Fresh Books

One of our favorite picture books is now available as an iPhone App from PicPocket Books!

Just in time for Lunar New Year—the year of the Tiger begins on February 14th—explore an urban Chinatown and discover hidden shapes: round rice bowls and pebbles, square dim sum and boxes, and rectangular Chinese lace.

Special features
• High fidelity, full-color illustrations that are true to the original print book.
• Interactive audio “hot spots”—touch the dog, kittens, and more to hear their sounds!
• High quality audio recording.
• Highlighted text corresponds with audio—each word highlights as it is read to help new readers understand the connection between words and sounds—excellent for beginning readers or curious pre-readers.
• Play-pause to start and stop the story at any time.
• Fast-forward and fast-back to replay images and audio.
• Glossary adds cultural significance to the objects featured in the book.
• Buy it once, play it as many times as you want.
Visit our friends at PicPocket Books to check out all of their fabulous kids book Apps for the iPhone.

WIN a redemption code that you can use to download the Round is a Mooncake App free from iTunes. Just leave a comment below with your favorite Chinese food—we’ll choose three winners on February 13th at 3:00pm Pacific Time.

Lara Starr
Marketing Manager, Children’s

Source: Lara Starr

If you remember mixed tapes, you probably have a memory or two about giving or receiving a special compilation of music recorded on a cassette tape as a Valentine’s Day gift.

Valentine’s Day is less than a week away and I wanted to make a special mixed tape (well, a disk in this digital age) for our beloved Design Desk readers. Sadly, though, I quickly realized that I have no talent for doing this. So instead, I created two special Valentine’s Day color-ways of one of the label designs from Candy Orchard CD Packaging Kit. But wait, there’s more: I’ve also designed matching gift tags!!

You can download these special disk labels and gift tags from this link. Print them out, cut out carefully, paste on a disk with some spray mount, and voilà! Making a sweet and thoughtful mixed disk is this easy! You can apply these labels to movie DVDs, too. A private screening for two at your cozy home? I’m hearing a cork popping and smelling a chocolate cake from the oven…

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Hope you enjoy our little downloadable gift!

PS; I’d love to hear your lovely and creative Valentine’s Day ideas. Leave a comment below with your playlist suggestion…or anything that you might be putting on your gift disk!

Ayako Akazawa
Senior Designer

Source: Aya Akazawa

Help for prescriptions is available if you qualify. Prescriptions could be very costly and yet more so if you don’t have healthcare insurance. Help with prescriptions can make your recovery go a lot faster. For breast cancer patients, this is exceptionally true.

Let’s say you have been receiving chemotherapy, except it creates an upset belly, so you are given a anti-nausea prescription medicine to go along with it. Next, the chemo has caused you to become anemic, so you are given a prescription for an iron supplement. You feel like a Yo-Yo. What it amounts to is that a cancer patient may possibly very easy be spending more for drugs than their house payment! At this point you need to turn to a prescription program assistance.

What are you to do when you need help paying for your medicine?

The one thing you don’t want to do is stop taking your medicine. There are quite a lot of programs to be had that provide free and reduced cost prescription medicine assistance.

• Hospital Social Worker- All hospitals boast a social worker who might help you get grants and other plans aimed at helping you with your healthcare needs. This could be your first stop in looking for relief. Always inform your medical doctor if you can’t pay for drugs or treatment. He or she may know of a package personally to assist you, too.

• PPA- The Partnership for Patient Assistance is a institute designed at assisting patients who can’t come up with the money for their drugs. They have created a database of more than 650  plans and over 5000 prescription medication offered for reduced or no cost assistance. They help out in determining what you are eligible for and applying for the assistance. The help is free and given online.

• Drug Companies- A lot of consumers would not think prescription drug companies provide assistance, nevertheless some will. Gsk offers a prescription drugs package for residents taking their drugs and cannot pay for them. Locate the producer of your medicines by asking your general practitioner or pharmacist and try out the website for medicines assistance programs.

Source: admin

Help for prescriptions is available if you qualify. It is extremely tough for scores of people to have the funds for their prescriptions if they don’t own healthcare insurance. Help with prescriptions can make your recovery go a lot faster. This is more than ever true with colon cancer patients.

Let’s say you have been receiving chemotherapy, except it creates an upset stomach, consequently you require a anti-nausea medication to go along with it. Then, the chemotherapy has caused you to become anemic, so you have got a prescription for an iron supplement. You feel like a Yo-Yo. What it amounts to is that a cancer patient could very easy be spending more for prescription drugs than their house payment! At this point you need to turn to a prescription program assistance.

What to do when you need help with your medicine.

Don’t stop taking your medicine! There are many plans accessible that offer free and reduced cost patient assistance.

• Patient Aid- All hospitals boast a social worker who might help you acquire grants and other plans aimed at assisting you with your health care requirements. This may be your initial stop in looking for aid. At all times tell your general practitioner if you cannot pay for medicines or treatment. He or she may perhaps know of a program personally to support you, too.

