is quite an achievement when you consider the bar has three separate levels and yet the stage is still the central point of focus even if you are on the third floor. One thing I found interesting is the seating right in front of the stage. In this bar they have put a number of comfortable lounge chairs right in front of the stage which means that people tend to stay longer and enjoy a drink or two while they watch the dancers and their routines. The lounge chairs also mean that customers whose preference it is to have close contact with the girls can do so in comparative comfort especially when this is compared to the vast majority of other bars who have bar stools as their seating next to the stage.As the second line of seating they have once again chosen to go with the lounge chair approach. The chairs are comfortable and large and are placed in a semi circle around the stage. The chairs are complimented by small tables which serve as a place to put your drinks. This design is somewhat unique for a go-go bar in Angeles but when you stop and think about it, the design makes a lot of sense. For example the seats encourage people to stay longer simply because they are so comfortable compared to the normal bar stool.


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If you don't know Adafruit yet, let's fix that immediately. They're awesome. They offer people like wearable tech designers the supplies and instructions needed to hone their skills and build beautiful things—and they have a highly popular YouTube channel. (Not to mention: their founder was the first female engineer on the cover of WIRED magazine. Boom!) We talked with Becky Stern, Adafruit's Director of Wearable Electronics, to learn more about the company.
Describe Adafruit.
Adafruit is a DIY kit company. We make useful electronic parts for building almost anything you can imagine, from LED prom dresses to smart home devices, and everywhere in between. Adafruit is an open source hardware company, which means we give away the recipes for building projects (including circuit diagrams, code libraries, and step-by-step photo/video tutorials). We make guides to inspire folks to create, while providing a framework to build upon and "level up" their maker skills. We manufacture electronics in downtown New York City, and ship to customers and distributors worldwide.
What was the inspiration behind starting Adafruit?
Limor "Ladyada" Fried founded Adafruit in 2005 to create the best place online to learn electronics, including the best designed products for makers of all ages and skill levels. She started making kits for things she wanted herself, like a portable phone charger that fit in a mint tin, then published the instructions for building it on her site. Since then Adafruit has grown to 100 employees and over 2800 products.
Tell us about your YouTube channel.
When I joined Adafruit in 2012, we started ramping up our frequency and variety of videos. Ladyada was already broadcasting the live "Ask an Engineer" show on UStream at the time, so we started simulcasting to YouTube. Then we added a wearable electronics project series and eventually a live show on the topic too, as well as project videos and a live show about 3D printing. We've grown to 20 million views and 140K subscribers, and continue to publish project how-tos, cool techniques for makers, live streams and more every week! We believe good information is good advertising, and so in that way our videos are also marketing tools. Our YouTube channel supports our awesome community of curious makers and dovetails nicely with our learning site and our customer support forums.
What are some of your favorite open source products you've released so far?
My favorite items in the Adafruit catalog are FLORA and GEMMA sewable microcontroller boards. They make it easy to get started in wearables and we even wrote a book, Getting Started with Adafruit FLORA, to help make it even easier. There's a whole family of add-ons like GPS, bluetooth, sewable LEDs, sensors, and more. As the director of wearable electronics, I'm partial to the sewable boards, but I'm also really excited about our recent release of the Feather. The Feather is a tiny lightweight board built around the same Atmega32u4 microcontroller as the FLORA, but with on board lipoly battery recharging and options for bluetooth or wifi as well. The world of internet-connected products is expanding, so to give makers a playground to build their own, we created adafruit.io. It's a cloud data service for pushing and pulling info to and from your DIY electronics projects so you can make app-controlled home lighting, auto-uploading motion activated surveillance cameras, gowns that display the weather, or keep track of which houses give out the best candy on Halloween.
What can we expect next from Adafruit?
Recently we've been seeing customers build more cosplay and wearables projects, as well as an influx of computer programmers to hardware with Raspberry Pi. It's never been easier to start learning to build sophisticated electronics projects, using your imagination and some parts and tutorials from Adafruit. I'm looking forward to what this means for intrepid creators, as well as the consumer electronics market. The era of hyper-personalized technology is here, and while we still may be sorting through what all our data (from our fitness trackers, phone sensors, home and car tech, mass surveillance, etc.) can really be used for, increasing literacy in computer science and engineering is enabling a generation with the most technological and personal agency of all time. Adafruit will continue to supply bleeding-edge parts and quality tools for creating personal-area-network wearables, DIY cell phones, web connected cat feeders, and much, much more.
Learn more about Adafruit by checking out their website here and watching the video below. And hey–why not try building something yourself?
Third Wave Fashion has been your fashion tech think tank since 2011. We publish the first ever printed fashion tech magazine, Third Wave. Follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of the latest in fashion tech + wearables.


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Proverbs can move mountains! Want to make a difference? Be the difference! They always say if there is a topic you want to read about, go to the Bible. Porn? Bible. Good deeds? Bible. Heros? Bible. Murder? Bible. In this chapter, men learn how to be Godly men and Godly women. Learn how to be Confident, and teach your children confidence.
We introduced our study 13 weeks ago week briefly recapping the Proverbs 31's introduction. We started a curriculum, with resources, to help parents teach children that they are worth more than rubies (31:10). We are learning that we don't have to be perfect, or teach our children to be perfect. All we have to do is be the best we can be and model the best we can do for our babies.
