If you have ever been on an interstate highway you know the traffic can be intense. Often times while engaged in stop and go traffic drivers begin to look around allowing their eyes to wander and possibly lose sight of the road ahead.

This was the exact circumstance over the weekend.

The driver of a gas guzzling SUV that apparently was disgusted with the traffic and uninterested in the DVD the family was watching for the fifth time began to look around and a shiny laminated object up ahead on the right became the focus of his vision.  It was hard for the driver to make out the exact object but it was brightly colored and laminated, a bumper sticker perhaps, but it was hanging from the rear view mirror and there was colored strings attached.

Suddenly the driver of the SUV decided to change lanes and get a closer look. Since the traffic was at a stand still, the driver could not accelerate and so he had to force his way into the lane beside him with no regard for the other drivers. Once over in the middle lane the driver realized the shiny object was three cars ahead on the right. The driver became so distracted that he leaned forward and this caused him to take his foot off the brakes, once the driver realized this he quickly tried to stop the car from hitting the vehicle directly in front of him.

In theory, that was a great plan, however instead of hitting the brakes he actually hit the gas pedal and slammed into the car in front of him causing that car to slam into the car in front of it. The only good news was the driver that caused the accident ended up parallel to the car with the shiny object. The object was a laminated clip art mobile made by the driver’s daughter.

Fortunately, no one was hurt! It is important that we use clip art responsibly and not to drive our fellow drivers to distraction!

 Kids will soon be on vacation and waiting for the snow to arrive. With a house full of guests and lots of cooking in the kitchen, quick magnets will keep the kids entertained in another room  Any office supply store will have business card magnets available, this doesn’t mean the magnets you make need to be square. A little clip art and a lot of imagination will go a long way!

You will need:

• Business card magnets
• Tacky craft glue (glue dots work great)
• Downloaded clip art
• Spray starch
• Markers or puffy paint
• Paper plates

Directions:

1. Have the clip art cut out and available
2. The idea is to create a scene or use characters to glue on to the magnet
3. The children can use the markers and paint to enhance their clip art
4. The clip art can easily stick over the edges of the magnet as long as they are glued to the magnet at some point
5. Once everything is dry including the glue and paint or markers have an adult spray the starch on the magnets evenly from a distance of 6-8 inches away to stiffen them up.

 Transfer paper and tracing paper are exciting staples for crafters. The more creative you are the less guidance you will need and you can modify these recipes any way you see fit. For any super crafters that modify the recipe we would love to hear the variations you discover.

You Will Need:

• Cotton Napkins or Kitchen Towels (prewashed)
• Your favorite clip art from http://www.graphicsfactory.com/
• Transfer paper for color printers
• Puffy Fabric Paint
• Iron

Directions:

Print out the clip art on to the transfer paper and let in dry. You need to decide the layout of the clip art. It is best to have the transfers near one of the edges of the napkins. Simply iron on the transfers to the cloth napkin and allow cooling. Next use complimentary colors of puffy paint to embellish your favorite features.

 There are gazillions of websites on the Internet that focus on every topic under the sun. What do 99.92 percent of them have in common? They use images and animations to help convey what they’re trying to say.

Think about it. When was the last time you picked up a newspaper or magazine that consisted of page after page of copy? I’ll bet never. Both media use illustrations, photos, and clip art to break up the text and make it more appealing to read.

Same goes for the family newsletter that your Aunt Bertha sends out every Christmas. Right before the update on her bunion and right after she chronicles the latest accomplishment of Chester the cat, she probably inserted an image of one or the other. Hopefully the cat.

The web opens up a whole new world of what you can do with images. Take the said image, code it to move and you’ve got an animation. Everyone was using animations for their personal web pages. Copy blinked, pictures danced…it was all very wacky.

These days, animations are mostly used in ads – banner ads that stretch across the top of the page, embedded ads in the middle of an article, or pop up ads that appear when you click into a page.

Hard on the heels of the Internet explosion came community web forums, where people can chat about diets, religion, politics, or the current contestants on “Project Runway.” At first these chat participant used clever screen handles. Eventually, those were accompanied by avatars, or icons. These days many people use animated avatars. Some are funny, some are annoying, but they’re all guaranteed to draw the eye faster than the non-animated versions.

The images and animations you choose for your own project depends on the purpose of said project. A banker looking for a business card logo for a business card would probably stay away from dousing it with not-so-subtle”$” signs. Especially when a card in a conservative color, that lists his name and contact information in elegant script will do nicely.

However, if you’re a local car dealership and need a website designed to move cars off the lot fast, then go crazy with the animated dancing chickens or whatever your gimmick is this week.

The December issue of the company newsletter could get away with images of a candy cane here or a sprig of holly there, but probably not much else. However, your MySpace page is a perfect place for a multitude of blinking, sparkling images of animated holiday cheer.

Remember, images and animations can add a lot to your project. But only if they’re used appropriately. And, in the case of animations, sparingly. After all, you’re using images and animations to draw the eye to your text, so people will read what you’ve written. Once they get to the actual copy, you don’t want them continually distracted by the rotating photo you’ve embedded in the upper left hand corner.