• Partnership for Patient Assistance- The Partnership for Patient Assistance is a business aimed at helping folks who can not find the money for their prescription medication. They have formed a database of more than 325  plans and over 5000 medications offered for reduced or no cost assistance. They assist in determining what you are entitled for and applying for the help. The service is free and accessible online.

• Drug Companies- A great deal of persons wouldn’t imagine pharmaceutical companies offer help, but many will. Boehringer provides a medicines package for individuals taking their medicine and can’t afford them. Find the producer of your medicine by asking your general practitioner or pharmacist and try out the web site for prescription drugs assistance programs.

Source: admin

Aromatic candles heighten the ambience of any room in the house. If you’re a warm and romantic type of person, you will appreciate the aroma of scented candles. You and your guests will be intoxicated with a sense of well being. As you will appreciate, the flickering glow of any candle heightens the elegance of a room.

Even before it is lit, the subtle fragrance of a scented candle will heighten your energy level,. So when you come home worse for wear, the glow and aroma of a scented candle tends to unwind you & elevate your level of energy.

Aromatic candles serve as wonderful gifts for all occasions and every season, and they are particularily meaningful when crafted by your own hands.

1. Pick Your Fragrance For Candle Making

Fragrance oil can be purchased in most craft shops. Also, you may buy it online. Select a good quality fragrance oil instead of going whth a cheap water or alcohol based fragrances. Your wax mix will be oil based, so your fragrance should also be oil based. Why? As oil & water do not mix, a water based perfume tends not to mix with oil based wax.

2. Pick Your Wax

The basics of making a scented candle are more or less the same as for ordinary wax candles. Start by choosing your wax. These days the market offers a versatile range of wax, starting from natural waxes made from beeswax, palm or soy and on to gel or paraffin wax. You’ll want to decide on the aromatic intensity for your candles before choosing your wax. For example, lower density wax holds less fragrance than wax of a higher density.

3. The Art of Scented Candle Making

Now we’ll go through the process of creating aromatic candles.

The first job is to melt the wax. For this purpose, a double boiler can be used. Meaning place the wax in a small pot & place that pot into a slightly larger container partially filled with tap water. Next step – heat the water. You’ll need a thermometer to ensure the wax is not burnt. The temperature should be maintained at 170-180 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once your wax has melted, insert a wick in the mold & take the wax away from the heat source. Next add your fragrance oil. A mixture of 1 ounce of fragrance oil to 1 pound of wax will create a fragrance level equal to 6% of candle density. Be aware that greater amounts of fragrance will cause the candle to burn out sooner owing to higher liquid density of the candle.

Now pour your melted wax/fragrance mix into it’s mold. The only task left is to let it the mold cool before removing your candle.

Congratulations! You’re finished!

4. Try Different Things as You Go

You will develop expertise in all aspects of the candle craft when you start experimenting. By using different fragrances and colors, you will perfect the art of candle making and thoroughly enjoy the process.

It’s a great feeling to gift your loved ones with a homemade scented candle knowing that they will find the fragrance both relaxing and invigorating.

Source: admin

I am the type of person who used to have a very negative attitude to most aspects of life. I am not alone in thinking this way as most of the people I meet seem to be constantly moaning about different things and basically feeling sorry for themselves. In this article I will be writing about the many benefits that come by way of thinking in a positive manner.

About ten years ago I decided that I needed to have a change of approach. I wanted to be a happy and care-free person and was fed up of always being stressed and worrying about the future. To achieve this I started to read many self-help, confidence type books and websites.

There was a regular message which came from this literature which was to think more positive and to believe in your ability to succeed in whatever you attempt to do.

Well these words are all too easy to write down in a book however they can be very hard to actually implement on a day to day basis. Of course I tried but in truth I did not really believe in the whole practice. I would go into a task thinking, I can do this, but it would still end up in failure.

I could not understand what was going wrong so I therefore went back to the books to try to learn more. I have to say that this was very pleasing progress as this was a new topic of knowledge for me to learn which is of much importance and is something that I had missed at the outset. What I had to do was to take a positive out of whatever happens to me, even if this is learning from my failings.

I am not personally involved within this industry; I am in fact working on various projects to do with selling composite doors, offering cheap mobile calls and running stammering help courses.

As an example of taking a positive from whatever happens in life, is something which happened in my family recently. My nan has recently passed away, she was eighty-eight. I would go to see her at least four times a month; she lived in sheltered accomodation. She was a very honest person and always talked very openly to me. Around two months before she died she told me that she was very tired and that she no longer wanted to be on this planet.