We followed the initial teaching of value with activities to encourage babies to be confident, respectful, and good (31:11-12) and then moved toward our Proverbs 31:13 Eager as a Beaver week. Once our children were aware it was okay and encouraged to be eager every single day of their lives, what they were already being prior to our study that sometimes annoys the crap out of adults!, the introduction to work ethic in Proverbs 31:14 made sense. Creating value and work ethic in infancy by responding to an infant's immediate cry sets our babies up for success. Teaching our preschoolers work ethic begins the success.
It is important as parents that our children are aware women and men are both equally valuable (Proverbs 31:15), and understand that everyone has a role in the homestead of equal importance.
In fact, sign up for our mailing list (on the right) .today and snag your FREE Proverbs Subway Art for every member of your family! —>>–>>–>>
Speaking of roles in the homestead, it is a-okay for both men and women to work and invest in their family (Proverbs 31:16), and no one, should be exempt. Investment comes in many forms. Parents, did you remind your babies in Week 7 how strong they are? Our lads, and our ladies are so strong, and Proverbs 31:17 reminds us how critical it is they know it! Week 8 helps our babies discover that Godly women work. And work. And work. Doing something. It doesn't matter what. They don't have to be creative. They don't have to sing. They don't have to be handy. They just have to not be lazy. In addition to working early in the morning and diligently all day long, also work deep into the night (Proverbs 31: 18, 19). They must know they are strong from the week prior to understand they can handle their mountain of diligence. We added to their studies in Week 9 coaching them into giving. After working and working and working the most sacred thing our kiddos can be taught is to give.
Next we showed and modeled for our children. Instead of teaching THEM to do something…. we are showing them that we are working just as hard. They can rely on us. They can trust us. We prepare for them. We, as men and women of Christ, prepare. We used our preparations to show that we should fear nothing, we prepared, and our children will always be clothed and ready (Proverbs 31: 22,24,25). And then in week 12 we spent time observing and learning How A 2-year-old Prays (or any age child – your child) in Proverbs 31:23.
Now its time to lighten up, remember the child, find the youth in each of us parents no matter how old, and create a timeless admiration and fascination in art. There is a reason creativity is so inspiring. And, I'm of the belief that we all have the ability to be creative, and all have the ability to inspire. Its said that while we may be just one person to the world, to one person we are the world. "To our children, we are the world. TO GOD, we are the world. You. You are the world."
- Stamps: My 2-1/2 year old LOVES stamps. Last year for Christmas I bought her a whole box of self-stampers, something like this with an assortment of stamps. She hasn't even opened them all yet, but loves them and none have dried out yet. For today's activities I looked up a few ways to make DIY stamps as well for Kara to freely craft whatever her heart desired, and we stamped inside the outlines of numbers 1-5. There are a billion ways, here are a few of my favorite. I will link my own personal creation soon, too!
- Clip Zine has a huugge assortment of listings of project ideas and patterns. This, of course, takes some preparation to get it ready for your child to play with, though.
- There are a ton of ideas out there, but for the purpose of homeschooling and children I really like projects that are fast to prepare so the child can become involved. What could is preparing for our children if we have no time to play with them? Titus2Homemaker has several ideas in this post; some take no preparation and some come from dollar store preps. How much more could we ask for?
- Saving the best for last, and one that I personally will also be using: Craftaholics Anonymous creates tanogram stamp peices and provides a free printable to have your child match, sequence, build, copy. They're fantastic, and develop so many skills at once! This will certainly become a busy bag for us!
- Markers: my personal activities are the dot markers. They make wonderful busy bag on-the-go bags (we're not quite careful enough with them for car use though!) and a very quick search will leave you enough printables to last years if you laminate them first, weeks if you don't! What are my favorite four activities:
- Draw the outlines of letters and let your child dot the shape of the letter.
- Powerful Mothering shares her ideas of using dots to dot in a pattern followed by using scissors to cut it. We are still on straight line scissor activities, but this could become quite complex for a more advanced child!
- Southern Shore Mamas shares my favorite activity, but it does take some prep work during nap time. Starting with a somewhat simple coloring page, I draw in my dots where I want Kara to dot. Then I color in the background a color so that Kara must color match her dots to the color I say it should be.
- Another favorite activity is to fill a page with a sentence of the same letter such as "Harry the Hippo has a happy voice when he hollers through the hall." Allow your child to dot all the H's!
- Paint: This will be our recipe for this week's painting sessions, thank you One Little Project! I'll have to let each of you know after my experiment which one produces the most vibrant colors for us: food coloring, water colors, tempera paint! 🙂 We will be painting on a variety of papers: tissue paper, wax cooking paper, aluminum foil, and construction paper.
- We also made our own paint this week.
- 3/4 cup shaving cream (the gel works better!)
- 3/4 cup flour
- coloring of choice (post about choices coming soon)
- Salt/Flower: Of course salt dough crafts are becoming more popular. This week we are going to try out a salt and flour playdoh recipe. Actually, we'll do a few and check back letting you know which recipe is best and which coloring options provide the most vibrant colors!
- Art Supply Assortment: What could be better than dumping out some crafts… yarn, stick, cardboard, markers, pens, gel glitters, glue, pom poms, felt, foam, and more and letting a child invent! All week long, your child has been making things. At this point, let them be creative!
- Older children that have the fine motor skills for advanced weaving, necklace making from embroidery string, knitting, etc., could even try selling to friends!
Is anyone joining us on our FACEBOOK page? Please do! Lets us know if you are studying proverbs with us! We have 5 more weeks of activities left! Or, subscribe to the right hand side and grab some free SubWay Art Proverbs Printables!


