Tuesday 13 January 2015

Cute ponies for the bedroom and school

Buckskin Cartoon Shetland Pony Stretched Canvas PrintsBuckskin Cartoon Shetland Pony Sleeve For iPadswinter wrap up courier bags

Cute ponies for the bedroom and school

If you know a boy or girl who loves ponies then here's a collection that should give you some gift ideas.
Any boy or girl will love them - some for bedroom and some for school. Which of these would be best?

Click the image for more details and to buy. You'll also see more designs from the artist there.

Eagle Nebula, M16 - Hubble Astronomy Neckwear

A gorgeous best-selling design. Click to customize or personalize. How would it look with your name or monogram on it - why not have a look-see right now?


tagged with: star forming regions, eagle nebula, unfolding creation, gorgeous space pictures, celestial factories, inspirational astronomy, beautifui heavens, hubble space photographs, cosmological, hrbstslr egnebtwr, eso, european southern observatory, vista, beautiful, heavens

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A great picture from deep space featuring the beautiful Eagle Nebula, M16, taken in November 2004 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It shows a billowing tower of cold gas and dust, 9.5 light-years high, rising from a stellar nursery. Stars in the Eagle Nebula are born in these clouds of cold hydrogen gas, and the tower may be a giant 'incubator' for those newborn stars.
more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: egnebtwr

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Comns Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this

Vintage Cute Baby Boy with Bottle and Puppy Dog Sticker

Cute Alert!

How can you resist this cute puppy design? Maybe you'd like to see your name or initials on it? Click to customize and personalize...


tagged with: child, americana, baby shower, retro, vintage, nostalgia, blue blanket, nostalgic, sprinkle, toddlers, tchotchke

Vintage illustration children and babies image featuring a cute baby boy on a blue blanket drinking milk with an adorable pet terrier puppy dog at his side holding the bottle in his mouth.

»visit the Tchotchke store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

New version (6) of SeeMyBest Pro released

I've just finished a fairly major upgrade to SeeMyBest Pro.
  1. I've re-jigged and simplified the configuration form:
    • I've divided it up into sections that make sense, with buttons to show/hide each one.
      So, depending on what you're doing, you can keep your work space clutter-free.
  1. I've slightly changed the way it works:
    • Originally, you got a preview as soon as you visited the page. Now you have to click the build / generate button before you'll see any pulled products.
  2. If you use a trimmed version of the product page description, I've now added a "...more->" link to the product page description section:
    • Interested visitors can now continue reading the description on the product page.
      Anything that encourages them to click through to Zazzle is a good thing, because it helps you get more of your referral cookies "out there".
EDIT: Made the pin / sharing buttons individually optional, too:



Enjoy!
PS You can read more about this on the Zazzle Tools forum.

Artist Jeremy Miranda Examines Memory with Oil Landscapes that Bleed into Interiors

Fun and Random

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Artist Jeremy Miranda is fascinated with how the mind creates memories and the juxtaposition of experiences both real and perceived. His oil paintings overlap interior and exterior environments to create unexpected relationships between disparate subjects, usually natural versus man-made. The interior of an artist’s studio dissolves into a bucolic river landscape, a bookshelf leads into the ocean, or a glowing furnace is concealed below quiet pond. Miranda most recently had an exhibit at Nahcotta Gallery in New Hampshire where several of his original works are currently available. Some of his most popular images are also available as prints. (via My Darkened Eyes)

 
#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/VblP9Mbn1Ek/

Dazzle & Connect With Your Audience with these 7 Storytelling Strategies

Blogging with purpose

original post »
Image via Flickr user Digital Paradox.

Image via Flickr user Digital Paradox.

This is a guest contribution from writer Thai Nguyen.

After finally asking the young lady for a date, the nervous young man asked his father how to avoid moments of awkward silence.

His father quickly responded, “Son, when it comes to conversation, all you have to remember are three things: food, family, and philosophy, and you’ll have plenty to talk about”

The night of the date came, and so did the awkward silence. Recalling his father’s advice, he quickly asked about food:

“Mary, do you like asparagus?”

“No,” she replied. “I don’t really care for it.”

Met with more silence, he asked about family:

“Mary, do you have any brothers?”

“No,” she replied. “I don’t have any brothers.”

With no luck, he turned to philosophy:

“Mary…if you had a brother…would he like asparagus?”

And that, my friend, is philosophy.

That simple story is better than any textbook for explaining what is philosophy. Indeed, ancient cave paintings have long affirmed modern neuroscience—humans learn and communicate best through stories.

People will remember your name when it’s connected with a compelling story; you’ll bore investors with facts and figures but capture them if they’re wrapped in a story.