 Clip art is a very flexible and fun staple to have available. Clip art is a great way to occupy the minds of children. It has always been a challenge to get children to read voluntarily. Clip art can help. It has been said if you want to be a great writer be a great reader, well if you are a child and don’t like to read than perhaps you would like to write about something that does interest you. 

Children can usually be extremely creative especially when prompted. Clip art is exactly what the doctor ordered. Any Clip art image can become the theme of a book. There is no real recipe needed for this activity, simply download interesting clip art from http://www.graphicsfactory.com/ and attach 3 or 4 pieces of age appropriate lined paper. Once the clip art is stapled to the paper cut it out to define the shape.

Encourage the children to let their imaginations wander and to choose their favorite clip art images and create a story. The object is to make the featured clip art part of the primary theme of the story. By encouraging freethinking and imagination, you may find that your students pick up books more often, even if only for inspiration. Great readers make great writers, great writers make great speakers and isn’t communication the key to success?

Clip art to be thankful for

This month we will be focusing on Thanksgiving and providing craft recipes that get the kids involved and make the holidays more festive. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the things we are grateful for and one of the ways to do this is by creating a Gratitude List Frame.

On Thanksgiving, there are usually many friends and family gathering in one place, and many pictures taken, so this is a perfect time for this activity. There are a couple of different ways to do this activity and here is my favorite:

Make sure there are a couple of disposable cameras available so that other people can take pictures as well.

Gratitude List Frame

You will need:

•  1 piece of lightly colored picture frame matting- the larger number of guests the larger the matting
•  Non-Acid dark colored permanent scrapbook pens
•  Your favorite clip art downloaded from http://www.graphicsfactory.com/
•  Your favorite pictures from after the Thanksgiving Day gathering
•  Double sided tape or rubber cement
•  A complete frame including glass

Directions:

•  On Thanksgiving Day, place the matting and the scrapbook pens on a table away from food or drinks

•  Leave a note on the table that says- sign your name and write what you are most grateful for on this matting

•  Make sure everyone signs!

•  Outline each piece of clip art (use fall or thanksgiving themed clip art) with a precision scissors

•  In between the signatures, strategically rubber cement or use double sided tape to glue clip art to matting. Place matting on glass and take a look to make sure everything fits

•  Place pictures on glass and tape backs together so there is no space in between

•  Once you are finished place the back on frame and hang

Added bonus: since most photo developers offer double prints you may want to send the duplicate copy to the person in the pictures and tell them what about them makes you feel grateful.

Tips on Downloading Clip Art, Graphics, and Photos

Locating and purchasing the exact clip art, graphic or photo you need is just half the battle. The next step is to actually download it to your Mac or PC in a format that’s compatible with your system.

Most people use PC or Macs, so that’s the protocol we’re going to go through here. There are more then a few browsers to choose from however, so if you’re using one not listed here, your best bet is to click the browser’s “help” button, and the system will walk you through it.

First, it’s important to have a folder to save your images to. There are probably a few already set up under headings like “My Documents,” “My photos,” “My music,” “My downloads” and the like. Or, you can create your own folder and call it DOWNLOADS. Pay attention where this folder is created in your system – you’ll need to head back there to retrieve the files after they’re downloaded.

If you’re downloading from GraphicsFactory.com follow these steps:

1. Search graphicsfactory.com for your clip art images
   
2. Click on the small clip art image first to see the larger image
   
3. You can either click the green arrow to download the format you need or add the images to your download basket
   
4. A small menu will appear if you click the green arrow. Click on “Save Picture as.”
   
5. Browse to your DOWNLOADS folder to save your image there
   
6. Click “Save.”
   

If you’re downloading from google images follow these steps:

Internet Explorer (IE)

1. Click on the clip art first to see if a larger image is what you want
   
2. Place your cursor on the largest image available and right -click with the mouse
   
3. A small menu will appear. Click on “save picture as.”
   
4. Browse to your DOWNLOADS folder to place the image there.
   
5. Click “save.”
   
6. After it saves you can click “Open Folder” to go directly to the location you downloaded it to
   

Mac users should do this:

1. Roll the mouse over the clip art or photo you want
   
2. Click and hold the mouse button until a menu appears
   
3. A small menu will appear. Click on “save picture as.”
   
4. Make your selection from the menu
   

A note about downloading animated clip art:

You don’t have to do anything special to download animated images. Just place your cursor over the clip and follow the directions that apply to your browser. However, the animations can only be seen as they’re intended when viewed with a compatible browser or viewer. Animations will not play within PowerPoint in preview mode, you have to play the Presentation before the animation will move.

Retrieving Your Images

Retrieving saved images for later use is a little trickier. Open up whatever image editing system you have installed on your computer, and browse to the DOWNLOADS folder we talked about earlier. Click on the saved file to open. Chances are, the file will need to be cropped and sized if you intend to place it in a PowerPoint presentation, embed in a document or place on a web page. When editing your image, it’s important to remember that bigger files are more likely to gum up the works, especially for people who still use a dial-up connection (and yes there are still plenty in existence.)