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I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep
--- Edgar Allan Poe, A Dream within a Dream
Time keeps slipping away. We could do so much more if we could discipline ourselves better. We could improve our well-being physically, emotionally, financially. Where to start?
I don't get enough sleep. Put another way, I'm great at staying up late. Or rather my brain is and it drags my body along. There are so many things to do. Blogging is one. A few more minutes, a few more minutes, a few more minutes. Pretty soon the minutes turn into hours.
The morning alarm clock makes no adjustments for the shorter sleep time. The body tries, but soon starts rebelling. Yesterday was such a day. After dinner, I had to snooze. I woke up refreshed and wasn't feeling tired at at 11 p.m. or midnight or even later.
Guess what happened? The cycle repeats.


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Riding - The Heritage Tour
A ride taking you over meadows and lava fields. Several old farms on our way help us discover how farming has developed during the last century. The riding paths on this trip are perfect for trying out the Icelandic horse's special skill of "tølt (ambling), a particular way of moving in between a walk and a trot. After the ride guests are invited into the farm (Eldhestar farm) for a cup of coffee or to try our Icelandic specialities or home baked goods.
Price 2019 | May - Sep £ 70 | Oct - Dec £ 70
Included: 1,5 – 2 hours riding. Pick-up from your hotel in Reykjavík.
Duration: 4,5 – 5 hours.
Period: All year daily at 8.15 AM and 1 PM.
Age restrictions: 7 years old minimum
Other info: Lunch is not included
Note! Helmet and waterproofs are supplied as well as winter overall, rubber boots, socks and gloves in winter.
Book your riding trip by clicking "SEARCH EXCURSIONS" on the left.


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Victory is hailed in campaign to reject Cromwell – warts and all – on pub sign
HE led a successful crusade against the proposal to rename his local pub The Cromwell, citing the military leader's infamous history in Ireland.
Now Mick Whyte (36) has revealed his shock that his stand made international headlines and says he is "chuffed to bits" at his victory.
Mr Whyte was appalled when British chain pub operator Punch Taverns tried to rename the Old Oak Inn, in Hoghton, near Manchester, in honour of Oliver Cromwell.
He set about organising an online resistance to the plan and within days it had gone global, hitting headlines as far away as America.
"Within days the petition was signed by people in Ireland, the US, Palestine – I wasn't expecting it at all," Mr Whyte told the Sunday Independent.
His opposition to the plan to rename the watering hole, which followed a €220,000 refurbishment, centred on local affection for the pub's name and the offence the new name might cause to "our Irish cousins".
"I am aware that, especially in Ireland, Cromwell doesn't have the same reputation as he does in England.
"I've always been interested in history and anti-imperial struggles," Mr Whyte said.
The petition referenced "atrocities and land seizures carried out by Oliver Cromwell in Ireland", who massacred garrisons at Drogheda and Wexford in 1649.
"I'm not Irish myself, my dad is from Scotland and my mam is from Manchester," Mr Whyte said.
In a statement, Punch Taverns said that a decision had been made against changing the name after the owners "took note of the comments and passion expressed by the local residents". It added: "It became obvious to retain the Old Oak as the pub's identity."
Sunday Independent


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Saturday, January 17, 2009
Surrender To Authorities
Ray Palmer wasn't about to commit an actual crime rather than avoid addressing phony charges. Ray met with a group of Feds in the lobby, who immediately began to interrogate him about the synthetic troops and Heywood's other developments. While Palmer wished to reveal what he could to the authorities, he was contractually bound to confidentiality on areas he was being questioned in. Palmer wondered how policemen knew so much about the science behind the synthetic troops, and as he began to ask his own questions, the feds began roughing him up. Palmer had not yet been handcuffed, and tried to defend himself, only to have the butt of a gun smash into his chin and leave him slumped against a wall. Ray realized that regardless of whether these men were really the authorities or not, they meant to extract information out of him by any means they deemed necessary. Once again, Ray had to decide, would he reveal all, or attempt escape?
Confess everything to the authorities?
Make his escape?
Posted by Diabolu Frank at 9:59 PM
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About Pictora
Pictora is an innovative 'not for profit' Social Enterprise (Company Limited by Guarantee), created by a partnership of staff working in the criminal justice system in 2009.Pictora was launched with supported from NOMS, as a pilot project to demonstrate the impact that a Social Enterprise can have in the criminal justice system, in terms of both cost implications and reduction of re-offending.
The work of Pictora
Purchasing offender art and related merchandise on the Pictora website provides funding for:* Victim Support - to help the victims of crime
Social Enterprise Funding - through art sales
The day to day running activities of Pictora are financed SOLELY through the sale of art and merchandise on the Pictora.org websites. Pictora is reliant on income generated as a social enterprise to develop its work.
Funding - support provided
Pictora wishes to thank NOMS for its support in its initial development stage and the Big Lottery for supporting the development of offender skills and employability through the provision of merchandise printing equipment, framing and digital tools.
Pictora would also like to thank European Social Fund and Erasmus + for support in developing new and innovative appoaches to learning and employability for offenders, ex-offenders and individuals at risk in our complex society.


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Thursday, 29 December 2011
12 Cards of Christmas T!m Holtz Style Card 12
So here I am at card 12. Yay I made it :) I made a huge mistake though and that makes me sad. I just didn't have the time or enough Star Dust Stickles left to fix it. Moving on lol. I used what I had again to create this card, keeping the techniques I liked and going with the flow :) Hope you like it. Wow never had so much creative focused energy in one month lol... This last card was inspired by T!m's 12t tag and as you can see mine is very very different lol.