Whether it’s creating a memorable brand or connecting deeper with customers, here are seven essentials for effective storytelling:

1. Opening and closing the curiosity gap

What if I told you your income could be tripled in less than one month?

It may be snake oil, but it perked enough of your interest to hear the rest of the story and pitch. Storytellers call it an “inciting incident.” We have curiosity wired into us, tapping into that through provocative questions opens the window wide for the rest of your elevator pitch.

2. Evoking VAK

Psychologists and therapists use VAK—visual, audio, and kinesthetic modalities to immerse a person into a desired experience or state.

When the mind begins to imagine and think through emotional and sensory experiences, parts of the brain light up as if they’re actually happening.

Using these cues by describing the adrenaline racing through your body, or the tragedy that brought you to tears, will immerse a person from passively listening to the story, to feeling like an active participant.

3. Conflict and resolution

Whether it’s your business proposal or product demo, two traditional storytelling elements you don’t want to leave out are conflict and resolution.

Have you identified a problem, and explained how your product brings a resolution? Shawn Coyne from The Story Grid says a common mistake for entrepreneurs is presenting heavily from a developer’s angle and ignoring a consumer’s perspective.

Approach conflict and resolution like a consumer, and tell your product’s story like a satisfied customer.

4. Appealing to the higher self

Whether crafting your own personal goals or presenting a vision to a company, we can’t fight our survival mechanism’s self-interest. So why not leverage selfish motives? Fuel for achieving a future goal comes with presenting a better version of ourselves, or a better version of the customer.

The story of the tortoise and the hare will be more compelling if it ends with you celebrating in your mansion by the beach after signing up to your investment plan. The personal image of being an environmental savior is enough for many to spend extra on a Tesla.

5. Shock and awe

Humans think in patterns. We process the vast exposure to information and try to spit out a logical understanding. A break in that linear pattern is like a splash of icy water on your face. That’s why movies like The Sixth Sense, Fight Club, Romeo & Juliet are capturing. The twist endings created a mental pattern break.

It doesn’t need to happen at the end. A paradoxical opening statement for a speech is a common attention grabber. Incorporating pattern breaks anywhere within a story increases effectiveness.

6. Build a catalog of illustrations

Everyone knows the story of the Good Samaritan, perhaps even the Prodigal Son. Jesus’ teaching are known through his compelling parables.

Use personal experiences to build a catalog of metaphors and illustrations and add more color to your stories. The time you drove past three gas stations and then ended up on the side of the road with an empty tank can later highlight to your staff the importance of checking email notifications or, to your investor, how your new app will save people from disaster.

7. Internal and external components

Just as Stephen King said, “Fiction is a lie, and good fiction is the truth inside the lie.” There are layers. A good story doesn’t just present raw content, but uses vehicles to deliver it. That’s the power in allegories and discovering the moral to a story.

Before crafting your story, decide what elements will be latent and what will be obvious. Facts and figures are best delivered under the surface. Promoting your product’s new features as raw content won’t be as effective as layering them underneath a traveling husband talking ‘face-to-face’ with his daughter.

A refugee from Vietnam, raised in Australia, with a BA from Texas, Thai’s unique background is reflected in his work. He writes for The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, and The Utopian Life. Having been a professional chef, international kickboxer, and spiritual teacher, Thai is passionate about helping people become the best version of themselves. Signup for his free weekly Infographics at TheUtopianLife.com | Connect @ThaiWins | On Facebook  

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

Dazzle & Connect With Your Audience with these 7 Storytelling Strategies

Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

Dazzle & Connect With Your Audience with these 7 Storytelling Strategies
 #bloggingtips 

New Vintage Textile Flora and Fauna Sculptures by Mister Finch

Fun and Random

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Leeds-based textile artist Mister Finch (previously) is a master of artistic recycling as he breathes life into vintage fabrics by transforming them into sculptures of moths, rabbits, mushrooms, and strange hybrid lifeforms. Finch says he often draws inspiration from British folklore for his fairytale creations born from discarded velvet curtains or cloth snipped from old aprons and wedding dresses. From his artist statement:

Making things has always been incredibly important to me and is often an amazing release to get it out of my system. It’s a joy to hunt for things for my work… the lost, found and forgotten all have places in what I make. Most of my pieces use recycled materials, not only as an ethical statement, but I believe they add more authenticity and charm. A story sewn in, woven in.

What you see here is a collection of work from the past year, much more of which he shares on his blog. He also just published his first book, Mister Finch: Living in a Fairy Tale World, and has an upcoming exhibition this spring at Steven Kasher Gallery in New York.

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#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/uidGAUA-L0s/