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CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
GALLAIBH CRAFTS
- For quality knitting, crafts and cards hand made just for you in Caithness,Scotland. Postage worldwide.
QUEM - Swap your ATCs. (Artist Trading Cards). Any themes or media. Details from Carol at Quem here
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Combating Stress with Aromatherapy
Feeling uptight, irritable, and short-tempered for no apparent reason? You may be experiencing stress. Small amounts of stress can be useful, helps adrenalin to flow to help you achieve a goal or reach a target. When your task is completed, stress lifts & you are left with a sense of achievement. This is 'good stress'. Stress can become harmful when it begins to impact upon your daily life in a negative way. Your neck & shoulder muscles become tight & ache constantly, you have a continuous headache, insomnia, unusual emotional reactions to situations or conversations, over or under eating & even lethargy.
Aromatherapy can help to relieve these symptoms with the use of anti-depressant & sedative oils. The most important step to combating stress is to recognise & admit to yourself that you are stressed. As stress affects us all in different ways, we therefore require different methods to overcome & relax. Essential oils can be used in a variety of products & ways to aid this process.
Spa Treatments Bubble bath, bath oils, melts, fizzes, shower gel, shampoo are products that we can utilise from our daily lives to use as 'stress relief' products. Choose products that contain relaxing essential oils & take time out for a pampering session. Finish with body lotion or oil that contains the same essential oils.
Room Fragrances Oil burners, electric diffusers - add a few drops of your favourite relaxing oils. Room sprays - make your own, add 10 drops of essential oils to 100ml of water in a spray bottle shake & spray.
Perfumes - Roll-on or solid perfumes can be a wonderful way to surround yourself with a unique fragrance which can help you to relax.
Tissues - add 3-4 drops of your chosen oils onto a tissue & inhale as required.
Driving - pop the tissue into the air vent of the vehicle & turn on the air.
If you know you are facing a stressful situation, inhale the oils prior to putting yourself in situation.
Which Essential Oils are helpful for Combating Stress?
Here are the 8 most popular relaxing oils.
Camomile - gentle, soothing & relaxing.
Clary Sage - extremely relaxing, can create feelings of euphoria. Do not use prior to driving.
Frankincense - slows & deepens breathing, in turn calming & relaxing.
Grapefruit - light & refreshing, helps to overcome anxiety & stress.
Lavender - calming & relaxing. Use in small amounts, as over use can be stimulating.
Marjoram - a sedative oil, can help to bring about feelings of calm.
Ylang Ylang - a rich exotic aroma can slow overly quick breathing & lower blood pressure. A good aphrodisiac as stress can inhibit loving feelings.
Choose oils/products which include aromas that you enjoy. Oils can be used singularly or blended together. Creating your own 'stress relief' blend can be fun & rewarding.
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The Cricut Machine
I bought myself a Cricut just before Christmas, and I LOVE IT! It is similar to other electronic cutting machines, in as much as it works with different cartridges and cuts words, letters and shapes. However, the Cricut is SUPERIOR in my opinion. This is because it cuts from 1 inch to 5.5 inches in multiple stages whatever shape or letter
you select from the cartridge. You can vary the speed it cuts, the pressure used when cutting- this allows for adjustment to suit paper or card thickness. There are so many great points about this cutting machine, but the detail in a message consisting of 16 characters totalling 1 inch is amazing.
The cartridges can be expensive, but they are worth the investment if you plan to use them again and again. So far I have the 'George Basics' cartridge that comes with the machine, and just received 'Doodle Charms' and 'My World' in the post, and can't wait to try them out. Two of the pictures show cards I have made using my Cricut. Example Card 1 is a Birthday Card for 'Mum' and the flowers, the letters spelling Mum and the 'Birthday Blessings' message were cut from my Cricut. In Example Card 2, the Heart with the ribbon running through was cut from the Cricut, and the slots that the ribbon is threaded through were cut by the machine also. All of the cut shapes and letters can be given a shadow effect using keys on the keypad. I am so glad I invested in this machine, and only wish I had sooner.
Cricut: A Photo of the Machine in Question.
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Floral Cutouts: An example of shapes cut using the Cricut.
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Example Card 1: A card using lettering and shapes cut from the Cricut.
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Another card incorprating a shape cut from the Cricut.
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The European Valentine
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, when lovers said or sang their Valentines. Written Valentines began to appear after 1400.
The oldest Valentine in existence was made in the 1400's and is in the British Museum. Paper Valentines were exchanged in Europe where they were given in place of a Valentine gift.
A young Frenchman Charles, Duke of Orleans was one of the earliest creators of valentines, called "poetical or amorous addresses. From his confinement in the Tower of London after the battle of Agincourt he was said to have sent several poems or rhymed love letters or valentines to his wife in France. During the 15th century, one valentine showed a picture of a knight and a lady with Cupid in the act of sending an arrow to pierce the knight's heart.
During the 17th century people made their own valentines using original verse or poems copied from booklets.
The English attitude toward St. Valentine's Day in the middle of the eighteenth century is summed up in this verse printed in Poor Robin's Almanac in 1757:
This month bright Phoebus enters Pisces,
The maids will have good store of kisses,
For always when the fun comes there,
Valentine's Day is drawing near,
And both the men and maids incline
To chuse them each a Valentine;
And if a man gets one he loves,
He gives her first a pair of gloves;
And, by the way, remember this,
To seal the favour with a kiss.
This kiss begets more love, and then
That love begets a kiss again,
Until this trade the man doth catch,
And then he doth propose the match,
The woman's willing, tho' she's shy,
She gives the man this soft reply,
"I'll not resolve one thing or other,
Until I first consult my mother."
When she says so, 'tis half a grant,
And may be taken for consent.
Paper Valentines were especially popular in England in the early 1800's and the Valentines began to be assembled in factories. Early Valentines were black and white pictures painted by the factory workers. Fancy Valentines were made in the mid 1800's when real lace, ribbons and paper lace was introduced.
It was thought that birds chose their mate for the year on February 14. Doves and pigeons mate for life and therefore were used as a symbol of "fidelity".
The first U.S. made valentines were crafted by a Mount Holyoke College student, Miss Esther Howland. Her father, a stationer in Worcester, MA, imported valentines every year from England. Esther, however, decided to create her own valentine messages. Around 1830 she began importing lace, fine papers, and other supplies for her valentines. She employed several assistants and her brothers helped market her "Worcester" valentines. As one of our first successful U.S. career women her sales amounted to about a hundred thousand dollars annually--not bad for the 1830's.
In the 1840's the first mechanical valentines were introduced. By pulling a tab, a figure or object on the card could be made to move. Some had elaborate honeycomb pop-outs or various other three-dimensional features. In the 1840's messages on early valentines included:
"I love thee! Oh! I love thee!
Dearer art thou than life.
I love thee! I love thee!
Say, wilt thou be my wife?"
"This Valentine's Day, to the church let's away;
No longer I'll wait, let us marry.
You promised, dear maid, that you would be mine,
If I, till today, would tarry."
Valentine cards are manufactured on an enormous scale today that range from the sentimental to sophisticated to humorous valentines.
There is a valentine for everyone--sweetheart, spouse, children, parents, teacher and even your pet!
In terms of the number of Valentines sent worldwide it ranks second only to Christmas.
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Craftmarkets/Customer Forum
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has again supplied an article on Aromatherapy, this time on combating stress. Hopefully Helen will continue with these articles on her Customer Forum board if no one takes over the newsletter.