Card 12
I started by using an old book my eldest daughter gave me to canabalise. I took one page and slathered Multi-Medium Matte all over it. I adhered it to a piece of cardstock and moved and scrunched it about as T!m did with his tissue paper. I was going to stamp some tissue paper my sister had given me but it was Missing in action from all the Christmas bruhaha lol.
I then painted book page with home made glimmer glaze. This mix is iridescent medium, glossy accents and fired brick (I have just started using Multi- Medium Gloss for this and love it!). I waited fro it to dry, which doesn't take long, then dripped more glaze over the light spots to give the splotchy effect.
I used the snowflake images found on SCAL 3 again. I cut these in several sizes with printer paper til I was happy with the size. Especially the one I was going to add a facet to.
I then used my eCraft to cut some plastic packaging (from lifestyle craft dies) into snow flakes. The packaging is a good bit thicker than acetate. I adhered the plastic to a stabiliser with removable tape so it wouldn't slide around. If you don't it slides all over and you end up with a big mess!!! I used pressure setting 7. Cuts like a dream :)
I grabbed some different colours of alcohol inks and my pearl mixative and did a few testers on some scrap packaging from around the snow flakes. I chose to use Aqua/Pearl Mixative to colour them. I coloured and coloured with my Tim Holtz tool and my inks til I achieved a colour I liked. Some spots were too light so I went over them til I got it right!
I decided they were still too plain so I added some Star Dust Stickles to the snowflakes. I covered the two smaller ones and only did around the outside of the larger one.
I grabbed my Cotton White Stazon and some snow flake stamps. The large one is from Inkadinkado and the small from Stampin' Up. I reinked one end of my stamp pad then used the large stamp on my book page a couple of times. I then took the smaller stamp and filled in some spots.
On some scrap card I stamped my small sentiment. I made sure it was small enough to see through the facet before I stamped it. It's a fiskars stamp. I used black stazon ink.
I then went over this with my fired brick glaze, after it dried I used some glossy accents to adhere my large circle Facet down. I pressed down hard gave it a bit of a swirl then made sure it was positioned just so. I used some paper towel to wipe away the excess glossy. My only issue with this is that even though my glaze was made with glossy accents adding glossy as a glue seemed to leech colour from my glaze :(
I cut around the facet and then used more glossy to stick it to my snow flake.
I grabbed some white and blue cardstocks and palyed around with them to see what combo I liked better. My eldest daughter decided the blue was the matte and the white was the card. I used my Fired Brick Distress pad to add a teeny border around the white card. I used the pad direct to card, no tool.
I used double sided tape to adhere my book page layer to the blue cardstock. I piled everything on top to see how it looked and felt it was missing some magic. I went to clker.com to get an icicle svg and made a template out of plastic and cut it with my eCraft. I then used stickles in star dust to add icicles to my card base. This is where I made my big mistake :( Shhhh I won't tell if you won't lol. I also added a border of sorts. The template was larger than in the pic but i flipped it and cut it to do the last part.
I used foam tape on all off the snow flakes. The larger and smaller have thicker tape and the middle size flower has thinner tape on them to give dimension. I then stuck them to my card and Job done. 12 cards is finito. Cannot believe I got it done in my first year at having a go but there you have it :)
Ta Daaaaaa, All done. Happy dance :). Upload the last card to T!m's Blog and then I can put this baby to bed. Wow I am relieved it's over. For someone who has barely crafted much in the last year that was pretty full on for me. A great way to get back in the swing of things and be inspired to try out a whole heap of my new products!
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Scrappin'
Posted by purplecinn at 11:17 pm 2 comments:
Labels: alcohol ink, distress ink, ecraft, facets, glimmer glaze, glossy accents, inkadinkado, iridescent medium, multi medium matte, recycled book, SCAL 3, stampin' up, stickles, svg, tim holtz
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
12 Cards of Christmas T!m Holtz Style Card 11
Wow another challenging one. When I decided to pack the colour in I didn't realise how hard it would be to still get the Christmas feel across lol. Hopefully I succeeded in making something both different and bright and colourful that still conveys "I'm a Christmas card!" Please let me know if I succeeded! As ever here is the inspiration behind my 11th card, T!m's tag...
Card 11
Yay last post I need to write up :) I had fun using my new pencils for this technique!
My first step was too grab an A4 sheet of cardstock and randomly colour small areas of colour with my new Derwent Inktense pencils. The first time I tried to be random in size and colour and it didn't work very well with small stamps. So then I started again and coloured random sized rectangles/squares.
I then used my aqua painter to make the colours more water colour like.
I used various stamps from Inkadinkado and Stampin' up til I found an image I liked. I went with one from Stampin' Up. I used perfect medium on the stamp and stamped the image onto my pretty paper. I covered this with black embossing powder and heat set from the underside of the cs. I then cut around my images.
At this point I have to say I started with the leaves like T!m did but I just wasn't feeling it lol. And I scrapped it and put the leaves aside for another project. The pencils inspired this idea.
I then grabbed a snowflake from the same set and stamped a lot of them in small spaces left from where I had cut things out. Embossed them in black and used Lifestyle Crafts circle and scallop circle dies to cut around them. I used florist masking tape (my 3m tape was Mia after the other card I used it on lol) to keep the dies in position and ran them through my Cuttlebug.