It’s important to note that creators of clip art have gotten extremely savy since the advent of the Internet. After all, in 1998 how easy was it to come across a site with a picture you admire, right-click on the image, and squirrel away a copy of it for your own personal use? Nowadays technology has made that much more difficult, which is a good thing. Now sites include code that prohibit right-clicking and swiping. And clip art, graphics, and image sites will let you look at a complete thumbnail of an image, but when you click into the full-size version, you’re greeted with a giant watermark that would take hours to remove in programs like Photoshop. Once the image is purchased however, it can be downloaded watermark-free.

Happy Downloading!

So you have a project that requires art, and you barely have enough artistic skill to complete a game of Hangman. Well, you’re in luck, because there’s a plethora of ready-made clip art and graphics just waiting for you on the web at graphicsfactory.com. These clip art images are copyright-safe and created by professional artists and can be downloaded and embedded in any project.

What kind of projects?

Family newsletters, homemade greeting cards, community bulletins – you name it. They’re categorized in a variety of ways, such as by “keyword” or “holiday.” These databases are easily searchable so you can quickly locate just the right piece of clip art you need.

Usually a thumbnail version of the clip art you want will pop up first. Then you can click on it and it will expand to a larger preview. This way you’ll get a better idea of how it will look on the page. The enlarged images will probably have a “watermark” on them, which will disappear after they’re purchased.

Holidays Keyword Ideas

Looking to dress something up for the holidays? There’s already a host of clip art and graphics available, and more is being created all the time. Here are just a few ways to illustrate your holiday-themed projects:

• New Year’s : Party hats and streamer clip art


• Valentine’s Day : Candy, hearts, “XOXO” images


• St. Patrick’s Day : Mugs of green beer, leprechauns, four-leaf clover clip art


• Easter : The Christian cross, decorated eggs clip art


• Fourth of July : Flags, fireworks clip art


• Halloween : Ghosts, pumpkins, witches, black cats, candy clip art


• Thanksgiving : Turkey (live), turkey (cooked), pilgrims, Indians, table laden with food clip art


• Christmas : Baby in a manger, angels, three wise men, Christmas tree, holly, carolers

Other Ideas

You can also use clip art and graphics to enhance your PowerPoint presentations, business cards and personal letterhead. There’s a variety of styles available, ranging from classic to contemporary to the truly comical.

For example, if you own a bakery, you should search graphicsfactory.com for bakery-themed images, such as a chef, baker, cook, rolling pin, baked bread, oven, etc. It’s important that the clip art you choose conveys who you are and what you do at once. So a person flicking through his Rolodex will be able to identify you immediately.

When searching for clip art it’s important to use common search terms like “kitten,” not “feline” or to be more specific “kitten and ball of string.” Once a list of potential clip art is pulled up, you should consider if the image fits your needs. Is it scalable? That is, if you need to enlarge it, will it become blurry and grainy? If you have to make it smaller, will you still be able to see all the detail?
Once you locate and purchase the clip art you want, it’s yours to use however and wherever you want, for as many times as you want, unless otherwise specified in the usage rights.

Thanks to the abundance of quality clip art and graphics available at graphicsfactory.com, even the most artistically-challenged person can now produce a stellar-looking project.

Once Halloween is over it will be on to Turkey and Santa. Clip Art is so adaptable it is truly a staple among crafters and especially if you have children in the house.
It is always nice to personalize gifts. It is easy to buy gifts that last a minute but some of the most treasured gifts are all homemade works of art.

To help my son get over a recent loss of our family dog we created a memory quilt. It was full of pictures of my son and the dog and various clip art cartoons that would replace the memories of the loss with happy memories.

All you need to make a quilt, blanket, set of napkins, or towels is a color printer, transfer paper, clip art, an iron and the fabric of your choice.

www.graphicsfactory.com and downloaded it to your computer, you will need to follow the instructions that come with the transfer paper to print the clip art on the transfer paper and then to iron the art on your selected fabric.

With Halloween parties for older kids on the way we thought we would share a few party ideas!

Guess Who?????

Guess who is a new twist on an old guessing game.

As each of your guests arrive you tape a piece of paper to their back with your favorite clip art that describes their character.

As they mingle with their friends they ask yes or no questions until they discover their character that is taped to their back.

The older the children are the more complicated the characters and clues can be.

If the party is for adults use characters from “monster” or “vampire” novels, or actual authors like Edgar Allen Poe, Anne Rice, and Bram Stoker.

Character Cards

You Will Need:

• Your favorite Halloween Clip Art downloaded from www.graphicsfactory.com
• You can either use word to create the names of the characters or use marker or gel pens to write by hand
• If the party is for children you may want to type some character hints

 Directions:

• Downlaod your clip art and save

• Go into Word and create one character card for each expected guest

• Open a new document in Word and insert a picture from file on the first page

• Type the characters name in bold

• Type five clues under the character name

• Insert a page break and repeat until you have a character card for each guest

   Character Card Sample

Character: Dracula

 Clues:

1. Sleeps all day
2. Drinks blood instead of juice
3. Allergic to the sun
4. Always wears a cape

Have a Howling Good Time!