I was quite shocked by her admission and asked her what was wrong. She stated that she had nothing to look forward to and that she did not want to reach a point where she could no longer bath herself etc. I was told, in no uncertain terms, which was just typical of my amazing nan, that I should not remain upset about her death for too a long period as life is too short to waste on such trivial things – especially life as a youngster – her words not mine.

This was quite upsetting for me to hear but at least she was being honest of course. Two months later my dad phoned me and told me that my nan had passed away in the night.

I was obviously upset and the thought of never being able to see her again hit me hard. I then thought about what she had said and looked up to the sky and gave my nan a smile and a message, I love you.

I thought positive about the whole event and was actually happy for her. I hope that one day we will meet again.

Source: admin

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and while some of us love sharing the love, others, including Chronicle Books author Alissa Walker, approach it with some trepidation. She explores redesigning the holiday in this recent post on Fast Company. Either way, we have plenty to offer if you want to show your affection and still maintain your style.

Hearts for Madalene

This is for You

The Little Box of I Love You

Love Listography

Love Lotto: 100 Romantic Scratch-and-Win Lottery Tickets

And if you are feeling sexy:

I Dare You: 30 Sealed Seductions

Sex Scratchers: 100 Lottery Tickets to Scratch and Win

And my personal favorite for those of you on the more subversive side of things:

How to Tell If Your Boyfriend Is the Antichrist (And If He Is, Should You Break Up with Him?)

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Chronicle Books is offering you a 25% discount, plus free ground shipping (in the US). Just use promo code BEMINE at checkout. Offer ends Feb. 14, 2010.

Patti Quill
Marketing & Publicity Manager

Source: Patti Quill

Here at Art+Design headquarters we’re hard at work on our forthcoming book Pocket Cash, an amazingly awesome collection of photos of Johnny Cash by legendary rock and roll photographer Jim Marshall, featuring text by John Carter Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Billy Bob Thornton. We’re looking at various image options for the book’s cover right now, and would love to get your thoughts! Take a gander at the two covers below and let us know in the comments which of the two photos most says “Johnny Cash” to you—which best conveys the spirit of the Man in Black, which would most make you want to own this book!

Option 1:

Option 2:

Bridget Watson Payne
Art+Design Editorial

Source: Bridget Watson Payne

Here at Art+Design headquarters we’re hard at work on our forthcoming book Pocket Cash, an amazingly awesome collection of photos of Johnny Cash by legendary rock and roll photographer Jim Marshall, featuring text by John Carter Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Billy Bob Thornton. We’re looking at various image options for the book’s cover right now, and would love to get your thoughts! Take a gander at the two covers below and let us know in the comments which of the two photos most says “Johnny Cash” to you—which best conveys the spirit of the Man in Black, which would most make you want to own this book!

Option 1:

Option 2:

Bridget Watson Payne
Art+Design Editorial

Source: Bridget Watson Payne

Laser printer cartridges can be very confusing. It isn’t uncommon to to be asked the question, ” Which is the best printer for me?” The answer is, ” What do you want your printer to do?” There are many different types of ink printer cartridges.Do you want an all in one printer, a very easy single function inkjet printer or a tiny photo printer?  How much are you ready to spend? Also, don’t forget that the purchase price isn’t the only cost you will have. There is the expense of the replacement photo printer cartridges. To assist you, we have reviewed 4 different printers. With a bit of luck this will provide you with a starting point. If you’re interested in particular categories, printers cartridges or products, you will at least possess a base level of facts with which to begin.

HP Officejet Pro 8500- The HP Officejet Pro 8500 wireless printer is an inkjet which can deal with an office job with a high number of printing needs. With numerous networking options, a function touch screen and an enormously fast print rate, this is one inkjet printer that most certainly deserves consideration.

HP CP2025n-Even though the HP CP2025n doesn’t contain a USB direct printing and wireless capabilities and it is slow to print black and white documents, it is still a very good piece of equipment. The production quality of the color laser shines and it provides a very simple to understand and use tutorial through the software that cuts down on the learning curve. For someone who wants a high monthly duty cycle, we recommend the CP2025n for anyone looking for a hardy printer to fit right in with a hardy work environment.

Samsung CLP-600N-This color laser printer will make a great addition to the domestic or small office. It is network prepared and has the quickness and duty cycle and printing quality that is required. The Samsung CLP-600N prints at 20 pages per minute in both color and black and white. With a 2400×600 dpi resolution and a duty cycle of up to 45,000 prints per month makes it a first-rate value. The single downside is that the duplex printing is manual, but manual is better than nonexistent.

Brother HL-5250DN- This Brother printer is network equipped and promises high-quality graphic and text prints for your small firm or home use. There is a nice element called a duplexer that allows you to save paper and the easy to understand setup instructions make putting in place a snap. At 30 pages per minute production for text, the printer’s speed is nice. There is simply one little catch and that is the paper tray. It can just hold 300 pages which is comparatively small and just suitable if you’re using it for home purpose or running a truly small enterprise operation.

Source: admin