I grabbed some shrink plastic. I have have both Poly Shrink and Shrinkies and these both work in the eCraft. I used repostional tape on the piece of plastic and stuck it to my stabiliser. I then opened SCAL 3 and used the three free snowflake images that came with the software. I enlarged them to around 4"/10cm and cut with my eCraft.
I then covered the three snowflakes with Perfect Medium and UTEE and shrank them with my heat tool.
I moved them to the side of my craft sheet and reheated them. I used tweezers to flatten the sides and try to straighten them up a little and left them to dry.
I then made my own glimmer glaze. I used a small amount of Reeves Iridescent medium spritzed with water once or twice and mixed. I then added Multi-Medium Gloss and did some more mixing. Finally I added a couple of drops ofTumbled Glass Distress Reinker. I started at one and built up to 3 or 4 as I made a full pot. This is now my preferred method for making my glaze. It's a nice subtle sheen. Both Glossy Accents and Triple Thick give a more glossy finish. I like them as well but this is my fave :) I made a divine dried Marigold one the other day.
I painted the back of a piece of semi-gloss cs with my glaze because it's nice and sturdy and thanks to my sister I have tonnes! She got from a recycle place (not quite A4, there is a slice missing from the long edge) and we went halvies :) Very hard to get a decent pic so you will see after the next step :)
I took my Evergreen Bough and distressed around the edges. Sorry this is still not a good photo.. It's coming I promise lol. You will get to see the sparkle and shine!
I grabbed my Pearl Mixative alcohol ink and covered the backs of my snowflakes.
I then decided they needed more and added rock candy Stickles... It didn't give the pop I was after so I added some frosted lace over that.
So I have the background done and as I have a lot of elements I laid them all out til I got the kind of look I was after. I do this quite often when I have a lot to put on a page or a card. I then took a photo. I forget where I wanted things when there are many so a pic helps me remember Just where I want all the little things when I start assembling. Especially If I am working in layers. It also allows me to see where I may want to or need to add dimension.
See that sparkle and shine?!!!! Scrummy lol. As you can see I added the words "On Earth" to go with peace in the pic. I used a scrap of my shimmery cs leftover from the background and I used a recollections double alpha for this and embossed in black again. I also added a white cs background to the large stamped image and distressed the edge with evergreen bough.
I decided to pop out the word Earth with dimensional foam squares and also used some small spots to raise the lower edge of the middle snowflake so it was flush with the stamped image.
I used double sided tape on the small snowflakes and multi-medium matte on the snowflakes with lil dots of foam tape under the middle one as well.
And card is done! Yay. So much colour on a christmas card! It's not what I originally set out to make but it is sooo much better. I am not used to seeing such a bright card lol but I love it. All that sparkle and colour just makes it something special to me...
So this is the last blog I needed to play catch up writing. My 12 cards are all done and dusted, all uploaded to T!m's blog. I think I did pretty well to get all 12 Cards done in my first attempt lol. Hope you like this card :)
Happy Scrappin'
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Labels: aqua brush, derwent, distress reinker, foam squares, glossy accents, homemade glimmer glaze, inktense, iridescent medium, multi medium matte, poly shrink, shrinkies, stampin' up, stickles
12 Cards of Christmas T!m Holtz Style Card 10
So this one ended up being a real challenge. Cannot tell you how many different things I tried with it lol. I kept wrecking my tape or the image on the tape. I can also tell you gold leaf looked horrid on the back :). My 8 year old helped by deciding the placement of the bow and beads. Little artist in the making :). Here is my inspiration from T!m...
Card 10
We first off with this one my packaging tape was MIA lol so my daughter nicely got me some on town. I have at least 2 rolls hiding in the house somewhere all ready... but what can you do? lol.
I was making the tape images one at a time so I actually ended up making about seven images all at once to make sure I could try different techniques and have standby's in case I wrecked them some more :) lol.
To start off I didn't have any facets (I did get some in the mail from ebay after I completed this card of course!) so I grabbed a couple of round buckle-ups and ties from one heart one mind. The paper pictured is a kaisercraft one but poor santa had gold leaf put behind him and you couldn't see him anymore lol.
I positioned my acrylic piece over a santa so that he was centred and then cut a larger square around him. For the seven I did later I used a marker and drew a large circle around my image to cut out.
I then added my tape to the image. Make sure you put the tape over the side of the image you want to use. I made the image stick to the craft mat by making the tape larger. I the used my finger to "burnish" the image. Basically that means rubbing my finger or thumb over the tape til it is really well adhered to the image. I then cut the excess tape off and threw it in a bowl of warm water. Scary I know!
Make sure paper side is down soaking under the water and then use your fingers to begin rubbing the paper off. Try not to use your nails as this will scratch the image off the tape. As T!m says "rub til it squeaks". Make sure you get all the paper off then take out and dab some of the moisture off carefully.
This is where we say good by too this image as I killed it after the next step by trying gold leaf lol. Hello new image :) Another thing I learnt was definitely to adhere your tape to acrylic before doing anything else! So use a small amount of glossy accents or a similar glue like diamond glaze etc on your acrylic piece and place over the image. The sticky side should be facing down and shiny side up as this is the side you add the tile to. Set aside for 30 minutes to dry and then flip the chip and image over. Carefully rub your fingers over the image to push any trapped spots of glossy out. Leave to finish drying. I used this technique to also make a smaller acrylic tile.
While that was drying I started on my background. I grabbed my Iced Spruce distress pad and covered a yellow piece of cardstock with it direct from pad to paper.
I then used the water flinging technique to add large droplets of water to my background and dried with my heat tool and then added Evergreen Bough distress stain to the edges with my ink blending tool.
I repeated again with Festive Berries. Wow just realised I used the complete winter set on this tag :) Go me!
I grabbed a stamp I picked up for $2 at spotlight by fundamentals and my Evergreen Bough distress pad and flipped my image sideways to stamp a series of the image accross.
Off on a picture hunt seem to be missing some eep lo.. Ok sorry :( the pics MIA. So I will describe what I did next. I cut some letters with my cuttlebug using two different fonts. I cut "Christmas" with the alphabet from the Holly Jolly giftset. I cut "Joy" from the Sizzix Sizzlits Curls and Swirls alphabet.
I then got back to my ornament. I flipped it over and used a generous amount of Pearl Mixative and my distress tool to cover the back. Make sure to use a generous amount if you try this way or it starts to lift the image off the tape. I found the photo's Yay!
I used Multi-Medium Matte to glue down the the letters and then covered them with glossy accents. I left the "o" out as I had decided to replace it with another ornament.
I grabbed some thin red ribbon from my stash and looped some through my ornaments, leaving the tails nice and long. I made two bows, one small one larger. I adhered the bows with glossy.
I used regular tape to hold these on the back of the background so they could be pulled off and kept as ornaments and uses a small amount of repositional tape to stop then moving about too much. On reflection I would use some multi-medium or something like that on the back of the ornaments after the alcohol ink to seal them.
It still looked a bit plain so I grabbed a thin piece of tinsel from the christmas tree... lol. Four jump rings ,some beads and some tulle. I used beading tools and head pins on my three bead, the beads are two glass pearl 8mm beads and 1 Swarovski crystal, I createted loops and added a jump ring to each. With the last jump ring I opened it up wide and placed the tinsel inside and then added the three beads, red, crystal, red and closed it up.
I cut a thin strip of tulle, maybe 1"/2.5cm wide freehand and turned it into a bow. I glued this to the tinsel above the beads with glossy on miss 8's orders lol. And card done :).
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.
Happy Scrappin'
12 Cards of Christmas T!m Holtz Style Card 9
So here is card 9... Almost there.. Chugga Chuggin along lol. I had to change this up a bit as I don't have these Tim things lol. I even used my seedless preserves. Yummy! Lots of eCraft cutting going on in this card :) Got to love my purpleberry! So here is T!ms tag and my inspiration...
Card 9
Well I don't have the stamp Tim used or the dies so I decided that I would do a similar design to his using what I have. I think of all my cards this is the one that closest resembles his tag.
I started by using my fiskars stamp, sorry cannot remember the name at the moment lol, I stamped with Seedless Preserves from the autumn set (I had to sneak it in somewhere or my name isn't purple!!!), then covered with Ranger Superfine Embossing Powder.
Next up I grabbed my Evergreen Bough Distress Ink and my Distress Ink tool and covered the whole page. As we have already embossed the purple it acts as a resist. I then dumped more embossing powder over and heated with my heat tool. I love this technique so much I think I want to try it some more!
I then went on a mad hunt through my svg's to find one to use. I found a different lamp post to the one I used on card 7 but some of the lines were so thin they just did not cut properly. So I gave up on that idea and found a candlestick and candle instead. I love SCAL 3 for the fact I can ungroup images and hide some til I want to use them! Unfortunately I did not label svg's as I downloaded them so my free ones I have no idea where they came from :( Thanks to whoever designed the candle and candlestick svg I used. Below is the image I wanted to use :(
I opened the file in SCAL 3 and hid the base to cut the candle out of white cs, I then unhid the base and hid the candle and cut this out of black cs. I had tried a red candle but it just wasn't working.
I grabbed a recollections star and flourish stamp from the merry merry set and stamped my candle with Festive Berries. I embossed this with Ranger superfine and then glued to my base with Glossy Accents.
I grabbed a flower I had made when I was working on card 1. This Poinsettia is red and I have painted over it with Triple Thick to give it that nice shiny effect. I cut more leaves using Fundamentals 1 on my ecraft. The Poinsettia has yellow seed beeds in the middle and is made the same way as in Card 1.
With my pastel Bic Permanent markers i coloured in a piece of scrap shrinkies I cut in the shape of a flame and shrunk it with my heat tool.
I glued the flame down with glossy and the added little drops of glossy to the wreath I had leftover from cards 3 and 5. I then added red seed beads to take away the plainness.
I chose a font in SCAL3 and cut the word Christmas out of black cs. I adhered it to my card and covered in Glossy Accents. After I added the glossy I set this aside to dry in a warm spot for a while.
So once the card dried and I replaced the seed bead that had fallen off.... Card 9 was finished. As I said before this one is the closest to T!m's that I made. I really have tried to make mine somewhat different :)
Hope you are enjoying my 12 cards so far :) the people that are receiving them are loving them at least :) Please leave a message and a link to your blog iff you are enjoying my cards!
Happy Scrappin'
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An interview with Nader Ayad, GG 1986, ISA 1992, (GIA) Graduate Gemologist and owner of Mission Hills Gallery (Part 3)
What are some of the most interesting experiences or stories you have to tell involving your work?
There is one specific story that will stay with me forever.
A client came to the store, telling me that I'm the best gemologist and the best business man she's ever met.
"How so?" I asked. She said, "I just completed my (GIA) jewelry repair class. I did this because when I visited your store, you looked through your microscope, and took time to explain to me the risk involved to repair my dad's ruby ring. As I told you, my dad recently passed away and this is the only important item of his that I have left, so I naturally wanted to repair it. So, you know that I needed a second opinion, so I took the ring to another jeweler. He said that he could repair the ring for not much money, and that I shouldn't worry about anything. When I picked up the ring at the due date, the ruby was shattered and the ring was totally damaged. I then had to take the jewelry repair class, to find out who was right and who was wrong. Afterwards, I found out that you were telling the truth all along."
In this case, the sentimental value by all means exceeds the monetary value. Also, can we imagine any other profession where the clients actually attend school to learn about it?
How are gemstones different to work around than normal minerals?
A gemstone is branded as such – it must be able to stand high heat, survive exposure to chemicals such as acids, is resistant to breaking, and is relatively hard. Gemstones are rarest and most refined of all minerals. In general, other minerals are softer, break easily, dissolve or alter in chemicals. Many are used for carving and are collected. In making jewelry, however, only gemstones are used.
Do you know anything interesting about gemstones throughout history?
Well, the British Crown for the last 200-300 years was thought to have the largest ruby in the world. After a gemological test (GIA), however, it was proven to be a red spinel. This is similar to a ruby, but less valuable!
In the past, ancient civilizations admired gemstones immensely. Pharaohs in Egypt and emperors in China valued precious stones quite a lot. In fact, Chinese emperors were covered with jade for protection. Wars have been fought, such as those between India and Persia "Nader Shah", to retrieve gems from a neighboring country.
Many people believed in the healing powers of certain crystals. This is illustrated in Ayurveda, meaning "Science of Life" in the Indian language Sanskrit.
There are many other historical tales involving gemstones, such as the so-called cursed Hope Diamond, and the significance of certain gems, such as birthstones.


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We've had the privilege of working with a range of clients from both our London and New York studios, predominantly within the fashion and lifestyle industries.


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Yes folks I was absent from the blogging world for a whole year!! Last post was last Christmas. You have all harrassed me to come back and of course I didn't think I could stand to do it without catching it up first. Month after month passed and I finally did it...all in one night too! I figured I am up every five seconds with my new babe anyway, why try to sleep in between. If you have some serious time on your hands go ahead and take a peek at our whole 2010! Feels good to be back. ;D
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Biggest Longest Years' Worth of Bloggage
Posted by selena at 9:25 AM 6 comments
Our new arrival
My cute neighbor, Leah took these newborn pics of Hudson. She hasn't been doing photography very long but you would never know it. Look at how great these are!
Posted by selena at 2:47 AM 11 comments
Fall Fun!
We went trick or treating with our cousins again this year.
Owen is a blur in this pic.
...all for the kids
My cute pirates
off and running
baby skeleton and my baby's daddy
baby skeleton and my baby's daddy
poor dogs
Jamba is so patient
love my dogs
My kids love this place. A pic with the pumpkin princess
big jumping pillows...so entertaining
Twas a cold gray day. But it was our second time there since we got rained out the first time and they gave us rain check tickets.
Our pumpkins.
pumpkin guts
Posted by selena at 2:08 AM 2 comments
We tried soccer with Madelin this year. ...eh...not so much. She did cartwheels and army crawls on the field. She helped babysit the coaches triplets on the sidelines when she was supposed to be rotating in and playing. She asked the coach if she could rotate out early, at least twice a game. She did enjoy the half time snack and post-game treat every game and the social aspect. Kind of a lot of driving and time and energy spent by her big pregnant mom just for that. Oh well, she had fun and that's the point, right?
This was the last game when they all got their medals.
Posted by selena at 1:38 AM 0 comments
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Gaming > Yu-Gi-Oh > Yu-Gi-Oh: Primal Origin Booster [1st Ed.] Box
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Pubic Lice (Crabs)
Commonly referred to as "crabs," pubic lice are a bodily nuisance that can lead to severe itching and an embarrassing visit to the doctor's office. They spread through close contact with an infected individual, primarily during sexual intercourse. Fortunately, they can be easily treated with over-the-counter or prescription medication. Use this article to help you determine whether you are afflicted by a pubic lice infestation.
What Are Pubic Lice?
Much like their head lice counterparts, pubic lice are small, six-legged pests that are typically found around the pubic region, although they can also be found around the eyebrows or armpits. They have been referred to as "crabs" due to their crab-like appearance. These wingless insects are parasitic in nature, feeding specifically off of the blood from their host's body. They are usually found attached to a person's pubic hairs, and range from 1.1 to 1.8 millimeters in length.
Causes and Risk Factors
Pubic lice infestation is a condition that is typically spread through sexual activity, but can also be spread from person-to-person through objects that come into contact with affected regions of the body like toilet seats, underwear, sheets and bathing suits. Crabs, or any other type of human lice for that matter, cannot be spread from animals to humans. Risk factors include:
- Having multiple sex partners
- Sexual acts with a person infected by crabs
- Sharing bedding or clothing with an infected person
- Coming into contact with an object that has a high likelihood for harboring crabs, like a toilet seat
One thing to consider is trying on undergarments or bathing suits at a store or shopping mall. These articles of clothing can be tried on by numerous people with a high probability that they are not cleaned or washed when returned to the clothing rack. Most stores that sell these types of garment warn customers to try on undergarments and bathing suits over their clothing to prevent the spread of germs and pubic lice.
The main symptom for pubic lice infestation is severe itching in the most commonly affected regions of the body, primarily the pubic region. Bite marks from pubic lice can leave marks around the affected areas. Pubic lice and their eggs can appear like small debris or crust around the hairs of the pubic region. When imbedded around the eyebrows, they may appear on the edges of a person's eyelids and eyelashes. Other symptoms include:
- The skin around the affected area may turn bluish-gray in appearance
- Bite marks that take on the appearance of small bruises
- Irritated skin due to excessive scratching
- Scratching may also lead to further infection
A physician can visually inspect the affected area and search for any signs of crabs. This includes looking for pubic lice and their eggs around the hair. A fine-toothed comb can also help with the visual inspection, similar to head lice. Bite marks on the body and any traces of crabs on a person's clothing are other signs the physician will take note of.
Crabs will not go away on their own and must be treated immediately to avoid infection from excessive scratching. Treatment for crabs can be performed with over-the-counter (OTC) medication. Medication includes creams, lotions or shampoos that will assist with eradicating the affected area of any pubic lice and their eggs. If symptoms persist after an OTC treatment is administered, medical attention should be sought for prescription medication.
A single treatment of OTC or prescription medication is all that is typically needed to treat pubic lice. However, if symptoms do not subside, it is recommended that the individual administer a second treatment 4 days to 1 week after the first treatment.
The best form of treatment for pubic lice is with a medicated shampoo containing permethrin. The shampoo should be lathered and scrubbed thoroughly into the affected hair for a minimum of 5 minutes. Upon rinsing off, a fine-tooth comb should be used to remove any eggs that may still be attached to the hair.
All clothing and bedding should be washed in hot water to ensure the individual will not have a repeat infestation. Items that cannot be washed should be sprayed with disinfectant and stored in sealed plastic bags for 10 to 14 days.
Personal hygiene is one of the key factors in preventing crab infestation. Never try on bathing suits or undergarments completely naked. If these articles of clothing must be borrowed, try to wash them before use in hot water. Avoid having sexual contact with individuals who are possibly infected, and always practice safe sex. Individuals who became infected by crabs should inform their sexual partners so that they too can be treated to help prevent the spread of pubic lice.


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Capture Manager
- Employer
- Sparks Group
- Location
- 22202, Arlington
- Posted
- Dec 06, 2018
- Closes
- Feb 06, 2019
- Function
- Finance, Management
- Industry
- Other
- Hours
- Full Time
Job Summary/Company: Sparks Group is partnered with a leading business management consulting group that is seeking a seasoned Capture Manager to strategize, obtain and execute the resources necessary for capture plans in their Intel Ops Group. The Capture Manager will lead gap analysis, competitive assessments, identify discriminators, key success, price to win and value proposition factors. They will lead the construction of teaming relationships and partnering arrangements to include staffing and recruiting teammates, subcontractors and suppliers.
Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Position requires active TS/SCI clearance.
- Establishing and executing a capture strategy, establishing partnerships, and shaping new business opportunities to match with company capabilities and experience
- Manages the overall proposal capture effort from start to finish for identified opportunities.
- Works closely with business development to identify, assess, and capture business opportunities.
- Responsible for coordinating proposal development, review, production, and submission in alignment with the proposal development life-cycle, capture strategy, and corporate objectives.
- Coordinates, oversees, and incrementally improves the proposal development life-cycle.
- Maintains oversight of team activities and works with multiple employees supporting the proposal process and subcontractors on an ad hoc basis to ensure timely delivery of proposals.
- Manages teammate communications on identified opportunities before, during, and after proposal development.
- Ensure all government RFP requirements are clearly answered.
- Demonstrate skills in business capture management in competitive procurements across the Intelligence Community
- Interact directly with senior-level leaders to coordinate all phases of proposal development
- Identify, track, and execute tasks (i.e. compliance checklists, past performance research, pricing support, proposal quality control, data calls, updating opportunity files, etc.) that allow capturing various federal and private sector business opportunities.
- Facilitate the proposal development life-cycle from on-boarding to proposal delivery for identified opportunities
- Develop, distribute, organize, and maintain proposal schedules, compliance matrices, proprietary data, and all proposal documents in an accessible data store
- Identify staffing and personnel requirements in Government requirements and translate them into position descriptions for recruiting staff
Qualifications/Background Profile:
- Minimum of 8 years of experience winning opportunities in support of the Intelligence Community, preferably with DIA
- Bachelor's Degree in Business Management or related field, or minimum of five years' commensurate experience specific to this position
- Must have prior experience working across various government platforms (i.e. FedBiz Ops, GSA, SeaPort-E, etc.)
- Proven track record in capturing a variety of programs, including pre-proposal and working on industry proposal teams and serving on review teams
- Must have experience working with federal contracting teaming agreements as both a prime and subcontractor
- Must be familiar with the various levels of compliance requirements of proposals
- Possess excellent organizational and communication skills
- Ability to perform well in a team environment and meet strict deadlines
- Proficient in Microsoft Office
- Position requires ACTIVE TS/SCI clearance, ACTIVE TS will be considered
Qualified candidates should send their resume AND call Sparks Group for additional details. Please note, resume must include a valid email address in order to be considered. We look forward to discussing your background, your current job search, and your potential career path with Sparks Group!
Sparks Group is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, pregnancy, citizenship, family status, genetic information, disability, or protect veteran status.